★ np: SS UU Stage 4: Heads Will Roll (Haxorus banned; Drizzle banned too, see post #57)

[adjustments]

Regarding Intelleon Life Orb + Snipe Shot + Focus Energy averages more than Razor Claw + Hydro Pump + Focus Energy, because of Hydro Pumps accuracy

that would also be because snipe shot has a higher crit rate

 

[Revelation]

that would also be because snipe shot has a higher crit rate

Yeah, both combinations have a 100% crit STAB move. I think that was their point.

 

[Freeroamer]

Rain has been a bit of a strange journey for me, I came into this thinking it would be absolutely absurd to find that actually it wasn't quite as overpowering as I thought it was going to be, yet I still don't think it's something that's at all healthy for the tier. I think the main reason rain wasn’t as ridiculous as I thought it would be is that I don't think any one Drizzle abuser comes close to the potency that Venusaur had under sun, where almost regardless of what you did in the teambuilder games had the potential to devolve into pivoting between resists for each of it's different moves in an attempt to stall out sun. Only Drednaw really comes close to achieving that kind of offensive power and speed combination, but I still think it’s not quite there. This kind of leads into the sentiment that Moute and Adaam had in their posts where it’s not really any one abuser that feels too much, but rather the combination of abusers put together that’s overpowering. I think it’s clear to everyone that only Keldeo out of the long list of Drizzle abusers is problematic outside of rain so I definitely think the correct course of action is looking at Drizzle/Pelipper.

I prefer the option of banning Drizzle as even though part of me feels being forced to use Politoed (good reason to believe this is in the incoming DLC) would be a bigger nerf to rain than people imagine, I still can’t see it being healthy for the tier. I don’t think it’s fair to give a full assessment of Keldeo while rain is in the tier but I think the fact that it’s speed+stabs+power already give it the leg up on 75% of the tier, as well as just having enough options to ensure there’s never really more than a couple of decent answers to each viable Keld set is a little too much for the tier to handle at present. That said I’ll play and spectate more games before getting set in my view on it.

 

[Rawbi]

Qwilfish @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Liquidation
- Poison Jab
- Explosion

If you're looking for a sleeper pick to use on Rain before a decision is made on it, check out this piece of weird bubblegum. Hits pretty hard even without +2 Attack, and Poison coverage is pretty handy for getting around some Rain checks. If you want something gone or very close to gone, go kaboom. You're walled to hell by Jellicent but I'm almost to 1500 and haven't seen a single one so...your mileage may vary?

Here's Qwilfish doing stuff: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1127608895

Anyway if a mediocre player like me can get to nearly 1500 using brain-dead Rain then it's probably not great for the tier. I'm just enjoying using one of the best shinies in the game while I can

 

[Hogg]

This one shouldn't come as a surprise, but the UU Council will be holding a vote on Drizzle. Anyone who has spent any time on the ladder this month can attest to what a threat rain teams have become. Unlike with Sun teams, where the majority of the teams were centralized around two offensive Pokemon, there are a plethora of offensive rain threats, making rain teams particularly difficult to counter: Keldeo, Drednaw, Barraskewda, Mantine, Inteleon, Heliolisk and even Qwilfish have found their way onto rain teams, alongside the ever-present Noivern, who also appreciates rain to throw out perfectly accurate Hurricanes. The huge number of threats makes rain particularly difficult to counter. Water Absorb Pokemon such as Jellicent or Mantine might do well against some of the more powerful breakers on rain, but struggle against things like Heliolisk or Substitute Mantine. Pokemon like Assault Vest or CM Reuniclus might seem like a reliable pivot... except that things like Sniper Inteleon or SD Drednaw will punch through it.

And why hold a vote so close to the DLC? Rain is an immediate threat and deserves to be addressed as such, which is enough of a reason on its own, but also the information we have so far about DLC seems to indicate that it should make matters worse, not better. With Pokemon such as Politoed and Poliwrath, Kingdra, Azumarill and Starmie expected to be released, those who are looking for relief in the Isle of Armor should keep on looking.

So, if you have any thoughts on how the council should vote, let's hear them!

Also, we've discussed ways to increase transparency among the council a good bit, and one thing that we've decided to implement is a "Council Minutes" thread. Basically, every two weeks a member of council will summarize all the discussions and notes that the council has taken in the interim period, hopefully giving the community a chance to see our discussions and interact more directly with the council. (This is not meant to be a substitute for council members talking and posting here, of course - council members should still remain active in any NP discussions!) Thanks to yeezyknows for volunteering to be the first council member to take minutes.

 

[Katy]

​

i think rain overwhelms the uu-metagame right now as there are only limited answers like jellicent and mantine which will get overwhelmed by the many abusers on rain. sure water absorb mantine seems like a good coverage against swift swim-mantine, but the issue is, due to the many abusers which will come in handy for rain-teams such as drednaw it can hit mantine for super-effective damage with its rock-type stabs like stone edge. and with pelipper having the blessed access to u-turn it can easily bring in a counter-answer against jellicent or opposing mantine and pelipper also has access to knock off, which means jellicent might lose its colbur berry and barraskewda therefore can dish out a strong crunch later in the game. opposing mantines are also burdened by it as they will lose their leftovers / heavy-duty-boots which will make the constant switch-ins less concistent as they need their items as well. heliolisk is another great abuser of rain-teams as it can combat the weakness rain-teams have and struggle with: water absorb mons. and with its ability in dry skin and a strong stab thunderbolt - it is also able to create momentum due to a stab volt switch. heliolisk is naturally really fast on its own and paired with strong swift swimemrs in the back rain-teams always have the speed-control. keldeo is another mon i wanna mention as a stab scald / hydro pump in the rain is absurdly strong and only water absorb mons wont take damage whereas anything else, evene resists, take a huge chunk of damage from keldeos stab. scald is also another move with a secondary effect in burn which will make grass-types less consistent in the process of switching into keldeo or its teammates.
rain-teams have many tools and many ways to combat their weak spots with either coverage-options or the natrally fast strong hitters like heliolisk inteleon and noivern i think as of now drizzle should be banned.

​

 

[kumiko]

hello all,

As hogg mentioned before, we voted on Drizzle, and all of the votes are in.

I doubt it comes as a surprise to anyone that Drizzle would be overly strong and overwhelming. Drizzle is incredibly centralizing and overbearing force in the tier, and is quite clearly broken. Rain has all the tools it needs; an array of Swift Swim Pokemon, fast and incredibly strong Water-types, a fast Hurricane user in Noivern, and Heliolisk. The only thing one could argue is that the Swift Swim Pokemon we have are not potent enough in comparison to something like Venusaur, but the ones we have do not disappoint.

Arguably the most potent part of rain is our fast and strong Water-types in Keldeo and Inteleon. Keldeo is newly dropped and absolutely mindless in rain. We have many Water resists available in the tier, but all falter in the fact of a Specs Keldeo in rain. The only way around it is to use Water Absorb Mantine and Jellicent, both of which have questionable viability in the tier on top of the fact they could potentially be circumvented by more niche Keldeo sets. Inteleon is no new face to the tier, but it received an upgrade with the release of Sniper. It now can make use of Snipe Shot well and it is an incredibly frightening thing to face. Its speed tier is 2 points off of being the best in the tier, only being outpaced by Noivern, which cannot come in safely at all. Inteleon is more than just speed, though, backed by Drizzle allows it to fire off mindlessly strong Water-type attacks, very similarly to Keldeo, but you trade off bulk, a few points of Special attack, and a great Fighting-type STAB for more speed and the potential to abuse Snipe Shot + Sniper. These two become absolutely deadly in rain, and they are absolutely not the only options.

This is not all Rain has to offer, though. Every component of rain is nearly as good as the other, if not just as good. Heliolisk and Noivern are both incredibly potent on rain and are given 100% accurate STABs while also being incredibly fits on rain to act as a Water resist that isn't a Water-type (thanks to Dry Skin for Heliolisk). The Swift Swim Pokemon are also insanely powerful, and there are a vast amount to choose from. They may not be as potent as the Pokemon I've already covered, but they are no slouches in the slightest.

All in all, Drizzle is incredibly powerful. The UU Council has unanimously voted to ban Drizzle. Tagging Marty and The Immortal to update the Drizzle ban on PS whenever they have the time. Thank you!

 

[Cynde]

this is similar to what happened last gen. council initially got rid of mega doom but for consistency sake the decision was reversed and drought was banned instead to align with banning drizzle. it's now the same situation this generation because venu was banned fsr ?_?. why the inconsistency? free venu

 

[Hogg]

Because banning a single abuser would not even make a dent in rain. It has numerous abusers and there isn't even anything close to one "best" option. Keldeo is probably the best but you can sub in Inteleon fairly easily, and there are plenty of non-Keld rain teams. With Sun, there was always the question of whether or not it would still be overwhelming without its primary abuser. With Rain, that wasn't in question for anyone on the council; the answer was a resounding yes.

 

[willempju]

Because banning a single abuser would not even make a dent in rain. It has numerous abusers and there isn't even anything close to one "best" option. Keldeo is probably the best but you can sub in Inteleon fairly easily, and there are plenty of non-Keld rain teams. With Sun, there was always the question of whether or not it would still be overwhelming without its primary abuser. With Rain, that wasn't in question for anyone on the council; the answer was a resounding yes.

Why not ban Pelipper instead?

 

[Hogg]

While we try not to base tiering decisions on future drops, with Politoed set to be released in just over a week, we felt it made more sense to ban Drizzle. Drizzle is effectively a single-mon ban with no other tier impact at this point, but it keeps us from having to revisit this tiering decision if another Drizzle user enters the tier in the near future.

 

[Fabi_ODST]

this is similar to what happened last gen. council initially got rid of mega doom but for consistency sake the decision was reversed and drought was banned instead to align with banning drizzle. it's now the same situation this generation because venu was banned fsr ?_?. why the inconsistency? free venu

Rain has always been inherently better than sun, as the abusers are more viable under weather and don't become extra weak to the type boosting them. If we had fire tpe sun abusers (or mainly, non sun weak abusers) or more good abusers in general drought would get the same treatment. Sun as a playstyle is usually balanced if not weak without venusaur. Rain only needs a couple of abusers to destroy the entire tier, and it was WAY too many abusers to choose from. If we start banning rain mons, we would probably ban like 10 rain abusers

Why not ban Pelipper instead?

I mean, the only drizzle abuser is pelipper right now, so it is basically the same. If you factor politoed into the mix, it is more simple to just ban drizzle (politoed could do literally nothing in the game and rain would still have an advantage)

 

[Pabloaram]

Why not ban Pelipper instead?

Because is way better mon than outside of Drizzle. He is a deffoger with recovery and momentum. Also Heavy Duty Boots is really nice on her. Politoed is trash without Drizzle.
Also baning Drizzle resolve the problem with Politoed coming in dlc

 

[Wanka]

meh I don’t really get the comparison to sun. I think even past something like Keldeo it seemed to me that you could kind of pick and choose any sort of abuser duo + noivern (rip 100% accurate hurricanes btw you will be missed) and you’ll have a lot of insta win matchups. Even someone like ludicolo is a genuine threat with drizzle support so I think this is def a bit diff from venu.

just a wankers 2 cents. This gen makes me want to off myself but uu is still coo.

 

[vivalospride]

all my homies hate drizzle

 

[Tacotaco]

I'm quite late for this, but I do believe that Pelipper should have been banned first instead of Drizzle. Shouldn't it require at least two Drizzle users for an ability to be banned? That is like banning Gorilla Tactics instead of Darmanitan (I know there are more inconsistencies with a Gorilla Tactics ban like Huge Power). I do believe that Politoed deserves a fair trial instead of preemtively banning Drizzle because Politoed lacks important tools Pelipper has like a Flying-type, reliable recovery, utility in Defog and Knock Off, and most importantly U-Turn. Politoed is more of a momentum drain since you actually have to hard switch to bring in your rain abusers, and sharing a grass weakness with most rain abusers instead of threatening grass types only makes it worse. Some rain abusers like Starmie and Azumarill may never even drop from OU, while the DLC may also bring back Blissey and Slowbro for more rain checks. If there are two Drizzle users in the meta and both have proven to be banworthy, then I wouldn't mind a Drizzle quickban even if Politoed gets affected, but for now it seems too preemptive for a Pokémon much inferior to Pelipper.

Side note, but would it be possible to also look at a Huge Power ban assuming Azumarill drops and gets banned from UU? Azumarill and Diggersby may offer way more value to the lower tiers than Huge Power Bennelby, Marill, and Azurill. Pure Power is not in gen 8 btw.

 

[Fusion Flare]

I'm quite late for this, but I do believe that Pelipper should have been banned first instead of Drizzle. Shouldn't it require at least two Drizzle users for an ability to be banned? That is like banning Gorilla Tactics instead of Darmanitan (I know there are more inconsistencies with a Gorilla Tactics ban like Huge Power). I do believe that Politoed deserves a fair trial instead of preemtively banning Drizzle because Politoed lacks important tools Pelipper has like a Flying-type, reliable recovery, utility in Defog and Knock Off, and most importantly U-Turn. Politoed is more of a momentum drain since you actually have to hard switch to bring in your rain abusers, and sharing a grass weakness with most rain abusers instead of threatening grass types only makes it worse. Some rain abusers like Starmie and Azumarill may never even drop from OU, while the DLC may also bring back Blissey and Slowbro for more rain checks. If there are two Drizzle users in the meta and both have proven to be banworthy, then I wouldn't mind a Drizzle quickban even if Politoed gets affected, but for now it seems too preemptive for a Pokémon much inferior to Pelipper.

Side note, but would it be possible to also look at a Huge Power ban assuming Azumarill drops and gets banned from UU? Azumarill and Diggersby may offer way more value to the lower tiers than Huge Power Bennelby, Marill, and Azurill. Pure Power is not in gen 8 btw.

The problem with banning Pelipper over Drizzle is that even if Politoed, soon to enter the meta in the DLC, is of a momentum suck compared to Pelipper, it would still no doubt create such an overbearing playstyle due to the absolute power and consistency of rain absuers. We would have to deal with this same situation, which would inevitably end the same way, with Drizzle being banned. It would just end up as a massive waste of time, so it's better off that we ban Drizzle in general.

 

[Moutemoute]

Alright, it's been a while since I didn't made a good post so here I am today to talk about the best drop UU gets since a while... : Keldeo !

Keldeo has proven in about 10 days to be one of the best and the most splashsable Pokemon UU has to offer. Keldeo is without a doubt a S-rank material Pokemon and its impact on the tier is already visible. This Pokemon is almost perfect and in this post I'm going to try my best to explain why.

1. Keldeo as an offensive threat

While it's clear that Keldeo doesn't have the best movepool in the tier and lacks some key moves such as Ice Beam, it has some amazing tool in its arsenal. First of all, it has great offensive stats with 129 SpA and 108 speed which allows it to outspeed a vast majority of the tier and to be part of the top 10 of the fastest Pokemon in Underused. On the other hand, Keldeo has a really good offensive typing which allows it to hit at least on a neutral side most of the tier. Indeed, if we look at the current VR, here are the Pokemon which resist both its STABs : Noivern, Roserade, Celebi, Golisopod, Mantine, Araquanid, Jellicent, Toxicroak, Whimiscott, Vileplume and Pelipper. Although it looks a lot on paper, it's definitively not the case especially since Keldeo has some tools in its movepool which allows it to bypass most of those Pokemon. Thanks to Air Slash, Keldeo can punish Grass-types but also Toxicroak, Golisopod and Araquanid. On the other hand Icy Wind nukes Noivern and can weaken Grass-types. But that's not all since Keldeo has access to Taunt, Calm Mind or Toxic which allows it to bypass some recurrent checks such as Gastrodon, Jellicent, Mantine etc.. It's quite hard to tell what kind of Keldeo you're facing before it attacks so you really need to be careful since you can throw with ease a check to it if you fail your anticipation or send your defensive answer such as Gastrodon on a Toxic Keldeo. I already talked about it in my last post but Keldeo can also run some nasty lure such as LO Megahorn which is able to OHKO Celebi and 2HKO AV Reuniclus which is another nice check to Specs/Scarf Keldeo.

2. Keldeo as a blanket check

Yeah it may sounds weird but Keldeo is actually a pretty bulky Pokemon considering how powerful it is. 91/90/90 is a really nice bulk and its typing coupled to those stats allows it to be the best offensive check to Incineroar which is super useful considering how Incineroar is everywhere in UU. Keldeo can also check and threaten most Rock-types such as Gigalith and Rhyperior and naturally check Barbaracle even after a Shell Smash which is super useful for a lot of teams. Thanks to its great speed, Keldeo can come on some attacks of top threats and revenge kill them like Pangoro, Lucario or Doublade.

3. Facility to fit Keldeo in a team

It's kinda insane how it's easy to build around Keldeo at the moment. Thanks to its stats and typing, Keldeo fits with ease on Balanced and Bulky Offense as you're going to see.

Fire / Grass / Water Core


Incineroar + Rillaboom + Keldeo is a straightforward core. Rillaboom acts as a really nice Choice Scarf user which provides speed and Momentum to the team thanks to U-turn. Grassy Surge is also really nice to support its teammates with passive recovery but it also weakened Earthquake which is nice for Incineroar. In this core, you can play Incineroar as you like, it doesn't really matter. Offensive SD + 3 attacks is kinda nice but probably not the best set here. I believe Bulky SD with U-turn or Bulky pivot / Taunt Incineroar work really well here. U-turn / Parting Shot allows Incineroar to pivot and to form a pretty nice Volt-Turn core with Rillaboom. Incineroar can also pressure Steel-types such as Escavalier which bother Rillaboom while its teammate can nukes Water-types like Rotom-Wash. Last but not least, Keldeo is really good here as a Choice Specs user since it appreciates the momentum created by its teammates which allows it to pressure even more the opponent. Icy Wind is probably the best filler in this core since it allows Keldeo to nuke Noivern which open doors for Rillaboom.


Another standard core but with Celebi instead of Rillaboom. In this type or core, Celebi is really nice to handle opposing Water-types and I believe LO Recover + 3 attacks or Plot+Recover/U-turn + 2 attacks is what you should opt for. U-turn is nice since Celebi will draw checks such as Escavalier and Incineroar. U-turn allows Celebi to pivot on those Pokemon and to bring Incineroar / Keldeo to pressure its checks. Like in the previous core, Choice Specs Keldeo is probably the best set to play even though Choice Scarf Icy Wind may be fun to catch-out of guard a Noivern.



Roserade and Tsareena are also viable options even though they're in my opinion not as good as Rillaboom and Celebi. Roserade can provide Spikes or Toxic Spikes support which is super useful for Choice Specs Keldeo. Roserade's Poison-type is also nice to pressure other Grass-types and Noivern. On the other hand Tsareena brings to the core some momentum and a way to deal with Entry Hazards. While Keldeo isn't weak to Stealth Rock, it doesn't appreciate Spikes or T-Spikes so a spinner/defogger is always nice alongside it. You can also opt for Play Rough > U-Turn on Tsareena to lure Noivern which is super nice if you're playing Keldeo with either SubCM / Taunt+CM or Toxic+Taunt.

Cores which pair well with Keldeo

Alongside Fire / Grass / Water core it's pretty easy to fit another well known core : Steel / Fairy / Dragon core.


Bronzong or Copperajah are probably the best options since they have access to Stealth Rock and they can check pretty well Fairy-types such as Gardevoir or Sylveon. Cobalion is another viable pick but the fact that it doesn't resist to Flying and Fairy-type may be an issue sometimes since you really want alongside your FGW core a Pokemon which is able to handle Noivern (and that's why Rhyperior/Gigalith are also good picks). If your team already have a Stealth Rock setter then Doublade or Escavalier are really solid options. Most of those Steel-types like Rillaboom as a teammate since its Grassy Terrain helps them to handle better opponent's Earthquake.


Sylveon is the most obvious pick since it can support its Steel-type teammate but also Incineroar thanks to Wish. Weezing-Galar is also nice as it can provide Toxic Spikes which are really useful for Keldeo but also Defog if needed. Gardevoir may be useful too with Healing Wish support if the team is more oriented offensively, same applies to Ribombee.


Once again, there is an obvious pick : Noivern our current only S-rank Pokemon which provides Defog but also a nice blanket check to common threats such as Keldeo or Golisopod. On the other hand Flygon can be really nice if your Fire/Grass/Water core doesn't have Rillaboom since it provides U-turn and/or Defog support.

Other Pokemon which pair well with Keldeo

Obviously there is a plethora of viable Pokemon to play alongside Keldeo. Volt Switch users such as Choice Specs Toxtricity or Heliolisk are really nice to bring their teammate Keldeo on the field but they can also pressure Water-types for their teammate while Keldeo can pressure Ground and Rock-types for them. Psychic-types can also work in order to play around a Psychic/Dark/Fighting core (with Incineroar, Pangoro, Umbreon or even Drapion which provides Toxic Spikes support). Some people on the ladder also try to play with Raboot which is a fancy pick with a really small niche.

Examples of teams :

team

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Recover
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic

Incineroar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 200 HP / 56 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Air Slash

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

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
- Psychic

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

team

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Toxic

Weezing-Galar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Sludge Bomb
- Strange Steam
- Fire Blast

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

Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 156 SpD / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Megahorn

Escavalier @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 116 Def / 76 SpD / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Close Combat
- Knock Off

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

team

Xatu @ Light Clay
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Thunder Wave
- Teleport

Barbaracle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast
- Liquidation

Keldeo-Resolute @ Rindo Berry / Expert Belt / Life Orb / Coba Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind

Polteageist @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Shadow Ball
- Stored Power
- Giga Drain

Incineroar @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Flame Charge
- Knock Off
- Close Combat

Toxtricity @ Throat Spray
Ability: Punk Rock
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shift Gear
- Overdrive
- Sludge Bomb
- Boomburst/hide]
That's all for today folks, it's been a while I didn't made a good post talking about the metagame. While I know that this post will be useless in less than a month because of the DLC, I firmly believe it may help beginners to understand how the current metagame around Keldeo works. Thanks for reading me and have a good day while using our little water pony !

 

[Cuddly]

So I here’s a team I recently made that I like to call The CirUUs and I would like to share it here.

The main objective of this team is centered around Unburden Hitmonlee and allowing it to clean up the opponent, using some offensive momentum to rack up as much damage as you need to let Hitmonlee break the bulkiest walls and to make sure Hitmonlee is outspeeding everything it needs.

Rillaboom is a complete powerhouse with Choice Band. With few exceptions, CB Rillaboom is nearly impossible to wall with Grassy Surge. The power of Wood Hammer under Grassy Terrain can do more than a minimum of 43.4% to Max Bulk Avalugg (you know, the third physically bulkiest Pokemon in the game, right behind Dubwool and Bewear (although that’s only against contact moves)) with Timid alone.
So basically, if you aren’t running a resistance, Fluffy abuser, or immunity to Grass, your walls are effectively dead against Wood Hammer.
But of course, Rillaboom isn’t going to let those pesky resistances get in its way.
With Knock Off, Rillaboom makes sure that an on coming Pokemon loses their item. Perfect for letting your teammates choke Weezing-G, dealing with Chandelure, making it harder for Noivern to switch-in, and smack Incineroar trying to freely lower Rillaboom’s power.
U-Turn provides easy offensive momentum for its teammates, the likes of which appreciate the free Leftovers (besides Noivern lol), and the halved damage to Earthquake (Especially Cobalion). It also makes it really easy for Hitmonlee to come in safely, as most things slower than Rillaboom are typically walls (pretty weak) or wallbreakers (Won’t like staying in on Rillaboom while Terrain is up)
And High Horsepower rounds off everything else. It’s able to 2HKO defensive Incineroar 99.6% of the time, can dent the Steels it can’t beat otherwise, it OHKOs Toxtricity, and it can OHKO Duraludon. It’s also great when fighting Cobalion switch-ins, as Knock Off will just activate Justified.

While Hitmonlee is not the ring leader, he’s the main event that they saved for last.
Thanks to Rillaboom, Hitmonlee can copy its French (or Spanish lol) cousin, Hawlucha, for the most part.
Hitmonlee is given 232 Speed EVs (536) to outrun +2 Max investment Tsareena/Slurpuff (534).
Unburden is also Anti-Imposter, so any opponent looking to counter sweep will be out of luck, unless they specifically have Grassy Seed (which would be the dumbest and highest IQ thing I’ll ever see).
The remaining EVs are poured into maximizing damage and maximizing the defensive boost with the remaining EVs and because you would need 60 remaining EVs from Atk/Spe to reach 16 recovery instead of 15.
Due to a lack of Swords Dance, Hitmonlee has to settle with Bulk Up, which will at least will boost Hitmonlee’s physical defense even more after the Grassy Seed is consumed.
Close Combat is the fighting move of choice here. No one wants to see the performer get into a fatal accident with High Jump Kick, and Close Combat nearly has the same power. You also won’t often be using Close Combat before Bulk Up, unless its a dire situation.
Knock Off and Poison Jab are just typical coverage. coverage against Ghosts, Psychics, and Fairies that are weakened.
Hitmonlee really appreciates its teammates. Rillaboom can eat the entire can of Pringles (aka Jellicent) in one bite, Noivern can chip mostly everything and helps provide momentum so the rest of the team can do even more damage, Cobalion is good for Weezing-Galar/Sylveon/Rhyperior, Mr. Mime-Galar actually does well against most Defoggers and some previously mentioned Pokemon, and Keldeo is just a really Strong and Fast Pokemon, being Scarfed for when Noivern can’t keep up and you don’t want to use Hitmonlee just yet.

Noivern is excellent speed control for any team. Being the second fastest Pokemon in the UU tier naturally, anything without Scarf, speed abilities, and set up moves will likely be going last against Noivern. While the time already is pretty speedy, Noivern helps maintain speed control and helps keep offensive momentum when revenge killing. Noivern in general is amazing against offensive teams and still is great against some of the tier’s physically bulkier Pokemon. Weeze-Galar, Doublade, and Golisopod can cause some problems for the team that Noivern happily helps with.
Noivern does not at all benefit from Grassy Terrain, but at least it punishes the opponent for abusing with their own grounded grass types.

The premier rock setter in UU, one of the best offensive pivots in UU, you know his as the ring leader. Cobalion fits right at home with this circus. Stealth Rock is one of the most valuable moves for a team like this. Forcing a lot of switching with how much you’ll be switching in offensive threats will stack up to break past teams even more. Cobalion also fits extremely well on this team due to how it can support the team in other ways and how the team supports Cobalion.
With Grassy Surge, Cobalion receives halved damage from Earthquake and gets 1/8th recovery at the end of the turn. Cobalion appreciates the speed control from Noivern and Keldeo, and it’s nice to have a partner that (can) beat every defogger in UU and every spinner in UU with Mr. Mime-Galar. I gave Cobalion Sword Dance as it pressures Galar-Weezing from Defogging and it can easily take advantage of its high speed and great bulk.

Here we have a clown.

And here we have Mr. Mime-Galar.
What is so special about this PU shitmon?
It has the capability of:
Beating (nearly) every UU usage Defogger.
Heavily crippling or beating every UU usage Rapid Spinner.
Can Rapid Spin away Hazards.
Discourages many of the opposing hazard setters popular in UU.
Noivern?
Can survive a Draco Meteor, hit back with Rapid Spin and then Freeze-Dries.
Roserade?
Is immune to sleep, can survive 1 Sludge Bomb, can rapid spin its spikes away, and it can use Psychic/Psyshock
Bronzong?
As long as it doesn’t have Heavy Slam, it will be set up bait.
Rhyperior?
Forces Rhyperior to either set up Rocks or survive past 2 turns, and leaves a noticeable chunk in its health.
Rotom-Wash/Mow?
Easily KOed.
Flygon?
It can Rapid Spin when Flygon is coming in and speed tie it. As well as forcing to lock itself into an attacking move.
Weezing-Galar?
Dunks on it with Psychic.
Mantine?
Freeze-Dry.
Tsareena?
Is not able to switch in and is 2HKOd by Ice Beam and Freeze-Dry
Silvally-Steel?
The first time a Defogger doesn’t lose to full health Mr. Mime-Galar. Unfortunately, Cobalion already has Mr. Mime-Galar covered.
Blastoise?
2HKO’d by Freeze-Dry.
Whimsicott?
Again, OHKO’d by Freeze-Dry/Ice Beam and can OHKO back.
Xatu?
Now it’s a cold turkey.
Avalugg?
Psychic 2HKOs, so it can’t switch in. It also becomes set-up fodder real easily.
Torkoal?
2HKO’d by Psychic too.
Silvally-Fairy?
3HKO’d but can’t OHKO so it can’t switch in.
It’s also wrecked by Cobalion too.
Claydol?
Removed from existence with Ice Beam
Aside from Silvally-Steel, Mr. Mime-Galar was able to come out on top against every other ranked Hazard Remover that actually uses Defog/Rapid Spin, and it can discourage many hazard setters on the opponents side with its excellent FD/Psychic type coverage.
Sure, most of the time it won’t survive, but trading in a PU Pokemon to remove the opponent’s Defogger or Rapid Spin is definitely worth the trade to get your precious Stealth Rocks up. And hey, you might score more thanks to Nasty Plot, its good Speed tier with Rapid Spin, and when your mime kicks the bucket, that means a free switch for you.
Really an underlooked Pokemon with potential on offensive teams.

One of the new and exciting Pokemon to drop from OU, Keldeo is amazing offensively. Keldeo is the second fastest Pokemon on the team, behind Unburden Boosted Hitmonlee. Its 108 Speed and Scarf let Keldeo outpace Shiftry in the Sun. Water/Fighting coverage is only resisted by Noivern (who is extremely frail), Roserade (already handled and isn’t too bulky), Mantine, Golisopod/Araquanid, Jellicent, Toxicroak (also pretty frail), Whimsicott (pretty frail again and is already dealt with by its teammates), and Vileplume (lmao) among all ranked Pokemon.
The ones Keldeo should worry about the most are Mantine, Golisopod, Araquanid, and Jellicent, which is perfectly fine since Keldeo can Toxic them and Rillaboom hurts Mantine/Jellicent on a spiritual level. Noivern hurts Golisopod on an emotional level.
If those hiccups aren’t there, Keldeo is a fine revenge killer and is pretty good at all breaking.

Anyways, this post is getting long, and I ask what your (the person reading) thoughts are on this team and how would you improve it?

(also C rotated 90 degrees CCW looks like a U, so in case you were wonder where the second C is in CirUUSs)

 

[zachkauffman]

keldeo gets flip turn in the DLC

ban this thing

 

[Moutemoute]

I compiled all new moves added to the current Pokemon ranked in the UU VR + Rillaboom : https://pokepast.es/d736feb2d2c678bf
If you wanna see all new moves : https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/isle-of-armor-metagame-speculation-thread.3665820/post-8506384

Notable changes :

• Keldeo has access to Flip Turn which allows it to keep momentum, may be useful on Choice Scarf/Specs sets
• Incineroar has access to Las Out which may be usable alongside its ability Intimidate which decreases the attack of the opponent's Pokemon
• Gardevoir has access to Misty Explosion, a good Fairy-type which can has a niche if you want to sac Gardevoir in order to keep momentum
• Necrozma has access to Meteor Beam, a Rock-type move in 2 turns which raises SpA on first turn then attack on the second turn. Maybe a set with Power Herb can be viable ?
• Flygon has access to Scorching Sands which can be useful on defensive sets
• Like Gardevoir, Weezing-Galar has access to Misty Explosion so it can act as a suicide lead with Toxic Spikes
• Ninetales has access to Scorching Sands which is nice to punish Pokemon like Gigalith and maybe burn them
• Tsareena has access to Triple Axel which is an Ice-type move. Super useful in order to OHKO Noivern
• Barraskewda has access to Flip Turn which is really nice on Choice Band set in order to keep momentum
• Indeedee has access to Expanding Force, a Psychic-type move which is more powerful under Psychic Terrain. Probably its best new STAB.
• Claydol has now access to Scorching Sands which allows it to be less passive since it can now pressure some Pokemon with a potential burn
• Golurk has access to Poltergeist, a strong 110 BP Ghost-type move
• Runerigus has access to Poltergeist, a strong 110 BP Ghost-type move
• Last but not least.. Rillaboom has access to Grassy Glide, a 70 BP Grass-type attack which gains +1 priority under Grassy Terrain.. Get ready for Choice Band sets !

That's all for today folks, I'm super hyped to see how the metagame gonna changed with those changed + NFE dropped that we're going to get right away (see reasons : here).. So yeah expect Chansey for a few days probably.

feel free to live a like to the likewhore I am, this shit took me so much time to compile

 

[Lily]

As we all know, the Isle of Armor DLC has dropped and with it came around ~100 Pokemon - most of which will not be viable in UU, but I think there are a few we'll see the return of to our tier, as well as potential new faces. A quick list of Pokemon I think we may see:

Now of course, not all of these are going to be good, or even viable, but I think most of them are. Here are some quick thoughts on the ones that I think will have some sort of niche:

: It gets the WishPort combination and walls Noivern pretty well. Definitely not an amazing mon, but it could see some fringe value based on that. Decent enough check to other special attackers too, as long as they're not too powerful - things like Heliolisk, Rotom, LO 3atks Celebi etc. aren't gonna have the easiest time breaking through this thing. Probably bad, though.

: Interesting typing that allows it to check Incineroar among other things, as we've seen from the Keldeo. Got some new toys to play with in Close Combat and Drain Punch, so there's definitely some room for this guy to do some work. Think it'll be pretty alright tbh.

: Tentacruel does Tentacruel things, it spins, knocks, scalds and is just generally a very annoying presence. Being a check to a whole host of top-tier threats like Cobalion, Keldeo, and bulky waters is absolutely amazing, and it's pretty customisable thanks to its surprisingly deep movepool. I can see it being a UU mainstay once more.

: Absolutely demonic wallbreaker with insane Poison/Psychic/Fire coverage coming off a respectable 100 SpA, particularly when paired with a Life Orb. It's not RIDICULOUSLY powerful but it's quite hard to switch into:
252+ SpA Life Orb Slowbro-Galar Shell Side Arm vs. 252 HP / 196+ SpD Incineroar: 142-169 (36 - 42.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Slowbro-Galar Shell Side Arm vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Noivern: 208-247 (66.8 - 79.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Slowbro-Galar Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Escavalier: 328-390 (95.3 - 113.3%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
It still has access to reliable recovery in addition to Regenerator, and its natural bulk and typing makes it a solid check to the likes of Roserade, Cobalion, and Escavalier. Can't wait to try this thing out, think it'll be a really solid tank.

: Chople variants might trap Cobalion and Escavalier or something. Idk. Seems okay at best.

: If Poltergeist works the way I think it does then say goodbye to all of your Pokemon bc Wak is here to OHKO them. I THINK this'll be pretty good, but not being able to hold boots is pretty annoying (though its typing/ability combo is cool... maybe a bulkier boots variant could actually be a thing, being a rocker that can threaten things like zong/tox seems cool!). Excited for this one for sure.

: Azu is going to be a weird one. On one hand it seems really, really tough to deal with given our lack of things that can actually tank a +6 Aqua Jet, but on the other hand there are certainly a bunch of viable revenge killers like Celebi, Heliolisk, and Noivern. I think CB may be too much to handle? Nothing really takes it on bar Tentacruel and like, Neutralising Gas Weezing, so idk hard to say. Assuming it drops, it's probably going to be a controversial one.

: This thing is gonna be nuts. Walls Cobalion, walls Keldeo, walls Noivern, walls Rhyperior, walls Lucario, walls literally the whole ass tier and it has Regen + Teleport to be excessively annoying. Definitely gonna be a staple, potentially even an S tier.

: sdbpbpbpbp

: The goat spiker. A decent scarfer with a solid movepool, potentially a cool addition - guts sets will of course be as potent as ever, cleaving through the entire tier pretty much single handedly.

: Would be strange to see Skarm drop to UU for the first time, particularly in a limited format. However, I think Corviknight is just gonna outshine our condor friend, being so much more splashable on any team thanks to U-turn and its better bulk. I could see Skarm having a great home here, though - Iron Defense + Body Press is pretty tough to deal with, it's a great check to the likes of Scizor, Krookodile, and old mainstays like Cobalion and Flygon. Plus, it's another form of hazard removal, which is definitely not a bad thing down here!

: I lowkey think this mon will suck but idk maybe it can pull some stuff with its DD set, but it's gonna struggle a lot with things like Azu, Skarmory, Milotic etc. so I can't see it taking off.

: OBSCENELY bulky pivot with access to Recover + Teleport is pretty cool. Handles mons like the new Galarian Slowbro, Noivern, and Specs Sylveon pretty admirably. Seems like it'll be pretty good, though Knock Off spam will hurt it.

: Blissey offense, anyone?

: Shark's gonna destroy offense like it always has. It got CC which is pretty cool for it, giving it a better move to break through the likes of Cobalion and Copperajah. Automatically running Protect means it's also not gonna struggle with First Impression users which is pretty cool for it. Might be a decent sweeper.

: If you thought Toxtricity was bad...

: Sand balance may be a thing thanks to this puppy and Palossand. Looks like a real nightmare to switch into without like Skarmory or Rhyperior, and the insane speed + solid bulk is gonna make it hard to revenge kill too. I think it'll be very niche but will have its spot on some teams.

: Enjoy UUBL.

: The return of the crocodile, now featuring Close Combat for the Hydreigon that we don't have anymore. A fast, strong dark is something this tier has needed for a while now, and I think Krook will have its place as a top threat once more - handling threats like Necrozma, Reuniclus etc. will be very very appreciated and it's a Ground type that doesn't get immediately blown up by Heliolisk which is nice. Great speed tier, impossible to really switch into safely, overall amazing mon.

: Bit of a gimmick, but NP sets look really tough to deal with thanks to its amazing Speed and solid power/coverage. Might finally have its place as a legitimate threat!

: I'm not even sure if we'll get Amoonguss, but it's a very annoying pivot. Checking stuff like Cobalion, Azumarill, Scizor, Escavalier, Krookodile, Heliolisk, Roserade and more all in a single slot is really, really valuable, and Spore is probably gonna be as broken as ever. One thing to note is that it doesn't have HP Fire anymore so it's gonna be permanently walled by Scizor if it gets the Spore turn wrong. I think this'll be a top tier threat if it drops, and I'm not really excited for its return.

: Yes yes yes give me more Regenerator breakers. Mienshao is looking like a really fun and annoying utility option w/ CC + Knock + U-turn, maybe AV will see a resurgence as a way to check things like Roserade and Heliolisk while maintaining momentum. Reckless sets still have 0 switchins too, minus Galarian Weezing and Galarian Slowbro, which should be absolutely great for this mon. Very excited to use it.

: MUST. GET. ROCKS. UP.

: Boots Talonflame actually seems like a decent defensive mon lol. Fire/flying is great and handles stuff like Cobalion and Lucario admirably, and a fast Taunt/Will-o is cool. Dual Wingbeat means it has a consistent albeit weak Flying stab too. Don't think this'll be top tier but I'd be really surprised if it's not viable.

: Walls Rose, doesn't really have switchins. Loss of HP fire is pretty lame because it means that getting past Escavalier and AV Rajah will be a bit harder, but they're not gonna appreciate repeated Dracos. More dragons is definitely not a bad thing for the Noivern tier so I really hope this one's good.

: Klefki does what Klefki has always done; walls Dragons, gets Spikes up, spreads paralysis and is overall an obnoxious presence. I think it'll be really appreciated down here for its ability to handle stuff like Dragalge and Roserade while keeping the hazard war in your favour, but idk if it'll be exceptional.

: The puppy is here to claim lives. +2 Tough Claws LO Close Combat is just so, so strong, completely obliterating neutral targets like Milotic after Rocks damage. Accelerock is also an exceptionally good priority move in this tier - most of the mons that are faster than the dusk dog will just fold to it (think Noivern, Ribombee, Inteleon, Barraskewda) and make it pretty much impossible to stop the little guy's sweep. I think this is going to be a top threat for sure.

: The Scorcher™️ is here to claim lives. Walling Toxtricity is an exceptionally valuable trait, but Palossand does a lot more than that - it can handle the likes of Cobalion, Incineroar (if it's Colbur), Escavalier, and Rhyperior with ease. It abuses Gigalith like no other, taking advantage of its sand for 67% (!!!) recovery with Shore Up, and also happens to pair well with Gigalith which checks annoyances like Chandelure, while Palo takes on Fighting-types that Gigalith hates. I can see a world where Palossand is one of the best defensive mons in UU tbh, I can't wait for it.

So yeah, there are a lot of new mons that look pretty viable, though a lot of this is just late-night thinking so maybe I'm way off. I'm very excited for July's tier shifts regardless, they seem like they're gonna shake this meta up a LOT which can only really be a good thing. Here's hoping for some good drops C:

 

[ausma]

So, the new drops have hit us, and suffice to say, SS just got hit with a bunch of new layers of spicy goodness, and SS UU is no different. While we aren't going to get access to these guys for a while, there is one, very, very scary Pokemon that I'm relatively certain is likely to drop that I'd like to touch on.



Lycanroc-Dusk, aka Murder Dog, has dropped upon us in the Sword and Shield DLC. We already know of this thing's wallbreaking potential, as shown by its role as a wallbreaker that it had back in Gen 7; however, the TR system has graced Lycanroc-Dusk with 2 incredible moves and 1 solid one: Close Combat, Play Rough, and Psychic Fangs respectively. Additionally, not only does it have a menacing base 117 attack, but it has Tough Claws and even Swords Dance to boost all three of these options all the more. To exploit its mind numbing power, it also has a hugely relevant speed tier, outpacing top threats Cobalion and Keldeo with its base 110 speed, and is fully capable of thrashing faster threats that outspeed it with Tough Claws boosted, STAB Accelerock (Salazzle and Noivern, most relevantly). While somewhat of a fringe offensive pick back in Gen 7 UU, I believe that in Gen 8 UU, this thing will be a premier offensive threat.

I hugely think it is so good, particularly because of its newfound, incredible matchup against the tier. As stated before, it has a phenomenal speed tier of 110, which outpaces the majority of unboosted Pokemon in the tier. On top of this, its coverage options are absolutely godlike, as common walls in the tier cannot even hope to effectively soak a hit from it without risking a devastating, super effective move. Most prominently, though, Lycanroc-Dusk's new access to Close Combat allows for it to dismantle a great majority of the tier just by itself. The following calcs demonstrate only a few examples of the power of its Close Combat with just a Life Orb.

how is this even fair

252 Atk Life Orb Tough Claws Lycanroc-Dusk Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Solid Rock Rhyperior: 246-291 (56.6 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (your Rhyperior is no longer a switch-in)
-1 252 Atk Life Orb Tough Claws Lycanroc-Dusk Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Incineroar: 299-354 (75.8 - 89.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Intimidate? what's that)
252 Atk Life Orb Tough Claws Lycanroc-Dusk Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 330-390 (101.8 - 120.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Additionally, due to how potent of a threat it is offensively, it is very easily able to threaten a KO and net a Swords Dance on a defensive switchin, which contains calcs I do not need to show that demonstrate how absolutely mind-numbing this thing is as a breaker and cleaner. On Screens HO, this isn't even a factor, as it can click Swords Dance once and then go to town with Close Combat, Stone Edge, and Accelerock alone.

Obviously, this is all theorymonning, but Lycanroc-Dusk has been blessed with some insanely powerful buffs this generation, and I feel that this thing offensively will dismantle a great majority of the tier if it drops. It is, of course, greatly frail and prone to revenge killers it can't pick off with Accelerock, and as such it can't be thrown in willy nilly. Though, when it gets in, it will do a lot of work, and I could even see it being suffocating to an extent, too.

Regarding my feelings on the other mons, Lily pretty much stated my thoughts and did so a lot better than I could, so I won't echo anything.

 

[Monky25]

Giving my 2 cents on the dlc drops, I do feel that some of these mons will drastically impact the UU metagame. UU staples like Scizor, tentacruel, Heracross, and Klefki return while mons such as dusk lycanroc and pallossand will have newfound viability with their buffs. Even OU mainstaple skarmory will end up in UU for the first time, where it'll be a great check to stuff like cobalion and celebi.

On the other hand, which UUBL mons do y'all think should be eventually retested once the metagame settles in. I have several thoughts and I'd like to see what others think.
- Both Mamoswine and Haxorus were both banned recently due to suspects, so I don't see them being retested before any of the others.
-Gyarados is likely to stay UUBL, the pwoer creep is still too big for it to have a place in UU.
-Crawdaunt is a bit iffy for me, as even though we have no new defense mons to answer it, we have many offensive mons that have dropped to this tier like cobalion, keldeo, lucario, and incoming mienshao (hopefully) that are faster and can revenge it. i could be wrong though, i haven't played UU for very long so maybe somebody has a better idea about crawdaunt.
-Same with diggersby, it has strong breaking power but it's worse typing and weaker stats makes it vulnerable to being revenge by lots of the new and current mons in the tier. Once again, I didn't play UU when diggersby was not banned so somebody probably has a better insight than me.
-Dracozolt is likely staying in UUBL, it's strengths tremendously outweigh it's drawbacks and it has very few defensive answers available.
-Weavile I'm unsure of, it has a shitty typing and losing pursuit hurts it but i feel it's too fast and banded knock off stings like a bitch. Maybe im just desperate for something that can revenge kill noivern.
-Venusaur is currently out of question, as the council may reconsider coming back to the drought decision should a new abuser that pushes it arrives. If drought does become banned, then venusaur will definitely be unbanned as drought wont be there to push it over the edge.
-Durant and Obstagoon are 2 mons I hope return to UU the most where they'll actually have some value. Durant gets a new check in tentacruel and both Incineroar and rotom wash can check it if it does not run superpower and rock slide. That being said it's still damn fast and hustle gives it an impressive boost, so it may sadly stay in the realm of UUBL. Obstagoon has solid wallbreaking power, but it has an average speed tier that leaves it vulnerable to many faster threats like cobalion, keldeo, mienshao, scizor, lycanroc-dusk, and many more. That being said, if any of these retests and allowed in UU do happen, any of these mons will have a solid presence on the tier.

 

[Chandell]

So my favorite pokemon Chandelure doesn't seem to have received any new beneficial moves from the update. However, Chandelure already has benefited from this gen by eliminating two of its weaknesses which previously made Chandelure painful to use: entry hazards and pursuit. Chandelure being frail and not very fast means it likes to get in and out, rarely is it sweeping teams unless they are full of slow balance/stall pokemon. Pursuit previously preyed on how easy it can be to force Chandelure out, but with that move gone your investment in Chandelure is no longer a risk, Chandy won't be eliminated at a random moment in the match. Heavy duty boots not only affects rocks, which is most important for Chandelure, but every other type of entry hazard, meaning Chandelure can find use in more situations such as against sticky web teams, and has a better matchup against hazard-stacking teams. Incineroar being so popular in UU is a phenomena which does not harm Chandelure as much as one would think, Chandelure outspeeds Incineroar meaning it only needs to get incineroar in 2-hit range from fire blast(most likely used for power but not as reliable as flamethrower). The return of Blissey makes Chandelure's best set even better (well best from the previous gens, we'll see what's optimal this time around), as the rise of stall feels imminent, although I doubt it will ever reach the levels of the dark days of Gen 7. We no longer have the key megas which synergized amazingly with Stall such as M-Altaria and M-Aggron, and I don't think we have Alomomola either. Still, when stall rises Chandelure improves as well. I want to share a potential stallbreaking set for Chandelure that gets around some of Chandy's common checks and counters.
Chandelure @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
- Toxic
This set devastates what would be considered Chandelure's most reliable switchins, even if stall teams start running RestTalk Incineroar Chandelure can block any attempts to recover.