It's been a while since I've posted in this thread, but that's perhaps a symptom of my using Discord more often than Smogon to discuss the meta in real-time with other players. Anyway, this post will aim to identify the primary problem in this meta as it relates to teambuilding, as well as some possible solutions.
META OVERVIEW
Most of what follows here will echo the opinions of those above. I also believe there to be far too many wallbreakers to successfully account for in teambuilding at the moment. The meta is not stale, in fact, the opposite is true: it is diverse to the point that the most effective method of teambuilding is to focus on using Pokemon that find greater utility through blanket checking as large a portion of the meta as possible. For example, Palossand, Gastrodon, Sableye, Weezing, and Regirock are some commonly used Pokemon that cover for a vast number of the tier's physical attackers, and on the opposite end of the spectrum, blanket checks to specially offensive attackers like AV Hitmonchan, specially defensive Clefairy, and AV Eelektross are valuable for the same reason.
ISSUES IN TEAMBUILDING
The sheer number of wallbreakers present has dictated the flow of the meta; Pokemon once thought to be too niche to justify a teamslot have seen increased usage. For example, Carbink was previously relegated only to Trick Room teams, but as the meta developed, its specially defensive set was used to cover for multiple, specially-based wallbreakers like Pyroar, Magmortar, Oricorio-G, and Drampa all in one slot. Building with this defensive mindset in an effort to account for each threat in the meta is not always advantageous because doing so can result in a slower, more passive build. This trend has indirectly bolstered the effectiveness of stallbreakers as a result; to give a specific example, this is one of the reasons why Articuno was such a potent threat in previous metas (especially in the time between the Hariyama suspect and the departure of Qwilfish and Silvally-Steel), as it takes advantage of some of these more passive Pokemon, easily winning out over components of balance like bulky Lanturn, Ferroseed, Gastrodon, Weezing, etc. To further exemplify this point, Pinsir is another Pokemon that is well-suited to taking advantage of this defensively-oriented method of building, as Mold Breaker SD sets tend to rip through many of the meta's blanket checks like Eelektross, Weezing, Altaria, Ferroseed, and so on. I would liken the teambuilding process in the current meta to an elaborate game of whack-a-mole: it is such that, once you've prepared for one wallbreaker, for example, using Ferroseed or Regirock to account for CB Stoutland, you've opened yourself up to a different wallbreaker like Magmortar and Drampa. Or, once you've finally built something that addresses as many wallbreakers as possible, suddenly your team has become incredibly slow, is weak to stallbreakers, and is able to be 6-0ed by threats like Articuno and Pinsir. This is true, more or less, in any meta: there is no perfect team, and you'll always find a hole somewhere. But, the number of holes in teams across this specific meta is simply too great and it really puts a damper on teambuilding in general.
POSSIBLE SOLUTION
Rather than introducing something like Tauros to address the plethora of wallbreakers that hover around that base 80 Speed benchmark (ex. Passimian, Stoutland, Magmortar, etc.), I think it will be a more effective strategy for the long-term to hold a suspect test for our strongest wall-breaker first (more on this below), and see how the meta develops from there.
BIRBS NOT SO BAD?
At this point, my post differentiates itself from galbia's: in my opinion, the birbs, especially those listed above (i.e. Swanna, Oricorio-G, and Archeops) are not the most problematic for three reasons.
Firstly, the new drops that we've recently gained are all threatening to these Flying-types in some way or another. For instance, Spiritomb is easily able to check Oricorio-G, even through Substitute thanks to Infiltrator, via Shadow Sneak, Pursuit, and Sucker Punch. Alolan Sandslash checks all of these with Hail up, and Aurorus dropping increases the likelihood that Alolan Sandslash will be able to threaten these Flying-types while checking Oricorio-G to boot.
Secondly, even without these new drops putting a damper on the effectiveness of Flying-types, I believe the meta has already adapted to them sufficiently; this is evidenced in part by the rising viability of Eelektross, which moved from B+ to A+ from
December to
late January. Each team archetype has a tool to reliably combat Flying-types; for example, Carbink is commonly seen on Stall and Semi-stall to check Oricorio-G; Lanturn and Regirock see plenty of use on Balance and beat out Swanna and Archeops, respectively, and on more offensive builds, Eelektross is regularly employed as a slow pivot to safely bring in other offensive threats and has utility in beating all of these birbs.
Lastly, these Flying-types are more manageable in practice than in theory, mostly due to their potential being limited by SR and offensive pressure in general. This applies to Archeops especially, as this problem is exacerbated by the number of priority users in the tier and Defeatist, which is important to note when considering it for a suspect test. This is more or less tangential, but a lot of people really only stick to its AcroEQ set by favoring Taunt over more uncommon options like U-turn, Stone Edge, and Earth Power (basically, moves that could either wear down or more easily bypass switch-ins like Regirock and Eelektross), leading it to be more predictable and less threatening as a result. If people ever innovate more with Archeops, I could see it being suspected down the road, but for the time being, I see it as something very threatening and deserving individual preparation in teambuilding, yet still manageable without devoting too many slots to checking or countering it.
POSSIBLE SUSPECT: PASSIMIAN
Rather than looking at Archeops, I think the Pokemon that deserves our immediate attention is Passimian, as its offensive presence forces players to use multiple slots to account for it: one hard counter, Palossand as an example, and then other offensive checks such as Swanna, Timid Specs Mesprit, Archeops, and so on. If it didn't regularly run U-turn, it wouldn't be as big a deal, but there's not a whole lot other than residual damage from entry hazards or Rocky Helmet or a smart double switch keeping it from pivoting in and out until it's time for Passimian to break something mid- to late-game. Running Protect on Regirock and Ferroseed is a viable strategy to scout for when it'll be locking into Close Combat, allowing you to pivot into a Ghost-type to punish it, but there's not even a guarantee that it's running a choice item despite Choice Band variants being the most common (SubBU sets were seen in the last seasonal tournament, and Z-crystals are possible as well). To add to this, running a Choice Scarf allows it to bypass some of its offensive checks; this unique combination of variability in its sets, its high power, and the strain it exerts on teambuilding in my opinion necessitates a suspect.