np: SS UU Stage 8 - Highway to Hell

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Prim's usage went up in Snake from 2 teams to 4, and I think that's awesome, because she hits stupidly hard. Specs Hydro 2HKOes Celesteela and OHKOes a bunch of other stuff. Boots is very reliable, as Prim already has a high SpAtk stat anyways and doesn't need to rely on boosts or items too much, and Sub CM once it gets going is unstopabble, but I do prefer the raw power of Specs. I've seen Lilburr and Adaam talk about Primarina and how good it is, and I agree. I wish more people would use it, just for the raw power of the specs set. Flip Turn is also an option on specs, so you can capitalize on forced switches even more. Psychic coverage hits its 2 best checks in Amoon and Tenta too.


Amazing mon rn. Very versatile, has great typing and access to SR. I think the best sets rn are defensive and offensive rocker. Defensive checks a lot of stuff, like Victini, Crawdaunt, Zeraora, Lycan-D, both Rotoms, Bulu, Volcanion, etc. What makes Kommo-o good but not absolute best is that, out of all those mons I listed, only one doesn't have a way of dealing with it, which is Crawdaunt, as CC just doesn't cut it, even on CB sets. Tini can run Zen Headbutt or mixed sets, Zera has Play Rough, Lycan can run Psychic Fangs (which also hits Nidoqueen), Rotoms have space for Toxic, banded Bulu can do a good chunk with Zen Headbutt and Volcanion can overpower Kommo-o with a specs set. Still, Kommo-o manages to be a very good defensive mon and def worth using. Offensive can scare Scizor with Flamethrower, Primarina with Poison Jab, and defensive Mence with Dragon STAB, while it has the opportunity to set Stealth Rock too.


This one I've seen quite a bit. Double Dance is an actual threat, as at +2 on both Speed and SpAtk, there's not much outside of priority that can deal with this. Its defensive typing isn't the best and its main role as an Aegi check is now gone, but Dark/Flying is a good offensive typing. Under screens, this thing is almost unkillable in even 2 hits and once it gets the Berserker boost after a NP... scary. Still not overwhelming tho, but I always have to play careful as to not give it free turns to setup, because once it gets going, good luck.


One of my favorite mons to use, very very fun! Meteor Beam Power Herb is a nice combo and if you get rid of its checks, it can sweep pretty easily. Scarf saw more use when it first dropped, and now I haven't really seen much of it, but it's still very very good. Stealth Rocks / Toxic Spikes + 3 attacks is also very fun to use, because Nihi does force a lot of switches due to good offensive typing. However, Nihi does suffer a lot from both the loss of Hidden Power and from 4MSS in general. It needs to run one of Meteor Beam/Stealth Rock/Toxic Spikes for its sets, meaning one slot is gone (and the scarf set generally runs power gem/sludge wave/tbolt/filler, so power gem just replaces meteor beam). Next comes Sludge Wave to deal with Fairies and stuff like Kommo-o, Latias, Amoong, and Rotoms. Then you run Tbolt for Steela and Tentacruel. You are then left with Dazzling Gleam, which imo isn't worth it at all, only hits Kommo-o. Psychic can also work for Amoong and Nidoqueen, but then that's it, really. Grass Knot still doesn't do a lot to Nidoqueen and Mamoswine. Not to mention you want to run Power Gem to hit Salamence, Victini, Rotom-H, and Volcanion more reliably. And with all that coverage, Magnezone, Scizor and Jirachi STILL wall you to no end. Priority and laughable physical bulk also make Nihilego easier to deal with. Despite all this, Nihilego is a very good mon, not to mention it being a healthy presence in the tier, keeping dangerous threats like Thundurus-T in check.


Gonna mention these 4 in the same paragraph because I think they're extremely underrated. Kyurem's coverage is AMAZING, and very little stuff can check it, Steela and Scizor being the only ones I can think of right now. Granted, Steela is the most used mon in the tier, but we do have answers for it, and as soon as its gone, Kyurem just takes lives. Diggersby, on the other hand, doesn't care about Steela and just SDs as it comes in and Fire Punches it to oblivion. Not to mention priority Quick Attack and STAB EQ. Scarf sets can take you by surprise too! Durant hits stupid hard with Hustle + CB, and its priority although not spammable as Diggersby's, is way stronger and can cleanly OHKO foes. Steela keeps it in check too, but there's not really else. Amoong def doesn't want to take CB Iron Heads, nor does Cobalion want to take Superpowers, while Salamence doesn't like Stone Edge. Durant is just a good mon in general! Conk's Flame Orb set is GREAT, specially paired with Bulu, negating its recoil, and they also help each other by sharing checks and chipping them down for each other, like Steela, Kommo-o and Scizor. I haven't tried Bulk Up, but does seem to be nice, tho with Steela, Kommo-o, Latias, and Azu running around, I don't know if it has the same value. More people should use these 4, as they have great prowess as wallbreakers.
 
So I'm back to playing again after a 3 month hiatus and just wanted to quickly build on Bandkrook's post on how great Primarina is currently. Been having a lot of success with the SubCM set and as already mentioned it's lethal once it gets going. It combines the defensive utility of last gens RestTalk set with the ability to straight up sweep teams. It has to be played a bit more conservately though to conserve health compared to the RestTalk set which is why I've opted for Draining Kiss instead of Moonblast. This also lets it set up subs more freely. Anyways it's awesome, try it out!

Also wanna see what people think about Aurora Veil right now cause I've been struggling peronally. Don't know if it's broken per se but it allows already dangerous mons like BD Azu to become even better and we have a plethora of other dangerous set up sweepers that also benefit from Aurora Veil. Don't know if it's broken, but would love to hear other peoples opinion on this.
 

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Just as an update, for those who haven't seen, there will be one more mid-month shift on the 16th. After that, we'll re-assess the tier. If there are no significant changes, we have been discussing switching back to public suspect tests.

Also semi-related, but something I've really been liking a lot lately is Toxtricity. Despite its frailty, it has been finding a surprising number of opportunities to set up a Shift Gear. Toxic and Thunder Wave immunity gives it plenty of opportunities vs bulkier teams, while against more offensive teams it can usually get in a free turn versus common mons like Zeraora. Being a special attacker that comfortably punches through Celesteela and that completely takes advantage of Chansey is extra nice. Get some chip on Latias and it can really do some damage.
 

-=-=-=-=-=-=Ground Types in the UU tier=-=-=-=-=-=-



Hello! Hope everyone is doing okay! In this post, I wanna talk about Ground types, and why they're important to the UU tier and it's teams. I'll be breaking this post into 2 sections: Why it's important to have Ground types and the different viable Ground types you can choose from.

I. Why is it important to have a Ground type?

Well for starters, there's more then one benefit to having a Ground type. To put it briefly, Ground types offer a way to check Electric types, block Volt Switch (which is important for offense matchup), as well as resist rock, which is beneficial for not losing to Stealth Rocks. Each Ground type has it's own unique trait that makes it worth considering for your team. Just like last generation, its essential to carry a Ground type to not be dismantled by the common VoltTurn archetype. While that is from last generation, VoltTurn is still one of the most common and consistent playstyles in the metagame, so being prepared for it is key to any successful team.

II. What are some of the Ground types available?

Glad you asked! We have a select variety to choose from in the current metagame, no matter what playstyle you choose. We have offensive Grounds, in the middle Grounds, Fat Grounds, and even Stall Grounds. Here's some of the options:


Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Modest Nature
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Toxic Spikes / Stealth Rock

Krookodile @ Chople Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake / High Horsepower
- Knock Off
- Taunt / Toxic / Crunch / Smack Down

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake / High Horsepower
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
- Crunch / Toxic / High Horsepower

Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 172 SpD / 84 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake / High Horsepower
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance / Toxic / Megahorn
(just use max spdef if youre not SD, the speed is only for outrunning Chansey and SDing on it)

These 3 Grounds are easily the best overall Ground Types in the tier atm in my view. While I think Nidoqueen is the better of the 2, Krookodile is easily a close second. Nidoqueen is in a good spot now for a few reasons. It's natural bulk lets it invest into max special attack, making it really hard to directly switch into, as well as making it function as a very good hazard setter, due to its ability to force switches. Ground/Poison is a great typing for checking top tier metagame threats, such as Zeraora, Kommo-o, Terrakion, Thundurus-T lacking Psychic, and other scary breakers. It also has the benefits of absorbing Toxic Spikes. By virtue of it's typing and coverage as well, Nidoqueen can offensively check things like Tapu Bulu or Scizor. Nidoqueen is also quite splashable due to these attributes, and always carries it's weight in every matchup. However, Nidoqueen is quite prone to hazards such as Spikes or Stealth Rock. On top of this, Nidoqueen also suffers from lack of reliable recovery, although this generally isn't too much of a concern when paired with Tapu Bulu. It doesn't really like Knock Off either, but it doesn't really NEED it's item to function properly.

Krookidile is a little more versatile, but also a lot less defensively focused and more offensively based. Sitting at a relatively solid base 92 speed tier, Krookodile can generally outrun most forms of Hazard Control, and Taunt or threaten the opponent with Knock Off. Knock Off in itself is a huge tool for Krookidile, allowing it to punish common pokemon that would want to switch into Krookidile, such as Tapu Bulu, Tangrowth, or Skarmory. Krookodile isn't passive either. Boasting a respectable 117 attack, Krookidile hits things that don't resist it's stabs relatively hard. Where Krookodile really starts to show it's worth is through Intimidate, its main ability. Intimidate lowers the opponent's attack by 1 stage, which is generally enough alongside Knock Off/Earthquake, to force out of a lot of pokemon, making Krookodile an efficient Rocker. On the rocks set, Krookidile can utilize some cool tools, such as the previously mentioned Taunt, Toxic to further punish things like Tangrowth, Tapu Bulu, or Salamence, or even Crunch, to hit itemless pokemon harder, as well as possibly dropping the opponent's defense. The other variant of Krookodile, while worse then the Rocks set, is Choice Scarf. 92 Base speed isn't bad, persay, but generally it's just barely enough, with Krookodile barely outrunning boosted Blaziken, Gyarados, or Kommo-o. However, Krookidile has some good coverage options to utilize on Scarf, such as Crunch, Stone Edge (for Gyarados and the occasional DD Salamence), or even High Horsepower, just incase people think they're safe in Grassy Terrain. While Krook suffers from a few of the same issues Nidoqueen does, namely lack of recovery and being quite prone to being worn down, Krookodile is a solid Ground type in the tier, that everyone should give a shot to.

Rhyperior, while not quite as good as it used to be before the DLCs hit, is still pretty solid in the metagame. Rock/Ground allows Rhyperior to consistently pivot in on things like Salamence, Rotom-Heat, Zeraora that forgo CC for Play Rough, and so on. Solid Rock is also an amazing ability, letting Rhyperior not get baited once and be done for the rest of the match. While considerably slower the the other 2, Rhyperior is super fat and still hits pretty hard back. I will admit, I don't have AS much experience with Rhyperior as I do with Krook or Queen, but It's still easily one of the best Ground types in the tier, and that's hard to disagree with. It can run enough speed for base 50's like Chansey, alongside Swords Dance, to function as a semi-breaker vs fatter builds. Other cool and viable options include Toxic, to punish things like Slowking or defensive Kommo-o, or Megahorn, to directly threaten Slowking and Tangrowth. While it also really suffers from being worn down, its generally running Leftovers compared to a berry or a Life Orb.

After writing this post for an hour and a half, I'll post the second half of viable grounds in the future. *insert classic moute cliffhanger here*​
 
Hey there, since I started practicing on Photoshop a few weeks ago, I decided that I could join the useful with the pleasant by doing some graphics/chart every week to highlights things in UU Snake Draft by using SS UU games as reference. The format of this chart may change a bit during the next week in order to have the best thing as possible. You'll be able to find more informations following this picture..!

UU-Snake-Draft-3.png


Top Usages

• Jirachi has been the most used Pokemon this week with 13 uses while Salamence has been used 11 times. All the Pokemon from Krookodile to Blaziken has been used 6 times which means they were in 25% of every team of this week.

Top Winrate

• Primarina & Rotom-Heat have a wooping 100% winrate this week and I've been respectively used 3 and 4 times. On the other hand, Krookodile and Amoonguss have also pretty high winrate with high usages (6 and 4 times).

Common Cores

• Jirachi + Salamence / Salamence + Tangrowth / Tangrowth + Jirachi are common cores this week. Jirachi can set Stealth Rock while Salamence is a great Defogger that can check Blaziken. Tangrowth can handle a lot of hits too and check threats such as Zeraora or Krookodile for its mates.

Flavour of the Week

• For those who followed the matchs during last week, it's no surprise to see Screens Offenses based on Grimmsnarl there. This archetype has been used 5 times this week and won 60% of the time. Its abusers are Pokemon such as Terrakion, Blaziken, Latias, Scizor, Mimikyu, Jirachi or Thundurus-T.

BONUS : Losers of the Week

• This week’s loser is probably Celesteela which has been used 5 times but only won 20% of the time. Nidoqueen has the same issue by being used 4 times and having 0% winrate. Latias & Scizor have not shined a lot too (winning only 1 of their 3 matchs) while Mimikyu and Reuniclus did the same than Nidoqueen during their 2 games.
 
Heres the shifts !

Regieleki moved from OU to UU

Conkeldurr moved from RUBL to UU
Grimmsnarl moved from RU to UU
Slowking moved from RU to UU

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

We don't lose anything and we got an even faster Electric-type..well well well !
 
so this was overall an ok shift for UU, we dropped our ass mons (rip volcanion, you were underutilized), saved RU from the terror of slowking, and didn't lose anything but got a neat new toy in regieleki. I've heard discussion saying eleki would be too scary or constrain teambuilding, but i don't find that to be true. An electric resist and immunity is pretty much required in the UU tier with zeraora being a top 3 mon, meaing you need something to deter volt switchs and plasma fists. We also have an abundance of electric resists to regieleki that can keep it from doing its thing in the S to B+ ranks on the VR, so here is some calcs.

252 SpA Choice Specs Regieleki Ancient Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Zeraora: 99-117 (31.2 - 36.9%) -- 74.7% chance to 3HKO
- Zeraora is immune to all of eleki's electric attacks thanks to volt absorb so it can come in on eleki to force it out and either knock something or pivot out with volt switch. It can heavily damage eleki thanks to its weak defenses.
252 SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latias: 110-129 (36.5 - 42.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Latias Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Regieleki: 328-387 (108.9 - 128.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
-Latias can eat 2 hits from regieleki and easily OHKO it back with a draco meteor
252 SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Kommo-o: 132-156 (37.2 - 44%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
- doesn't even guarantee a 3HKO on Kommo-o, and it can threaten back with earthquake for a KO or body press to heavily chunk it.
252 SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Amoonguss: 165-195 (38.2 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
-Amoongus eats and can spore it or put it on a timer with toxic, or just even damage it with giga drain to get some hp back.
252 SpA Choice Specs Regieleki Ancient Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mamoswine: 123-145 (34 - 40.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Regieleki Ancient Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Diggersby: 51-60 (16.3 - 19.2%) -- possible 6HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Regieleki Ancient Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Krookodile: 55-65 (16.6 - 19.6%) -- possible 6HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Regieleki Ancient Power vs. 128 HP / 0 SpD Nidoqueen: 47-55 (13.3 - 15.5%) -- possible 7HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Regieleki Ancient Power vs. 244 HP / 188 SpD Rhyperior: 50-59 (11.5 - 13.6%) -- possibly the worst move ever
- We have a good amount of grounds in UU like nidoqueen, mamoswine, diggersby, rhyperior and krookodile who all don't give a fuck about eleki and can easily come in on it, causing the opponent to lose momentum and them to set up hazards, knock something, or double switch out.
252 SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 175-207 (24.8 - 29.4%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO
- Chansey can wall it and put it on a timer with toxic.

All in all, we have plenty of options who are very viable in this current metagame to deal with eleki. yes, rising voltage sets are threatening, but that fail to take off even in OU with a better setter in koko as basically everything barring grounds got 2HKOd (yes even blissey). Pincurchin being a total momentum sink hinders eleki's effectiveness a LOT. eleki will be a solid breaker and screens setter like it was used in OU, but its nowhere near banworthy. Eleki has some pros, acting as a check to things like revenging blaziken even if its adamant at +2 and killing stuff like primarina, keldeo, slowking, gyarados, skarmory, tentacruel, moltres-galar, and most importantly....
252 SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 232+ SpD Celesteela: 402-474 (101.2 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Yeah, eleki's gonna be fun
 
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I hadn't planned to post again today, especially given my sinusitis has decided to act up again as of yesterday and give me even more of a headache, but given I just noticed something odd about the damage calculator, have no idea where to put this, and saw that Monky25 posted calcs for Regieleki, I figured I would note this even though others may have noticed already: both Dragon's Maw and Transistor seem to be automatically counted in the damage calculator for Regidrago and Regieleki respectively at present and paradoxically are subtracted if you manually add the respective ability to that Regi. So take care to make sure you don't manually add those abilities in your calcs or else you get 50% less damage on your STAB.

I'm noting this because both mons currently have no sets in the calculator and because I only noticed just now when trying to make sure that Regieleki can revenge OHKO Blaziken with Thunderbolt--it does if Max SpA with Modest--and noticed the damage lessen when I manually added Transistor. I confirmed things by comparing both the calcs against Appletun, whom I changed to be Electric/Dragon for this since all three have the same base SpA.

Not sure if that counts as a bug or an intentional yet implicit feature that's easy to overlook, but...yeah. Just wanted to make sure it didn't happen to anyone else.

As for Regieleki itself, like I said in the latest tier update thread, it may well be fine even if I don't look forward to another Screens mon despite Grimmsnarl, Klefki, and Ninetales-Alola likely still being better for that, Explosion aside.
 
I figured I would note this even though others may have noticed already: both Dragon's Maw and Transistor seem to be automatically counted in the damage calculator for Regidrago and Regieleki respectively at present and paradoxically are subtracted if you manually add the respective ability to that Regi. So take care to make sure you don't manually add those abilities in your calcs or else you get 50% less damage on your STAB.

I'm noting this because both mons currently have no sets in the calculator and because I only noticed just now when trying to make sure that Regieleki can revenge OHKO Blaziken with Thunderbolt--it does if Max SpA with Modest--and noticed the damage lessen when I manually added Transistor. I confirmed things by comparing both the calcs against Appletun, whom I changed to be Electric/Dragon for this since all three have the same base SpA
That's weird because when I do the calcs, Transistor and Dragon's Maw do boost the damage. And I just tried what you said, about comparing it with Appletun, and yes, Transistor did boost the damage dealt.
 
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