Metagame SS OU Metagame Discussion Thread v5 (usage in post #547)

[TPP]

Hello everyone! With the Island of Armor finally being released, you all are free to start discussing the new OU metagame here! Everything you need should be found in the resources below. I will also list things in a similar manner to the role compendium to help distinguish potential roles. I'll try to keep it updated as we get more information. For now, I'm listing everything regardless of viability to help everyone get situation with what's available now. Enjoy!

First of all, here is a list of of all available mons and the new moves they learned from DLC.

New Abilities

New Moves

New Pokemon:

Returning Pokemon:

Entry Hazards:
Stealth Rock:

Spikes:

Toxic Spikes:

Hazard Removal:
Rapid Spin:

Defog:

Setup Sweepers/Breakers:
Dragon Dance:

Bulk Up:

Swords Dance:

Calm Mind:

Nasty Plot:

Quiver Dance:

Belly Drum:

Shift Gear:

Weather:
Rain:

Sun:

Sand:

Hail:

Usage Stats:

June Usage Stats
July Usage Stats

 

[Jordy]

Here are the newly introduced Pokemon that are relevant to this metagame. Meet Galarian Slowbro, Urshifu, and Urshifu-Rapid-Strike!

Galarian Slowbro

Base Stats: 95 HP / 100 Atk / 95 Def / 100 SpA / 70 SpD / 30 Spe
Typing: Poison / Psychic
Abilities: Quick Draw* / Own Tempo / Regenerator

Movepool

Notable Moves:

Calm Mind
Fire Blast
Flamethrower
Focus Blast
Future Sight
Ice Beam
Nasty Plot
Psychic
Psyshock
Shell Side Arm
Slack Off
Stored Power

Shell Side Arm: Poison-type; 90 BP; 100% Accuracy; 16 PP; Physical if target's Def > Sp. Def. 20% chance to poison the foe.

Rest of the Movepool

Acid
Amnesia
Attract
Avalanche
Blizzard
Body Slam
Brick Break
Brine
Brutal Swing
Bulldoze
Confusion
Curse
Dig
Disable
Dive
Drain Punch
Earthquake
Endure
Facade
Fling
Foul Play
Giga Impact
Grass Knot
Growl
Hail
Headbutt
Heal Pulse
Hyper Beam
Ice Punch
Icy Wind
Imprison
Iron Defense
Iron Tail
Light Screen
Liquidation
Mega Kick
Mega Punch
Mud Shot
Muddy Water
Pay Day
Protect
Psych Up
Psychic Terrain
Rain Dance
Razor Shell
Rest
Round
Safeguard
Scald
Shadow Ball
Skill Swap
Sleep Talk
Sludge Bomb
Sludge Wave
Snore
Substitute
Sunny Day
Surf
Swift
Tackle
Thunder Wave
Tri Attack
Trick
Trick Room
Venoshock
Water Pulse
Weather Ball
Whirlpool
Withdraw
Wonder Room
Yawn
Zen Headbutt

* Quick Draw: This Pokemon has a 20% chance to move first in its priority bracket.

Urshifu

Base Stats: 100 HP / 130 Atk / 100 Def / 63 SpA / 60 SpD / 97 Spe
Typing: Fighting / Dark
Abilities: Unseen Fist**

Movepool

Notable Moves:

Bulk Up
Close Combat
Fire Punch
Ice Punch
Poison Jab
Sucker Punch
Taunt
Thunder Punch
U-turn
Wicked Blow
Zen Headbutt

Wicked Blow: Dark-type; 80 BP; 100% Accuracy; 8 PP; Always results in a critical hit.

Rest of the Movepool

Acrobatics
Aerial Ace
Assurance
Attract
Aura Sphere
Beat Up
Body Press
Body Slam
Brick Break
Counter
Crunch
Dark Pulse
Darkest Lariat
Detect
Dig
Drain Punch
Dynamic Punch
Endure
Facade
False Swipe
Fling
Focus Blast
Focus Energy
Focus Punch
Foul Play
Giga Impact
Headbutt
Helping Hand
Iron Defense
Iron Head
Leer
Low Kick
Low Sweep
Mega Kick
Mega Punch
Payback
Protect
Rest
Retaliate
Revenge
Reversal
Rock Slide
Rock Smash
Rock Tomb
Round
Scary Face
Sleep Talk
Snarl
Snore
Stone Edge
Substitute
Superpower
Swift
Throat Chop
Work Up

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike

Base Stats: 100 HP / 130 Atk / 100 Def / 63 SpA / 60 SpD / 97 Spe
Typing: Fighting / Water
Abilities: Unseen Fist**

Movepool

Notable Moves:

Aqua Jet
Bulk Up
Close Combat
Fire Punch
Ice Punch
Iron Head
Liquidation
Poison Jab
Surging Strikes
Taunt
Thunder Punch
U-turn
Waterfall
Zen Headbutt

Surging Strikes: Water-type; 25 BP; 100% Accuracy; 8 PP; Always results in a critical hit. Hits 3 times.

Rest of the Movepool

Acrobatics
Aerial Ace
Attract
Aura Sphere
Body Press
Body Slam
Brick Break
Brine
Counter
Detect
Dig
Dive
Drain Punch
Dynamic Punch
Endure
Facade
False Swipe
Focus Blast
Focus Energy
Focus Punch
Giga Impact
Headbutt
Helping Hand
Iron Defense
Leer
Low Kick
Low Sweep
Mega Kick
Mega Punch
Protect
Rain Dance
Rest
Retaliate
Revenge
Reversal
Rock Slide
Rock Smash
Rock Tomb
Round
Scald
Scary Face
Sleep Talk
Snore
Stone Edge
Substitute
Superpower
Swift
Whirlpool
Work Up

** Unseen Fist: All contact moves hit through protection

 

[TPP]

Gens 1 and 2

Both Sandslash formes now have access to Spikes. However, it's hard to say they'll be successful Spike setters due to freely inviting common Defoggers in Corviknight and Skarmory while simultaneously being unable to threaten them at all.

Wigglytuff, like Clefable, can now run Teleport + Wish. However, there is a strong chance that Clefable will naturally outclass it for a few reasons. Clefable has Magic Guard, which is a huge advantage over Wigglytuff since it prevents Clefable from having to heal itself from chip damage that's normally taken from status and hazards. Clefable being a pure Fairy-type also allows it to resist Fighting-type attacks, which may prove to be useful now that the tier has new Fighting-type threats in Urshifu and Heracross.

Unfortunately, Golduck only got Muddy Water and Flip Turn. There was no reason to use it before, and sadly it looks like that won't change.

Poliwrath got a ton of new moves with Drain Punch, Reversal, Superpower, Muddy Water, Close Combat, Darkest Lariat, High Horsepower, and Liquidation. It already had access to Belly Drum and it does have the Swift Swim ability, so it finally has potential to be used on Rain. However, it doesn't have the highest attack stat, which may result in disappointing damage output. For example, a +6 Jolly Poliwrath only does 58.8-69.4% to Toxapex in the rain with Liquidation, which may ultimately force it to run Earthquake solely for Toxapex. There's also some new bulky water and grass types in Slowbro and Amoonguss that may give Poliwrath trouble.

Alakazam may turn out to be a very strong special threat in OU thanks to having gained Nasty Plot this generation. It sits at a very nice speed tier, which allows it to outspeed everything except for Talonflame, Weavile, Dragapult and Zeraora. While Alakazam got Nasty Plot, it also has to deal with Chansey, Magearna, Aegislash and Mandibuzz. Chansey is an interesting interaction because if Chansey opts to run Toxic over Thunder Wave, then at best, it has to spam Seismic Toss vs. Alakazam to threaten it (it does 39.8%). In return, after a single Nasty Plot, Alakazam's Psyshock will always 2HKO Chansey (the roll is 50.7-59.7%). While Chansey may not be a huge problem for Alakazam, Magearna could potentially stop Alakazam. In addition to resisting Psychic-type attacks, Magearna has options to boost its own stats with Calm Mind, and could KO with moves like Iron Head. On the other hand, +2 Focus Blast from Alakazam has a high chance to 2HKO Magearna, after Stealth Rock, so it's not a perfect answer. Aegislash is able to tank hits from an Alakazam that opted to run Recover in the 4th slot over another coverage move. Aegislash can tank a hit and threaten back with Shadow Sneak. Mandibuzz is similar to Magearna where it doesn't care about Psychic-type attacks and mainly has to worry about Focus Blast. However, unlike Magearna, Mandibuzz can 1HKO Alakazam with Knock Off (Foul Play will fail to 1HKO if Alakazam runs 0 IV's in attack). Overall, I think it has pretty good potential and should be an exciting addition to the metagame.

Tentacruel I personally don't think will stay in OU for a number of reasons. Unlike other defensive hazard removers (Skarmory, Corviknight, Mandibuzz), Tentacruel has no recovery options outside of Leftovers. You could make the same argument about Excadrill, but Excadrill was also used for offense, which is something Tentacruel won't be used for.

Slowbro finally gives us another bulky Water-type. It can reliably switch into a lot of physical attackers, most notably Excadrill and Cinderace. It gained a lot of new moves, including Imprison, Weather Ball, Mud Shot, Psychic Terrain, Hydro Pump, Stored Power, Liquidation, Expanding Force, Razor Shell, Muddy Water, Nasty Plot and Body Press. It's also important to remember it has access to Teleport now, which can allow it to grab momentum after switching into a mon it checks.

Regular Exeggutor gets access to Calm Mind now, but it unfortunately did not get Weather Ball. It's hard to say if it'll have any success in OU if it has zero options on the special attacking side to deal with Steel-types.

Alolan Exeggutor got Power Whip and not much more. It has some nice coverage options in Flamethrower and Earthquake, but it's very slow and not too powerful, so it most likely won't be seeing any usage in OU.

Marowak didn't get anything notable and although it hits pretty hard, it won't appreciate having to deal with Corviknight and Tangrowth.

Alolan Marowak on the other hand actually got Poltergeist. I'm not sure if Poltergeist will end up more consistent than Shadow Bone, but it's a nice option that can help it deal more damage. Alolan Marowak should be nice for Trick Room teams and is a pretty scary threat in general due to its amazing coverage in Ghost + Fire + Ground attacks.

The fattest pink blob has returned to wall every special threat in the book. A lot of pre-dlc mons such as Kyurem, Hydreigon and Dragapult were able to be as good as they were because Chansey was gone, but now that Chansey is back, it'll be interesting to see how those mons perform.

Kangaskhan didn't get anything special either, so it's probably not going to see any usage.

Starmie gets Agility and it has access to Teleport. Teleport is pretty cool and could allow Starmie to use a moveset of Rapid Spin + Recover + Scald Teleport to play more of a utility role. The major flaw with this however is that it's hard to justify the purpose in running Starmie in the first place. In other words, if there isn't anything common that it can check, then there's not much reason using it.

Scyther gets a few new moves in Assurance, Psycho Cut, Cross Poison, Acrobatics, and Dual Wingbeat. It gets the Technician boost for Dual Wingbeat and has the option to run Heavy-Duty Boots now. However, it doesn't really have good coverage options to help break through common physically defensive mons like Toxapex and Corviknight, which ultimately means it's gonna struggle too much.

Pinsir got Reversal and High Horsepower, but without mega evolution, it's not worth running.

Tauros got some cool moves including Assurance, Revenge, Reversal, Megahorn, Close Combat, High Horsepower, Throat Chop, and Lash Out. Unfortunately it still lacks any boosting moves, or moves to boost its stats, meaning that it will struggle against common physically defensive threats like Hippowdon.

Although Azumarill didn't really gain any notable moves (it gained Brutal Swing, Mud Shot, Draining Kiss, Misty Terrain, Misty Explosion, and Steel Roller), Azumarill does add a great Water-type wallbreaker to the SS OU roster. With Belly Drum and Huge Power, Azumarill is the kind of Pokemon that can quickly snowball out of control. Azumarill lacks much of any consistent defensive counterplay, but it is still held back by faster Pokemon that resist Aqua Jet such as Kyurem, and the fact that it can sometimes struggle to find opportunities to set up if pressured enough.

Politoed has access to some new moves, most notably Weather Ball and Earth Power. Pelipper existing gives it a tough time and it will probably remain outclassed by Pelipper like it did last generation.

Slowking doesn't have as many useful new moves like Slowbro does, but it still has access to Teleport and now learns Weather Ball. I don't think it'll use Weather Ball, but like Slowbro, it should be nice to have Slowking grab momentum with Teleport after switching in to check an offensive threat.

Dunsparce already had an insane move pool to begin with, but now it has access to Helping Hand, Amnesia, Baton Pass, Stored Power, Terrain Pulse, Dual Wingbeat, Skitter Smack, and Scale Shot. It's stats hold it back a lot, and that sadly won't change this generation either.

Scizor is most notable in SS OU for the defensive utility that it brings with it; it is an excellent check to Pokemon like Kyurem, while also being capable of pressuring Pokemon like Clefable. Unfortunately, Scizor didn't really gain any new tools it can make use of besides Psycho Cut, which it can maybe make use of to pressure Toxapex more consistently.

Heracross notably gained access to Spikes, which can make it much easier to wear down defensive mons like Hippowdon and Kommo as well as faster mons like Dragapult. Spikes also gives it a tool that sets it apart from Urshifu and Conkeldurr as a Fighting-type wallbreaker. Considering its pretty good matchup against entry hazard removers like Corviknight and Mandibuzz, this could be very useful.

Skarmory only gained 4 new moves: Wing Attack, Sand Tomb, Body Press, Dual Wingbeat. Body Press is pretty interesting as it allows Skarmory to directly pressure mons like Excadrill and Magnezone with damage instead of needing to rely on Whirlwind. Skarmory also gives us another Excadrill counter and should help deal with some of the new physical attackers in the tier.

Kingdra has finally gained access to Hurricane, which is a fairly big change because it would struggle to break through specially defensive Grass-types like Amoonguss and Assault Vest Tangrowth in previous generations. Kingdra is looking to bring a lot of new tools to rain teams; being a very fast Swift Swim user with some pretty useful utility as a Water / Dragon type.

Porygon2 gained a few mediocre/useless moves in Thunder Shock, Power Swap, Guard Swap, Speed Swap, Eerie Impulse. It does have Teleport, but it's a little hard to justify using it in the first place when Chansey exists.

Miltank now gets Play Rough, Charm, High Horsepower, Heavy Slam, Body Press, Steel Roller. Defensively it faces a lot of competition with mons like Hippowdon and Corviknight, and then offensively, it's outclassed by Snorlax as a Curse user.

Blissey gets Life Dew and Stored Power. I know some people talked about Calm Mind sets in the previous thread, but I'm personally not too sure how they'll turn out to be. Chansey should outclass it as a utility/support mon, but it'll be interesting to see if someone finds a use for Blissey.

 

[Jordy]

Gens 3 through 5

Exploud got Hydro Pump and Terrain Pulse. Scrappy Boomburst is cool since we still have some Ghost-types in the tier (Aegislash and Dragapult), but I'm not too sure how well Exploud will do. It has good coverage and decent power, but it's a little slow and a bit prediction reliant just to get some decent mileage out of it.

Sharpedo got some interesting new moves in Flip Turn and Close Combat. Unfortunately for Sharpedo, Barraskewda also has both of those moves and a much higher Speed stat of 136. If Barraskewda isn't being used, then neither will Sharpedo.

Luxray is back and has some decent new moves. It can now use Thunder Shock, Electro Ball, Play Rough, Psychic Fangs, Rising Voltage and Agility. Play Rough is a nice coverage option, and Agility is nice to boost its lackluster Speed stat, but it pains me to say that Luxray still isn't good enough for OU. Hippowdon and Tangrowth will endless wall it and Luxray can't really do much to get past them.

Lopunny has a lot of new moves, including U-turn, Play Rough and Close Combat. This is great and all, if it could still Mega Evolve. Unfortunately it can't, and as such, it won't be good enough for OU.

Although Magnezone can no longer convenient trap Steel-types such as Ferrothorn with Hidden Power Fire, it did gain Body Press to partially make up for this. Unfortunately, having to rely on Iron Defense + Body Press to trap Steel-types like Ferrothorn makes it less consistent at taking care of them, it can still get the job done and that is very useful for a variety of Pokemon. The usefulness of the fact that it can trap Corviknight and Skarmory can also certainly not be understated. It will be interesting to see how Magnezone will adapt to the metagame with the loss and gain of some tools, and how the metagame will adapt to it in response.

Lickylicky actually has some nice stats with a lot of bulk. Unfortunately it's pretty slow and doesn't have a single turn recovery move like Recover (it has Wish). It now gets Hydro Pump, Body Press, Terrain Pulse, Steel Roller, Self-Destruct.

Tangrowth didn't really gain any new tools that are notable, but it does provide SS OU with a pretty sturdy Grass-type. It is an amazing check to Pokemon like Excadrill and Zeraora, and can be very annoying to switch into thanks to the combination of Knock Off and Sleep Power.

As I stated earlier in Porygon2's paragraph, Porygon-Z also gets Thunder Shock, Power Swap, Guard Swap, Speed Swap, Eerie Impulse. Nasty Plot let's it do some pretty decent damage, but a speed stat of 90 still limits it a decent amount.

Stoutland has Payback now. It has some nice coverage moves in general, but no way to boost its attack stat while also losing its best STAB moves in Return and Frustration make it hard to believe it'll see any usage in OU.

Scolipede didn't really gain anything noteworthy. It has Steam Roller, Cross Poison and Assurance now, none of which it'll end up using. SD sets could be cool with Aqua Tail, Poison Jab and Earthquake, but it isn't the strongest even at +2 and has no reliable way to easily break past Corviknight and Skarmory. It does provide Spikes, so that's nice.

Lilligant gained some physical moves in Solar Blade, Leaf Blade and Grassy Glide, but didn't get any new special moves. It does have Quiver Dance, but lost Hidden Power and did not get access to Weather Ball, so now it has no way to threaten Steel-types.

Krookodile gained a lot of new moves, a lot of which aren't worth using outside of Close Combat and Darkest Lariat. It's cool to have another Intimidate user and another Ground-type in the tier. However, offensively it'll struggle with Corviknight, Hippowdon and Tangrowth, and then defensively it's a bit questionable to justify using it due to Hippowdon existing.

Zoroark has Encore now, but it still has the general issues it always has and probably won't see usage in OU. Losing Z moves means it is a lot more reliant on its own stats to get surprise KO's with Illusion, and due to the bulky nature of generation 8, it won't be easy at all for Zoroark to pull it off.

For some reason, Emolga now has access to some grass moves in Energy Ball, Solarbeam and Solar Blade. While this may be cool, its offensive stats are subpar and with no way to boost its special attack, it won't be worth using offensively. Defensively it does provide Defog, but with its rather low defensive stats, it won't be tanking as many hits as it wants to.

Amoonguss did not gain any moves with notable applicabilities in Singles formats, unlike in Doubles, where Pollen Puff is a very good support move to keep teammates on the field healthy. Amoonguss fills a pretty significant void in the previous SS OU metagame as a Zeraora, Primarina, and Clefable check.

Mienshao has access to Close Combat and Blaze Kick now. Despite gaining Close Combat, it may opt to run High Jump Kick solely because it has Reckless as an ability to give it a more respectable damage output. Despite this, Mienshao won't be able to break past fighting resists like Toxapex since it lacks decent coverage options.

Druddigon got a few new moves, none of which are too helpful: Mega Punch, Body Slam, Endure, Dual Wingbeat, Scale Shot, Lash Out. It does have fairly respectable attacking power with base 120 attack and Sheer Force, and also has access to Glare and Stealth Rock.

In exchange for losing Return, Bouffalant gained Close Combat, Throat Chop, High Horsepower and Body Slam. It's surprisingly bulky and it does have access to Swords Dance. However, even at +2, it struggles to pressure Corviknight, as Close Combat after a Swords Dance only does 44-52%.

Volcarona fortunately didn't gain access to Earth Power like it was rumored to, and it didn't even really gain any notable tools besides Heavy-Duty Boots, but it is incredibly likely to do just fine with what it already has. Without Heatran, Volcarona is completely free to run Psychic so there isn't really any 4MSS to hold it back. Luckily, we still have Pokemon such as Chansey, Toxapex, Kommo-o, and Rotom-H available to check it, but will that be enough, or will Volcarona prove to be too much for SS OU? What do you think?

 

[talah]

Smogon bird is back and unfortunately, Hurricane was the main move it got from DLC. However, there may be hope as Heavy-Duty Boots now exist and Talonflame actually threatens a lot of mons like Rotom-Heat and Hippowdon with Toxic. Taunt is a pretty nice option on it too, and the speed tier it sits at is incredible, especially when you consider how it outspeeds Alakazam and Cinderace.

Dragalge gets Flip Turn now, which is not terrible when you consider how it could Toxic Spike as Corviknight switches in to Defog, and then Flip Turn the turn it uses Defog to get a free switch. Losing Hidden Power was pretty bad since it can't touch Ferrothorn outside of Scald now.

Clawitzer has Terrain Pulse and Flip turn now. It was never really strong enough to warrant being used in the past, and between Toxapex, Chansey, Amoonguss and Tangrowth, it won't be expected to see much success. Flip Turn does help a little, but it still needs to pull its weight outside of being used solely for Flip turn.

Dedenne has Dazzling Gleam, Electro Ball and Rising Voltage now. It's a cute mon, but it sadly doesn't provide much as it lacks power and lacks utility moves to make itself useful.

Klefki did not gain anything of note, and it has been very underwhelming since its inception. Without any new tools to show, Klefki is pretty likely to fall behind once again, this time even facing competition from Grimmsnarl as a Reflect and Light Screen setter. Perhaps its access to Spikes will grant it a niche over Grimmsnarl, but the fact that it lets entry hazard removers into play so easily and can't prevent it from using Defog or Rapid Spin, really does not help it.

Lycanroc has gained access to Close Combat and Psychic Fangs, which allow it to pressure Steel-types and Toxapex much better than it could previously. However, it still faces major competition from Terrakion and will likely not find a niche for itself in SS OU.

Just like Lycanroc, Lycanroc-Midnight has gained access to Close Combat and Psychic Fangs, which will allow it to pressure Steel-types and Toxapex better than it could previously. However, just like Lycanroc, it will likely struggle to find a niche over Terrakion.

Lycanroc-Dusk also gained access to Close Combat and Psychic Fangs, which will allow it to pressure Steel-types and Toxapex better. Unlike Lycanroc and Lycanroc-Midnight, it does have access to Tough Claws-boosted Accelerock which turns it into an offensive Volcarona check, which could be valuable enough to set it apart from Terrakion and actually allow it to carve a niche, even if just minor.

Lurantis hasn't gained anything notable and will probably struggle just as much as it did in SM OU; it can't really get past Flying- nor Fire-types.

Comfey now has access to Encore and Stored Power, but it is still too weak to Pokemon like Toxapex, Corviknight, and Magearna to be worthwhile.

Palossand has most notably gained access to Scorching Sands, a Scald-esque move. Palossand can serve as a check to Zeraora, and it can also check some other Pokemon like Terrakion and Excadrill. It can also serve as a Stealth Rock setter, though it has a mediocre matchup against most entry hazard removers. Palossand could establish a slight niche with the aforementioned perks, but it is likely to remain mediocre.

Out of any Pokemon, Magearna is the one that has gained the most new Moves, as if it needed any more. Out of all the moves that it gained, Electro Ball, Trick, and Stored Power seem to be the most notable. Electro Ball gives Magearna access to a very strong Electric-type Move for Shift Gear sets, one which could easily overwhelm Toxapex after a single Shift Gear boost, while Trick may enable Choiced Magearna sets to thrive, and Stored Power could make Calm Mind sets even more overwhelming, though it seems to be largely unneeded and unoptimal because it can't really get past Haze Toxapex.

It is worth noting that Magearna can no longer make use of Heart Swap, as it was removed from the game. It still has access to Confide to keep Calm Mind users like Reuniclus in check, though.

Magearna is looking to be a really strong wincondition with Shift Gear and Calm Mind in SS OU. It's also a great check to Pokemon such as Clefable, Reuniclus, and Hydreigon. Magearna is sure to see major success in SS OU.

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The above was written by TPP and Jordy with some help from me. We hope you enjoyed reading it, and you are more than welcome to provide additional insight on mons we may have not covered extensively enough. We'll leave some questions for everyone to answer in addition to reading the above:

1. What are you most excited to use in the new metagame?
2. What pre-dlc mons are expected to get hit the hardest?
3. What pre-dlc mons are expected to benefit the most or see a rise in viability?
4. How do you feel about Galarian Slowbro and Urshifu?
5. What do you believe will be overhyped and what will die down after being given the "new toy" treatment?

 

[Jordy]

Hey everyone, we hope you enjoyed the above posts; they took a lot of effort to piece together. I would like to post my preliminary thoughts on the newly introduced Pokemon.

To be completely honest, I think Galarian Slowbro is going to be rather underwhelming if anything. It severely lacks in overall defensive utility and also has to compete with its Kantonian brother on top of that, which is a very potent defensive wall, able to check Pokemon such as Cinderace and Excadrill.

With that said, I do believe something like the following set will carve a niche for itself as a wallbreaker.

Slowbro-Galar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Psychic
- Shell Side Arm
- Flamethrower

Disregarding its underwhelming defensive utility in general and compared to Kantonian Slowbro, Galarian Slowbro is in fact looking to be quite potent offensively, albeit perhaps too slow to actually thrive as a wallbreaker. The coverage provided by Psychic + Shell Side Arm + Flamethrower is fairly strong in this metagame, only being resisted by Tyranitar.

Galarian Slowbro can switch into some common Pokemon such as Clefable, Tangrowth, and Toxapex fairly easily, though it has to be wary of Knock Off, meaning it definitely has enough opportunities to set up a Nasty Plot.

With that out of the way, I really don't have anything else positive to say about Galarian Slowbro; it can quickly be forced out by many faster Pokemon, such as Aegislash, Mandibuzz, Gengar, and Chandelure to name a few examples, which its potent coverage will not help much with.

Urshifu is looking to be a very potent wallbreaker in SS OU. With its signature move, Wicked Blow, always being able to land a critical hit, allowing it to overwhelm Pokemon like physically defensive Toxapex, and Clefable generally still favoring specially defensive EV spreads, Urshifu should be able to quickly overwhelm teams with just its STAB moves.

Urshifu @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Wicked Blow
- U-turn
- Poison Jab

I reckon that this will very likely be one of, if not Urshifu's best set. Truthfully, Urshifu really only needs Close Combat and Wicked Blow to bust holes into most of the defensive metagame, but U-turn and Poison Jab are probably the best filler moves. U-turn will allow Urshifu to gain momentum against some Pokemon such as Toxapex and Clefable, which can be pretty useful alongside Pokemon like Alakazam. Although Urshifu can physically defensive Clefable will very likely see a rise in usage in response to Urshifu, so Poison Jab seems like the best option. It may also help with preserving Close Combat and Wicked Blow's PP against defensive Pokemon such as Tangrowth and Clefable.

Unfortunately for Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, Keldeo already exists. Looking past the fact that Keldeo already exists, there is also the issue that it can't really use its STAB Moves to break down teams because sturdy Water-resistant Pokemon such as Tangrowth, Amoonguss, Slowbro, and Toxapex exist. It is also far more prone to faster Pokemon like Dragapult than regular Urshifu is.

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Surging Strikes
- Zen Headbutt
- Bulk Up

A Bulk Up set like this seems pretty likely to be Urshifu-Rapid-Strike's best set. Although it remains to struggle with Slowbro and Tangrowth, Urshifu-Rapid-Strike can overwhelm both Toxapex and Amoonguss with a +1 Zen Headbutt. Beyond still struggling with Slowbro and Tangrowth a lot, Urshifu-Rapid-Strike's lacking Special Defense also makes it very hard to actually find safe setup opportunities.

Between the competition Urshifu-Rapid-Strike faces from Keldeo and Urshifu, the fact that it struggles a lot with physically defensive Water-resistant Pokemon, and its mediocre Special Defense which allows for little setup opportunities, I can hardly see Urshifu-Rapid-Strike be able to carve a niche for itself in SS OU.

 

[erz]

 

[ImperialGamer517]

What are you most excited to use in the new metagame?

Urshifu is going to prove itself as a very powerful wallbreaker in OU, since it separates itself from other notable Fighting-type wallbreakers like Conkeldurr and Terrakion by virtue of being able to ignore protection from Toxapex and Aegislash thanks to Unseen Fist, and guaranteed crits from Wicked Blow is just so good especially due to the fact that Wicked Blow is already STAB. Rapid Strike is going to be useful as well.

With the return of Azumarill rain teams may become good again. Huge Power + Belly Drum is an excellent combo, and did I even mention that this brings Azu’s Attack stat to over 1700? Azumarill overall is going to be decent.

What old mons are expected to get hit the hardest?

Special attackers. Chansey is going to hurt them a lot due to its monstrous HP stat and high SpD. However, Dragapult can easily adapt and switch to physical sets with Dragon Dance or just an All-out Physical Attacker set.

 

[AOJ]

How do you guys think HO teams will perform in the new meta?

I think threats like Volc, Azu, Magearna, Reuniculus ecc. might have a really favorable match up against vast portions of the meta with screen and/or hazard stacking support

 

[BIG ASHLEY]

it's probably a bit niche, but vaporeon now has wish + a fairly slow flip turn, giving it some utility as a wish passer. i don't imagine it'll be the most viable of 'mons, but it was something that jumped out to me.

 

[Zneon]

1. What are you most excited to use in the metagame?

I think these 2 are easily the ones that I'm most excited to use. Magearna getting access to trick in my opinion is huge for choiced sets, especially Specs potentially imo, not to mention the fact that all of its other sets from last gen such as Shift Gear, AV and Calm Mind + Pain Split have so much potential to be incredibly strong picks to fit onto a team. Stored Power might be amazing for Heart Swap or CM sets as well and I'm incredibly excited on what Magearna will offer in the metagame. I've been using Specs the most however.

Set

Magearna @ Choice Specs
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Trick

Alakazam on the other hand looks incredibly threatening, Nasty Plot is a huge buff to it and will make it significantly harder to check, especially when considering that it will have many more opportunities to set up cause of Magic Guard and the amount of bulky Pokemon like Chansey, Slowbro and Tangrowth that will give it an opportunity to break through their team. Its amazing speed tier is really huge too, really only being outsped by Zeraora, Dragapult and Talonflame, unless you're using a Scarfer, beating this would be significantly more difficult.

Set

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

3. What old mons do are expected to benefit the most or see a rise in viability?

These mons are without a doubt going to be staples on bulky teams, which is already in their favour since balance is the dominant archetype and I feel will still continue to thrive. Chansey and Slowbro getting Teleport is a gigantic boon, it opens so many doors for wallbreakers or balance breakers to come in and hard threaten the opposing team. This is great because of the fact that they are so good at blanket checking the Pokemon they need to check, and because of that they can just use that as momentum fodder to get a strong mon to come in. These Pokemon will absolutely be excellent.

5. How do you feel about Galarian Slowbro and Urshifu?

Galarian Slowbro doesn't look good whatsoever, its lower defences and less useful typing will make it incredibly hard to justify over its Kantonian counterpart, which offers much more utility along with a great typing that allows it to check quite a few stuff. But I can see it being used in some circumstances. Urshifu looks like a pretty good pick, Fighting/Dark is a pretty nice offensive typing and combined with U-turn will make it a pretty great Choice Band user in my eyes.

Pretty excited with how the meta is gonna head.

 

[NotAnimeIris]

We finally have a decent physical flying move that doesn't hurt like hell or take 2 turns to hit. Now it hits 2 turns instead.
A shame that Gyarados doesn't get it, and it seems like Lando-T won't either (damn it GF why??).
Maybe Talonflame can make some use out of it? Since now gale wings won't render obsolete after one brave bird. But still, I doubt that Talonflame will stay in OU, even with heavy-duty boots.

 

[theotherguytm]

Worth noting as well that Magearna gets Agility, which is better on non-Stored Power/Iron Head sets for PP and less Foul Play damage.
Honestly, I think Magearna is going to have a harder time sweeping this gen than last gen, for two reasons.
1. Rotom-Heat
252 SpA Magearna Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-Heat: 124-146 (40.9 - 48.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
8 SpA Rotom-Heat Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Magearna: 260-308 (86.3 - 102.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
The best Rotom in the current metagame resists BoltBeam and both Magearna's STABs to boot, while avoiding the 2HKO from unboosted Focus Miss and KOing back with Overheat. I think Shift Gear+CM sets are going to struggle mightily with 4MSS, and even its new toy Stored Power cannot OHKO after two turns of setup:
+1 252 SpA Magearna Stored Power (120 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-Heat: 185-218 (61 - 71.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 8 SpA Rotom-Heat Overheat vs. +1 0 HP / 4 SpD Magearna: 348-410 (115.6 - 136.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Relying on a metagame staple like Rotom-H being removed is painful for Magearna, and makes checking it a good deal easier than last gen. Especially since...
2. No Z-Moves
This obviously hurts sweepers of all kinds, but Magearna suffers the most. Because of its reliance on Soul-Heart to generate SpA boosts to clean reliably, not having that one big spark to kick off a snowball-style sweep is very painful for Magearna. It can also no longer bypass Fleur Cannon's downside for one turn by going for a nuclear Twinkle Tackle, so its signature move becomes a lot less useable for sweeping. It also has a questionable decision to make for its item choice, with Leftovers variants easy to halt with Rotom-H, not even fearing Focus Blast and setting up in its face. But Life Orb only serves to emphasise its lack of reliable recovery and low initial speed tier.

When I first saw Magearna coming back I was pretty convinced it would be broken, but after some thought I think Magearna will genuinely struggle as an offensive presence. If Dynamax was in the tier Magearna would be utterly terrifying to face, with Moxie Gyarados-style snowballing available, but as it is I don't see the sweeping sets reliably winning games in the current environment. Virtually every wall in OU resists its STABs, BoltBeam sets don't have the same power behind them without Z-moves, and Rotom-H's presence makes me lean towards cleaners like DD Pult and breakers like SD Aegislash if I want setup.

I don't get the hype around Specs sets either. Yes it has Trick and Volt Switch. But again it suffers from the issue of its STAB combo simply sucking RN. You have to run Focus Miss or Ferro and Rotom-H just don't care you exist, you have to run VS or Pex and Corv just laugh at you and you concede momentum, you have to run Fleur Cannon because it nukes neutrals, and you have to run Trick to cripple its checks. Magearna's main draw is unpredictability, and the Specs set seems very one-dimensional. Plus a reminder that it has base 65 speed. 65. The type of speed tier where if you go Modest you're in danger of being outsped by such speedy mons as Timid Aegi and uninvested Mew/Jirachi. There is no way it can clean unboosted, so that relegates it to a wallbreaker. And that type of Choice-locked wallbreaking just does not suit Magearna, as there is no way a sensible opponent will let it take advantage of Soul-Heart. So it just becomes a 130/65 Choiced wallbreaker with no Ability and a bad STAB combo. Give me Specs Kyurem or Choiced Aegi over that any day.

I think Magearna's real place in OU is its Assault Vest set. It has just the right mix of offensive presence and pivoting, while being able to check a multitude of attackers with its excellent defensive typing. And its best new toy went unmentioned above. Draining Kiss. Yes, Assault Vest Magearna finally has a way to restore its HP. It can also pair with WishPort Clef extremely well, especially if Clef switches to PhysDef as predicted above. This kind of Fairy-stack core may even help overwhelm Rotom-H in the right circumstances. Leftovers Heart Swap Pain Split is another returning classic that Magearna will doubtless be able to use EDIT: Whoops, nope, rip. So yeah, 100% use defensive Magearna. It eats Dragapult and Hydreigon alive (+2 252 SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Flamethrower vs. 248 HP / 224+ SpD Assault Vest Magearna: 221-263 (60.8 - 72.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and uninvested Draining Kiss KOs back while healing off nearly all the damage), lets you pivot into all kinds of nasty special breakers without having to run Chansey on your team, and generally kicks butt.

So what do you think? Am I underselling cleaning and breaking sets? Is OTR viable? And how awesome out of 10 is Draining Kiss Assault Vest?
EDIT: Sample set for you to try!
Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draining Kiss
- Flash Cannon/Fleur Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Filler coverage depending on your team.

 

[Zapperrix]

Lycanroc-Dusk also gained access to Close Combat and Psychic Fangs, which will allow it to pressure Steel-types and Toxapex better. Unlike Lycanroc and Lycanroc-Midnight, it does have access to Accelerock which turns it into an offensive Volcarona check, which could be valuable enough to set it apart from Terrakion and actually allow it to carve a niche, even if just minor.

Just a small correction, both Lycanroc-Dusk and Lycanroc get Accelerock. Lycanrock-Dusk is better than Lycanrock due to Tough Claws, which allows Life Orb Psychic Fangs to 2HKO Pex.

252 Atk Life Orb Tough Claws Lycanroc-Dusk Psychic Fangs vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 159-187 (52.3 - 61.5%) -- 96.5% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

I think that it's still gonna be niche either way.

 

[edudittA]

Don't give up on my man/woman, Alakazam. It can still OHKO Aegislash and Mandibuzz with LO +2 Shadow Ball and Dazzling Gleam respectively.

calc

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Aegislash-Shield: 265-315 (81.7 - 97.2%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 8 HP / 8 Def Alakazam: 212-252 (83.7 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Mandibuzz: 377-445 (88.9 - 104.9%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

Slight chip is all Alakazam need to KO those things completely. Shadow Ball is not completely useless, as it can take out stuff like Reuni and non-Choice Scarf Jirachi, and Dazzling Gleam for other Dark-type Pokemon.... I think that Sash Counter would be a great option too.

 

[Gomi]

What are you most excited to use in the new metagame?
I'm really liking how scarf Krookodile is looking in this meta. Revenging Pult, Zera, Bish, modest SG Mag, Zam, and Gar with 1 mon that also happens to have 2 immunities, 2 rlly useful resists (dark and ghost), Knock off, and SR is a quite unique set of traits. I cant really say any other Krook sets look
appealing so far but maybe something will pop up later on.

Heracross also looks like a fairly interesting cleaner due to its newfound access to spikes. I can see scarf Hera being at least good in UU, given how nice spikes are on offensive mons. Guts sets look alright(?), they at least resist conk's priority if that mon stays as relevant, and its speed teir seems respectable alongside its p great offenses (sd eq facade close combat covers much everything but balloon Aegislash, IIRC).

Alolan Marowak looks promising given how freely it can click flare blitz or shadow bone against most teams and just claim a KO. knock being so common sucks but if its knocked off its probably gonna die anyways so eh, I guess? Kinda feels like Crawdaunt where it'll be overlooked due to being hard to get in despite having little to no switch-ins, I'll definitely be using at least, that powers undeniable.
What pre-dlc mons are expected to benefit the most or see a rise in viability?
110% Mandibuzz, this things one of the few defensive options against NP Zam and NP Gar(Albeit not a perfect one vs either whatsoever), though I'm probably partially biased given I've preferred Mandi to Corviknight for a good while now.
Another pretty obvious one I see rising is NP Gar, given it was already an absolute menace for fat, and will still likely continue to be given it basically completely ignores Chansey, disregarding weird options like Shadow Ball.
I also expect Kommo to continue rising in popularity due to Urishifu's banded Wicked Blow basically requiring a decently physically fat dark resist due to its sheer power (although it does get 2hko'd by banded CC, so it's far from a perfect answer)

 

[WhiteQueen]

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Substitute
Iron Defense
Body Press
Thunderbolt

Mag’s gigantic Defense stat could make this set viable at a glance. It has the potential to net two kills or so if it’s able to set up. Still capable of annoying Ferrothorn/Skarm/Corviknight, etc.

 

[Aurinko]

Marowak-A has room in every Meta Magearna is in, as it still hard-counters the usual sets. Volcarona missing HP Ground makes it easier to counter this, too. Managed to pack my three favorite comebacks into these two sentences, haha.

 

[Jaajgko]

How do you feel about Galarian Slowbro and Urshifu?
Galarian Slowbro feels worse than regular slowbro. However I think Urshifu looks like an outstanding broken threat, with the Adamant Choice Band set having 0 switch-in while having good bulk and good speed. Counterplay to Urshifu feels pretty unexistant as the only way to reliably tank its double stab is to use bold clef with soft boiled, which is clearly the less used variant of clef, and it's important to note that if clef switches on poison jab once, it can't switch on the stabs anymore, so yeah it feels pretty underwhelming to play against, and with the combination of speed and bulk it's pretty easy to bring it a couple times in the game to apply pressure, especially with Teleport Clef which allows it to come in on steels. An other way of not straight up losing to it when it comes in is to have Tangrowth/Toxapex to scout the move, and then bring in the resist, but both aforementioned mons need to take 50% or more from Wicked Blow. The dark typing is also super good in this meta with the ghosts being huge threats, and it can use sucker punch to make up for the speed disadvantage against Gengar and Dragapult. I don't think the OU metagame can adapt to it like it adapted itself to Terrakion after the Dugtrio ban so I think the council should take action on it soon before it destroys the pools of wcop.

 

[Dracomenace]

Galarian-Weezing looks pretty neat in this meta. It is the best fairy to check and counter urshifu.I have been using it for a while and it's giving me great results. Moreover, it's neutrality to poison moves helps it eat poison jabs.This mon really loves wish support.
It even can even 1v1 belly drum azu with the combination of willo wisp and painsplit.
You can see it in the below replay
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1134679679


Next mon I'll be talking about is vaporeon. Other than being a very good wish support partner for weezing,it has gotten a small buff to it's moveset in *flipturn*.This mon is not a mommentum drainer. It can mimic the wish-teleport tech like clefable and help its teammates, it isn't as good as teleport(negative priority,not affected by waterabsorb), but it's a utility to bypass taunt is nice perk. Its ability to flip turn on u-turning threats like cinderace and corvknight makes it a mon that sometimes you can use it over other bulky waters(like toxapex).
Plus,you can see in the before mentioned replay how flipturn didn't make vaporeon qd fodder to volc and secure mamo's kill

 

[GMars]

1. What are you most excited to use in the new metagame?

Trick Room got so many good tools back with this DLC between OTR Magearna, Alolan Marowak now with Poltergeist, and Porygon2. I’ve been most excited to build with P2, since Teleport gives safe switchins for more fragile offensive options. Teleport does lock P2 into its hidden ability because of virtual console transfer, but so far it doesn’t seem like it’s been that big of a deal, and P2’s bulky enough to use Teleport pretty freely.

Edit: I forgot that unreleased LGPE transfers weren’t checked by the team validator before the official DLC release and Teleport Trace P2 is now ladder legal, thanks Talpr0ne!

 

[Finchinator]

Hey guys, I figured I would go through the new Pokemon and give some thoughts on them.

Urshifu is a great addition to the metagame. Having a base speed state of only 97 leaves it vulnerable to plenty of revenge killing, which arguably balances it out considering how strong it can be offensively. Close Combat is obviously a great Fighting STAB move, but Wicked Blow is a great addition as well. It is 80 BP, but it always crits, essentially making it a 120 BP move. These two coupled with 130 base attack, coverage to hit Fairy types like Poison Jab or Iron Head, and U-turn to generate momentum makes it a pretty devastating Pokemon. Below I will post a set that I find to be effective alongside some relevant damage calculations.

Urshifu @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- Poison Jab
- U-turn

Calcs

252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory on a critical hit: 168-198 (50.2 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon on a critical hit: 190-225 (45.2 - 53.5%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro on a critical hit: 398-470 (101 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth on a critical hit: 183-216 (45.2 - 53.4%) -- 34.8% chance to 2HKO, guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Magearna: 261-307 (71.9 - 84.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Clefable: 338-398 (85.7 - 101%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

Calcing with Urshifu

Note that Urshifu is not in the calculator yet, but it is very easy to tinker with existing Pokemon to fit the parameters of Urshifu if you need to do this during games with it. Wicked Blow in particular can be used as Crunch with a Critical Hit always whereas you can use a number of common Fighting type Pokemon while customizing their stats/typing to fit Urshifu in a pinch.

(Rapid-Strike)

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike is a lot less effective than Urshifu, in my opinion. It likely still has a niche in the metagame, however. The surplus of physically defensive Water resistances that now roam free make times tough for Urshifu-Rapid-Strike. Surging Strikes is a strong attack that has 3 auto-crit blasts of 25 BP each, equating to a 75 BP critical hit, which is just shy of Wicked Blow's power on regular Urshifu. The main issue is that it tends to get walled by Slowbro, Tangrowth, Amoonguss, and Toxapex with STAB options, which makes Choice Band a lot less effective. On the contrary, Bulk Up may be more usable here. Even with a Bulk Up, some of the aforementioned Pokemon and Dragapult can be seen as quite troublesome. The lack of special bulk makes setting-up challenging and the lack of raw killing power like the other form detract from overall viability drastically. The Bulk Up set is a great balance breaker when facing the right defensive cores, but in other games it can be virtually dead-weight without massive support. Honestly, there are a lot of things that unintentionally keep this in check pretty easily such as Azumarill and Dragapult, which is also very problematic. The sheer strength of it is enough to retain some viability though. Below I will post a set that I find to be effective alongside some relevant damage calculations.

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Life Orb / Lum Berry
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Surging Strikes
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt

Calcs

+1 252 Atk Life Orb Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 182-216 (59.8 - 71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 235-278 (58.1 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Tangrowth Giga Drain vs. -1 0 HP / 4 SpD Urshifu-Rapid-Strike: 398-470 (116.7 - 137.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Surging Strikes vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory on a critical hit: 204-242 (61 - 72.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Skarmory Brave Bird vs. +1 0 HP / 0 Def Urshifu-Rapid-Strike: 144-170 (42.2 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Zen Headbutt vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Amoonguss: 455-538 (105.5 - 124.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Surging Strikes vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Clefable on a critical hit: 464-546 (117.7 - 138.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 230-270 (67.2 - 78.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. +1 0 HP / 0 Def Urshifu-Rapid-Strike: 240-284 (70.3 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Calcing with Urshifu-Rapid-Strike

Note that Urshifu-Rapid-Strike is not in the calculator yet, but it is very easy to tinker with existing Pokemon to fit the parameters of Urshifu-Rapid-Strike if you need to do this during games with it. Surging Strikes in particular can be used as Waterfall with 5 less BP and a Critical Hit always whereas you can use a number of common Fighting type Pokemon while customizing their stats/typing to fit Urshifu-Rapid-Strike in a pinch.

Alakazam is a really interesting Pokemon in the metagame. While not being able to mega evolve reminds us how absurdly frail it is on the physical end, Alakazam with Magic Guard is still very threatening, especially in a metagame without any Pursuit or (Mega) Sableye. There is counterplay, but I expect Alakazam to be a strong Pokemon in the metagame, especially thanks to the addition of Nasty Plot to an already widespread utility movepool. Below I will post a set that I find to be effective alongside some relevant damage calculations.

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 28 Def / 228 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Recover
- Nasty Plot / Knock Off

Calcs

252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 28 Def Alakazam: 211-250 (84 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
8 Atk Hippowdon Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 28 Def Alakazam: 211-250 (84 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 228 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 298-352 (75.6 - 89.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Alakazam: 102-121 (40.6 - 48.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 228 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Corviknight: 391-461 (97.7 - 115.2%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
+2 228 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Hippowdon: 507-597 (120.7 - 142.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
228 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 243-289 (76.6 - 91.1%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 228 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 224+ SpD Assault Vest Magearna: 153-181 (42.1 - 49.8%) -- 28.9% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Alakazam: 184-217 (73.3 - 86.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

This Pokemon is bound to be one of the best in the metagame. On top of what it already had access to, barring Heart Swap and Z-moves (admittedly big blows, especially the latter), Magearna also gained access to Stored Power, Draining Kiss, and Trick. The sheer versatility that Magearna displays both defensively and offensively is unmatched. Because of this, I will not be giving a single sample set, but rather explaining that I think it has an assortment of strong options right now. Personally, Trick + Choice item strikes me as very appealing in a metagame more vulnerable to Trick than ever before. In addition, attempting to use Calm Mind + Draining Kiss is on my to-do list. Finally, classical pivot variants like Assault Vest and Pain Split Leftovers should have a lot of utility as well. I am eager to see what players come up with regarding Magearna in the near future.



Azumarill's back, which is refreshing for me personally. It did NOT get High Horsepower despite being heavily rumored to get it, but it can still rock the classic Belly Drum variant with Knock Off. I find Choice Band variants less effective right now due to the surplus of pivots into it with Regenerator (think Slowbro, Tangrowth, and Amoonguss) that can slow progress. Belly Drum is fantastic though. Unprepared teams lose with very minimal chip on their faster Aqua Jet resist (i.e: a few rounds of SR on Hydreigon, Dragapult, or Urshifu-Rapid-Strike). +6 Knock Off takes care of Ferrothorn and Toxapex as well. Keep in mind you need an even HP number on this bad boy, btw. I also like maxing out speed to outrun Conkeldurr and other Pokemon in that range (opposing Azumarill, Corviknight, CM Clefable, some SD Aegislash, etc.). Below I will post a set that I find to be effective.

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Belly Drum
- Knock Off



Needless to say, Volcarona got a lot better thanks to Heavy Duty Boots. While Z-moves gave it a nuke option, Heavy Duty Boots make it far less support reliant and far more consistent in practice. Chansey is virtually the only true counter to it although physical Dragapult can do pretty well and invested Toxapex or Kommo-O can potentially cripple it after stomaching a Psychic, even if Volcarona is +1. Priority from Azumarill, Bisharp, or Cinderace can also do well. Speaking of Cinderace, it can function as a soft check, but virtually any prior chip invalidates this interaction. Below I will post a set I find to be effective.

Volcarona @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Psychic

Other things worth noting thus far:

• Teleport Slowbro is going to be a lot better once a bit of a balance is formed in the metagame. I expect it to lag behind the more offensive options in terms of usage at the start, but then soar in usage in a week or two.
• Flip Turn can see usage on Keldeo, seizing momentum from Toxapex or Amoonguss when used in conjunction with something like Alakazam, or Primarina, who may not want to lock into Psychic with a Choice Specs variant. It will be interesting to see how much practical impact this move has in the metagame.
• I find Magnezone underwhelming thus far as it had to run a very particular set to trap all the right things, which is still situationally based. I think a set with Body Press for Ferrothorn at the right time can be optimied to maximize trapping potential, but at some point it seems like too much of a stress to assign much consistency to in your teambuilding.
• Tangrowth and Amoonguss are both going to be solid defensive options in the metagame, but I expect them to start slower than some other, more offensive options for the same reasons as Slowbro listed above.
• Zeraora will be taking a big hit in viability due to the aforementioned Grasses giving it an actual counter or two (finally) (mandatory plug to check out my video on the winners and losers of DLC 1: Isle of Armor).
• I had high hopes for Skarmory coming in (even including it in my top 10 Pokemon in DLC 1: Isle of Armor -- sorry, last plug ), but I am underwhelmed by it in the teambuilder already. I think it may see usage strictly on bulkier teams like last generation, if it sees much at all that is.
• Fighting types are now all over the place. Kommo-O, Conkeldurr, Terrakion, and Hawlucha are now met with Spikes Heracross, Close Combat Mienshao, Urshifu, Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, and even Poliwrath, who can abuse Rain and many new moves it obtained. I wonder if we will see a shift in defensive structures to counteract this.
• WishPort Wigglytuff appreciation point to wrap things up.

 

[Colonel M]

While Galarian Slowbro isn't perfect, access to Trick Room and being able to absorb Toxic Spikes is kind of an interesting niche. Regenerator also helps it with keeping it naturally healthy too.

Won't go too much beyond that, though. I'll hold hope for it but we all know Magearna is going to Make Pokemon Great Again...

 

[Ema Skye]

I'm excited to try Vaporeon. Flip Turn is a fantastic move, and Vaporeon is likely one of its best user. Vaporeon is normally a momentum drain, as it's so passive. It's movepool is decent enough, with tools like Haze, Wish, Heal Bell and Toxic, but Flip Turn really breathes new life into this. Being able to offer that slow pivot via Wish allows it to be a pseudo-WishPort. In the priority list, there really isn't anything notable between 0 and -6, so a slow Flip Turn will function like Teleport most of the time (the exception being anything Vaporeon outspeeds). This may lead to it running absolute min speed to increase that opportunity. Water Absorb also is the only way of stopping other Flip Turns, and you get some healing out of it.

Similar note, Keldeo gets Flip Turn. Pulling this out gives it a way to sort of deal with Toxapex, Amoonguss and Tangrowth, by giving it a way to bring out a teammate and deny them a free turn to status or Knock. Specs and Scarf sets will love this addition.

 

[Earthflax]

Urshifu is likely going to be in OU, and breaking Protect is pretty good anti-stall, especially with Single-Strike because of the tanks and stall monsters resisting Water.