Lower Tiers RBY ZU Hub

Magneton has gotten wins in tournament games, Voltorb hasn't; 70 speed is enough for most foes and the superior bulk and vastly superior damage help it a lot, even if it's still unlikely to be good (it's also likely to rise to NU next shift), but it does beat Primeape and Flareon 1v1 and can even OHKO Pidge with Thunder in a pinch. Voltorb definitely does not have utility while Slash is alive and arguably immediately loses its utility if revealed before endgame anyway. I've messed with Voltorb a bit but I really think the only role for it is the exact same thing that Electrode used to do in NU, being a surprise endgame reveal that can sweep if everything is super weakened or there's just a Pidgeot left (without Agility up).

Still not getting what Tbolt does for Ape, Body Slam + Hyper Beam would do better into Tentacool and Poliwag (unless Tbolt is specifically and only for Poliwag and nothing else) and Rock Slide already hits Pidgeot and Butterfree. I just don't see what Tbolt specifically is giving you over adding Hbeam or Bslam.
 
Magneton has gotten wins in tournament games, Voltorb hasn't; 70 speed is enough for most foes and the superior bulk and vastly superior damage help it a lot, even if it's still unlikely to be good (it's also likely to rise to NU next shift), but it does beat Primeape and Flareon 1v1 and can even OHKO Pidge with Thunder in a pinch. Voltorb definitely does not have utility while Slash is alive and arguably immediately loses its utility if revealed before endgame anyway. I've messed with Voltorb a bit but I really think the only role for it is the exact same thing that Electrode used to do in NU, being a surprise endgame reveal that can sweep if everything is super weakened or there's just a Pidgeot left (without Agility up).

Still not getting what Tbolt does for Ape, Body Slam + Hyper Beam would do better into Tentacool and Poliwag (unless Tbolt is specifically and only for Poliwag and nothing else) and Rock Slide already hits Pidgeot and Butterfree. I just don't see what Tbolt specifically is giving you over adding Hbeam or Bslam.
To be fair, I don't think anyone playing the tour would use anything that wasn't pre-listed.

In my experience, mag is good for one 1v1, then the next mon comes in, outspeeds it, and finishes it; whereas reflectorb can get an explosion or tbolt off. Thunder magneton sounds juicy, but that's if you're willing to take the risk.

It's something to think about. I'm willing to bet most players have never tried back-torb. Fun team to mix in with the regulars. I wanted to find something new.
 
To be fair, I don't think anyone playing the tour would use anything that wasn't pre-listed.

In my experience, mag is good for one 1v1, then the next mon comes in, outspeeds it, and finishes it; whereas reflectorb can get an explosion or tbolt off. Thunder magneton sounds juicy, but that's if you're willing to take the risk.

It's something to think about. I'm willing to bet most players have never tried back-torb. Fun team to mix in with the regulars. I wanted to find something new.

The tour in question was before this viability rankings and had no Pokemon pre-listed to be clear, though Arbok was also legal at that time
 
:y/ponyta: FRAUDWATCH :y/ponyta:

Ponyta is awful in this tier and has nothing going for it since the Arbok Ban. Its entire niche in Arbok ZU revolved around the fact that it outsped Arbok and threatened it with para/burn. Now that Arbok is gone, this thing is completely useless.

:charmeleon:USE CHARMELEON INSTEAD:charmeleon:

If you want a second fire to support Flareon, Charmeleon is a better choice. Its stats are overall a bit worse but for the most part it doesn't really matter. 10 lower speed only means it loses the speed tie with Poliwag, and bad mons like Abra and Hitmonlee. 20 Less base attack sounds a lot worse, but Ponyta's non-STAB Body Slam with only 85 base attack is still terrible. Charmeleon is slightly bulkier, but the only calc I think is really relavant is that Ponyta is always OHKOed by Sandslash's EQ, while Charm's is a roll.

It's not the stats that makes Charm better tho, it's access to two moves in particular: SEISMIC TOSS and COUNTER

Seismic Toss is more powerful than Body Slam, and it is a 100% accurate move. This combination means that Charmeleon has a reliable source of good damage that doesn't have to rely on hitting an 85% accurate move. Counter lets Charmeleon play mindgames with Pidgeot and Flareon, which is definitely an improvement from Ponyta.

In conclusion, Ponyta sucks, Charmeleon is great.
 
Now that Arbok is gone, this thing is completely useless.

I wouldnt say "completely useless" i mean sure its bad but with a stomp/blast/bslam set ive found some use. its a nice bring in after lead weezing explosion. (Idk if lead weezing is any good however i will continue to run it)

After lead weezing explosion id get off status, then stomp.

Idk if this qualifies as jank or just unusable for good players but i found it to be usable
 
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both free & parasect should be viewed as trade offs of each other, and not as one being objectively better than another in rby zu. Both of them have their ups and downs

the myth of leadfree

im not saying that lead free is bad here, but i do think there is an idea that leadfree is the objectively correct way to run free, which is false. Free is able to put in a large amount of work when brought onto the field post-lead, especially during the battleground phase of each game where slower attackers like flareon & sandslash can be found. Here, free can more effectively capitalize on its speed tier.

parasect and consistency

Parasect's spore coupled with its ability to somewhat reliably come in on sandslash is easily parasect's main claim to fame. The consistent switch in allows parasect to come in and spore up in basically every game. Where parasect fails is its ability to capitalize on momentum. to put it simply this thing is just too slow and has too many weaknesses to allow it to really act as much of an annoyance after it pulls off sleep, and more often than not just ends up being a slow double powder user which really doesnt do anything special for you throughout the game.

free's speed tier

Free's speed tier is what really enables it to stand up to parasect as a sleeper. Free's speed tier narrows the potential revenge killers which can be used to otherwise clean up parasect. Free's speed tier also forces in critical mons like ape to come in and revenge free, making a team that much more vulnerable late game. Free does, however sacrifice in the consistency department. Where Parasect can come in on slash most of the time, free really is fearful of rock slide, and always has the potential to miss sleep powder. Still, frees' speed tier leads it to have far more entry points in a game which makes up for its inconsistencies.

Also I'll mention that substitute spamming does especially help free to offer a leg up into flareon & sandslash matches, but I also do believe that the sub arguement could definitely lead to a theorymon spiral which isn't good for anyone.

the 1:1.5 & their equal grounds

Both of these mons are able to consistently pull off the 1:1.5 trade which sleepers are notorious for. Free drops in consistently slightly when compared to parasect, but this is in exchange for a speed tier which allows free to go toe to toe with more mons in the tier. How you differentiate them is through how you utilize sleep on a given team.

so when do i use either?

A really good way to determine which of the sleepers you should use can be awnsered with one, simple question, how do you make progress in game? More specifically, how are you making progress which differs from other teams. Of course, every team makes progress with flareon because that is literally the entire reason that flareon is good, because it makes progress, so look beyond that. If your team utilizes mons like onix, which aim to put the opponent in a sort of "check mate" after all of their would be answers are gone. Parasect thrives in these team styles because these teams often want consistent answers because of how heavily their defensive backbone relies on certain mons being out of play.

also, this extends beyond team style, and i'd almost argue it's more of a playstyle difference. Lets look at the big 5+Sleeper archetype (Ape/Slash/Flareon/pidgeot/tent/sleeper) this is a tean which allows for diversity in playstyle so you can chose your sleeper accordingly. You should use parasect when your team can benefit from the switch stability it offers over free, when you're running a more hyper-offensive playstyle with high momentum, free is going to be better as you won't be making progress through switch stability, and free can utilize its speed tier to annoy the opponent's team

wag because i already talked about the 2 other sleepers so might as well

poliwag isnt on par with the other 2 sleepers of the tier. I'll go ahead and address that if your argument for poliwag being viable is that it has a good speed tier which allows it to have a good matchup into two of the most prominent mons in the meta in flareon & sandslash while still maintaining a decent mu into the rest of the tier, I have absolutely no arguments with that point. I do not think there is an issue with what poliwag can do, but rather what it does do. Poliwag is ungodly inconsistent and really struggles to actually pull off the 1:1.5 trade that the other sleepers can consistently do. What poliwag is enabled to do is less consistently pull off 1:2 trades when in the right situation.

I would also like to say that poliwag's mus are discussed as surprisingly black and white. By this I mean I often see it discussed as wag either misses hypnosis and instantly gets cooked, or lands hypnosis and makes progress that the other to sleepers can't hope to make at all. This is far from the reality of wag. It is not uncommon for wag to land hypnosis and still only trades 1:1 or 1:1.5 like the tier's sleepers. Overall, the tier is too fast to actually see poliwag consistently pull off its "gamble". I should point out that I by no means think that poliwag is entirely unviable within the tier, but I do think that its inconsistencies make it far worse than the other 2 sleepers, and should more often than not be forgone in place of the other two.

heres your summary / tldr of my point:

free & parasect are equals in viability, parasect benefits playstyles which dont utilize a ton of momentum whereas free benefits momentum based playstyles. wag is bad because of inconsistency
 
both free & parasect should be viewed as trade offs of each other, and not as one being objectively better than another in rby zu. Both of them have their ups and downs

the myth of leadfree

im not saying that lead free is bad here, but i do think there is an idea that leadfree is the objectively correct way to run free, which is false. Free is able to put in a large amount of work when brought onto the field post-lead, especially during the battleground phase of each game where slower attackers like flareon & sandslash can be found. Here, free can more effectively capitalize on its speed tier.

parasect and consistency

Parasect's spore coupled with its ability to somewhat reliably come in on sandslash is easily parasect's main claim to fame. The consistent switch in allows parasect to come in and spore up in basically every game. Where parasect fails is its ability to capitalize on momentum. to put it simply this thing is just too slow and has too many weaknesses to allow it to really act as much of an annoyance after it pulls off sleep, and more often than not just ends up being a slow double powder user which really doesnt do anything special for you throughout the game.

free's speed tier

Free's speed tier is what really enables it to stand up to parasect as a sleeper. Free's speed tier narrows the potential revenge killers which can be used to otherwise clean up parasect. Free's speed tier also forces in critical mons like ape to come in and revenge free, making a team that much more vulnerable late game. Free does, however sacrifice in the consistency department. Where Parasect can come in on slash most of the time, free really is fearful of rock slide, and always has the potential to miss sleep powder. Still, frees' speed tier leads it to have far more entry points in a game which makes up for its inconsistencies.

Also I'll mention that substitute spamming does especially help free to offer a leg up into flareon & sandslash matches, but I also do believe that the sub arguement could definitely lead to a theorymon spiral which isn't good for anyone.

the 1:1.5 & their equal grounds

Both of these mons are able to consistently pull off the 1:1.5 trade which sleepers are notorious for. Free drops in consistently slightly when compared to parasect, but this is in exchange for a speed tier which allows free to go toe to toe with more mons in the tier. How you differentiate them is through how you utilize sleep on a given team.

so when do i use either?

A really good way to determine which of the sleepers you should use can be awnsered with one, simple question, how do you make progress in game? More specifically, how are you making progress which differs from other teams. Of course, every team makes progress with flareon because that is literally the entire reason that flareon is good, because it makes progress, so look beyond that. If your team utilizes mons like onix, which aim to put the opponent in a sort of "check mate" after all of their would be answers are gone. Parasect thrives in these team styles because these teams often want consistent answers because of how heavily their defensive backbone relies on certain mons being out of play.

also, this extends beyond team style, and i'd almost argue it's more of a playstyle difference. Lets look at the big 5+Sleeper archetype (Ape/Slash/Flareon/pidgeot/tent/sleeper) this is a tean which allows for diversity in playstyle so you can chose your sleeper accordingly. You should use parasect when your team can benefit from the switch stability it offers over free, when you're running a more hyper-offensive playstyle with high momentum, free is going to be better as you won't be making progress through switch stability, and free can utilize its speed tier to annoy the opponent's team

wag because i already talked about the 2 other sleepers so might as well

poliwag isnt on par with the other 2 sleepers of the tier. I'll go ahead and address that if your argument for poliwag being viable is that it has a good speed tier which allows it to have a good matchup into two of the most prominent mons in the meta in flareon & sandslash while still maintaining a decent mu into the rest of the tier, I have absolutely no arguments with that point. I do not think there is an issue with what poliwag can do, but rather what it does do. Poliwag is ungodly inconsistent and really struggles to actually pull off the 1:1.5 trade that the other sleepers can consistently do. What poliwag is enabled to do is less consistently pull off 1:2 trades when in the right situation.

I would also like to say that poliwag's mus are discussed as surprisingly black and white. By this I mean I often see it discussed as wag either misses hypnosis and instantly gets cooked, or lands hypnosis and makes progress that the other to sleepers can't hope to make at all. This is far from the reality of wag. It is not uncommon for wag to land hypnosis and still only trades 1:1 or 1:1.5 like the tier's sleepers. Overall, the tier is too fast to actually see poliwag consistently pull off its "gamble". I should point out that I by no means think that poliwag is entirely unviable within the tier, but I do think that its inconsistencies make it far worse than the other 2 sleepers, and should more often than not be forgone in place of the other two.

heres your summary / tldr of my point:

free & parasect are equals in viability, parasect benefits playstyles which dont utilize a ton of momentum whereas free benefits momentum based playstyles. wag is bad because of inconsistency

Great post about the sleepers of the tier! Mostly agree, but I am missing a few points, especially in the niche cases for the two main sleepers.

One of the bigger points is discussing how the two sleepers deal with the three other major Grounds not named Sandslash. Sandslash-less teams with another Ground aren't unviable, and if you're using your sleeper as your only Ground answer, you need to know which of the minor Grounds is worse for your team.

The case for Butterfree is Marowak, as it switches into its Blizzards or Fire Blasts with no big problems, even surviving a crit and being immune to Earthquake. On the other hand, Parasect doesn’t like switching into Marowak as Earthquake into Fire Blast is a roll to KO, and random Blizzards can be even worse for it. Parasect generally needs its health more than Butterfree, as most of the time it gets hit before it can move.

While Butterfree has the Marowak matchup in its favor, Parasect has the Onix matchup in its favor. Butterfree needs to play a dangerous speed tie with Onix, with Onix having a 67% chance to OHKO it with its miss chance included. If it hits but doesn’t kill, it still brings Butterfree into Quick Attack revenge range, which limits its usefulness over the rest of the game. Although this matchup is less important, Onix’s weak attack makes it much easier to answer than Marowak.

Lastly, we come to Rhyhorn, the less used Rock type. The question of this matchup for the sleepers is a bit more complex. Parasect appreciates a very rare outspeed in this meta and having a 2HKO with Mega Drain, but Butterfree abuses Rhyhorn clicking Rest more, getting a free Substitute opportunity. At the end of the day, Parasect still benefits more from this matchup than Butterfree, especially as it can switch into non-crit Rock Slide, unlike Butterfree.

Furthermore, I wanted to appreciate two niche Pokémon Parasect helps to check in team building Magneton because of the Electric resist and Slowpoke because of the outspeed, not caring about being Thunder Waved, and surviving everything it can throw at it except a crit or +2 Fire Blast.

Now that I've talked about some of the more niche interactions, I want to talk about Poliwag as you missed one of the main points to use it.

Poliwag has the unique trait of resisting every special move in Tentacool’s movepool while also having access to a sleep-inducing move. This makes it the only Pokémon that can punish Tentacool by switching into it and clicking Hypnosis to create momentum. You even have multiple tries as Surf is only a roll to 3HKO while Hydro Pump is guaranteed to 3HKO. So unless you get a Hydro Pump crit, you’re most likely getting two Hypnosis chances. Even switching isn't a great option most of the time, as the mons faster than Poliwag are very valuable, making a Hypnosis hit devastating, while switching to a slower mon just gives it another Hypnosis chance. This makes Poliwag one of the better sleepers for double Ground structures that are hit hard by Tentacool.

Another thing I want to mention for Poliwag is that it actually doesn’t like clicking Hypnosis versus mons other than Tentacool as it often can damage the opponent hard without it. It 2HKOs Sandslash, Charmeleon, and Marowak, and can hit Flareon quite hard. All the mons faster than it can give it quite a problem on the turn it tries to sleep them, which is why it's better to answer those with another mon in your team like Sandslash or Onix. It really only wants to click Hypnosis versus the Poisons, Waters, and Sleepers.
 
A weird parasect set-up build i tried to make. Im new to ZU btw.
Screenshot_20241214_000240_Chrome.jpg
 
A weird parasect set-up build i tried to make. Im new to ZU btw.View attachment 695231
i have a few things to say
1 i generaly wouldnt advice you to use free and sect on the same team
2. dont use toxic poison in rby is the worst Status move
3.free generaly doesnt live long enough to use reflect and it doesnt even get much from it stunspore and actually having an damaging move to Force out mons you sleeped is much more valuable change the set to
Butterfree
Ability: No Ability
- Sleep Powder
- Stun Spore
- Psychic/Double-Edge
- Substitute
4.basicaly every mon 3hkos flare so dont run rest also run fb the damage is important for a few calcs also hb is also important generaly i would say you should run somthing like
Flareon
Ability: No Ability
- Fire Blast
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam
- Substitute/Quick Attack/Flamethrower/Fire Spin
5.abra isnt super great especialy as you have no rock or counter mon to absorb hbs sets ok though you could maybe change ref to counter or sesmic but all 3 options are ok
6.pidgeot always needs double edge and hyperbeam also you can only really run rest on pidge if you either rund sand attack or ref i would say you should run somthing like
Pidgeot
Ability: No Ability
- Double-Edge
- Hyper Beam
- Agility
- Mirror Move
7.an mon with its only attacking move being explosions and having no other way to force progress isnt an great idea in general also dont run aa and explosion the least i would do is change aa to bodyslam but generaly one of the best muk sets with explosion seem to be
Muk
Ability: No Ability
- Explosion
- Body Slam
- Fire Blast
- Mega Drain
8.slash and sd are anti synergy in rby as crits ignore sd boost altough sect slash in general isnt super good as it only has like an 50% crit chance also having no stunspore on sect is generaly not adviced unless you have some specific reason for it if you want an more normal set here

Parasect
Ability: No Ability
- Spore
- Stun Spore
- Body Slam /Slash/hyperbeam
- Mega Drain/Swords Dance/Substitute
 
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:rb/arbok: Tiering Update :rb/dragonair:

The RBY ZU council (me, Sabelette, Gangsta Spongebob, BeatsBlack, NotVeryCake, and torkonpeter) has voted 5-1 in support of unbanning Arbok from RBY ZU and banning Partial Trapping (Wrap, Bind, Clamp, Fire Spin). This is due to the RBY PU VR update dropping Dragonair to ZU, resulting in two problematic partial trapping users (itself and Arbok), giving us the ability to ban Partial Trapping as a whole instead of individual Pokemon per Smogon's tiering policy. We believe that Arbok is not a problematic Pokemon without Wrap, so have unbanned it as a result.

Have fun playing in the new ZU!

Tagging dhelmise and Marty, Here's the full list of changes:
PU to ZU: Dragonair, Drowzee, Magmar, Omanyte, Scyther
ZUBL to ZU: Arbok
ZU to PU: Abra
Ban from ZU: Wrap, Bind, Clamp, Fire Spin

credit to Sabelette whose format i blatantly stole
 
Weezing and Muk
The last metas of ZU has seen one poison type -- Weezing come out on top, while Muk was relegated to niche strategies with Acid Armor. It's easy to see why: 85 Special hits ranges while 65 Special does not. Weezing crucially hits 3HKOs on Sandslash and Primeape, and gives pause to physical attackers like Onix and Rhyhorn from switching in. Furthermore, while not getting a clean 2HKO on Pidgeot with Thunderbolt, having better ranges to KO when accounting for Double-Edge chip is important. Muk didn't have much over Weezing barring Acid Armor, it is slightly bulkier on the special side and takes Seismic Toss better, but those calcs don't really push the needle. Mega Drain is cute but it is very easy to switch into, and access to Body Slam really doesn't mean much when there are better mons that click Body Slam in the tier. However, the recent drops seem to have shifted things around so that running non-Acid Armor Muk may actually have some merits.

Introducing: The Sludger
There is a big difference between 90 base Attack and 105 base Attack, and that's that Sludge gets 3HKO ranges with 105 base Attack. It has a 40% chance to poison, and is 100% accurate, unlike Fire Blast. Body Slam doesn't get these ranges so I don't think it's a replacement. The new drops have shifted the metagame a bit, so Muk is favored in some crucial matchups. The classic Weezing moveset is
Fire Blast
Thunderbolt
Explosion
Hyper Beam/Sludge​

Using Muk with this moveset is possible but pretty cringe and you should honestly be running Weezing if you opt to use this set. However, this Muk set has merits:
Sludge
Thunderbolt
Hyper Beam/Mega Drain/ Acid Armor
Explosion​

I think Fire Blast should be dropped on Muk. It hits terrible KO ranges, while Sludge hits real ranges that can be compared to Weezing. Even if you do have Fire Blast, many times you'd rather just click Sludge anyways on Muk. You can have 2 decent moves but you can only click 1 each turn, and spamming Fire Blast makes you wish you were actually using Weezing. Here are how Weezing and Muk differ in key matchups:

Dragonair: Muk is better
:rb/Dragonair:
Weezing Sludge: (26.4 - 31.3%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
Muk Sludge: (29.2 - 34.4%) -- 4.2% chance to 3HKO. With a poison on the 1st or 2nd, it is a guaranteed 3HKO.
Dragonair eats both Fire Blast and Thunderbolt from Weezing, taking 17.8 max from Fire Blast. Furthermore, Weezing has a 53% OHKO with Explosion, while Muk's is guaranteed.

Magmar: Muk is better
:rb/Magmar:
Weezing Sludge: 92-109 (27.6 - 32.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
Muk Sludge: (30.6 - 36.3%) -- 57.8% chance to 3HKO. With a poison, it is guaranteed
Weezing does max 24.3% to Magmar with Thunderbolt. It's boom has only an 83% chance to OHKO. This pattern is roughly the same with other Fires, like Flareon, Charmeleon, and Ponyta, but the OHKO for Explosion on Flareon is 59%, while Muk is guaranteed.

Drowzee: Slightly Muk favored
:rb/Drowzee:
I don't think this mon is particularly good in this meta, Muk has better rolls versus Drowzee, since Fire Blast does 30.6% max with Weezing. Weezing's Sludge almost always 3HKOs anyways and can afford to run it, but Muk can drop Fire Blast and run Hyper Beam, which snipes Drowzee from 54.7-64.3. Muk is slightly better, though I don't think it means much.

Parasect and Butterfree: Slightly Muk favored
:rb/Parasect: & :rb/Butterfree:
Weezing has to hit the 85% accurate move to OHKO parasect. Weezing's Sludge has a 70% KO chance, with crits that's around a 77% chance. Muk has a 100% OHKO with Sludge, though you are probably hitting that range with Weezing anyways, and Parasect staying in versus a potential Fire Blast basically never happens, so they are about as good, though Muk has a slight advantage. Both Weezing and Muk cleanly 2HKO Butterfree with Sludge, but if Weezing opts for Hyper Beam over Sludge, Fire Blast accuracy and Special drops from Butterfree make it a lot more dicey. The solution is to run Sludge on Weezing since Hyper Beam doesn't hit too much, so this interaction is about equal for both of them.

Scyther: Slightly Weezing Favored
:rb/Scyther:
Muk's Thunderbolt doesn't 2HKO Scyther, but Sludge does. Weezing's Sludge doesn't 2HKO Scyther, but Thunderbolt does. It's basically a wash, but Weezing takes max 36% from Hyper Beam while Muk takes 39% max, and also Thunderbolt can paralyze 10% of the time.

Omanyte: Hard to tell?
:rb/Omanyte:
The two neutral buttons that Weezing and Muk click, Fire Blast and Sludge, bounce right off of Omanyte. However, Weezing has a 2HKO with Thunderbolt, while Muk does not. Weezing's Thunderbolt does from 49-57.3, while Muk's hits from 41.7-49. However, Muk's barely perceptible Special bulk comes in handy. Omanyte's Surf is a 95% chance to 3HKO Weezing, while it is only a 31.2% chance versus Muk. Finally, Muk has one final trick up it's sleeve: Mega Drain.
Muk Mega Drain vs. Omanyte: 98-116 (35.8 - 42.4%) (11.8 - 14% recovered) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Thunderbolt 3HKOs Omanyte anyways, and the extra healing makes Omanyte's Surf do a measly 20%. However, it is important to note that both Poisons outspeed Omanyte, so perhaps the cleaner range that Weezing offers is more important. But maybe you really need to 1v1 Omanyte, so Muk would do better, or perhaps your Poison is paralyzed, so the 3HKO ranges become really important. Either way, I don't feel comfortable making a call here.

Primeape: About the same
:rb/Primeape:
Muk Sludge vs. Primeape: 100-118 (30 - 35.4%) -- 25.2% chance to 3HKO
Weezing Fire Blast vs. Primeape: 108-127 (32.4 - 38.1%) -- 97.8% chance to 3HKO
With a poison, Muk's Sludge rate increasing drastically based on when Primeape gets Poisoned. Fire Blast is 85% accurate, and the burn chance isn't particularly relevant because it Primeape is probably clicking Seismic Toss into Weezing, which does 30%. Muk takes basically nothing, capping out at 24.2% of the time. Lastly, Weezing's Explosion isa 59% roll to KO, while Muk's is guaranteed. On one hand, Weezing actually wins more often than Muk, which really wants a poison in one of those three sludges (happens 78% of the time). However, Weezing can absolutely drop the ball and miss crucial Fire Blasts. While burns aren't relevant in this calculation, getting a burn could cripple Primeape's ability to stuff later in the game. It's a tough call.

Tentacool: Slightly Weezing Favored
:rb/Tentacool:
Weezing Thunderbolt: 125-148 (44.1 - 52.2%) -- 16.8% chance to 2HKO
Muk Thunderbolt: 107-126 (37.8 - 44.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Weezing has a paltry 17% chance to KO, but Muk doesn't really have it better. Sludge -> Hyper Beam doesn't KO, so you'd need to Sludge twice into Hyper Beam, which is way easier to play around. At that point you just click Thunderbolt like Weezing. However, Muk can opt to run Body Slam, and Sludge -> Body Slam -> Body Slam KOs. You have to drop Hyper Beam for this, so it's a tough call that probably isn't worth it. Still, I'd say Weezing has the definitive edge here.

Weezing and Muk: Weezing is better
:rb/Weezing: & :rb/Muk:
Weezing hits on the Special side, so it doesn't care about burns, and it outspeeds Muk. Weezing also resists Sludge and cannot be poisoned, and Muk's Explosion does 79% max. Obviously, Weezing is better in the mirror.

Sandslash: Weezing is a lot better
:rb/Sandslash:
Weezing Fire Blast: 111-131 (31.4 - 37.1%) -- 82.9% chance to 3HKO
Weezing has a realistic chance to 3HKO Sandslash, and can burn it. Swithing Sandslash into Weezing is kind of a gamble once you consider the burn chance, but Sandslash eating a Sludge poison really doesn't accomplish much. It could turn into a sleep blocker. Weezing lives EQ at above 68, and Muk does so from 74. Muk's boom hits 80% while Weezing's hits 72%. They are both pretty bad into Sandslash to be honest, but crucially, Sandslash can't just switch into Weezing with impunity, so it's a clear Weezing W.

Pidgeot: Weezing is way better, but it's not that bad.
:rb/Pidgeot:
The biggest reason why Weezing >>>>> Muk in the past is because of this mon. The advantages with Muk are sometimes better, but in the old meta this mon was on every team, and the better Thunderbolt range that Weezing offered, alongside better physical bulk made Weezing the superior choice. Muk obviously can't compete, but I'd argue that this interaction is why less important in this version of ZU. Magmar is now a really good mon in the tier, which outspeeds Pidgeot. Omanyte is now a really good mon too, and it walls Pidgeot quite well, and unlike Onix and Rhyhorn, Omanyte's Surf and Blizzard hit like a truck, so this is a big deal. Lastly, Scyther is now here. If you are going to run a mon walled by Omanyte, you'd want a mon that actually outspeeds everything, too. Pidgeot simply doesn't have as privileged of a position in the tier anymore, it is completely droppable, and arguably not even top 10.

Conclusion
Muk is actually superior in many cases to Weezing, having better KO ranges versus Dragonair and Fire-types, while its Explosion always hits the OHKO in certain matchups. Furthermore, it has better KO ranges with Hyper Beam, and can live 3 Omanyte Surfs. While it doesn't have Fire Blast burns to deter Sandslash, it makes up for it in being 100% accurate and a 40% poison rate. Lastly, Muk has actual set variety. They could be running Mega Drain or Hyper Beam or even Acid Armor, with the last one greatly changing how you deal with Muk. These two mons are separate from each other: Weezing doesn't have to fear Sandslash switching in for free, while Muk has a better matchup spread and is generally more consistent in both Accuracy and Explosion ranges. I honestly don't know which is "better," but I believe that Muk is a genuine choice, even without Acid Armor.
 
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Introducing: The Sludger
Body Slam doesn't get these ranges so I don't think it's a replacement
I do think you want to use Body Slam in that set sometimes, perhaps over Thunderbolt. Body slam doesn'tt get certain ranges the way sludge does, but due to body slam's paralysis chance muk is essentially getting an extra free hit whenever it rolls it. Muk being able to paraslam Dragonair, Primeape , Magmar and Sandslash with body slam is a matchup advantage it has over Weezing and should be accounted for. It's not the first choice to 1v1 the latter 2 but it forces them to risk paralysis on entry, which Weezing can't do
 
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