1. How do you feel about the new mons that made it to OU (
)?
I guess I'm not really surprised by any of these Pokemon except for maybe Kingdra. They all have left a huge effect on the tier in some way or another due to their unique/potent offensive and defensive characteristics alike, and explaining what makes these Pokemon so good would just be repetitive, because it's been explained in great detail already. My feelings as a whole, though, is that they're all pretty solid, and I'm curious to see how the meta continues to adapt to these threats.
I guess Scizor and the aforementioned Kingdra come as a surprise to me the most, though. The former barely made the cut, and only really has one good set (so I expect it to fall off some when new toy syndrome subsides), and the latter is heavily influencing the second coming of Rain Offense, so that's pretty cool.
2. How do you feel about the pre-dlc mons that saw dips in usage?
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Kyurem didn't even make the cut, and the former three took a drastic hit from their once top 10 usage rates, as a lot of the newcomers give these 4 specifically a great wealth of trouble. I find it greatly ironic that Zeraora and Kyurem were once considered banworthy and seeing them become much less viable as a result of the threats that have arrived on the scene. Of these, I believe Rotom-Heat is definitely going to see a resurgence in use once people get acclimated to the tier, as its Fire/Electric typing and Nasty Plot set are really valuable in the current metagame due to Volcarona, Magearna, Tangrowth, Amoonguss, and Scizor running around.
Corviknight I can also see coming back to light
if Urshifu ends up getting banned. Urshifu alone has already made Mandibuzz the superior Defog user since it resists Wicked Blow and is physically bulkier, but being an Electric-weak Steel-type right now is pretty problematic as well, as shown by Skarmory and Corviknight's great falls. Though, while it definitely still has a place in the tier, Mandibuzz gives it a ton of competition at the moment, so only time will tell.
Zeraora makes me sad. Its main niche now as an Electric attacker is its speed tier and coverage, but Tangrowth and Amoonguss have proven to be great in the tier, and put a huge dent in its offensive prowess due to resisting Plasma Fists and barely being threatened by Fire Punch. Zeraora certainly is still good, but it's not the Pokemon that once spearheaded offense anymore.
3. For both returning mons and new-dlc mons, whose usage surprised you the most?
This thing being as good as it is is a gigantic surprise to me. It definitely was good at the start of SM OU too, but its shortcomings became pretty quickly apparent due to Stealth Rock and Pursuit. Though, Fire/Ghost has ended up showing itself to be a pretty good typing both offensively and defensively now, and the loss of Pursuit in Gen 8 has given Ghost-types--and consequentially, Alolawak--a lot more room to breathe and pull off their roles. And, to add the cherry to the top, it even has a base 110 physical Ghost Move now to bat, as if Ghost-types needed any more firepower. Honestly, Ghost now currently is one of the best types in the game next to Steel and Fairy, and Alolawak's success is a testament as to why that is. Even though the
why makes sense to me, I guess I'm just surprised it ended up being so good to begin with. Proof's in the pudding; don't underestimate the spooky specters.
Though, the thing is about Alolawak, is that I have a weird hunch that it might experience a fall similar to SM OU. It was appealing on the surface, but its proneness to being worn down due to it needing Thick Club and its trash speed tier really sent it down in the long term. I'm admittedly unsure if the same will happen here, as it has a much more definable niche than in Gen 7 OU, but I guess time will tell.
4. What mons do you believe will continue to see high usage?
Magearna is easily the best Pokemon in the tier right now. It has ungodly set versatility, an amazing defensive typing, and is even more splashable than it was in Gen 7. The loss of Z-moves hurt it considerably, but it has several new toys to make up for it, bringing viability to even more sets and even more cores. I still hold by my opinion that it is harder to use, though, and I believe that while it definitely is better than it was, that it makes up for it by being harder to use in a vacuum. I love Gen 8 Magearna, and it's clear that with how consistently it's been performing in tournaments that it's going to keep staying at the top.
Slowbro is a giant poggers moment. Regenerator + Teleport is unbelievably good, and it has proven to be the best defensive pivot in the tier by a longshot with its surprisingly solid defensive typing, great stats, and nifty movepool. There's not really much else to say about it, other than: poggersbro.
Chansey does Chansey things. It's a Stall staple, an amazing support Pokemon, and a phenomenal wall for reasons I do not need to explain. Though, it's easily the best it's been as a result of getting Teleport, which lets it perform on Balance and even Offense teams as another amazing pivot and Rocks setter. I wouldn't say it's as good of a pivot as the Bro since it relies on Eviolite, is relatively passive, needs Soft-Boiled/Wish to heal, and gets smashed by Fighting spam, but it's definitely amazing and will remain at the top rungs of the metagame for sure.
5. What mons do you believe will continue to see low/lower usage?
This thing used to be a top OU mon, but now it's dropped to UU, and is only sinking deeper and deeper. It's still got some use with its great defensive typing, Stealth Rock, and a Water immunity, but it dropping really is a testament to how huge Dracovish was toward its usage. I can certainly still see some fringe use for the aforementioned reasons, but it's just not as good as a Rocker as it used to be.
It's just not a good climate for Zeraora, and it's a pretty honest Pokemon without any weird tricks up its sleeve other than its coverage and speed. Unless someone comes up with some crazy tech for it, I really don't really see a metagame where Zeraora will be at the top rungs again unless Tangrowth and Amoonguss suddenly become niche or banned, both of which are obviously not happening.
6. What mons do you think are underrated and may see higher usage in the future?
Lycanroc-Dusk is unironically a sick mon. SD/Band Variants absolutely dismantle common defensive cores, and on top of that, it has insurmountably good coverage that are Tough Claws boosted as well as Rock priority, which blows away Volcarona and frail set-up sweepers. I made a more in depth post about it
here. While Terrakion is more consistent, I think the more varied, unique explosiveness of Lycanroc's coverage and options make it hold a pretty strong niche over Terrakion after using it a fair bit.
7. What mons do you think are overrated and may see less usage in the future?
I know this is a really bold take, but, despite Volcarona being a good Pokemon, I don't think it is as effective in this metagame as it's been made out to be. I want to make clear that it'swithout question that Volcarona is a pretty good set-up sweeper, as HDB are a huge boon for easier set-up. However, no matter how you slice it, Fire/Bug offensively is less powerful here in execution as it seemed on paper, and it lacks good coverage outside of Giga Drain/Psychic. HDB, while great for ease of set-up, really makes it lack that extra oomph that it needs for its offenses. In particular, lacking Z-Crystals really hurts its sweeping game and the ability to more immediately break apart teams like in Gen 7. It only really does one thing in the metagame due to the HDB hype as well, making it pretty easy to telegraph, punish, and switch into, too, on top of being ripe for priority's picking. It's not really that Volcarona sucks--in fact, it is pretty good in the right hands--but more just the fact that teams are more naturally prepared for its main set, especially with Alolawak, Rotom-Heat, and Chansey being so common-place, and Volc lacking Z-Crystals to break through said checks more efficiently. It's unquestionably good against the uprise of defensive Grass-types and definitely is a great set-up sweeper, but it's less effective to use in execution than it's been made out to be, in my opinion.
Alakazam is underwhelming to me for similar reasons that Volcarona is underwhelming. Also similar to Volcarona, it's not a bad Pokemon whatsoever. It's extremely strong, has a great speed tier, and has amazing coverage; its LO Nasty Plot sets are horrifying breakers even with Chansey in the tier for sure. However, it has a hard time setting up against anything besides Stall/passive Pokemon due to its bad defenses and bad defensive typing, and consequentially it is a big risk to switch it in as well. Volcarona can at least find pretty solid, safe switch-in opportunities with its natural bulk, typing, and HDB, but it's a lot more of a gamble with Alakazam. Consequentially, it has to rely on much more passive Pokemon for set-up, limiting its otherwise incredible breaking potential. On top of that, while it is very strong (especially once set-up), its poor defenses leave it to be revenged pretty easily, especially with Alakazam's inability to raise its Speed without a Scarf (unlike Volcarona). As such, priority and opposing Scarfers pick it off without much issue. Though, when in the right hands, this thing wrecks house.
For the record, this is less about me thinking they'll drop off and more just my opinion on how they've fared in the metagame, so I wanted to use this question as an opportunity to dish my impressions of these mons in particular. While they're great, they definitely need team support and good play to really live up to the potential Gen 8 has allotted them.
8. This one isn't entirely related to usage, but among the
world cup games played so far, what has caught your attention so far?
This is definitely not my field of expertise so I'll let a more tournament experienced player break this one apart. I will say, though, that I find the current World Cup to be pretty fascinating right now, as I'm seeing a lot of interesting techs being run. That one CM Zera set made waves in its era (ha).
9. How do you feel about team building? Does it feel like there are too many things to cover, or are there certain mons that restrict building?
Team building is in a very weird place right now. I haven't exactly been sure of how to structure my teams around my centerpiece Pokemon, though that could be more a symptom of the completely new tier climate and less the state of the metagame itself. But, from some loose observations I've made, I don't really like how it kind of feels mandatory to run niche spreads/sets in order to check certain threats. I've seen Anger Point Krookodile and Phys Def Brave Bird Mandi, the former of which is cool but niche, and the latter being kind of a slog to run. Though, if I had to put it in a vacuum, I am pretty sure the weird state of teambuilding is less the tier itself and more this uncharted valley we're in metagame-wise.
10. Was this post helpful for you? I hope so :)
very much so, thank you for your work!! :>
and 
. Scizor because there aren't a lot of things it necessarily beats anymore (and it's margin of surviving was more or less a miracle), and Magearna because ban plz.
Thought this would be used wayyyyyy less. What is this, Gen 6 OU?
is also seeing a drop in usage because of NTS, once people realize how stupid WishPort is again it'll be right back.
before, there's even less now.
maybe someday
I mean, it's okay. It really doesn't do too much anymore though outside of beating Skarmory 2.
