Strategy & Metagame OU: When Hype Dies Out

[Valmanway]

This article will discuss 6th gen Pokemon and Mega Evolutions that people thought were amazing in early XY but are now either less threatening or obsolete.

Introduction:

Mega Garchomp:

Why People Thought It Would Be Good:

Why It Isn't:

Hawlucha:

Why People Thought It Would Be Good:

Why It Isn't:

Heliolisk:

Why People Thought It Would Be Good:

Why It Isn't:

Noivern:

Why People Thought It Would Be Good:

Why It Isn't:

Malamar:

Why People Thought It Would Be Good:

Why It Isn't:

Trevenant:

Why People Thought It Would Be Good:

Why It Isn't:

Tyrantrum:

Why People Thought It Would Be Good:

Why It Isn't:

Zygarde:

Why People Thought It Would Be Good:

Why It Isn't:

Conclusion:

 

[Aldaron]

Is this for OU?

Because I don't really recall many people thinking any of those besides Goodra / Noivern / Malamar / Mega Garchomp would be that good...

 

[Valmanway]

Is this for OU?

Because I don't really recall many people thinking any of those besides Goodra / Noivern / Malamar / Mega Garchomp would be that good...

There was some hype for some of the other Pokemon on this list. In the early development of the metagame, Trevenant was difficult to kill with Sitrus Berry + Substitute, Avalugg had the most physical bulk in the game which caught some attention, Barbaracle was a powerful Tough Claws Shell Smash sweeper, Slurpuff had Belly Drum + Unburden + Cotton Guard, and Mega Blastoise could beat Spin Blockers with Mega Launcher Dark Pulse. I can see Tyrantrum and Heliolisk getting cut from this list though.

 

[Oglemi]

Heliolisk never got that much hype, I'd leave it out.

Goodra is still used on the tournament scene and I would argue is good enough to be left out of this article.

I don't know if people really thought Slurpuff was going to be good even in the theorymon stage, I'd probably leave it out too.

I don't know if Chesnaught should be in honorable mentions either, it definitely has its use and is used on the tournament scene yet, not only that, idt it got any hype at all.

 

[Valmanway]

Heliolisk never got that much hype, I'd leave it out.

Goodra is still used on the tournament scene and I would argue is good enough to be left out of this article.

I don't know if people really thought Slurpuff was going to be good even in the theorymon stage, I'd probably leave it out too.

I don't know if Chesnaught should be in honorable mentions either, it definitely has its use and is used on the tournament scene yet, not only that, idt it got any hype at all.

I agree with all the changes, but I'm kind of mixed on Goodra. I guess I'll just leave it there for now.

 

[skylight]

TGMD Valentine share your thoughts pls :)

 

[Valentine]

no one mentioning hawlucha is a fucking sin, get on your knees and repent, shit the was THE hype. Anyways, i'll split all the shit everyone mentioned into categories, you can decide what to do from there.

didn't live up to the hype:

-Hawlucha
-Noivern
-Zygarde (due to miscalculations before XY release, PS gave this thing unfathomable bulk, which made it super fucking hype)
-Trevenant / Pumpkin Ghost (the only spinblockers against mold breaker exca saw a lot of usage on wifi before PokeBank)
-Tyrantrum (i feel like i saw this on every single team, dd, scarf, until everyone realized it was suboptimal.. this might belong in the next section, or here, whatever)
-Malamar
-Mega Garchomp (i think this only suffers so much simply because of the competition for the ground slot, its reduced speed, and competition for the mega slot. not a bad mon, just better options on most teams)
-Heliolisk (PS gave this a lot more speed than it was supposed to have, which created a little bit of buzz, but after it got it's actual stats, it sank to the depths of uselessness)

ended up where hype put them:

Low hype, low OU usage mons
-Mega Alakazam (with the introduction of Aegislash, fierce competition for the Mega Slot, and Deo-S being an option, this didn't have much hype at all, and finds itself low in usage, not surprising)
-Mega Blastoise (no reliable recovery really holds Blastoise back. the damage and bulk is there, but it takes your mega slot and isnt as beneficial as other waters, i think most people figured this would be UU)
-Barbaracle (Carracosta remake didn't see too much buzz)
-Belly Drum Swirlpuff (yeah, sure, shakeitup had some funny wins with these thing, but we all knew it was aids the moment we saw it in preview for the first time)
-Avalugg (Rock weak Spinner with no ground immunity, nice!)

High hype, high/some OU usage
-Goodra
-Chesnaught

i'm not sure what direction you're trying to take with your article, but if you are only focusing on High hype, low usage mons, i guess you should just use the first section and scrap everything else. gl

 

[Valmanway]

no one mentioning hawlucha is a fucking sin, get on your knees and repent, shit the was THE hype. Anyways, i'll split all the shit everyone mentioned into categories, you can decide what to do from there.

didn't live up to the hype:

-Hawlucha
-Noivern
-Zygarde (due to miscalculations before XY release, PS gave this thing unfathomable bulk, which made it super fucking hype)
-Trevenant / Pumpkin Ghost (the only spinblockers against mold breaker exca saw a lot of usage on wifi before PokeBank)
-Tyrantrum (i feel like i saw this on every single team, dd, scarf, until everyone realized it was suboptimal.. this might belong in the next section, or here, whatever)
-Malamar
-Mega Garchomp (i think this only suffers so much simply because of the competition for the ground slot, its reduced speed, and competition for the mega slot. not a bad mon, just better options on most teams)
-Heliolisk (PS gave this a lot more speed than it was supposed to have, which created a little bit of buzz, but after it got it's actual stats, it sank to the depths of uselessness)

ended up where hype put them:

Low hype, low OU usage mons
-Mega Alakazam (with the introduction of Aegislash, fierce competition for the Mega Slot, and Deo-S being an option, this didn't have much hype at all, and finds itself low in usage, not surprising)
-Mega Blastoise (no reliable recovery really holds Blastoise back. the damage and bulk is there, but it takes your mega slot and isnt as beneficial as other waters, i think most people figured this would be UU)
-Barbaracle (Carracosta remake didn't see too much buzz)
-Belly Drum Swirlpuff (yeah, sure, shakeitup had some funny wins with these thing, but we all knew it was aids the moment we saw it in preview for the first time)
-Avalugg (Rock weak Spinner with no ground immunity, nice!)

High hype, high/some OU usage
-Goodra
-Chesnaught

i'm not sure what direction you're trying to take with your article, but if you are only focusing on High hype, low usage mons, i guess you should just use the first section and scrap everything else. gl

Noted.

 

[TGMD]

I honestly didn't really start playing XY OU until around the time pokebank came out, so my knowledge on what had a lot of hype early on is rather limited (I'm pretty sure Mega Absol got a lot of hype for being a solid Magic Bouncer, but it's role was made redundant due to the change in Defog mechanics, though, so that's something). I will, however, mention a few Pokemon that I recall seeing somewhat often, but have now become incredibly uncommon / faded into obscurity entirely.

Mega Pinsir was pretty huge early on, but because Talonflame has faster flying priority, and Thundurus has soared to the top of the usage stats, everyone realised it just doesn't perform well in the metagame, and it's a waste of a mega slot. Mega Abomasnow seemed pretty great at first due to its massive increase in stats, but its speed really let it down and it just couldn't keep up with the increasingly fast-paced, priority infested metagame. Finally, there was Mega Gardevoir, which vanished pretty much immediately due to everything carrying Knock Off, and the existence of Mega Mawile, Bisharp, and most of all, Aegislash. I'm not quite sure how hyped up any of these were, but yeah they seemed pretty common early on, so it seems somewhat likely. Sorry about the late response, btw, I knew I wouldn't have much useful input, so I didn't post immediately, then I kind of forgot about it :/

 

[Valmanway]

I honestly didn't really start playing XY OU until around the time pokebank came out, so my knowledge on what had a lot of hype early on is rather limited (I'm pretty sure Mega Absol got a lot of hype for being a solid Magic Bouncer, but it's role was made redundant due to the change in Defog mechanics, though, so that's something). I will, however, mention a few Pokemon that I recall seeing somewhat often, but have now become incredibly uncommon / faded into obscurity entirely.

Mega Pinsir was pretty huge early on, but because Talonflame has faster flying priority, and Thundurus has soared to the top of the usage stats, everyone realised it just doesn't perform well in the metagame, and it's a waste of a mega slot. Mega Abomasnow seemed pretty great at first due to its massive increase in stats, but its speed really let it down and it just couldn't keep up with the increasingly fast-paced, priority infested metagame. Finally, there was Mega Gardevoir, which vanished pretty much immediately due to everything carrying Knock Off, and the existence of Mega Mawile, Bisharp, and most of all, Aegislash. I'm not quite sure how hyped up any of these were, but yeah they seemed pretty common early on, so it seems somewhat likely. Sorry about the late response, btw, I knew I wouldn't have much useful input, so I didn't post immediately, then I kind of forgot about it :/

I'll put Mega Absol in the Honorable Mentions section, since he still has some use in OU. Mega Abomasnow might be added, but I'll have to think about it. Thanks for the input, it's appreciated.