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

[Zé Capáu]

Seaking [Isn't a threat at all]

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tfw I forgot that Seaking had Lightningrod and my Toxtricity ended up being an Acupressure setup fodder backed by Rest and Sleep Talk just to finish my team with Waterfalls

Indeed.

 

[Cowtao]

Been playing for a bit without Dynamax. Very happy that it is gone and I got a few thoughts from playing in ladder.

1. Stealth Rocks

I don’t know if this is just me having this experience but I have found rocks to have minimal support in this meta. A lot of the SR weak mons such as Frosmoth, Salazzle, or Sigilyph have multiple ways of avoiding damage because of mechanics. Either due to great abilities or the advent of heavy duty boots. Heavy Duty Boots alone has dented SR to the point where I believe it isn’t needed for certain pokemon to run. I’m not saying hazards are sub-optimal in UU. Sticky Webs is very strong with the fast users working in a fast offensive meta. I simply have found that Stealth Rocks aren’t as useful as it was in previous gens especially taking the speed of the meta into account.

2. Roserade


Been having a lot of fun using Roserade. Because of how popular Weezing, Hippowdon, and other bulky water types are in UU I find that there are several opportunities you can do switch-in and or do stuff with Rose now. Having dual-STAB alongside with rare access to Toxic and Leech Seed has led her to have virtually no useless turns she can do at most levels of play. Predict into salazzle? Leech Seed. Umbreon switch in? Toxic. A lot of other stuff just gets mauled by her great dual-STAB coverage, especially on Fairy-Types. Below is a set I’ve used to good avail but feel free to optimize to your liking.

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Roserade @ Black Sludge
Ability: Natural Cure
Happiness: 160
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Toxic
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed

3. Braviary



I thought with the removal of Dynamax would surely destroy Braviary’s existence from the meta. Surprisingly however I find that Braviary has thrived and is thriving well with the speed of offensive UU meta. He is still a great Defog punisher and a great offensive switch in to certain ghosts / other offensive Pokémon. Defiant is a great ability to have and being able to chunk a good portion of the meta with Close Combat / Brave Bird is awesome. I will say with caution the only good I find to work is the Scarf / Revenge Killer set. Bulk Up doesn’t offer enough benefit to outmuscle the meta with big physical walls like Hippowdon, Weezing, Avalugg running around. As for Choice Band, there are better physical attackers that can maximize damage more so than Braviary. (Diggersby, Copperajah, etc.) Run Facade or Shadow Claw as your last slot depending on what you run into more / what you need.

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Braviary @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- Facade / Shadow Claw

 

[Yung Dramps]

So there's a lot of Sticky Web offense running around on ladder. I've used this playstyle, many people on this forum have played it probably. And let me say this: If you are not running Sirfetch'd on Webs, you are playing Webs wrong.

Sirfetch'd (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- First Impression
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

So, we got Galarian Weezing as a switch-in, alright, cool. Then there's... umm... uh....

65 speed is perfectly fine for the playstyle: For example, after a -1 you outspeed base 120s such as Inteleon. Beyond that cut-off there's not many remaining viable picks aside from Ribombee, Weavile, Boltund and Noivern, absolutely none of which can afford to switch in and/or get nuked by First Impression anyway.

P.S. Coalossal's still epic role compression albeit the meta is a bit more volatile towards it now, and Braviary is top 3 scarfers at least

 

[vivalospride]

So there's a lot of Sticky Web offense running around on ladder. I've used this playstyle, many people on this forum have played it probably. And let me say this: If you are not running Sirfetch'd on Webs, you are playing Webs wrong.

Sirfetch'd (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- First Impression
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

So, we got Galarian Weezing as a switch-in, alright, cool. Then there's... umm... uh....

65 speed is perfectly fine for the playstyle: For example, after a -1 you outspeed base 120s such as Inteleon. Beyond that cut-off there's not many remaining viable picks aside from Ribombee, Weavile, Boltund and Noivern, absolutely none of which can afford to switch in and/or get nuked by First Impression anyway.

P.S. Coalossal's still epic role compression albeit the meta is a bit more volatile towards it now, and Braviary is top 3 scarfers at least

This is all dandy and everything, but I'm not sold that this is 100% necessary on webs and if I do not run this then I am a fool who is playing with some inferior variant of standard webs. I have not invested much time into this meta but a philosophy that I have had in previous gens is to generally steer away from choiced breakers on HO, especially HOs that revolve around keeping hazards up. Maybe this philosophy isn't worth keeping in mind while building in gen 8 since the hazard removal options are so limited, but you give up momentum so easily by clicking a move on a choiced mon. Especially in this case of Sirfetch'd where First Impression leaves you open to being abused for free after clicking it just once, in which some bird can setup or come in for free to just claim lives, or hazard removal can remove hazards, etc. I mention birds because I've consistently struggled to find any real answer to birds on offense other than just sacking something and desperately trying to revenge with like priority or something that barely lives a flying STAB atk, which is kind of the nature of offense in general so maybe that's enough but it's nowhere near solidified to any extent.

I believe Sirfetch'd having Scrappy + STAB Close Combat is pretty spammable so I'd never go out and say that you're making a poor decision by including this on your webs team, but I refuse to believe this is the only route you can go with webs as there're quite a few downsides. Giving up momentum vs birds in a pretty one sided manner and just giving up any sign of any momentum at all with First Impression are huge huge huge Ls to take and just be okay with on a webs team. As I said I haven't invested much time into learning this meta yet so maybe I'm just braindead but these're my thoughts on this.

Trying to learn this meta has been kinda annoying so far, I haven't tried very hard but when I do try it's quite depressing. A LOT of threats and not much defensive counterplay. Shit like Sylveon is actually really annoying too bc I keep ending up with teams that can't break through it reliably, birds are annoying as fuck with there being like zero flying resists, especially zero that make letting in a flying type on offense not all that big of a deal. Shit like Obstagoon has literally 0 defensive counterplay. I haven't read literally any of this thread except for this one sirfetchd post I'm replying to but I hope you're all having fun learning new things after the atrocity that was building gen7uu!! A lot of cool mons in the tier that I'm excited to play around with in the future.

 

[Twilight]

UU Alpha Tour Round Two

Usage Stats

Round 2

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Kommo-o            |   41 |  55.41% |  43.90% |
| 2    | Gengar             |   22 |  29.73% |  22.73% |
| 3    | Umbreon            |   16 |  21.62% |  56.25% |
| 4    | Braviary           |   15 |  20.27% |  46.67% |
| 4    | Mew                |   15 |  20.27% |  46.67% |
| 6    | Drapion            |   14 |  18.92% |  71.43% |
| 7    | Doublade           |   13 |  17.57% |  69.23% |
| 8    | Mamoswine          |   11 |  14.86% |  72.73% |
| 8    | Weezing-Galar      |   11 |  14.86% |  54.55% |
| 8    | Ribombee           |   11 |  14.86% |  27.27% |
| 11   | Obstagoon          |   10 |  13.51% |  20.00% |
| 12   | Rotom-Mow          |    9 |  12.16% |  55.56% |
| 12   | Rhyperior          |    9 |  12.16% |  33.33% |
| 14   | Polteageist        |    8 |  10.81% |  75.00% |
| 14   | Rotom-Fan          |    8 |  10.81% |  75.00% |
| 14   | Milotic            |    8 |  10.81% |  62.50% |
| 14   | Hippowdon          |    8 |  10.81% |  50.00% |
| 18   | Whimsicott         |    7 |   9.46% |  57.14% |
| 18   | Reuniclus          |    7 |   9.46% |  57.14% |
| 18   | Sylveon            |    7 |   9.46% |  57.14% |
| 18   | Noivern            |    7 |   9.46% |  57.14% |
| 18   | Avalugg            |    7 |   9.46% |  42.86% |
| 18   | Durant             |    7 |   9.46% |  42.86% |
| 18   | Haxorus            |    7 |   9.46% |  28.57% |
| 18   | Inteleon           |    7 |   9.46% |  14.29% |
| 26   | Sigilyph           |    6 |   8.11% |  83.33% |
| 26   | Tsareena           |    6 |   8.11% |  83.33% |
| 26   | Sirfetch'd         |    6 |   8.11% |  66.67% |
| 26   | Crawdaunt          |    6 |   8.11% |  50.00% |
| 26   | Roserade           |    6 |   8.11% |  33.33% |
| 31   | Copperajah         |    5 |   6.76% |  80.00% |
| 31   | Quagsire           |    5 |   6.76% |  60.00% |
| 31   | Claydol            |    5 |   6.76% |  60.00% |
| 31   | Alcremie           |    5 |   6.76% |  40.00% |
| 31   | Duraludon          |    5 |   6.76% |  40.00% |
| 36   | Snorlax            |    4 |   5.41% |  75.00% |
| 36   | Espeon             |    4 |   5.41% |  75.00% |
| 36   | Indeedee           |    4 |   5.41% |  50.00% |
| 36   | Arcanine           |    4 |   5.41% |  50.00% |
| 36   | Mr. Mime-Galar     |    4 |   5.41% |  25.00% |
| 36   | Cinccino           |    4 |   5.41% |  25.00% |
| 36   | Bronzong           |    4 |   5.41% |  25.00% |
| 36   | Silvally           |    4 |   5.41% |   0.00% |
| 44   | Mantine            |    3 |   4.05% | 100.00% |
| 44   | Coalossal          |    3 |   4.05% | 100.00% |
| 44   | Froslass           |    3 |   4.05% |  66.67% |
| 44   | Jellicent          |    3 |   4.05% |  66.67% |
| 44   | Heliolisk          |    3 |   4.05% |  66.67% |
| 44   | Steelix            |    3 |   4.05% |  66.67% |
| 44   | Xatu               |    3 |   4.05% |  33.33% |
| 44   | Charizard          |    3 |   4.05% |  33.33% |
| 44   | Salazzle           |    3 |   4.05% |  33.33% |
| 44   | Weavile            |    3 |   4.05% |  33.33% |
| 44   | Pyukumuku          |    3 |   4.05% |   0.00% |
| 55   | Diggersby          |    2 |   2.70% | 100.00% |
| 55   | Chandelure         |    2 |   2.70% | 100.00% |
| 55   | Vaporeon           |    2 |   2.70% | 100.00% |
| 55   | Barbaracle         |    2 |   2.70% |  50.00% |
| 55   | Cloyster           |    2 |   2.70% |  50.00% |
| 55   | Alcremie-Mint      |    2 |   2.70% |  50.00% |
| 55   | Togedemaru         |    2 |   2.70% |  50.00% |
| 55   | Dhelmise           |    2 |   2.70% |   0.00% |
| 55   | Rillaboom          |    2 |   2.70% |   0.00% |
| 55   | Appletun           |    2 |   2.70% |   0.00% |
| 65   | Vanilluxe          |    1 |   1.35% | 100.00% |
| 65   | Arctozolt          |    1 |   1.35% | 100.00% |
| 65   | Araquanid          |    1 |   1.35% | 100.00% |
| 65   | Gigalith           |    1 |   1.35% | 100.00% |
| 65   | Cursola            |    1 |   1.35% | 100.00% |
| 65   | Centiskorch        |    1 |   1.35% | 100.00% |
| 65   | Rapidash-Galar     |    1 |   1.35% | 100.00% |
| 65   | Torkoal            |    1 |   1.35% | 100.00% |
| 65   | Shiftry            |    1 |   1.35% | 100.00% |
| 65   | Frosmoth           |    1 |   1.35% | 100.00% |
| 65   | Shuckle            |    1 |   1.35% |   0.00% |
| 65   | Cramorant          |    1 |   1.35% |   0.00% |
| 65   | Escavalier         |    1 |   1.35% |   0.00% |
| 65   | Lucario            |    1 |   1.35% |   0.00% |
| 65   | Orbeetle           |    1 |   1.35% |   0.00% |
| 65   | Flygon             |    1 |   1.35% |   0.00% |
| 65   | Machamp            |    1 |   1.35% |   0.00% |
| 65   | Hitmontop          |    1 |   1.35% |   0.00% |
| 65   | Eiscue             |    1 |   1.35% |   0.00% |

I'm not going to bother talking about most the top Pokemon here because it is very much similar to last weeks. Do keep in mind that this week was played during Dynamax meta so Braviary usage being so high is a result of that but Cowtao has a nice post above stating how the Pokemon is still a good Choice Scarf user. Below are the main Pokemon that peaked my interest in Round 2.

Mew

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon                 | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 4    | [Mew]                   |   15 |  20.27% |  46.67% |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Moves                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Psychic Fangs           |    6 |  40.00% |  83.33% |
| 2    | Stealth Rock            |    4 |  26.67% |  25.00% |
| 3    | Brave Bird              |    3 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Dragon Dance            |    2 |  13.33% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Swords Dance            |    2 |  13.33% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Taunt                   |    2 |  13.33% |  50.00% |
| 4    | Spikes                  |    2 |  13.33% |  50.00% |
| 4    | U-turn                  |    2 |  13.33% |  50.00% |
| 4    | Nasty Plot              |    2 |  13.33% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Max Airstream           |    1 |   6.67% | 100.00% |
| 10   | Max Knuckle             |    1 |   6.67% | 100.00% |
| 10   | Psychic                 |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Flamethrower            |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Earth Power             |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Will-O-Wisp             |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Close Combat            |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Fire Blast              |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Teammates               | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Kommo-o                 |    8 |  53.33% |  37.50% |
| 2    | Gengar                  |    6 |  40.00% |  33.33% |
| 3    | Polteageist             |    5 |  33.33% |  80.00% |
| 3    | Mamoswine               |    5 |  33.33% |  80.00% |
| 3    | Braviary                |    5 |  33.33% |  60.00% |
| 3    | Weezing-Galar           |    5 |  33.33% |  60.00% |
| 7    | Ribombee                |    4 |  26.67% |  25.00% |
| 7    | Crawdaunt               |    4 |  26.67% |  25.00% |
| 9    | Milotic                 |    3 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Froslass                |    3 |  20.00% |  66.67% |
| 9    | Sirfetch'd              |    3 |  20.00% |  66.67% |
| 9    | Umbreon                 |    3 |  20.00% |  66.67% |
| 9    | Obstagoon               |    3 |  20.00% |  33.33% |
| 14   | Rotom-Mow               |    2 |  13.33% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Rhyperior               |    2 |  13.33% |  50.00% |
| 14   | Indeedee                |    2 |  13.33% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Tsareena                |    1 |   6.67% | 100.00% |
| 17   | Barbaracle              |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Cloyster                |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Haxorus                 |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Duraludon               |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Dhelmise                |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Charizard               |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Steelix                 |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Appletun                |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Machamp                 |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Inteleon                |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Rotom-Fan               |    1 |   6.67% |   0.00% |

Mew is a really interesting Pokemon because of its unique role to have access to basically every move in the game and it got a nice buff with getting both Spikes and Toxic Spikes this gen. This means it can fulfill the role of a suicide lead even better, however, based on these statistcs Swords Dance and Dragon Dance Mew seem to be extremely popular sets on it. With access to new moves like Psychic Fangs, Close Combat, and Darkest Lariet physical Mew can break past a lot of defensive cores as it can break past all its defensive responses bar the Unaware users ofc. Nasty Plot sets struggle in comparison and the main reason for this is due to Gengar's existance as Mew is essentially just an inferior user in comparison. If Mew remains in UU for the majority of this gen it will be interesting to see how it shapes the tier and how well it can adapt in response.

Rhyperior

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon                 | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 12   | [Rhyperior]             |    9 |  12.16% |  33.33% |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Moves                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Stealth Rock            |    4 |  44.44% |  25.00% |
| 2    | Earthquake              |    3 |  33.33% |  33.33% |
| 3    | Stone Edge              |    2 |  22.22% |   0.00% |
| 4    | Swords Dance            |    1 |  11.11% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Max Quake               |    1 |  11.11% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Megahorn                |    1 |  11.11% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Rock Blast              |    1 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Teammates               | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Kommo-o                 |    4 |  44.44% |  25.00% |
| 2    | Gengar                  |    3 |  33.33% |  33.33% |
| 2    | Noivern                 |    3 |  33.33% |  33.33% |
| 2    | Ribombee                |    3 |  33.33% |  33.33% |
| 2    | Braviary                |    3 |  33.33% |  33.33% |
| 2    | Haxorus                 |    3 |  33.33% |  33.33% |
| 2    | Durant                  |    3 |  33.33% |  33.33% |
| 2    | Umbreon                 |    3 |  33.33% |  33.33% |
| 2    | Weezing-Galar           |    3 |  33.33% |  33.33% |
| 10   | Tsareena                |    2 |  22.22% | 100.00% |
| 10   | Mew                     |    2 |  22.22% |  50.00% |
| 12   | Avalugg                 |    1 |  11.11% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Alcremie                |    1 |  11.11% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Milotic                 |    1 |  11.11% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Roserade                |    1 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Obstagoon               |    1 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Mr. Mime-Galar          |    1 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Drapion                 |    1 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Alcremie-Mint           |    1 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Reuniclus               |    1 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Jellicent               |    1 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Rillaboom               |    1 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Inteleon                |    1 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Rotom-Fan               |    1 |  11.11% |   0.00% |

Rhyperior has been a great staple for BO teams right now and is something I have used a lot myself too. Rhyperior is one of the best defensive Ground-types we have and its resistance to Flying-type threats helps set it apart as it did last gen. Rhyperior has a lot more room to experiment with its last slot, which is clear with the use of moves like Swords Dance and Megahorn. Rhyperior is also one of the few rockers that can pressure one of the best Defog users rn in Noivern, which really cements its role in the metagame.

Milotic

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon                 | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 14   | [Milotic]               |    8 |  10.81% |  62.50% |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Moves                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Scald                   |    6 |  75.00% |  83.33% |
| 2    | Recover                 |    4 |  50.00% |  75.00% |
| 2    | Haze                    |    4 |  50.00% |  50.00% |
| 4    | Tickle                  |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Dragon Tail             |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Ice Beam                |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Max Geyser              |    1 |  12.50% |   0.00% |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Teammates               | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Mew                     |    3 |  37.50% | 100.00% |
| 1    | Weezing-Galar           |    3 |  37.50% | 100.00% |
| 1    | Braviary                |    3 |  37.50% |  66.67% |
| 1    | Rotom-Mow               |    3 |  37.50% |  66.67% |
| 1    | Gengar                  |    3 |  37.50% |  33.33% |
| 6    | Umbreon                 |    2 |  25.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Tsareena                |    2 |  25.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Alcremie                |    2 |  25.00% |   0.00% |
| 9    | Chandelure              |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Whimsicott              |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Noivern                 |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Togedemaru              |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Gigalith                |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Durant                  |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Rotom-Fan               |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Coalossal               |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Rapidash-Galar          |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Mamoswine               |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Rhyperior               |    1 |  12.50% | 100.00% |
| 9    | Hippowdon               |    1 |  12.50% |   0.00% |
| 9    | Obstagoon               |    1 |  12.50% |   0.00% |
| 9    | Inteleon                |    1 |  12.50% |   0.00% |
| 9    | Ribombee                |    1 |  12.50% |   0.00% |
| 9    | Doublade                |    1 |  12.50% |   0.00% |
| 9    | Rillaboom               |    1 |  12.50% |   0.00% |
| 9    | Kommo-o                 |    1 |  12.50% |   0.00% |
| 9    | Silvally                |    1 |  12.50% |   0.00% |

Milotic is one of the best bulky walls at our disposal with great mixed defences. I've used this Pokemon a shit ton on ladder recently with its ability to check so many threats into one slot such as Weavile, Kommo-o, Noivern, Reuniclus, etc. There are significantly less bulky Water-types in the tier this gen, which leaves it with little competition this gen. Milotic's main downside is its lack of movepool versatility right now as even if Ice Beam is dropped to run Dragon Tail over Haze it is left with a lack of good alternatives with losing Refresh for example. As of right now I think it is able to set itself apart from Mantine greatly, though once Mantine gets access to Defog again I'm sure it will face more competition.

Reuniclus

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon                 | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 18   | [Reuniclus]             |    7 |   9.46% |  57.14% |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Moves                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Calm Mind               |    5 |  71.43% |  40.00% |
| 2    | Stored Power            |    4 |  57.14% |  25.00% |
| 3    | Acid Armor              |    3 |  42.86% |  33.33% |
| 4    | Recover                 |    2 |  28.57% |   0.00% |
| 5    | Max Phantasm            |    1 |  14.29% | 100.00% |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Teammates               | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Kommo-o                 |    4 |  57.14% |  50.00% |
| 1    | Avalugg                 |    4 |  57.14% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Roserade                |    3 |  42.86% |  66.67% |
| 3    | Umbreon                 |    3 |  42.86% |  66.67% |
| 3    | Drapion                 |    3 |  42.86% |  33.33% |
| 6    | Alcremie                |    2 |  28.57% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Noivern                 |    2 |  28.57% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Vanilluxe               |    1 |  14.29% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Barbaracle              |    1 |  14.29% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Mamoswine               |    1 |  14.29% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Rotom-Fan               |    1 |  14.29% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Hippowdon               |    1 |  14.29% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Mantine                 |    1 |  14.29% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Doublade                |    1 |  14.29% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Copperajah              |    1 |  14.29% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Vaporeon                |    1 |  14.29% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Alcremie-Mint           |    1 |  14.29% |   0.00% |
| 8    | Jellicent               |    1 |  14.29% |   0.00% |
| 8    | Rhyperior               |    1 |  14.29% |   0.00% |
| 8    | Whimsicott              |    1 |  14.29% |   0.00% |
| 8    | Silvally                |    1 |  14.29% |   0.00% |

Reuniclus has really shot up in usage in both Dynamax and post-Dynamax meta. Double Dance sets have a lot of usage with it now getting access to Stored Power this gen, which will inherently make the usage of Dark-types rise as a result. Bulkier teams struggle to deal with Reuniclus without running a dedicated Haze user to handle it as Magic Guard making it immune to Toxic and hazards is huge in a meta where Spikes are so popular.

The top dogs remain to be the same though it is interesting to see Polteageist usage fall so drastically meaning it may not be too problematic for the tier or the tier has simply adapted to its presence. Coming into next week's round I do expect usage will shift quite a bit (Aside from the top Mon) and I wouldn't be surprised to see Obstagoon over take Gengar potentially.


Click Sprites for Importable

To end this post I thought I'd share a team I've had a lot of success with on ladder getting me to mid-1500s. Unfortunately, I have no replays because I think the servers broke two days ago and I lost all of them. Either way, I have had a lot of fun using it so I thought I'd share. I built the team around Salazzle, which I think is really good right now and the item of choice is flexible too from LO to Boots. Noivern gives me Defog to support Salazzle and Ground Immunity. Rhyperior is a great SR user and all-around solid check to a lot of threats rn as explained above. Rock Blast can catch Teapot off guard that may use Rhyperior as a setup opportunity if Sash is intact. Milotic is basically my go-to pivot for a ton of shit mentioned earlier and the EV spread lets it avoid the 2HKO from CB Weavile. Goon is the main breaker on the team and stops you from losing to Psychic-types like Indeedee. I ended up clicking CC rarely so Safa recommended Taunt, which helps with the bulky matchup a lot. Finally, Whimsicott is the pivot to help deal with Kommo-o and Daunt + other Dragon types. It was originally scarf but it isn't overly necessary if you play around certain threats carefully + this team is generally fast, it mainly just helps with Weavile the most so feel free to test around. The most annoying Pokemon are Gengar and Indeedee, so they require a bit of aggressive play to beat.

Expect a final post next week for round 3, which will be post-Dynamax, as Alpha will end a couple of days after this round concludes. Feel free to discuss the usage stats if you wish to do so and thanks for reading.

 

[yeezyknows]

ok i take back my initial thoughts on the state of this tier after actually playing ladder as it's super unfun to actually deal with the sheer amount of obstagoon spam and other braindead click click offenses

regardless, i want to share some cool techs/niche mons with my dear friends in the uu community and whichever new faces want to join me and sage's tier (we own it haha lol)

sage (high ranking five-star general in the UU council) and i (commander of the UU viability ranking council, an equally prestigious position in the uu community) talked and we deduced that kommo and/or gengar are pretty close to mandatory on every team. the opportunity cost of not using the combination of kommo's offensive and defensive utility is far too large. the same can be said for gengar. specs, hex, and especially nasty plot+stabs+filler is obscenely powerful, with very little dedicated defensive counterplay outside of like passive ass umbreon. offensive counterplay is also incredibly limited, as the lack of pursuit makes gar inordinately abuseable on every level.

obstagoon is also next to broken, knock/facade/cc has zero switch-ins, and obstruct destroys essentially all defensive counterplay, creating an inherently unhealthy matrix of 5050s whenever defensive counterplay is switched in.

continuing in the same vein of ridiculous mons, mamoswine is also incredibly annoying to face. it genuinely 2hkos the meta barring like literally only avalugg.

Copperajah

Copperajah @ Assault Vest
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 252 Atk / 196 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Heat Crash/Earthquake
- Play Rough
- Power Whip

This set is incredible, serving to counter mons like indeedee and frosmoth while also strong checking gengar. The coverage is also obscene, as you can essentially hit pretty close to every mon in the meta either super effectively or with a 120 BP STAB heavy slam.

Claydol

Claydol @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 92 SpA / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Psychic
- Earth Power
- Dazzling Gleam

Really cool spinner, immune to tspikes, beats arguably the two most common spinblockers in doublade and gengar. Allotted speed EVs allow it to outspeed obstagoon after one rapid spin. def/spa can be optimized cuz those are just random numbers but it works well overall. dgleam hits kommo and obstagoons, STABs hit a lot of other stuff well.

Vanilluxe

Vanilluxe @ Icicle Plate
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Substitute
- Protect

Really neat mon, shreds a lot of non-umbreon stalls and can even break through umbreon with timely freezes. Outspeeds ada diggersby with modest, which can tear up the majority of non-bronzong builds.

Araquanid also seems pretty awesome by itself. Even without webs, counterplay to liquidation and leech life is extremely limited. I can also imagine a spider web set working extremely well to trap stuff like milotic. Good mon. (edit) it does not learn spider web kek

In general, I'm not the biggest fan of the tier. That could honestly be chalked up to the meta being fresh and techs/good strats not being explicitly known, but overall it can be incredibly hard to build a six with strong defensive counterplay to the tier's most overbearing threats.

 

[Notily]

i definitely agree with viv that its a lot of fun not building gen7 uu, very dope. i've been enjoying playing this meta, definitely some things (gengar clanger goon) that are a cut above the rest though. im out here running shit like psychic whimsicott and shadow ball weezing to not give gengar free turns, someone send help. most of the teams i've built that have any semblance of consistency have revolved around a couple things:


haze spdef waters provide a lot of utility, checking omniboost clanger, inteleon, some gengars, and just being a useful special sponge in general. mantine's huge spdef stat allows to invest in def so it can handle fightings as well which is neat. without one of these almost every team i've built has dropped to clanger or inteleon, idek what the other options are for checking those mons l o l

( ) @
i've been gravitating to these three scarfers solely because they can outspeed and ko boosted clanger (inteleon does like 45 w/ ice beam, just means you can't let kommo setup without taking a hit). gengar and inteleon outspeed +2 teapot which is also nice. scarf inteleon in particular has been super useful for me, its speed tier + the threat of specs means you can just uturn on whatever bulky water is sent out, reveal nothing, and take your free momentum in a lot of cases.


echoing previous posts about defog noivern, fast defog is really nice with all the webs/ho on ladder. boots are dope, typing allows it to come in on a bunch of defensive mons. cool mon very splashable i like it

other fun mons/cores that i've been using

lead coalossal

Coalossal @ Focus Sash
Ability: Steam Engine
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heat Crash
- Stealth Rock / Spikes / rock move lol
- Rapid Spin / rock move lol
- Explosion

idk about all that defensive coalossal stuff but i've gotten use out of this set on some ho builds. beats every webs setter, boom lets you get your hazards up then die (works well with spin so you can boost speed and then boom on removal that it loses to), doesnt get spinblocked by doublade, can handle birds to an extent. speed evs creep defensive kommo-o at +1 but more or less is fine. max attack adamant helps with how passive is but its still not outputting a ton of damage. neat mon

clanger veil

Vanilluxe @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Aurora Veil
- Taunt

Kommo-o @ Throat Spray
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clanging Scales
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Clangorous Soul

broken set up sweeper + veil, creative i know. vanilluxe pressures spdef waters with freeze dry + taunt and with veil up kommo can set up on a lot more mons. hail chip can be helpful for breaking teams down as well, nice n brainless core.

+ +
these three form a pretty simple volt-turn core thats been nice for me. inteleon draws in waters for rotom to pivot on, kommo appreciates the pressure put on waters. these 3 can realistically run any of their viable sets and still work together well no matter what. honestly the rotom slot can probably be any other offensive grass. mons like roserade or cb/sd rillaboom would be fine most likely

team :o

Inteleon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
- Scald

Rotom-Mow @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Nasty Plot
- Rest

Diggersby @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
- Spikes

Copperajah @ Leftovers
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Atk / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Power Whip
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

Mantine @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Roost
- Haze
- Air Slash

Noivern @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Flamethrower
- Roost
- Defog

this is the main team i've been spamming on ladder, been hovering around in the 1500's. inteleon + mowtom are able to generate and keep momentum, scarf inteleon has a great match-up vs any offense without a water immunity and np chesto rest mowtom is able to function as a breaker and still take the water moves it needs to over the course of a game. cb diggersby is the breaker of choice that can also support the voltturn core with spikes. also important for forcing a trade vs choiced gengar when its locked into a stab. copperajah does steel type stuff, has the bulk and offensive presence to consistently set rocks / break vs slower teams (speed creeps doublade). mantine as the fighting resist/inteleon check/omniboost clanger check, noivern keeps hazards off for the voltturn core and its speed tier lets it pressure most of the offensive mons mantine / copperajah cant handle. evs on mantine can probably be optimized but im too lazy zzz. haven't had too many games where i lost at preview with this team, try it out if you want

 

[Comfey Canto]

Sp.Def Pivot

Silvally-Steel @ Steel Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 232 HP / 252 SpD / 24 Spe
Calm Nature
- U-turn
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower / Thunderbolt / Thunderwave
- Ice Beam

Silvally does an amazing job in keeping Gengar and other special attackers in check and acts as a great pivot to bring in Obstagoon a 'mon of your choice. In a Meta with no Z-Stones available, Silvallys ability to deny Trick is also a slight buff. The vast movepool is as usefull as last Gen. You might wanna give it a try.

252 SpA Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 200+ SpD Silvally-Steel: 102-121 (25.8 - 30.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 SpA Heliolisk Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 200+ SpD Silvally-Steel: 102-121 (25.8 - 30.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
+2 252+ Atk Doublade Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Silvally-Steel: 135-159 (34.2 - 40.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Gengar is just killing it. It's amazing to play and you realy can't do nothing wrong with it. Definetly worth a suspect test in the future or maybe outright council-banning it for a possible future comeback.

Trick-Nasty Plot-2 STABs

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Nasty Plot

While missing out on Dazzling Gleam hinders Gengar in a few matchups, Trick+Nasty Plot grants you double trouble for bulkier builds. I had good games with all kinds of Gengar Sets, but this one stuck with me. Mantine or Umbreon are uterly useless with scarf while Leftover-Gengar has an even easier time to get his setup against bulkier 'mons. It's just fun.

Competitive

Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Def / 192 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Haze
- Recover

Like both Twilight and Notily mentioned, Milotic is neat. While I consider Marvel Scale superior at this point, Webs will most likely be more common in this UU season. The +2 boost on the allready high SpAtk base makes Milotic a pain in the ass to switch in and if you have no fast Electric or Gras type you'll easly loose a second 'mon trying to revengekill this beast. Again I don't claim it's better right now, but compared to last Gen, Competitive looks viable.


I'm looking forward towards the councils decission on the 'goon, Gengar and Kommo-o.

 

[DraconicLepus]

So i’ve been dead for a while and am now back in showdown. Been messing around with a lot of Pokemon that aren’t Kommo-o and Gengar, and I wanted to talk about a few. I’ll provide what I think the best sets are after each explanation. Do note that a lot of this does not take into account Gengar and Kommo-o's prescence while some of it does. Just keep that in mind while reading.

Silvally-Forms

First off, Silvally and its many forms. A lot of its forms are viable and I’m going to talk about a few in particular.

Silvally-Electric

Set

Silvally-Electric @ Electric Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Ice Fang
- U-turn

The main one, and probably not known by many is Silvally-Electric. I am quite impressed by this one, especially since you’d think a lot of other electric types of the tier may outshine it. It would be mainly used as a physical electric type as seen as a set, and the one mon that it can be compared to in that sense is Boltund. What sets it apart? The fact that it has respectable bulk, a strong base power electric stab, Swords Dance, and most importantly U-Turn. This lets it not be a sitting duck around ground types, namely Hippowdon and Rhyperior. This makes it especially potent Volt-Turn core with Inteleon (who I will talk about later) who can easily get rid of the ground types that Silvally-Electric dislikes. I just think it has a lot of potential to be a good electric type that can fit a niche on certain teams, mainly Volt-Turn.

Silvally-Fairy

Set

Silvally-Fairy @ Fairy Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Fire Fang
- Multi-Attack
- Psychic Fangs

Next one I want to talk about is Silvally-Fairy, another extremely strong choice in the current meta. Once again I use it as a physical set up mon, which does give competition with Galarian Rapidash but i’ll explain my reasons. Multi Attack is now 120 base power which is incredible, and it doesn’t miss like Play Rough does. This is the main move it’s going to use in most cases, and the other moves it can use can be quite customizable. It has Psychic Fangs to fit poisons, Fire Fang to hit steels, but if it doesn’t want to deal with those typings it can run Parting Shot or U-Turn. It just has a lot of general utility with its wide array of moves to choose from, and once Defog gets released I can see it making a great defogger as well. Overall the bulk, and just how good fairies are right now makes Silvally-Fairy a great choice in the current meta.

Silvally-Steel

Set

Silvally-Steel @ Steel Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Multi-Attack
- Flamethrower
- Parting Shot
- Thunder Wave

I have a lot of Silvally forms to talk about,and the next one is Steel. This one returns from gen7 as a viable mon to fill in that Steel type on a team. It can be run many ways: Utility with Parting Shot and Thunder Wave, an SD version if a physical sweeper is needed, or again when Defog comes out, as a defogger. There isn’t as much I need to say for this one as it has been discussed quite a bit, but once again this is a strong choice for a lot of teams, since Steel is such an important typing to fit on teams.

Silvally-Ghost

Set

Silvally-Ghost @ Ghost Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- X-Scissor
- Thunder Wave

Last Silvally form I promise, Silvally-Ghost has quite a lot of potential for gen8 UU. Multi Attack now becomes the most powerful physical ghost move with absolutely no drawbacks. It will be used as a Swords Dance set-up sweeper, with X-Scissor to hit dark types. Last slot being Thunder Wave to be able to hit dark types that may try to resist its move, and then kill it due to being outsped. I haven’t tested this one all too much, but it has a lot of potential to be good.

Weavile

Set

Weavile @ Heavy-Duty Boots/Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Throat Chop
- Ice Shard
- Low Kick

Now that Silvally forms are out of the way, next up is Weavile who is absolutely an incredible Pokemon. I’m surprised people haven’t mentioned it more because it does so much. Some may think the loss of Pursuit and Knock Off hurt it enough to not be as viable, or even bad, but boy is this not true. I’ve been using an All-Out Attacker set with the item being either Life Orb or Heavy Duty Boots. It could also run Choice Band well. Its combination of Dark and Ice makes it extremely potent and hard to check, especially with the best part of the deal being it gets Low Kick. Low Kick means it can hit a lot of the common checks that would try to switch in on Weavile. It just makes it such an extremely potent revenge killer to a lot of Pokemon, and it's extremely splashable on a lot of types of teams. If you haven’t tried using Weavile yet, I recommend it highly.

Pyukumuku

Set

Pyukumuku @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mirror Coat
- Toxic
- Recover
- Counter

Pyukumuku. This squishy boi became quite good on stall, even being preferred over Quagsire sometimes in the last generation. I do believe it will be good again on stall, being one of the staples. But that isn’t what I’m here to talk about today. I’m here to mention Pyuku’s great potential on balance teams as a stop to a lot of threats due to Unaware. What sets it apart from other water types like Milotic or Mantine in its same place is Mirror Coat and Counter. Not only can set up sweepers not kill it because of its ability, but it can quite easily kill them back because of Mirror Coat and Counter. This is because it returns double the damage Pyukumuku takes to the attacker. This makes it much less passive then both Mantine and Milotic for that reason. It of course has its weakness, to taunt and to trick (specifically when its a choice item). It needs the rest of the team to work well to its weakness, but from my testing has quite the strong niche over the top waters in the tier currently.

Inteleon

Set

Inteleon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- U-turn

I said I would talk about Inteleon earlier, and this spy lizard is strong. Its best set is very easily Choice Specs attacker. Super fast(base 120), great special attack(base 125), U-Turn, this thing has everything it needs to be choice’d. Hydro Pump from this hurts to anything that doesn’t resist it, even to what resists it except the bulkiest of water types. If those water types are in the game, then it clicks U-Turn! Just this combination of traits makes it incredibly annoying to deal with overall. It's worth a try if you haven’t before because it definitely has the traits to be viable.

Scrafty

Set

Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Crunch
- Drain Punch
- Rest

Another mon i’ve been experimenting with is Scrafty. I think it has niche over Umbreon on some teams for a few reasons. It’s just as bulky on the special side, and also actually does damage to things. It’s a very potent setup mon with Bulk Up, which not only makes it very specially bulky, but also extremely bulky physically. It just makes it a threat you can’t easily ignore. It has multiple good abilities in both Intimidate and Shed Skin, which just leaves it with a lot of great traits in the current meta. Fairies are as good as ever so far, but with what Scrafty provides it leaves it in a great place. I feel this Pokemon fits best on Bulky Offense, which appreciates something that isn’t as passive as Umbreon but can provide the same sort of checks to certain mons.

Alcremie

Set

Alcremie (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Dazzling Gleam
- Mystical Fire
- Recover

Alcremie is an interesting mon, facing direct competition from the well known and loved Sylveon. There are a few things that set it apart compared to Sylveon, and the main one is instant recovery in the move Recover. This makes it much easier to fit coverage that is appreciated since Wish+Protect isn’t required. This leaves it with the ability to be a much better Calm Mind user. Both are physically defensive fairies, both can fill a similar niche in role, they fill certain roles better. I haven’t used Sylveon much yet but I feel both are going to be extremely good. Alcremie is going to be a better Calm Mind user. Sylveon will be better as cleric and potentially a specs user. Either way, I feel Alcremie can compete with Sylveon for that fairy type slot on a team, and from my testing has been quite nice to use.

Mew

Set

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Fire Blast
- Will-O-Wisp

Last mon I want to mention just because I haven’t seen this set commonly is Mew. An extremely potent and viable mon is in UU right now and people haven’t even scratched the surface of its potential. Physical Mew is the one I’ve seen explored the most and with that leaves people expecting it. With that comes special attacker Mew, specifically as a rocker. This set is extremely good, and just brings so much utility to a team. Psychic is a reliable STAB move that hits extremely hard, and it has access to Fire Blast which hits everything that Psychic can’t. This is not a new or innovative set at all, but it’s extremely consistent. That is what makes it such a good choice in this meta, there’s just nothing wrong with it. I feel special mew needs to be explored and used more, because while physical may seem better in most ways, special attacker Mew is still an extremely viable choice that I wanted to point out since no one else had done so.

So this is all in spoilers so pick and choose what you want to read, and for whoever did read thank you for reading the post. I'm excited to see how this generation develops as things go forward.

 

[Geopolitics]

Back from the dead to talk about one mon I've been experimenting with on the ladder thus far

bar bar binks (Barbaracle) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Liquidation
- Stone Edge
- Night Slash

Barbaracle is in a unique spot in the meta because of its strange speed tier and unique typing combination. Any set of Kommo-o is a major issue for the binks (resists dual STAB) and Doublade needs to be weakened significantly to die to +2 night slash. However, given some decent support from mons like Dazzling Gleam Gengar, Obstagoon, or even some cash like Specs heliolisk Barbaracle can thrive. It uniquely sets up on a lot of walls/pivots with its combo of great resistances + lum berry (namely Weezing, Mantine, Milotic, Arcanine, Noivern, certain Silvally sets to name a few). I've found adamant to be more useful than Jolly so far, as Barbaracle likes the extra damage to break through Weezing/milotic a little bit easier. While not a top tier threat by any means (especially with Kommo-o on every team), the binks is a unique option as a setup sweeper.

Even an idiot like me can use this so I'd be interested to see what real players can do with this

Ladder

 

[Corthius]

So nobody asked but here i am:

Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Close Combat/Facade/Switcheroo​

I really enjoy Crawdaunt in the curent meta. Its not fast, but faster than a lot of defensive mons that it want to break; f.e. Hippowdon, Weezing-Galar, Milotic, Mantine, Claydol, Cofagrigus, Runerigus.
Also the ability to have a strong priority is crucial when things like Nasty Plot Gengar are running around.
The set is self explanatory:
Knock Off: Best and freest move this generation 'cause megas and z-crystalls are gone so nothing is safe.

Crabhammer: With Adaptability Crabhammer becommes a nuke to anything that is not resistense to it.

Aqua Jet: Again self explanatory, prio that is allways usefull to pick up frail or weakend enemies especially with that low speed.

Facade: I ran Close Combat for a long time, but i never really used it so i thought of a better move and here we have Facade, boosted when you are statused. I guess you can also run Switcheroo but i dont think that u need to 'cause you are crippling the walls with strong attacks anyway.

Calcs

Hippowdon:
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 436-516 (103.8 - 122.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 212-250 (50.4 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Weezing-Galar:
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Weezing-Galar: 105-124 (31.4 - 37.1%) -- 81.3% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Weezing-Galar: 216-256 (64.6 - 76.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

Milotic:
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Milotic: 276-326 (70 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Milotic: 156-184 (39.5 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery)

Mantine:
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mantine: 296-350 (79.1 - 93.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Claydol:
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Claydol: 460-544 (141.9 - 167.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Claydol: 476-560 (146.9 - 172.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Cofagrigus:
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cofagrigus: 188-222 (58.7 - 69.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cofagrigus: 364-432 (113.7 - 135%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Runerigus:
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Runerigus: 364-432 (113.7 - 135%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Runerigus: 376-444 (117.5 - 138.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

For teammates i have good success with Spikes + Stealth Rock support and mons that can shuffle with Roar/Whirlwind/Dragon Tail. Teammates that force mons out and keep momentum with U-Turn/Volt Switch/Parting Shot make great additions too 'cause they chip away on the enemy team so Crawdaunt has a better time picking off the weakend mons.

 

[The Gunner]

hi I don't really post interesting content on forums but I've been invested in gen 8 recently and enjoyed uu a lot. i was laddering for the lols the last few weeks but built a team earlier that's been pretty consistent, fun to use and effective on the ladder. i peaked #3 today but lost my last game into tilt afterwards and im too lazy to try again. let's get into it:

i was using unstable teams before building this and thought about what could really disrupt the trend on the ladder. what was apparent to me was that most teams did not run an offensive water check such as Jellicent, Mantine, Gastrodon or Milotic because of the offensive meta (although this trend seemed to shift towards my latter session). in fact, my earlier team featured Araquanid which didn't have much counterplay on ladder. with that in mind, I thought about the prospect of using broken Dracovish's baby brother, Arctovish in UU to tear apart bulky teams, and potentially offensive teams as well using this set:

Enzo Gorlami (Arctovish) @ Quick Claw
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Substitute
- Psychic Fangs
- Icicle Crash​

The set is tangential to the one used in OU with quick claw, but Dracovish and Arctovish differ massively in abilities. For one, Arctovish does not hit as hard, although Water Absorb can be a pain for pokemon like Milotic to deal with because Arctovish hits it for 40 and Milotic can't do much back (especially if I sub). to build around this mon, I added the defensive core of Noivern / Bronzong / Hippowdon which can take on most of the meta and Kommo-o + Mew to complete my bulky offensive team. I'm using the throat spray Kommo being spammed right now and a unique Mew set that serves as bait for Gengar, the Teapot and to some extent Chandelure. This Mew's been extremely effective in late game sweeps or destroying cores early on and reminds me of NP Celebi from last gen. Bronzong's a pretty good rocker and body press is an interesting addition to its movepool. Plus, being able to run rocks on Bronzong means I can run edge on Hippow to kill webs Ribombee t1 and take on Noivern. Overall, the team's pretty effective and can take on all archetypes quite well.

​

Unfortunately, I did not save many replays with the team in action, but I have some cheesy Arctovish logs below and a few replay(s) for reference showing off not only the fish, but also how the other members play a part around it.

Moving on, I want to relay some of my thoughts about the current meta, and especially about future suspects / bannable pokemon:

Busted

As much as I love Kommo-O, it's gotta go, no simpler way to put it. The throat spray set is a pain to deal with and I haven't seen teams run any decent checks to it except SpD Pyuk and Yawn Umbreon. It shreds through teams with no effort and you have to flawlessly play to stop it from clicking set up move and nabbing a few kills at least. Reminds me of prime Geo Xern in XY when it had no real checks so you'd have to run dog shit like Mawile to beat it. Kommo has fantastic utility but it's too OP in my eyes and should be quickbanned if it doesn't go up by OU usage in Jan.

Borderline Busted / Suspect Worthy

Broken Ghosts at it again what's new.

I don't think the teapot on its on is broken but most people are running it with webs + screens and that really pushes it over the edge. The fact that teapot can setup two shell smashes with ease when paired with screens just makes it impossible to beat unless you're spamming whirlwind. It's also hard to get around it's coverage and the lack of sucker punch in this meta means it's just gonna crap on every team. I'm on the edge of quickbanning else but I'd like to hear what other people think.
e: as I'm reading this post again the teapot is busted lol

Gengar's fantastic and has so much offensive utility it's unbelievable. Sub NP/Specs/Hex Wisp/LO are all fantastic sets and hard to counter. Especially with its insane coverage, Gengar offensively is a huge pain and only a couple of mons are true checks in Umbreon, SpD Hippo and Pyuk, the latter two who lose to Hex Wisp. I think this should be suspected and potentially kicked as well because of how great its coverage and versatility is.

Fire

I think the Bear is underrated and a huge offensive threat. Not too many mons feel comfortable switching into CC/DE unless you're a ghost type and Bear can run shadow claw for ghosts. Choice Band, Life Orb, SD 3 attacks are all great sets combined with fluffy being a great ability. Bear on webs is a fiend.

The Spider is fantastic for teams that want to run bulky webs. My first team was a core of Araquanid + Bear and they were both fantastic at hitting hard and taking hits as well. Like Arctovish, not much switches into the Spider easily and it can last a while while doing residual damage. I've seen people run boots, but I prefer recovery and longevity in the form of Protect/Sticky Webs/Liquidation/ Leech Life @ Leftovers.

I haven't used this mon yet on ladder but everytime I've come across it has been a pain. I think it can pose as an extremely annoying late game sweeper with its decent coverage and how no treat has almost no drawbacks. people use it poorly on ladder but I can see this being centralizing at some point as an offensive threat.

The Elephant is above average as a rocker in my eyes with its unique coverage and excellent pure Steel typing. I've enjoyed using it, especially since it hits quite hard (doing 40% to SpD Umbreon) and being a check to Frosmoth, Weezing, Sylveon, etc. I think its underrated and would hate to see it drop to RU.

Arcanine is actually so great it's insane. I run Flare Blitz/Close Combat/Will-o-Wisp/Morning Sun @ Heavy-Duty Boots with defensive EVs and it's a truck to deal against. With wisp it nullifies most of its physical counters and I run enough speed to always outspeed Jolly Bewear so it can OHKO so many mons in return. I think this is a great defensive wall, and although it might not be reliable long-term, it fits well on bulky offenses with the lack of toxic in the meta.

Apart from that I think Rotom-Mow's the best scarfer. Gengar sucks as a scarfer coz it can't really switch into anything nor does it scare anything out with scarf. Obstagoon in my eyes hasn't been as much of an issue since I ran Hippo but I think ppl should run taunt over obstruct. Sirfetch'd is a monster to play against, Durant's below average, Crawdaunt's a big kill nabber and Machamp will be UU one day.

don't click this

definitely DON'T click this

 

[Skankovich]

Some slept on mons:

Gigalith @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sand Tomb
- Rock Slide / Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Protect

Legitimately a fantastic special sponge. Deals with really prominent special threats like Gengar, Sigilyph, Salazzle and Noivern, pressures Sun teams immensely and eats Brave Birds. Sand Tomb combined with Sand Stream is a really obnoxious form of passive damage that deals 1/5 hp per turn as well as trapping the mon hit by it - add in the damage of the move itself, rocks and Protect and Gigalith can wear down switchins without recovery really, really quickly. It works particularly well since Rock STAB naturally stops flying mons switching in, and that people switch the likes of Kommo, Sirfetch'd and Doublade into Gigalith, all of which lack recovery and hate that level of passive damage (Particularly Sirfetch'd since you scout its obvious choiced move as well as trapping it). It's especially fun when people switch their Obstagoons into it and you watch them lose like 75% of their health over two turns!

Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Encore
- Knock Off

Prankster Encore without Dynamax (Or Z for that matter) to break through it is big LOL. A nice answer to a lot of dumb set up mons right now - and also a rare Obstagoon answer, as long as it doesn't have Taunt or Bulk Up.

 

[Specs]

Hey PU player here who's really really enjoying this tier rn. Just gonna go over some of the mons I've been having fun with & have proven useful during my time playing.

Passimian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Gunk Shot

Been using a ton of Passimian, the damage output has been pretty good allowing you to force things out. Shouldn't be your main speed control as stuff like Scarf Gengar mess you up if you aren't careful with how much chip you're taking. The bulk has also been something I've found good. With you spamming CC you're bound to lower your defenses but even then things like LO Mamo Ice Shard doesn't do that much. Overall cool mon, just be weary of things like the Polteageist running around.

Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Def / 48 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Haze

I really like Milotic right now. Obvious good bulk, reliable recovery, great defensive typing. From what I've played and seen from friends playing it's a bitch to break past in a short manner. Great blanket check to the meta, losing toxic is pretty bad but ice beam is fine enough. Been using balance a lot and this has been a staple, covering a lot of mons and just letting you breath for a bit. Hope to see it more.

Morpeko @ Life Orb
Ability: Hunger Switch
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aura Wheel
- Seed Bomb
- Rapid Spin
- Parting Shot

Morpeko is so fun. The ability to force out a good bunch and grab momentum with Parting Shot or remove hazards with Rapid Spin is dope. It's powerful enough to be a good late game cleaner with the + speed you get from Aura Wheel. You definitely don't want to face Kommo-o with this thing in though, can tech like Psychic Fangs ig but meh. If you want some fun use it:]

Not a top player of this meta or anything so sorry if one of these mons is trash or I got something wrong in the set or w/e. Just had a lot of fun playing around with what's decent here, especially without dynamax around anymore

 

[powergo1]

With respect to Morpeko I'm more a fan of using this set:

Morpeko @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Hunger Switch
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Parting Shot
- Rapid Spin
- Aura Wheel

Heavy Duty Boots means that you're immune to hazards, most importantly webs. Protect+Aura Wheel let's you change the attack type, and Parting Shot is for momentum instead of giving up protect for coverage.

 

[Yung Dramps]

Arctovish can actually be a surprisingly scary fat buster in the right hands. Fishious Rend aside, the most notable thing about it that sets it apart from similar breakers like Crawdaunt and Arctozolt is Water Absorb, making it so traditional bulky waters like Milotic and Jellicent can't really do anything to it. Meanwhile Fishious Rend just chunks anything that is unfortunate enough to underspeed it.

Arctovish @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Icicle Crash
- Crunch
- Substitute

Umbreon, Hippowdon and Galarian Weezing all get ganked by this. The speed creeps base 65s like Umbreon. It ain't a secret S Rank by any means and most times you're probably better off with Crawdaunt or something similar but it has a niche.

SpDef Hippo and Avalugg make a really fun defensive core together that can be hard to bust down. Obstagoon in particular actually struggles a fair bit as Avalugg can eat it up and OHKO back with Body Press and Hippowdon can phase it around and chunk it with EQ while still taking its hits alright.

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind

Avalugg @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Own Tempo
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Avalanche

 

[Predator145]

I tried something similar with Morpeko. I had crunch on in the hope of deterring spin blockers. But the thing is so frail most of the time it doesn't do anything. Doublade takes like 37% and then forces it out with fighting coverage.

 

[666lumberjack]

I've been having quite a bit of fun with future sight Xatu + a physical wallbreaker.

Xatu @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Future Sight
- Teleport/U-Turn
- Roost
- Psychic/Air Slash

The principle is quite simple - come in on something passive and defensive, ready a future sight, teleport or u-turn into a threatening physical attacker and present the opponent with a pretty tough situation. The main partner I tried was Sirfetch'd, and the pair of them killed a lot of Weezings together - but I think Crawdaunt or Obstagoon would work quite well too.

Even with no investment Future Sight does a good chunk - Weezing-G and Kommo-o are obviously decimated, but even non-psychic-weak Pokemon take a solid 20-40% chunk from it and that's enough to make a lot of 3HKOs into unmanageable 2HKOs.

 

[Moutemoute]

After I was rekt by "Adrift & [Filler]" (sorry dude I don't know who you are on Smogon unfortunately), I've been inspired to do a Screen HO which is almost the same as Adrift but with some variations.. and thanks to this team I was able to reach the second place on the current ladder so I guess the team it's quite effective.. (GXE is horrible because I'm testing every team I'm making on this main account to be able to play in the highest part of the ladder).

(click the sprites for importable)

The team is a pretty straightforward HO with Dual Screen Espeon which also act as my counter vs opponent's Entry Hazards, especially Sticky Web. Yawn is a decent move this generation and forces some switchs which is always useful vs some setup sweepers. Mamoswine is the Stealth Rock setter of the team and overall a nice Pokemon to pressure opponent's Pokemon.. then it's kinda no brain with 4 setup sweepers. Kommo-o is just the best Pokemon in the tier in my opinion and it's able to nuke really hard the opponent if it doesn't have a faster threat to revenge kill it. I decided to opt for Dragon Pulse instead of Clanging Scales because I'm pretty sure there is almost +90% of Soundproof Kommo-o and I don't want mine to not be able to nuke opponent's Kommo-o (especially defensive ones which would like to phaze mine with Dragon Tail). Then we have Polteageist with the Focus Sash which can be a scary finisher once Dark-types are gone and Doublade to pressure some Steel-types thanks to Sacred Sword. Last but not least.. there is an unusual pick : Butterfree. This Pokemon is actually pretty decent and can be really unhealthy to deal with since there isn't that much Flying resist in the tier. Compound Eyes is just amazing on this Pokemon and provides to it a 97.5% accuraccy Sleep Powder (you'll basically almost never miss) and a 91% accuraccy Hurricane which is really nice. Substitute is used to bother some defensive Pokemon like Pyukumuku and it's overall a super annoying Pokemon to deal with as you can see when I played it : here and when I faced it : there.

Otherwise.. I'd like to talk about some Pokemon once again.

Kommo-o is just the best Pokemon in the tier at the moment.. While I don't believe that this is the most dangerous Pokemon in the tier neither the most complicated Pokemon to deal with, I firmly believe that this Pokemon is just the best in the tier so far and provides just so much utility to the point that I believe that it's dumb to not play it since it can fulfill almost whatever role it wants. People already know how good its set with Clangerous Soul is with Throat Spray but this set always struggle to beat something and has a pretty annoying 4MSS. If you want to be able to beat Umbreon, you really have to play Aura Sphere but on the other hand, you need Flamethrower to beat Doublade and ensure the OHKO on Frosmoth. Flash Cannon is also really important if you want your Kommo-o to be able to pressure Fairy-types.. and obviously.. the Dragon STAB is just too good to get rid of it. So yeah a great set but with its limits. On the other hand, defensive Kommo-o with Stealth Rock is one of the best blank check in the tier thanks to its typing and its access to the brand new and amazing attack : Body Press. It's also one of the few Pokemon which can handle 2 Facade from Guts Obstagoon and this is really important considering how good and dangerous Obstagoon is. However, Kommo-o can be played in many other ways thanks to its great typing, statistics and movepool. I've seen some people running physical Clangerous Soul with Drain Punch, Sub Bulk Up with Body Press, Fast Stealth Rock with Taunt but also some sets from USUM like DD, SD or Sub Belly Drum with Salac Berry. Overall this Pokemon is just great and I don't think you can be wrong by using it.

A few weeks ago, I was kinda in love of this Pokemon and I couldn't wait to play with it.. Well now I can tell that I hate this Pokemon because it has absolutely 0 counter and it's insanely hard to deal with it especially when you're using some Balanced teams or more defensive teams. Despite its 90 BS in attack, Obstagoon hits like a truck in rampage, this is insane how it's hard to switch-in this Pokemon. Facade + Knock Off can punish anything on the tier and I don't see any good answers to it right now. At the moment, max physical defense Avalugg is probably the most consistent answer to Obsatgoon but it's a shakky answer because even if it doesn't struggle to heal itself thanks to Recover, it really hates being Knocked Off since without its boots, it takes badly Stealth Rock which means it really struggle to check Obstagoon if Stealth Rock are on its side of the field. The same thing applies to Kommo-o which is an even softer check to Obstagoon. This Pokemon has also some amazing defensive utility thanks to its bulk and its typing which provides it 2 useful immunities in the current metagame ; one to Psychic-type and another to Ghost-type. When you're facing an Obstagoon, you have to think about being Choice Locked on a Psychic or Ghost-type attack because it can allows Obstagoon to come freely on the field and to be able to smack something in return. The worst thing with this Pokemon is also that you never know what you're really facing. Outside of Facade and Knock Off, I firmly believe that it can run whatever fillers it want, it will always be effective. Close Combat allows it to punish Rock and Steel-types and to have 88% of chance to 2HKO max def Avalugg once it takes Stealth Rock damages. On the other hand, Taunt shut down a ton of defensive Pokemon while Parting Shot allows Obstagoon to be able to pivot while still being able to bother the opponent by decreasing its offensive statistics. Switcheroo is also really annoying and allows Obstagoon to bother a Pokemon by giving it its Flame Orb ; it also allows it to get a nice item like Leftovers.. Bulk Up can be useful on an opponent's switch and allows Obstagoon to hit even harder.. Last but not least I'd like to talk about Obstruct. About a weeks ago, I was thinking that it wasn't a great filler to Obstagoon and gosh.. I was wrong. Obstruct is probably the most disgusting tool on Obstagoon's arsenal because it allows it to make some nasty 50/50 vs some of its defensive checks which would like to punish it with something like Body Press (aka one of the best way to shut down an Obstagoon). For Obstagoon's player it's almost free to click Obstruct but for the other player, it's really hard because if you're making the wrong play you're offering a hit to Obstagoon or your decreasing by 2 stages your Pokemon's defense which means you'll have to sack it vs Obstagoon or switch.. which once again means a free hit for Obstagoon. Heres an example of the issue with Obstruct Obstagoon. I had to anticipate the fact that he was going to use Obstruct in order to beat it but if I made one mistake, my Kommo-o would have died... I don't know if this Pokemon will rise after the end of the UU Alpha but if it's not the case, I believe that we should take care of this issue as soon as possible because it doesn't affect in a good way the tier, on the contrary..

I'm enjoying quite a lot this two Pokemon. Their set of Double Dancer (Acid Armor + Calm Mind) allows them to be really nasty vs a plethora of teams but also allows them to check a lot of things on the physical and/or special side. Obviously, Reuniclus needs some support to get rid of Dark-types but once they're gone, this Pokemon can really 6-0 almost any build. On the other hand, Alcreamie is another dangerous Double Dancer which doesn't have any immunity to its STAB but struggles vs Steel-types. Like Reuniclus, when those kind of checks are gone, it's really hard to beat it and most of the time you'll have to rely on Toxic or a miraculous Critical Hit to get rid of it. Both are fun, feel free to try them !

 

[Pabloaram]

I tried something similar with Morpeko. I had crunch on in the hope of deterring spin blockers. But the thing is so frail most of the time it doesn't do anything. Doublade takes like 37% and then forces it out with fighting coverage.

Tsarenna has the same problema with Doublade.. He is the best defensive spin blocker

 

[Specs]

With respect to Morpeko I'm more a fan of using this set:

Morpeko @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Hunger Switch
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Parting Shot
- Rapid Spin
- Aura Wheel

Heavy Duty Boots means that you're immune to hazards, most importantly webs. Protect+Aura Wheel let's you change the attack type, and Parting Shot is for momentum instead of giving up protect for coverage.

I'll try it out thanks! Tons of webs running around so being faster than some of the abusers seems nice. much appreciated

 

[Cowtao]

This little guy is fun. He is very gambly but the raw power of LO + Hustle nukes a great portion of the meta. I have found one particular set to work really well when using him.

Hide

Die Antwoord (Durant) @ Life Orb
Ability: Hustle
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- First Impression
- Crunch / X-Scissor
- Iron Head
- Stomping Tantrum

Durant being at 108 Base Speed is great to use First Impression with as it outspeeds several priority users including those that are running Sucker Punch as it has +2 on priority and most of it’s users are usually very slow. It also doubles to make Durant a situational revenge killer. Stomping Tantrum is an amazing move to have which can easily clear out the Rhyperior, Coalossal, Arcanine that likes to switch into Durant’s STABs. It also can act as a backup in case you miss on a switch and they send something like Milotic or Hippowdon. With a miss, Stomping Tantrum gets a x2 boost and can severely chunk these popular walls forcing either PP stall or to kill Durant which is what you want. (This also works with First Impression as the move missed regardless of turn used) Crunch is to be prioritized more so than X-Scissor in my opinion as you will already be hitting the meta Grass-Types hard enough with Iron Head or Crunch. Hitting bulky Ghosts such as Dhelmise and Cofagrigus is valuable. Still however, i’m not a fool. You want be to able to deny as many switch-ins as possible and be able to nuke most things that come in to Durant. X-Scissor is an option outside of Crunch to destroy Grass-Types and try for as much damage as possible with dual-STAB.

He is very comparable to Obstagoon in the tier right now. While Obstagoon has an easier time to wallbreak, Durant trades accuracy for pure power and coverage. Almost nothing can safely switch into Durant with this set and I find it to be one of the premier wall breakers in UU right now if you play your turns right.

 

[Marowhacker]

Love gimmick sets that are unlikely to work unless your opponent gets caught out either by matchup inexperience or misplaying? Let me introduce you to Dusclops.

Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mean Look
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Shadow Ball

Despite having 40 HP, Dusclops is still pretty fat and can pretty much not be broken by a lot of the main leads in UU; most importantly Galvantula, Coalossal and Ribombee. Basically, use this as a lead or a late game sweeper - mean look a mon you can wall out, spam calm mind and rest until you're at +6, then either shadow ball or PP stall it all the way out if you can't hit it. Generally, if you're up against a mon which you can wall out, you should walk away unscathed with a +6 Dusclops on the field. Obviously, it loses to Obstagoon among other things, but you're still getting solid trades and if your opponent only has special Pokemon / any Pokemon you can wall it's not a bad late game clean up.

Here's a very low ladder example since I got my old account back; like I said it's a gimmick but can work against decent players providing you catch them out. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1036091381

 

[The Number Man]

Posting this here because we aren't supposed to discuss this in the alpha tour thread.

Seeing as Kommo and Gengar have been banned from the UU Alpha tour for R3 and onwards, due to their popularity and high winrate (possibly in expectation of a qb/rise to OU?). I'd like to bring up Obstagoon as another problematic mon, IMO more so than these two. I liked goon even when dmax was still a thing - despite it not being a great abuser of it. But now that dmax is gone, I'd say goon is the top mon in UU. Sure, gengar and kommo require dedicated checks but checks to those two mons at least exist.
As for Goon, not much really switches into it. Avalugg? Loses boots and starts taking 25 from rocks each switchin. Steelix? Nobody runs that and it hates Knock as well. Kommo? Needs to get in on knock as facade deals a lot, and even then it likely switches in once, dropping to two facades later. Not to mention it's getting banned. Might wanna consider banning it (for the alpha tour), if the goal is cleaning up the format.

TLDR: Goon is broken, ban it for UU Alpha along with Gengar + Kommo.

 

[Hilomilo]

Hey all! This tier honestly still sucks post-dynamax but I have full faith that we're looking at a diverse metagame with lots of great options not long from now (once all the broken stuff gets weeded out in the coming ban cycles). I figured that since UU will soon be transitioning into beta I'd post my thoughts on some mons I've toyed with in the meta that I don't think are getting enough love just yet. Hope y'all enjoy! :)

In the usage stats posted earlier in the month here Toxicroak failed to break 1%, which I think despite the competition Kommo-o gives it is absolutely criminal for everything it can provide. It offers a great fat matchup thanks to it ability to pressure a ton of common Pokemon on more defensively oriented builds, like Umbreon, Milotic, Pyukumuku, Sylveon, Weezing, etc. It can also use its typing to blanket check stuff like Araquanid, Crawdaunt, Weavile, and Whimsicott in a pinch. SD is best for punishing the defensive Pokemon it matches up well against but I've gotten a ton of mileage out of NP with STABs + Dark Pulse due to its physical sets lacking a reliable coverage option for Doublade and co. Vacuum Wave can also be okay if you want to maximize pressure on Obstagoon. Toxicroak definitely has its flaws, like poor bulk and a pretty shaky speed tier, but it can perform excellently with the right support (is a solid pick on webs btw!) and I expect it to be a much more established presence once Kommo-o's gone and it has more breathing room to be explored over the coming months. Here's a dump of its setup sets I've liked using if you're curious.

Rotom-Frost was hard to justify over Fan in the Dynamax meta due to the sheer insanity of Max Airstream, but now I think it should be able to establish itself as a solid pick a lot more easily. NP + pseudo boltbeam coverage is pretty fantastic against a lot of the meta's defensive structures, but Frost also scores points against its main competition in Rotom-Mow with its ability to sustain its boosts way more easily (due to no special attack drop) as well as its typing being more reliable against a lot of defensive presences, like Avalugg, Roserade, and Drapion. Its fat matchup is pretty great and on webs (a play style I've been experimenting with a LOT) it performs super well due to Speed being one of the main things holding it back most of the time. I run Chesto + Rest on it most often since the extra longevity can do wonders, though Volt Switch, WoW, and Pain Split all definitely have their perks and Heavy-Duty Boots is awesome. Mow is still probably the most reliable Rotom form available, though I think Frost deserves lots of love for the unique benefits it can provide.

Just now realizing that this post has been super Nasty Plot heavy LOL. Anyways I think both Ninetales and Salazzle struggled a lot in the dynamax meta to justify usage over Charizard, but with the mechanic banned I think both will end up becoming top picks for offensive Fire-types. Ninetales has already been getting a fair amount of usage for its strength on semi-sun cores with Shiftry, though even on its own it's a very strong standalone wallbreaker. Hippo's presence and its frailty are burdensome at times but its damage output against even resists like Haxorus is pretty nasty and 100 Speed is lovely in this metagame. Salazzle has an amazing Speed tier and could very possibly emerge as one of the meta's top late-game cleaners. It's pretty nasty once Rock-types and faster Pokemon are taken care of, and despite losing HP Grass I've been enjoying tinkering with stuff like Protect and Toxic in the last slot since really you don't have need for coverage or have access to it in the first place lol. Flamethrower is probably its best bet anyway for reliability's sake, but the customizability is surprisingly nice and even something like Knock Off can be useful for fucking with switch-ins like Rhyperior and Jellicent. Overall two mons that I really think will grow to become mainstays in the tier with just some time.

On some smaller notes Weavile is probably a top tier again in this meta. Araquanid is also really fucking good. Bewear is crazy slept on and will probably be one of the best options for a Fighting-type once Kommo-o is gone. Passimian could be a top pick for a scarfer post-kommo meta but rn it sucks not outrunning the most important mon in the meta after a boost. I'll concede Frosmoth is surprisingly annoying and works well on semi-sun but I think it'll become worse as the meta further develops and its natural checks become more standard. Mew is nasty and Reuniclus and Snorlax are both pretty awesome bulky setup mons. Ban Obstagoon.