Hello friends (and enemies),
I have decided to take the time to make a counterpoint post in an attempt to stick up for all of the beautiful mons that people are clamoring to get banned for being "broken", "overpowered", or considered "too much" for this meta. Yes this may be the case for some, but I do not think it is as egregious as it may seem on initial glance. I have narrowed it down to a few that I believe are getting the most discussion. So without further ado, let's get down to it, in no particular order:
Tapu Lele has been both praised and vilified in this new meta. When it dropped, it was an immediate shock to the conscious on how a Tapu Lele could possibly be included in a UU meta. But lads, let me tell you - Tapu Lele has been helping to hold together this tier since it arrived. By canceling out priority, you are neutralizing what would be a lot of unbelievably powerful priority sweepers, such as Azumarill and Scizor. The main argument for its ban, though, is that it enables your own sweepers to set up and sweep easy without priority. Well, this was available in UU for a while with Indeedee anyways. If you ban Tapu Lele people who really want to keep up terrain can use Indeedee instead and have the same effect. So then, it must be a combination of Lele's sheer power and typing, plue the terrain, that pushes it over the edge? 95 is not a great Speed Tier, and most Lele's are choice locked into a move that has either many resists or an immunity. Additionally, the lost of Hidden Power and the Gamefreak Denial of access to Mystical Fire make it very difficult for Lele to deal with steel mons (it has to rely on Focus Miss now). Most steel mons are pretty safe switch ins. Even a Thunderbolt on Celesteela does very little damage. So, Lele is great, but maybe not necessarily worthy of an immediate quickban.
PRO BAN: Enables Sweeper Priority Immunity, Very high offensive capabilities.
NO BAN: usually choice locked, attacks have many resistances and immunities, checked by most steel types other than Focus Miss.
Haxorus is great, but it's not exactly "top tier" UU mon atm. Maybe things will change with the new rises and drops, but right now its amazing power is overshadowed by other dragons like Salamence, or other DD sweepers like Gyarados. The coverage is also nearly the same on every Haxorus - Dragon, EQ, Poison Jab, or CC. Maybe First Impression if you want a Band set. I actually see some Haxorus going with a Scarf set since it's hard for one to get set up with DD or Scale Shot in the current meta. If it has no CC, something like Celesteela or Skarmory almost totally walls it. It has many checks as well, such as Scarf Lele, Salamence, Hydreigon etc. And if it's chipped, you can even Ice Shard it with Weavile or Mamoswine. I don't think this thing should even be on the radar atm.
PRO BAN: Rly rly strong, can set up and sweep.
NO BAN: Not much stronger than other options (weaker than many), has decent number of checks.
Hydreigon is one of those things that people thought was going to tear up the tier, but it's mostly just been a solid, yet not overpowering, option for many teams. It is not going to outspeed most other offensive powerhouses unless it has scarf, and with scarf it loses access to Nasty Plot. The best ones I've seen have been more defensive oriented with roost, no scarf, no nasty plot. Hydreigon was a solid UU option in USUM UU and I don't think Nast Plot has put it over the edge in any way for this generation. In fact, losing Z Moves may have even been a big downer as it can no longer Z Draco or Z Corkscrew for fairies. If you ever sit down and play against one of these, you'll realize that you're not really having much of a hard time at all and it just feels like a normal fight.
PRO BAN: Gained access to Nasty Plot
NO BAN: Low speed tier, scarf invalidates Nasty Plot, still plays similar to USUM UU.
Aegislash was the topic of the last seminar we had, and most people had very few things to say about it as it's currently quite underwhelming. The Sub Toxic set is very popular, as is the Specs set. It can also opt for Automotize, or the old school SD set. That's a lot of possibilities for one mon, but none of them translate to an overbearing powerhouse. Going faster with Automotize can sometimes be a disadvantage for Aegislash, since that opens it up to bigger damage from a counterattack when it's in Sword Form. Steel is not a good offensive type, and neither is Ghost. The sub toxic plays out similar to a Jirachi sub toxic set (which again, is very good), but is quite easy to stop with anything immune to toxic. Access to Close Combat definitely made physical Aegislash stronger, but most people are not using that right now at all. Add the fact that King's Shield got a nerf this gen, and it may just be alright for the current UU metagame. I will admit this is very hard to say right now though, and will probably need to be re-evaluated after the next shifts to see how it plays out.
PRO BAN: It's Aegislash, yo, the Gen 6 Uber.
NO BAN: Currently not overly impressing in the UU metagame.
So nobody thinks Ninetales-A is broken on its own. The problem everyone has is with veil. I could sit here and write up a paragraph on why veil is not the problem. But don't take it from me: just read Lily's post instead on why:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/np-ss-uu-stage-8-highway-to-hell.3672677/post-8646115
Salamence got Dual Wingbeat. Madness has... not quite followed. Mence is very strong, and can sweep an entire team if you let it get out of hand. But that's your solution to it right there: do not let it get out of hand. It's the same with many DD sweepers - don't let it get into a position where it can set up and sweep in the first place, and if you do, stop it immdiately. You can send in a solid check like Celesteela or a scarfer that will outspeed even with one DD. There's also things like Mamoswine and Weavile that can just OHKO it with Ice Shard if you let it set up. And then you have the all-powerful Unaware mons of Quagsire and Pyukmuku that are currently very underappreciated. Finally, other options like a defensive Grimmsnarl have little problems against most Salamence sets. A lot of people actually aren't even using the DD Sweeping Mence - instead they are opting for a more support Mence w/ Intimidate. And it has proven to be a nice addition that gives some variety to teambuilding. This, I believe, is healthy for the meta, as opposed to unhealthy.
PRO BAN: DD Sweep is scary
NO BAN: Has checks, can be revenge killed, adds a positive dynamic to the current metagame.
The other DD Sweeper that has just arrived. Gyarados is similar to Mence, except nobody uses anything other than a DD Sweep Gyarados so it's more one-dimensional. You can opt for either Intimidate or Moxie, but Moxie gets it out of control more quickly. Gyarados is probably more dangerous in what it does, as it's not weak to any priority other than Lycanroc, and it is a bit more tanky than Mence. The key, again is to not let it get out of hand and send it the emergency checks immediately. Fortunately, it is usually limited to the same three moves: Waterfall, Bounce, and Power Whip. Some hipsters might use Earthquake or Ice Fang but usually it's those three things. The checks do exist here, although there are few. What I have seen many people do is bait it - send in a grass type, then immediately switch out to something that resists bounce so they can catch it on the Turn 2 Attack and counter attack, but that's a bit of a ridiculous strategy to have to rely on. A more consistent option would be anything bulky that can hit it back or status it - such as Klefki w/ Foul Play or T Wave, or an Umbreon. Or send out something with a scarf that can KO it (Gyarados is slow so almost any scarfer will outspeed at +1). How it will usually play out is you send this out, Gyarados DD's, and then it forces it to switch out because it doesn't want to deal with these and break its momentum. In spite of all of this, I do admit Gyarados is quite strong though.
PRO BAN: DD Sweep can get out of hand, not a lot of options to stop it.
NO BAN: The options to stop it DO exist, you just have to stop it quickly.
Volcarona is one of the scariest mons on paper to enter the tier. With boots it doesn't fear rocks, and once it gets on a roll it's all over. Or so it seems. When you actually play against it, you'll realize you probably have one or two Volcarona checks/counters already built into your team. It's weak to priority Jet, and also Lycanroc Accel (which will OHKO it). It doesn't do much to special tanks, particularly Diance and Chansey, or a more niche option of Mantine (or Politoed if you are a rain team), and if it doesn't have sub it will be vulnerable to status. Its speed tier is decent, but with so many double speed sweepers running around (rain sweepers like Barra/Kingdra, sand sweepers like Dracozolt, Hawlucha Unburden sweepers like Hawlucha), it actually does have some answers. And, again, the weakness to priority means things like Crawdaunt, Azumarill, and Lycanroc can just come in and KO it. So yes, it is very strong, but it has answers right now.
PRO BAN: If you don't have any of the numerous checks to it, you will probably die.
NO BAN: Use one of the numerous checks available, and actually you may realize you've had a check on your team all along.
Ok so Victini thing hits very hard. With Band. In Sun. It is LOL damage. This may be a harder mon to defend against the ban train, but I'm going to go for it anyways. Victini excels in that it can run Band, Scarf, or Boots, and destroy things with V-Create. However, Victini has not yet figured out how to use all three items at once. A Band Victini set is usually good for one or two nukes before you are able to wear it down with hazards. A scarf set lacks the power of the Band, and you will often find it is mostly used to pivot. The scarf set, like the band set, also gets worn down with hazards, but is more difficult to counter because of the scarf speed. A boots set is more versatile, but lacks the power of the Band, and its speed is not amazing so it will get outsped by many common threats like Terrakion, Blacephalon, Weavile, Lycanroc, etc. It's also weak to almost every kind of priority (Jet, Sneak, Sucker, Accelrock), so if it's sufficiently chipped you can finish it off easily. The banded V Create is definitely one of (if not the) most powerful attack in all of UU right now. You will be taking some casualties if it gets in safely. But it will not sweep your entire team. Is that enough to not get it banned? Maybe, maybe not. Only the future council can see.
PRO BAN: Band V Create in Sun go brrrrrr
NO BAN: It has checks and you can wear it down with hazards usually.
Speaking of Blacephalon, here it is. It is certainly a thing that will blow your mind. So why keep something whose special attack and speed combination is matched only by Mewtwo and Calyrex-Shadow? (Yes, those are the only other two pokemon with Speed > 100 and Special Attack > 150). Well, it's very frail, for one. It has the same priority weaknesses as Victini except it's OHKO'd by all of them. The Choice sets get Choice locked, and a special tank like Chansey can handle even specs Fire Blast without much issue. The sub/CM set w/ boots is scary, but if you swap out right away to stop it then it will just get one sub up and no boosts and be forced to attack. Hydreigon is usually a good option for any set (although it still takes a lot from Specs Fire Blast). Any double speed sweeper (weather sweepers, Hawlucha sweepers) will outspeed and OHKO it usually. So, yes, it's very very very strong and problematic. But it's not impossible to deal with.
PRO BAN: Why is Fire Mewtwo allowed in here?
NO BAN: If you are very, very, very careful, you can handle it with a few select checks.
So I was trying to defend Dracozolt in the seminar this weekend. I was not able to do so successfully. Bolt Beak is insane levels of damage to anything not immune or x4 resistant. Perhaps the best counter to it would be another Dracozolt, scarfed, to then revenge kill the other Dracozolt. The Sand Rush Dracozolt is currently the more dangereous of the options. A very niche way to deal with it something like Comfey. Otherwise, you are forced to stall out the sand somehow or change the weather yourself, then deal with it easily with the sand gone. I will admit that this thing is a bit too strong, but I don't think we will need to worry about it because it may rise to OU on its own in a week.
PRO BAN: It hits everything except Hippowdon like a ton of bricks.
NO BAN: You can't ban me if I'm already in OU next week!
Finally, we've arrived at the Hawlucha. A true high flying hero. Hawlucha is extremely powerful, especially with terrain seeds to immediately activate Unburden and enhance its defenses. The best counter, Aegislash, can take heavy damage with a boosted Throat Chop. Nothing will outspeed it except for Barraskewda in rain. If your team is even remotely chipped, one Swords Dance will spell the end for everything you've known. Your only hope is to sacrifice your beautifully sashed Alakazam to take it down. Yeah I've got nothing here, this thing probably needs to get banned ASAP.
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Anyways that's my twenty three cents. I am not saying we should not take any action whatsoever, but I felt it important to offer a counterpoint to many of the points made about banning these things. Quickbanning is usually for extreme things - we can always suspect things that do not quite make it to that level later on.
And also, the meta is really fun right now.
over Zeraora... you lose some speed control but you gain hazzard control and mantain knock off, electric inmunity and volt switch support..
is probably one of the most important mons at the moment imo as some people think it’s broken where as some people think it’s not. I have to agree that both sides have great arguments and I’m truly undecided. It’s easy to immediately think it’s banworthy because at +1 it takes a herculean effort to drive it into the ground. However I do get that it could be manageable - for instance it has a few natural checks like gyara and mence and it’s kind of susceptible to priority. Bisharp is doing pretty well with cobalion seeing an extremely sudden drop in usage and sucker punch from it does well over half. Then again its checks are on the whole somewhat few and far in between especially on more offensive builds so you could make the over centralizing argument. I’m really undecided on this mon but it’s pretty undeniably good.
I agree is pretty great in this meta. Its versatility also meshes pretty well with it as it can set up rocks, be a SD breaker, run choice. No slowbro is pretty clutch too. In fact, I think a lot of the drops are even better for it because it’s able to break through some annoying mons most teams struggle with like celesteela etc. Terrakion is probably sitting a spot where it will always be a consistently good mon in the meta but it definitely got better.
despite being the least used mon in UU I still think sharpedo is a remarkable cleaner in the meta, it didn’t get better or worse I just think it’s a mon that most teams in the meta aren’t prepared for. Kind of short thoughts on it but it really cleans up most
, I’m in the same boat as 
+ 
