Hey there, Moute²'s here. After a couple of days laddering and testing some stuff, I think it's time to give my two cents to the current shifts we got. First of all, it's not a surprise for anyone but this new Alpha UU is definitively a "broken check broken" metagame to the point that I actually don't really know what are the most unhealthy and broken things we have there (even tho some names stand out..). Also I'm gonna do this post in alphabetical order for ease of writing..let's not wait furthermore and dive into it..!
Most dominant stuff
(click sprites for sets)
Blacephalon is probably one of the greatest threat the tier has right now. It's basically a Chandelure on crack with a way better speed tier and an ability which allows it to either boost in special attack or speed. While it's true that it's coverage moves are not the greatest (basically some Psychic-type moves and more obscure things such as Solar Beam) its sheer force allows it to bypass most things in the tier thanks to its Choice Specs set. On the other hand, you can also slap it a Choice Scarf and it becomes really hard to revenge kill by priorities such as Aqua Jet from Azumarill. There isn't a lot of stuff that can check it on the offensive or defensive side. Kommo-o with Bulletproof is a pretty cool answer but it needs to watch-out for Psychic coverage which obliterates it. Chansey is a really solid pick as long as Blacephalon doesn't run Sub+CM. Incineroar is also great but the raw power of the current metagame doesn't help it at all since it will struggle to handle other dominant threats. Last but not least, Blacephalon pairs well with well known archetype such as Psychic Spam teams with Tapu Lele or our 2.0 Sun teams. Overall I think that this Pokemon is way too good for the tier and will probably get banned if it doesn't rise on its own.
Even tho we got so much powerful Pokemon, Dracozolt still stands-out as an insane threat and that's quite amazing when you think about it. However, something change since the last time we got it in the tier and it's the release of its hidden ability : Sand Rush ; which allows it to sacrifice the extra power of Hustle for more speed which allows it to tear apart a lot of teams that lack defensive counterplay to shit Pokemon. I trully think this Pokemon is still way too much for the tier and has only one really good answer at the moment : Hippowdon. Rhyperior and Gastrodon are other viable answers but let's be honest, they're not the greatest tool to use at the moment. What's the result of Hippowdon being the only good defensive answer to Dracozolt ? Well it's simple, if you're not using it, I have always the bad feeling to be weak to it. Even fat things such as defensive Buzzwole (which is the probably the bulkiest Pokemon we have in UU on the physical side) can be 2HKO by Life Orb Naughty Bolt Beak (and it's nuked by Draco Meteor and Fire Blast which are doing at least 60% to over 80% for the second one). I will complete this post about Dracozolt later when I'll talk about weathers in the current metagame..
Another old friend from UUBL.. once again Gyarados can reaaly tears apart a lot of teams that lack the right defensive answer to it. While it's true that without Bounce Gyarados doesn't beat most Grass-types such as Amoonguss, Tapu Bulu or Tangrowth, it's also important to highlight that those Pokemon can be pressured quite easily thanks to all the threats we have at the moment in the tier. Under the Aurora Veil, Gyarados is just a nightmare to handle since it can setup on basically almost anything in the tier and then just snowball the opponent's team. While I do believe that Aurora Veil helps it to be even worst to handle, I think it's a pretty nasty thing on its own.
I don’t think Hawlucha was any better than it is right now. Thanks to Tapu Bulu and Tapu Lele support, Hawlucha can freely abuse of Grassy/Psychic Seed and setup on a lot of Pokemon. After a single Swords Dance it can punish most offensive threats and a lot of defensive threats while being able to bother them thanks to Taunt (to prevent a Toxic or something like Leech Seed from Celesteela). I don't see in which world this insanity could stay in UU, like for real we almost have no answer to it and the few we have (like Aegislash) are pretty easy to chip with teammates. I really don't like this Pokemon and how it's such as low risk really high reward thing.
Disgusting as fuck and able to carve out a place in most teams whether it's ones that are using Grassy/Psychic Terrain or Sun teams. This Pokemon is just a nightmare to handle if you're lacking things such as Nihilego or Diancie which can be weakened by teammates or bopped after a Quiver Dance by a boosted terrain Psychic / Giga Drain (Nihilego is OHKOed by +1 Psychic under Psychic Terrain after Stealth Rock and Diancie take more than 58% with a +1 Giga Drain under Grassy Terrain) which means they always have to stay healthy which isn't easy for them since they often have to check multiple threats. I really hate this Pokemon and how hard it is to revenge kill so yeah I hope it will leave the tier asap.
Weathers
Alright let's talk a bit about Weathers in the current metagame. To be honest, I think most of them are viable and while it's true that Rain teams and Sun teams are way more obnoxious that Sand teams, I can't deny that Hippowdon + Dracozolt is an amazing core which can punish a lot of things. Sand teams can also run some threats such as Terrakion or Nihilego which are pretty tough to OHKO with special moves under the Sandstream. On the other hand, Hail teams suck but Aurora Veil teams are as disgusting as usual with even more setup sweepers than before (Aegislash, Azumarill, Blacephalon, Celesteela, Diggersby, Gyarados, Hawlucha, Kommo-o, Latias, Salamence, Scizor etc etc...). Last but not least, I don't think Sun teams and Rain teams have been as powerful than right now. Sun teams have new toys such as Blacephalon, Victini and Volcarona and old ones such as Venusaur and Hatterene while Rain teams have a brand new arsenal to fuck the whole tier thanks to Politoed and its Drizzle ability and the really high number of Rain abusers : Azumarill, Crawdaunt, Keldeo, Omastar, Scizor, Tapu Bulu, Tornadus, Thundurus and Thundurus-Therian... It's really hard to handle those teams on both the offensive and defensive side since things such as Tornadus and Thundurus(-T) can just abuse of Nasty Plot and then spam their STABs Hurricane or Thunder, they also have the coverage to bypass Rock-types and Ground-types thanks to Weather Ball and/or Grass Knot.. Yeah it's clear that those archetypes are pretty dumb right now..
By the way before talking about other powerful things, I know some players asked me the importable of the Sun team I've been using on the ladder/room tournament so there you go (it's not really something out of the ordinary but yet I know some people were looking for it)..
It's pretty much a Sun team that we could have seen in the OUWC a few months ago.. pretty crazy right ? Pretty straightforward, Torkoal set up the Sun for Venusaur, Victini and Volcarona. Chansey and Xatu are there to handle some threats and dump momentum into the breakers thanks to Teleport. Choice Band Victini is just insane under the Sun thanks to V-Create which basically 2HKO almost anything in the tier.. The team need to play around Weavile which is pretty deadly for it but otherwise, it works quite well !
Other powerful stuff
(click sprites for sets)
While Aegislash isn't as dumb as the last time (mostly because we have even more broken stuff such as Blacephalon), it's still a formidable and versatile threat which can punish a lot of Pokemon. Either Swords Dance, Double Dance (Swords Dance + Autotomize), Choice Specs, Mixed Sub or Sub + Toxic.. this Pokemon can really mess around a lot of stuff. Obviously it struggles more because the metagame is really fast and offensive but it's still something you shouldn't sleep on..
Psychic Spam teams are pretty common right now but also pretty good. They have a lot of abusers such as Hawlucha, Volcarona, Latias or Blacephalon but we can't deny that their best abusers are obviously Tapu Lele and Alakazam. Under the Psychic Terrain Life Orb Alakazam is insanely threatening thanks to its speed tier and its access to Expanding Force. On the other hand, Tapu Lele can cover some weakness of Alakazam and they overall weaken each other checks pretty effectively. While I'm not sure that Alakazam is ban-worthy, I can't deny that both Sash + Counter and Life Orb + Nasty Plot sets are really really good and hard to cover.
"Hit like a truck water bunny" is once again in Underused to smack some jaws.. Both Choice Band and Belly Drum are really great at the moment and they also forces people into weird 50/50 when you have to choose if you switch your Pokemon and take the risk to see Azumarill Belly Drum on that switch or stay and eat a Choice Band boosted Liquidation/Play Rough/Knock Off. This Pokemon is for sure great at the moment so do not hesitate to use it ! (by the way, after a Belly Drum there isn't a single defensive threat bar Unaware users which can handle it.. even things like defensive Tangrowth are OHKOed.. insane..)
Weavile is another great Pokemon in the current metagame mostly because of its speed which allows it to pressure a ton of Pokemon such as non-Choice Scarf Blacephalon, Alakazam, Aegislash but also some Dragon Dancer like Salamence. SD + HDB is quite good but AoA with either Choice Band or Life Orb are also great and really tough to switch into. Knock Off is overall great in this metagame and being able to remove some Leftovers from things like Celesteela, Eviolite from Chansey is neat.
Everything else..
I didn't talked about a lot of Pokemon because otherwise this post would be 40k character (and it's already almost 8k..) but there is obviously a lot of great other Pokemon such as DD Salamence or Nasty Plot Hydreigon. I also didn't mentionned Trick Room which can be devasting for offensive teams.. Overall as I said at the beginning of the post, it's trully hard to tell what's going to be too much for the tier since at the moment, we have a ton of broken stuff covering other potent threats. Things like Conkeldurr, Buzzwole, Haxorus and Crawdaunt are quite formidable but not as dominant because of even more greater Pokemon so we can't really assume yet that they would be manageable for the tier. I also think about things such as Primarina, Durant or Scolipede which are not common at all on the ladder, yet probably insane once all the shitty things are gone.
Overall I'm enjoying a lot this new fucked up metagame and while it's true that the council gonna probably have a lot to do to fix Underused, it's really great to see people playing way more on the ladder or on roomtours (like yesterday during Tour Night where we gathered more than 50 players on a tournament). I can't wait to see how the metagame gonna change and if the next shifts in a dozen of days gonna impact the current metagame a lot or not.. we'll see but be sure that we'll try to make the best tier as soon as possible ! Thanks for reading me and once again, enjoy UU !