Project SS UU Research Week - UU RESEARCH - Week 42 Roost Hydreigon and Any sets Crobat - New System !

[Celebiii]

So I took on the challenge of using Galarian Slowbro this week. While I was considering what sets to use in the teambuilder, I came across a unique one that I hadn't seen used before, so I decided to run with it and use it throughout the week for my testing.

@ Quick Claw
Ability: Quick Draw
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Curse
- Slack Off
- Shell Side Arm
- Earthquake

The goal of this set was to act as a win condition that could become physically unbreakable with Curse, and then finish everything off with the coverage of Side Shell Arm and Earthquake, with Slack Off to stay healthy.

Findings
I found that this set was excellent at switching into most of the physical STAB running around the tier, especially fighting type moves. It was able to accomplish its goal as a win condition once threats were removed, and could do it very consistently. The Quick Draw + Quick Claw combo also let it heal after a Curse boost in situations where other boosting mons would just drop - I would often find myself Curse boosting on a physical attacker, dropping to around 35% health after a strong physical attack, and then using Slack Off to get back to high HP, repeating until Gbro couldn't be broken through because of its Curse boosts. The priority granted by its ability and item let me survive some of these situations when Gbro would normally be 2HKO'd from the second attack after the Curse boost, since I could heal before the second attack connected. From there it was just a matter of boosting until I could run everything over.

Threats
This set definitely has some threats that need to be removed in order for it to do its job:

• Special attackers just ruin it. Despite the HP investment this Gbro set really can't take strong special attacks at all, so it was important that strong special attackers like Keldeo, Noivern, and Polteageist be removed before attempting to Curse boost.
• Physical boosters also proved to be problematic from time to time, particularly Cloyster and even moreso Scyther. Cloyster could be beaten with good luck from priority, but this set cannot outpace SD Scyther's boosts and drops to its STABs easily.
• Anything with Earthquake needed to be played around carefully. Galarian Slowbro could often live one hit just barely, but even after slack off would usually drop to the second Earthquake even after a Curse boost. That said, Gbro could often live any other physical STAB from physical attackers with Earthquake, so if they predicted incorrectly that I would switch out and used Close Combat instead for example, Gbro would Curse boost up and win.
• Zarude and Incineroar, while they don't like boosted Side Shell Arm and Earthquake, can beat this set because of Darkest Lariat ignoring the defense boosts from Curse
• I personally found this Gbro set to struggle against faster offensive teams, as they had many ways to threaten it without letting it in easily, but that could just be the team I was using (or just my play :P)

Team
This is the team I ended up settling on after laddering with it for a while:

https://pokepast.es/ba00e4d8e50c5989



Centiskorch definitely ended up being my favourite member. I was surprised at how many things just don't want to risk switching into Fire Lash. Chansey was enormously helpful in dealing with the special attackers that this Gbro set really couldn't handle. If you plan on using this set I think Chansey is vital alongside it. I think the other members could probably be changed but this team didn't seem to have any glaring weaknesses, so I stuck with it.

Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1196836443.
My opponent made some misplays at the end of the game with Bisharp I feel, but this gives an idea of how Gbro could clean up at the end of a game once its threats are gone.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1196879441-3h560j5ikk9zpqk89m4queche1mdjbwpw
Darkest Lariat on Zarude beats boosted Gbro, it's curtains for the rest of the team from Keldeo's Secret Sword

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1196890497
Shows exactly what the set is supposed to do. Gbro boosts up/heals to become hard to kill and finishes off the game. Rotom-Mow saved the game here against the unexpected Air Balloon Lucario.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1196902985
My opponent could have won here if they had realized Lariat would have ignored Curse boosts, but priority could have also beaten Zarude and won the game too.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1197269184-1feml4agi5mwjn4vwnevrh18jprk1dfpw
The focus here is not on my Gbro but the other one. This Slowbro is taking the same idea of this set and using it on the special side with a set of Calm Mind + Slack Off + Scald + Sludge Bomb. I think Side Shell Arm would be better but either way definitely a set to consider as well!

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1197337405
Gbro does not win the game here but helps soften the other team up and remove threats to Chansey so that it could go on to win the game.

Conclusions
I think this set has its place in the meta, specifically alongside Chansey on slower balance teams. It definitely has its weaknesses and requires a decent amount of team support, so it won't be the standard set or anything, but I think it's a good option to keep in mind. I unfortunately didn't have time to test its other sets so I can't speak about those. I hope to see some more use of this set though as I had a lot of fun playing with it :)

 

[driftingover]

SSRW Drift Research: Galarian Slowbro AKA GlowBro​

Since I first started playing Showdown way back in Gen 5, I've always been fascinated by slow, bulky win condition Pokemon. RestTalk Suicune in BW, Reuniclus in XY, Curse Snorlax in SS... something about these fatmons has always enchanted me. So it's no surprise that when Galarian Slowbro hit the scene, I tried to turn this underrated little rascal into a mighty win condition, capable of making the most frightful UU Pokemon quiver in their boots. Rather than go with the Assault Vest or Nasty Plot sets, I decided to give Calm Mind a spin after seeing it used with solid results in RU. I didn't get too far up the ladder, but I played a lot of games and learned a lot along the way.

Slowbro-Galar @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off​

So right off the bat, I didn't use a particularly nuanced moveset or EV spread. The idea with CM GlowBro is pretty simple; just come in on some fat defensive mon and start setting up. It's easier than you think since Sylveon, Galarian Weezing, non-Galar Slowbro, and other such bulky critters abound in the tier nowadays. Once you get a CM or two up, things get wacky, since Scald is pretty effective against some would-be switch-ins like Incineroar, Krookodile, and Bisharp.

I also threw in the fun little wrinkle of Colbur Berry, which can allow you to get some neat surprise KOs on the aforementioned 'mons and generally just increase the Bro's durability over the course of a match. Zarude can get bopped as well thanks to the power of STAB Sludge Bomb. Without further ado, here's the squad that I used (sets located here).

Building

Some pretty lazy teambuilding took place on my part, as I slapped Galar Weezing on the team to sponge attacks from scary Dark-types like Krook and Zarude. It also offers hazard support, which GlowBro can also assist in thanks to its removal of Toxic Spikes. Cobalion also sponges Dark moves and does Cobalion things.

From there, I thought it would be sensible to add some 'mons that were susceptible to those Fairy-types I mentioned earlier, since they can U-turn out and give the Bro as many opportunities for setup as possible. Choice Band Zarude in particular has great synergy with the Bro, being able to sponge Dark and Ghost attacks pretty easily while taking on some pivot responsibilities. Finally, Scarf Rotom-Wash with Trick and Thunder Wave helps me cripple opposing slow sweepers, walls, or even scary fast 'mons.

So how did it go? Better than my 1214 rating suggests, since I have exams this week and occasionally just accidentally let games time out because I remembered I had some work to catch up on.

Replays

Replay 1: Early pivot spam gets the Bro in the game against a Sylveon. Bro tanks a non-LO Mamoswine's Earthquake to get some early damage with Scald. I had to sac both Rotom and Weezing early on, but GlowBro saved the day for a shorthanded squad, taking attacks from Noivern in particular like an absolute champ. The Colbur proved instrumental in allowing me to get the Scald burn on the opponent's Bisharp, and from there they just lacked the facilities to win, even with how badly I played at times. Slowbro just stopped his momentum at a few different points, and spamming Slack Off at the end pretty much brought it home.

Replay 2: I got aggressive with the Bro early in this game, which actually gave him the momentum to wack both my Noivern and Rotom using the dastardly Darmanitan. This team has almost no answer for strong Fire-type wallbreakers like Darm and Chandelure. I got into a pretty pointless CM war between Bro and Necrozma, which ended in Band Zarude stopping a potential sweep. At a certain point, I was down to just Galar Slowbro, and unfortunately its pivot capabilities weren't able to save me against such a high-powered offensive team. But the Bro would live to fight another day.

Replay 3: Against a somewhat bulkier team than the first two, I again tried to use the Bro's CM capabilities early on. The opponent's Slowking failed to make a dent, and when he brought in Krookodile to finish the job, the Bro tanked an EQ and got a nice surprise KO with Scald. This guy forfeited prematurely because I killed his Galar-Slowbro a couple of turns later. But after those early KOs, it seemed like I was on the fast track to winning. The Bro played a significant role in winning that match early with its offensive pressure.

Conclusion

So what have we learned? Overall, Galarian Slowbro is a mixed bag. When used in an offensive role like this, it sacrifices some defensive utility. I often found myself at an HP deficit because I tried to leverage its resistances in the early game. Its physical defense is good but not great, and against certain bulkier boosting 'mons like Araquanid, Necrozma, Doublade, etc., it can lose one-on one. On top of that, it lacks the ability to break stall, something that Reuniclus has always been able to do. Against teams featuring Haze (Milotic or Tentacruel), or just special walls like Umbreon or Chansey, the Bro stood no chance.

Not resisting Fire is also a huge bummer, and as I said earlier this team got absolutely decimated by strong Fire-types in many games. Overall, its defensive utility is good but not great, and I gradually learned a little more about its weaknesses and tried to play it less aggressively. With this particular team, I would often lose once the Bro was put out of commission, since the team was overly reliant on putting it in position to sweep. As such, I don't think it's an amazing win condition, but it can live a lot of attacks you wouldn't expect it to, can pivot into a lot of popular Pokemon, and it has very solid typing that makes it easy to build with. In the future, I still can see myself using the Bro as a win condition, but next time I'll pair it with bulkier 'mons like Sylveon and Incineroar, since it doesn't seem to thrive on a faster team like the one I used for this research week.

Thanks for reading! Use GlowBro as much as possible!

​

 

[DraconicLepus]

Thanks to everyone who posted. We are going to get the results but Research Week will be going on hiatus! There are less and less pokemon to choose for each week and with the next DLC around the corner, we are going to wait until that comes out until we continue so we have a fresh batch of mons and a new meta to explore! Without further ado, our winner for this week is Codsauce!

Galarian Slowbro was a mixed result, with mainly fully physically defensive being tested. Celebiii used a set with Curse to act as a wincon when physical attackers were the last thing alive. With its good coverage along with slack off it did make for a good wincon, but Special Attackers could easily beat it. driftingover tested a calm mind set. As found in both, these setup sets do sacrifice the defensive prowess as a set such as Assault Vest would allow. Assault Vest was one of the premier Galarbro sets because of its strong coverage, and ability to check the very scary specs Sylveon. With its great coverage and not needing to use up a slot on slack off it allows Galarbro to use its great coverage to make it even scarier. There is also offensive slowbro sets on screens teams, with the use of Quick Draw+Quick Claw, which can make it a very scary breaker to deal with if it gets good luck on its ability.

Zoroark was only tested by Codsauce and overall it was not the best review. A nasty plot set behind screens was tested and it was found that a different dark type such as Zarude or Bisharp would have been preferred. While with a nasty plot boost it can do very high damage, its low bulk makes it much harder to use compared to UU's other dark types. There are other sets that could be used such as Choice Specs, HDB pivot, or even more niche choices like swords dance, it overall is a much more niche mon. It can do well with its great coverage, along with good Disguise targets such as Galarbro, Noivern, and Salazzle. It's not the best pokemon, and has a very high opportunity cost and competition from UU's other dark types, but it can be viable.

We'll be back once the next DLC comes out, and drops are here!

 

[DraconicLepus]

With the new drops, and a slight delay, we are happy to say Research Week is returning! Crown Tundra has dropped and with that an entirely new roster of pokemon for us to explore. Without further ado, I'd like to welcome back Week 22 of Research Week!

Onto our choices of pokemon, because of how many we're having the very rare 3 pokemon week!

Blacephalon

Blacephalon @
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs:
-
-
-
-

Thundy-T

Thundurus-Therian @
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs:
-
-
-
-

Hydreigon

Hydreigon @
Ability: Levitate
EVs:
-
-
-
-

Our first choice is the clown himself! Blacephalon is a stronger chandelure, with a much better speed and special attack which makes it a much harder threat to deal with. Being able to run choice items like Specs or Scarf, along with a very scary Calm Mind set, or Even Protox which was one of chandelure's best set. What set will be best?

Our second choice is Thundurus Therian, another pokemon who joins UU for the first time like Blacephalon. It is a scary option for the sheer amount of coverage it has. Alongside a 145 base special attack, and an acceptable 105 attack, it can get away as a mixed attacker to lure things that may otherwise check it.

Hydreigon, a returning champion from USUM UU. With it's new tool in Nasty plot, Hydreigon is as scary as ever. With the same great tools as it had last generation, along with Nasty Plot, will Hydreigon be the same champion it was in the previous generation, or will it be too strong this time?

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as SSRW22 Draconic or SSRW22 Cake) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post logs of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
• The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown UU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.

This week will end on November 15th at 11:59 PM GMT-6. Have fun everyone!!

 

[Celebiii]

I'm gonna take Drei! SSRW22 CelDrei :)

 

[KSt3ve]

SSRW22 congelo reporting for duty, with maybe all of them !
(but i will focus on the clown)

 

[SuperGabiel]

SSRW22 Draco with blacephalon,maybe hydreigon

 

[Rawbi]

yay, research week!

SSRW22 janus

blace and hydrei for sure, maybe thund

 

[Noxey]

SSRW22 Laziness

I'll start with Thundy, then Hydrei maybe

 

[BigFatMantis]

SSRW22 Mantiko

All 3 on one team

 

[Celebiii]

Unfortunately I somehow wrote down the wrong password for my alt so I can't really participate in the contest portion of this, but I can still give my thoughts on Hydreigon. I went with the Life Orb attacker set, with Dark Pulse / Flash Cannon / Fire Blast as coverage. I chose Flash Cannon to help beat all the scary fairies running around the tier right now instead of the riskier Draco Meteor. I don't think there are any surprises here; Hydreigon is still the scary special attacker it always has been, held back only by its speed tier and the gradual chip it takes from using Life Orb. Before doing research week, I ran calculations using Rosleli Berry to stomach possible Fairy assaults and stay in longer, but it didn't help Hydreigon live any relevant Fairy attacks. I also did calcs for Expert Belt to see if I could get away with using an item that wouldn't chip away at Drei's HP, but it caused it to not do nearly as much damage as I would like, so I ended up sticking with the Life Orb set. In my experience Hydreigon was best used as a win condition late game, when faster threats had been cleared away and Hydreigon could safely power through with its coverage. I also had success using it to check Blacephalon who is a giant threat in the tier right now, only having to be wary of the rare Substitute set. Hydreigon could also be used as a lead against certain slower teams. As mentioned before, the main drawback is its speed tier, causing it to be threatened by a lot of scary mons in the meta right now that it would otherwise dominate, including: Alakazam, Latias, Gengar, Hawlucha, Latias, Lycanroc-Dusk, Noivern, Salamence, Terrakion, Volcarona, Weavile, Zarude, and Zeraora.

The team I used for this research week is here: https://pokepast.es/243717edac2d0c57
​

When I was building around Hydreigon, I discovered that it has near-perfect type synergy with Amoongus, and decided to build off of that core. I also chose Aegislash to help beat Tapu Lele and some of the faster threats mentioned above. I then added Araquanid for the webs support to help mitigate Hydreigon's speed issue, and to act as another lead and physical attacker. I then added Nidoking for its incredible coverage and synergy with webs. Finally, Starmie was added as the team's speed control. I really look forward to building around the Hydreigon + Amoongus core some more - I think it will be a very solid core in the meta.

In conclusion, I found Hydreigon to not be a meta-defining force, but definitely a solid pick as long as its threats are managed. I look forward to seeing what the other testers came up with for the dragon too :)

Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1222441109

 

[Rawbi]

I'm no ladder god and I have some spare time so here's my thoughts on the two mons I tried this week.

Specs Blacephalon & Defog Hydreigon


(importable)
​

Blacephalon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Knock Off
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball

Hydreigon @ Black Glasses
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor

Specs Blacephalon is an easy mon to describe. It comes in and it melts faces. 601 SpAtk is nothing to scoff at, and Shadow Ball is a relatively safe move to lock into since Pursuit stopped existing. For Dark and Normal types, you have Fire Blast. Trick is standard on a Choice set for a mon that learns it and cripples walls like Umbreon and Chansey. Knock Off is some tech I got from Moutemoute's post in the metagame thread and makes the lives of some checks like Incineroar and Hydreigon harder, but I honestly didn't find myself clicking it much. Since Blacephalon is weak to all entry hazards, especially Rocks, I tried saving it until as late as possible when its checks and counters were dead and it could clean up. Its bulk is unimpressive as well, so you can't switch it in willy nilly.

This led to me trying Defog Hydreigon as a partner. Immune to Ground and resistant to Ghost, Water, and Dark attacks, it has pretty good type synergy with the demon balloon. Defog keeps hazards and screens away. Roost grants some staying power. Dark Pulse has lots of neutral coverage, and since it's the main attacking move I used Black Glasses to beef it up a bit. The last move has some options. I ran Draco Meteor as a powerful second attack, though Flamethrower or Fire Blast handles Bisharp.

Scarf Hydreigon


(importable)
​

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
- Fire Blast

A blast from the SuMo past, Scarf Hydrei is still a good mon. Max Speed and a Scarf hits 486, which outruns a huge portion of the metagame. This, combined with Hydrei's great move coverage and U-turn, means it's a great revenge killer and momentum gainer. Its issue with getting locked into one move is a little worse than other Choice mons due to Draco's SpAtk drop and inaccuracy, but it's still a scary threat. This did a ton of work last generation and holds up in today's meta just fine.

 

[BigFatMantis]

I have decided to post my research findings tonight, as drops and bans are likely to happen tomorrow, so the research may have to stop. I used all three pokemon - Blacephalon, Hydreigon, Thundurus - on the same team, and kept it mostly consistent with a few changes as I went along. I'll start by analyzing each pokemon individually, and then I'll close with a copy of the pastebin to my top secret research log.

TEAM HISTORY

FIRST TEAM: - lasted two fights only before changes.
SECOND TEAM: - lasted only one fight before changes.
THIRD (and final) TEAM: - fought 20+ fights to the very end

INDIVIDUAL ANALYSIS



So I didn't have much experience using Hydreigon before this. I didn't want a pure offensive set, so I asked the UU room for a bulky defog set, Senegal gave me the following EV spread: 136 HP / 120 SpA / 252 Spe. I used this to make the following:

Hydreigon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 136 HP / 120 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Roost

Early on, it was dying awfully quickly despite this bulky set. First fight I did Hydreigon gets eaten by a CC Aegislash: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1221940922. Second fight it tanked an Azelf explosion but not by much, and died as a sacrificial switch-in later on: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1221944186

After the early stages of my run, I finalized my team with Tapu Lele/Hawlucha/Mamoswine. This was mostly because Hydreigon, along with Thundurus-Tt and Blacephalon, had very little physical attacking presence. Tapu Lele was helpful to stop enemy dragons that threatened to KO Hydreigon, while Mamoswine and Hawlucha could clean up special walls like Chansey that Hydreigon was quite useless against. The synergy wasn't perfect - but it was working. I won 5 games in a row with the team, and entered a UU Room Tournament (under my main account), where Hydreigon's utility really shined: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1222605496 . In that game, Hydreigon was able to switch in multiple times and defog away rocks and screens. This allowed the rest of my team to clean up slowly. While Hydreigon did not have much of an offensive presence at all in these games, the utility it provided with defog and the bulk it had to withstand key attacks is exactly what my team was needing. Additionally, it was checking some otherwise problematic mons, like Blacephalon and Volcanion, and allowing me to switch in on those with minimal damage taken.

After many games, I had realized that I had not used Roost even once. However, there were times where Hydreigon was on the floor and was total dead meat for the enemy due to its inability to break through many things. In fact, in that tournament I entered, I had lost to a specially defensive Gastrodon I could not break - something that typically should be no problem for a Hydreigon, yet it was (I do not have that replay unfort). I decided after about 10 fights to swap out Roost for Nasty Plot, but I would only use it as an emergency when all my other offense had faltered and I needed a savior.

As I played on, Hydreigon mostly took a back seat to the rest of my HO team. A lot of times it was easily KO'd, even with bulk investment (see this fight: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223396356-6jhfvcb128895vsnqpe1l5otg7vb93gpw where it is OHKO'd by a G-Weezing). In another fight (here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223402961-wioyc7dbdg0av6zafym8d2anv0j6nj5pw ) it was able to effectively check Blacephalon, while then immediately dying to a Dragon Claw from Dracozolt (although the dragon claw fodder was important to allow the rest of my team to set up and sweep). Here is another game where it was able to safely switch in to Blacephalon using Hyper Beam, and then OHKO it with Dark Pulse ( https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223440720 ). Another game it was able to shut down Shell Smash Teapot (here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223433715 ) and take down some lesser-than-UU threats, before dying to the eventual all-powerful Hawlucha sweeper. This proves that, even without maximum offensive investment, Hydreigon can still break through some things that the rest of your team may have trouble with. Another game here ( https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223436702-webmtzn8m17xt0i3sd8gkpqaspzfbrgpw ), I was able to set up one Nasty Plot and OHKO Jirachi switching in. Again, my Hydreigon does not have full Special Attack EV investment, yet one NP was more than enough to take down a usually tanky pokemon in Jirachi.


IN CONCLUSION: The bulky Hydreigon set, while not really glamorous, is everything your party really needs to fill that role. It's not going to turn any heads with its offense - it was the LEAST offensive mon in my team - but it will do what it needs to do. While I didn't use Roost much, it was because my team was super offensive. A more balanced team would probably make more use of Roost over Nasty Plot with this Hydreigon spread. Overall, Hydreigon fits very nicely in the UU meta, nothing overpowering, and stands its ground with some of the top threats in the tier.

OVERALL RATING: B+




Thundurus-T has always been quite fun to use. Unfortunately it was UUBL last gen, which means it didn't get much use in OU, and couldn't be used in UU, so it wasn't used much of anywhere (very very sad for UUBL mons). The set I started off with was as follows:

Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic

I figured Boots was the better choice here, as scarf wears it down too much with rocks, and it's 101 speed tier is just high enough to outspeed most things with Timid. I opted for Psychic and Sludge Wave for coverage. Never been a fan of Focus Miss much, and I didn't see an immediate need for Grass Knot (although later I sure did). I figured Sludge Wave was essential for all of the fairies running amok, and Psychic could help with Nidoqueen and Nidoking.

The team members, remarkably, did not seem to matter much for Thundurus-T. It sort of does its own thing regardless of what you have on your party. It's main weaknesses, Ice, has many resists so that most teams will naturally have built-in checks to those. It's also weak to rock, but besides Terrakion and Diancie there is not a lot of Rock roaming around UU ATM. Initially I had Araquanid to check Ice and Buzzwole to check Rock. Then I had Jirachi to check both Ice and Rock at the same time. But I wasn't running into much resistance at all so I figured this wasn't necessary and just went all out offense with Tapu Lele/Hawlucha/Mamoswine. This left me with no rock resist, and only Blacephalon as a "check" to ice attacks (not exactly a bastion of defense). And yet, the team worked fine with Thundurus and I never really felt super threatened. On a more balanced team, you will probably need something to check its weaknesses better though - it's just my team is so offensive that it's basically kill or be killed.

From the start, Thundurus-T proved to be the most used out of my three research pokemon. This was because of its ability to pivot easily with Volt Switch. You can easily lead with it so long as A) the enemy team doesn't have a Ground Type to stop Volt Switch, and B) the enemy team doesn't have something that's both faster and threatening (like Weavile). The second game I played, Thundurus was able to lead, then switch back in 3 times and eventually finish off the team ( https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1221944186 ). Sludge Wave proved itself immdiately useful in OHKOing Tapu Bulu (see here, for example: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1222423925 ), and pressuring other fairies like Sylveon and an enemy Tapu Lele (see a Sylveon under pressure here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223739979-w51l51lyfzoo61g58t76b87qx90ye3spw ). Psychic was a good choice initially in KOing Nidoking (see here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1222596579 ). Another time, when faced with a Buzzwole, I was able to OHKO it with Psychic also (see here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1222662160-jcgruorh23spg9v0km32k84drn19ldwpw ). Unfortunately, these were the only two times I really was able to use Psychic effectively (it does NOT get boosted by terrain because Thundurus is flying).

After seeing many Hippos around, I decided to swap out Psychic for Grass Knot. This turned out to be a very good call. Immediately, I was able to nearly OHKO a Hippo with Grass Knot in this match ( https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223435468 ). I also basically OHKO'd a Mamoswine with Grass Knot ( https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223440720 ) although it had a sash so it survived, and did succesfully OHKO a Terrakion (here https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223737099 after a Stone Miss). The power of Grass Knot was on display, and I think it is probably a better option for Thundurus-T than the other coverage moves. Additionally, Thundurus proves to be a great check to Magnezone even without Focus Blast. I was able to break Magnezone subs in one fight with Thunderbolt. Thundurus-T in theory is a great check to Dracozolt also with Volt Absorb. This did not come up at all really while laddering though (the only real Dracozolt teams I faced were the one shown above and also this one: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223402961-wioyc7dbdg0av6zafym8d2anv0j6nj5pw and I didn't end up needing Volt Absorb to win those fights). Volt Absorb also helps to check Zeraora a bit, though Knock Off hurts, but Sludge Wave hits it back hard.

IN CONCLUSION: Thundurus-T is an exceptional pivot with great damage output. Volt Switch and Thunderbolt on their own deal great damage to anything that does not resist it. Additionally, it can pressure a large variety of other threats that resist electric with its coverage moves (Tapu Bulu w/ Sludge, Hippowdon w/ Grass Knot). You can safely lead with Thundurus in many occassions to gain immediate momentum, and with HDB you can switch it back in at ease against things that can't do much to it. Weavile is the most immediate threat to Thundurus, but I did not see many of those on the ladder currently (that may change soon). Mamoswine, while also threatening, gets KO'd by Grass Knot and does not OHKO with Ice Shard unless it is banded. Thundurus seems to me to be a very low risk, high reward mon to fit on your team. Right now there are so many overpowered things in the UU metagame, so there's many things that hit harder than Thundurus (Blacephalon, Victini, Dracozolt, to name a few). But when the dust settles, I think Thundurus-T is going to be a staple in this UU metagame for some time.

OVERALL RATING: A




Now let's get down to the real mon that has turned this assignment into a circus: Blacephalon. Oh boy Blacephalon - a true magnificent specimen of a pokemon. This was the only mon out of the three that I substantially changed in the middle of the research assignment. The initial set I started off with was:

Blacephalon @ Heavy Duty Boots
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Calm Mind

The reason I used a sub/CM set was because it seemed to work well with Chandelure, and all you really need is Fire and Ghost to tear apart the tier. I thought Araquanid would be a good partner for this with webs so nothing much could outspeed it. After two fights, I quickly realized this was not going to work out well. I never was in a position to actually use Calm Mind successfully, and was only wasting HP with subs. Additionally, Blacephalon is so weak to priority attacks that webs don't matter much (see here:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1221944186 where Blace gets rocked by Jet and Sneak). I thus quickly changed to the following set:

Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic
- Trick

I am not saying sub/CM is bad, but the scarf set is by far the easiest to use since it's just click click click. This is the set I used all the way to the end. I went with Scarf instead of Specs because I didn't want anything at all to stop me once I got on a roll (107 speed is good, but there's a lot of things that will naturally outspeed it like Terrakion, Latias, Alakazam, Zeraora, Gengar, etc.). To help deal with the Priority weaknesses, I added Tapu Lele to the team and went all out HO with Hawlucha and Mamoswine also. Lele helps cancel out Shadow Sneak, Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch, Accelrock, all of which can KO or almost OHKO Blace (see replay above). Trick proved to be quite useful in several instances, most notable against enemy Volcaronas that try to Quiver Dance (see an example here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223440720 ). Psychic didn't get used much, but there's not many other options, and with Terrain Boost from Lele it did come in handy once or twice.

Besides priority attackers (which get neutralized by Lele), special tanks like Chansey givee Blacephalon the hardest time. In this fight ( https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223393904 ) Blace can't do anything to Chansey, and once my physical hitters are gone I pretty much lose. Even a specially defensive Hippowdon takes less than 50% from a scarf Fire Blast (see here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223402961-wioyc7dbdg0av6zafym8d2anv0j6nj5pw ), allowing it to KO Blace back or Slack Off some. Nonetheless, besides Chansey and fully specially defensive Sylveon/Araquanid, there's not much in the tier that can totally stop it once it gets on a roll. Hydreigon and Incineroar help resist both of its STABs, but once those are gone or sufficiently chipped, then even they can't really get it under control.

In spite of these "limitations", once Blace gets going and the total special defense walls are gone, there's not much the enemy can do against you. With priority canceled out with Psychic Terrain, you are free to mow down the entire remaining enemy team. This is best used as a late game sweeper of course, once everything is sufficiently chipped to allow Blace to clean it all up. This happened so often in my fights that I will just list all the replays here where Blace won at the end by going on a rampage:

• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1222637376-i8pp3untkwa1tb8wxu4d7h0ywj3wi0fpw
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1222639413
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1222652711
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223302174-xq8pr73uiasronch4ude0fj8uogq0zypw
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223435468
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223737099
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223813509-wgyh2fqdaxtguee3kvwlu1kol3671akpw
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223815329

That, mad lads, is a lot of sweeps. But the more impressive thing about Blacephalon is that it doesn't need to sweep on its own. If you have other sweepers, then all Blace needs to do is rip apart the enemy team a bit and allow your other sweepers to clean up. This was put on full display in one of my last fights here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1223824403 . Blacephalon did not sweep all the way through the end, but it did more than enough damage to allow Tapu Lele to finish off the team for the win.

IN CONCLUSION: Blacephalon has immense power. When priority is blocked, there are very few things that can stop except for dedicated Special Walls. It will decimate enemy teams either on its own, or enough so to allow the rest of its teammates to clean up afterwards. However, it is not impossible to stop. Hydreigon and Incineroar can stop it early, and a wall like Chansey can stop it at any time (unless it's a sub/CM set). Double Speed sweepers like weather abusers or Hawlucha also stop it. But there are not many of these, and a good player will not waste Blacephalon until the end when enough of the threats are gone.

OVERALL RATING: S+

That concludes my research for this week. I may do some more fights with this team before it's over since it's fun to use.

I have decided to also include a copy of my private journal here: https://pastebin.com/vt2xVL9G . It may have intimate details so read at your own risk.

Cheers.

 

[KSt3ve]

WEEK 22 REPORT​

During this week, I mainly used Blacephalon and Hydreigon, two pokemons that I find very powerful at the moment.

The first pokemon I tested was Hydreigon, with its double offensive type, good speed and access to nasty plot, Hydreigon has become even stronger than before, now having a very powerful breaker set:

NP SET

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Roost / Substitute / Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon / Draco Meteor

His set choice scarf is as strong as ever, allowing him to overtake a lot of pokemons and clean power at the end of the game. I also noticed that Hydreigon is played with defog + roost, because it's a good check at Blacephalon, so I found this set quite interesting to play:

Defensif SET

Hydreigon @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 192 HP / 64 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Defog
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor / U-turn

DMG Calc :
252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Fire Blast vs. 192 HP / 0 SpD Hydreigon: 165-194 (44.2 - 52%) -- 14.1% chance to 2HKO

Otherwise, I find Hydreigon as an excellent offensive pivot in the third, it's also very easy to build around this pokemon, thanks to its interesting double type and its talent. Some examples below of core :

CORE IDEAS

+

I loved playing with this core, the choices of the sets with these 2 pokemons are totally free, so much I find that this duo is powerful. Slowbro tank attacks fight, fairy and Hydreigon brings ground immunity, dark and ghost resistance. Offensively, it's an excellent duo too.

+

A more fragile combot defensively, but very powerful offensively. We find the ground immunity and the dark and ghost useful resistance of Hydreigon. For Blacephalon, the fight immunity and fairy resistance (to a lesser extent). Hydreigon on the other hand can easily bring Blacephalon on the field with U-turn.

+

Again and again the same idea, but with a pokemon that can tank the blows and hit very hard in return.

+

A very strong duo to make a team volturn

Conclusion : Scarf, NP, defensive ... Hydreigon seems once again to have a strong impact in this tier. Easy to build around, he will easily impose himself as one of the top tier of the UU after the banns.
RANKING : A+ (~ S-)

Next, the Clown, Blacephalon :

This pokemon is very strong in the current meta, it has 3 very powerful sets able to very easily take the advantage in a game. We all already knew how hard it was to counter, now we have its big brother, faster and stronger.

The first set that I tested and that I find really strong is the set choice scarf. It's an excellent cleaner, if the opposing team doesn't have priority and their blacephalon check is weakened, it's the guaranteed sweep.

SCARF

Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Fire Blast / Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Trick / Psychic / Knock Off

The second set is the choice specs, capable of making big holes in an opposing team. On the other hand, the team has to be very well oriented to allow blacephalon to come many times to put the pressure on, without taking the rocks each time. The choice of teambuild is then quite limited.

SPECS

Blacephalon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Overheat / Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Trick / Psychic / Knock Off

Finally, the last set takes advantage of the new item, the boots. It allows Blacephalon to come as many times as he wants, without taking the rocks. It's one of the best sets I find, hit me harder than the choice specs, but allows to vary the team and to put the pressure more easily.

BOOTS

Blacephalon @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower / Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Overheat / Fire Blast
- Calm Mind

Blacephalon @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 236 HP / 20 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Calm Mind

Conclusion : This pokemon is very powerful, even too powerful for the tier. It forces all good teams to have one or more counterpart to this pokemon, making teambuilding too limited. These powerful sets + the disappearance of pursuit makes it even stronger.
RANKING : S

TY for reading, see you soon !

 

[SuperGabiel]

WEEK 22
​

During that week, I only had time to do Blacephalon, but I chose it because in 7g it was good in OU, so I told myself that in UU it would wreak havoc

Blacephalon

​

I thought he was going to be very strong, because he descended in UU but not his main check: Tyranitar. And with the loss of the Mega in 8g, Gyarados-Mega no longer existed.

CM

Blacephalon @ Leftovers / Heavy-Dutty Boots
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flame Charge / Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower

This set is extremely dangerous because you can boost yourself with Flame Charge, and as soon as you kill you boost yourself with Special Attack.Substitute is also possible to place yourself on Toxic / T-Wave, ... But given its very low bulk, it will be difficult to place out of screens.

SPECS

Blacephalon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast / Overheat
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Trick / Psychic / Knock Off

This set is also very dangerous but its weakness at Stealth Rock does not allow it to come more than 4 times, it will then be necessary to remove them, which makes it more difficult to place, but one there, it will do big damage.

CALCS

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 163-192 (50.1 - 59%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Mantine: 163-193 (43.6 - 51.7%) -- 10.9% chance to 2HKO
Chansey after Knock Off 252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Fire Blast vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Chansey: 286-337 (40.6 - 47.9%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

SCARF

Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast / Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Trick / Psychic / Knock Off

This one can surprise the Gengar, Latias, Zeraora ... by making believe the specs and after having a boost in Special Attack, and sweep an already weakened team.

Here is one of the teams that I used :
https://pokepast.es/0cef7bcc0fbcf1d7

and some replay which shows the power of Blacephalon :

• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1221231636-hr2uhtc9gwellzqixs1uqvxb90us5rapw
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1220825860

Conclusion :
He is very powerful, reducing team building. I hesitate to say that it is necessary to ban it, but it is close to it for me.

Viability rank : S

Thanks for reading, bye!

 

[DraconicLepus]

Thanks to everyone who participated in this last weeks reasearch week! Our winner is none other than BigFatMantis! Congratulations! Let's get onto the summaries and then into the next week!

Blacephalon was a strong pick while it lasted in UU. There were three main sets explored: Calm Mind with Boots, Choice Specs, and Choice Scarf. With it's very hard to wall STABs, it made Blaceph a very immediate threat that had to be accounted for on every team. Calm Mind to boost itself and dish out strong attacks, but finding opportunities to click calm mind were rare. Though boots did allow it to come in safely on rocks, allowing it more chances to do damage. Choice Specs was the most successful out of all the sets, and the easiest to describe. Boost special attack, and do major damage. There were very few pokemon that could come in and take blaceph's attacks, which is what made specs so successful. Scarf takes advantage of blaceph's good speed, and beast boost to make it a scary cleaner, though it needs to have support to work best.

Thundurus-Therian was our next choice. Only one set was tested and it was an all out attacker set using boots, and it proved to be also very successful. With it's speed tier of 101 being able to outspeed base 100's, it's very easy to have thundy-t pivot in and out of the battle which can be annoying without the right checks. But it's coverage also helps Thundurus a lot, having grass knot to hit the tier's ground types, and with many other good options, such as sludge wave, psychic, or even physical attacks like superpower or knock off as a mixed attacker. Thundurus is a great choice in UU, and it doesn't seem like it will be leaving.

Hydreigon was our last choice, returning from gen 7. Even with it's new toy in nasty plot, its not nearly as meta defining as it once was, though still a strong pick. The main sets tested were: defog, scarf, and nasty plot. Defog was the most tested out of all of them, and it was due to hydreigon's great typing being able to check many scary threats in the tier [such as our previously mentioned Blacephalon], though it was a bit lackluster on the offensive side and sometimes these bulky support sets were found to be lacking. Choice scarf is reliable as it was before, being able to act as a revenge killer and act as a momentum source on teams. Nasty plot is where hydreigon shines most it seems, with it's great coverage, nasty plot makes hydreigon a scary breaker that doesnt have too many checks depending on what coverage it chooses. Flash cannon lets it beat fairies, or if it wants longevity it can run roost. Overall, Hydreigon showed itself as a solid pick and we're sure it will be seen more as the meta develops.

Now, we will move right onto week 23!

Tapu Bulu

Tapu Bulu @
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs:
- Nature's Madness
-
-
-

Zeraora

Zeraora @
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs:
-
-
-
-

Tapu Bulu is our first choice! Now let me explain why we chose the move Nature's Madness to explore. Tapu Bulu when we first brought it up, thought of Choice Band, or a setup set. We feel this is fairly known, and wanted to explore Tapu Bulu in it's ability to support a team defensively. Nature's Madness is a move that gets rid of 50% of any pokemon's hp on the switch, with a 90% chance to hit. We think this is valuable because many of Tapu Bulu's checks are steels who would not appreciate having so much HP stolen. Along with Grassy Surge, this let's Tapu Bulu become very potent support on teams.

Zeraora we saw for a short amount of time in gen 7 UU, and now it's returned with new tools such as play rough and aura sphere. With it's movepool it allows for multiple potential sets, such as a pivoting, or setup with Calm Mind or Bulk Up. How will Zeraora preform in this new meta? Let's find out.

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as SSRW23 Draconic or SSRW23 Cake) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post logs of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
• The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown UU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.

This week will end on November 30th at 11:59 PM GMT-6. Have fun everyone!!

 

[BigFatMantis]

I'll give this another go and defend my research honor:

SSRW23 Mantreezy

I'll do both in one team.

 

[Mystras]

Im giving it a go SSWR23 Mystras

Im giving it a shot with a couple teams

 

[BigFatMantis]

I will be honest - I wasn't really digging this research week like I was the last one. But I have some reports nonetheless, so let's get started:

TEAM HISTORY

FIRST TEAM: - literally lasted one fight only
SECOND TEAM: - Used this team the rest of the way (I didn't do as many fights as last time)

INDIVIDUAL ANALSYSIS



So the goal this week was Tapu Bulu with Nature Madness. At first I was skeptical that this set could work well on Bulu. I tried two different Bulus with this set:

Tapu Bulu @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Nature's Madness
- Toxic
- Leech Seed
- Protect

This was an outright Taunt-bait stall Bulu. It was not good. So I moved on to:

Tapu Bulu @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Nature's Madness
- Horn Leech
- Leech Seed
- Protect

1 attack stall Bulu. This was also not good.

As you can see with the very first fight I did: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1230334714 Celesteela does the Leech Seed stall 100% better than Bulu does. Here this Bulu actually was stalling out a bulky Salamence: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1230998095-zzfzowjsjgt80uyrrp9h6pp185f0qf2pw , and I actually used Nature Madness, but Celesteela would also do it better. Here is another fight where I won with Leech Seed stall... except it was by Celesteela agian: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231002450 . Also, that fight shows how terrible no-attacks Bulu is since I didn't even have anything for Diggersby. In this next fight, Bulu managed to be useful with its all out stall mechanic: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231007072-i9hr9qy8clvs2f2akupy0rsitiv1w3ipw , BUT it was a rain team I faced so that's saying something. And also, it probably would have been better off with Horn Leech. AND ALSO I didn't have any reason to use Nature's Madness on anything. Finally, I faced another rain team here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231039737-hzixzdkrqppnyystn09uh3actznwvf6pw and had to forfeit because I was left with a no-attack dud Bulu. After that fight, I switched to the Horn Leech Bulu.

This was the first fight I did with the new Horn Leech set: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231672083-0115h1kb63t1hnp3qg5c5i8omlhu1g9pw . I probably would have won if I didn't miss my first 3 leech seeds I tried to do. Overall, the set seemed better than the last one for sure, and I even got to use a Nature's Madness! However, it was this battle where Bulu with NM finally shined: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231711243 . See, I did not know how Nature's Madness worked with sub. Apparently it calculates 50% of their remaining HP, and does that damage to the sub. Which means if they are at 50% HP or higher, it will break the sub. I was able to do this twice, and without Nature Madness the Zeraora that was Bulk Up setting up on me would have probably railed through my whole team. However it should be known that if I had an SD Bulu set I would probably have broken through it much much easier than the NM set.

IN CONCLUSION: Don't use Nature's Madness Bulu. Every option is better than this.

OVERALL RATING: D (for Nature's Madness set only obvi)

-
-



Zeraora, on the other hand, was a real gem on my team. I stuck to a Bulk Up set for the entire research:

Zeraora @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Knock Off

I chose Knock Off because it is always useful, and CC helps break through threats like Hydreigon and Krookodile (Play Rough was also an option I considered, but I wanted the slight extra damage with CC for other things, such as Chansey).

Right away, Zeraora's effectiveness can be seen: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1230820156-7bm8e9uubc90l0pasgkwzpslb65wnj6pw . At the end I was basically threatening to sweep the entire opposing squad with just one Bulk Up. It's not all-powerful though. In this game: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231037451 I was denied a sweep because I could not KO a Metagross with Knock Off after one Bulk Up. This was disappointing, as that should have been big damage but wasn't. When I ran the calcs, I actually got a high roll too, meaning normally I would have done even less damage: +1 252 Atk Zeraora Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 228-270 (75.7 - 89.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO .

Nonetheless, Zeraora was still a monster the rest of the way. In this game I lost, the winner was going to be the one that won the Zeraora v Zeraora speed tie: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231039737-hzixzdkrqppnyystn09uh3actznwvf6pw . Unfortunately it was not me, but the fact that the battle turned on that speed tie shows how frightening any Zeraora is, on either side. Its biggest struggle, no doubt, is any team with Hippo. See here how I could not do anything to this team with Zeraora while Hippo was alive: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231672083-0115h1kb63t1hnp3qg5c5i8omlhu1g9pw . A physical Zeraora will struggle mightily against a team with Hippo, as it's a hard counter to any physical Zeraora set. Only a mixed Zeraora set with Grass Knot could deal with these teams (but I did not test that set). Amoonguss and Tangrowth also spell big problems for Zeraora, and even a mixed set will have problems with those.

Teams without any of those though are usually no problem. See here how Zeraora basically threatens to sweep this entire team: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231705401 . In this game (shown above previously: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231711243 ), Zeraora just needed to wait for the other Zeraora to die so it could sweep easily. It even OHKO'd a Volcarona after one Bulk Up only. So, its sweeping potential is undeniable, but it's also easy to stop with the right answers.

IN CONCLUSION: Zeraora is a top quality mon on your team - I only tested the Bulk Up set, but the pivot set and mixed set can also work for good momentum. It can threaten an entire enemy squad with the right matchup, but will have some serious problems against Hippo, Amoonguss, or Tangrowth teams (Hippo teams ok if Grass Knot mixed). Most importantly, it's fun to use.

OVERALL RATING: A-

This concludes my research week notes. I do not have a journal this time around. Happy drops tomorrow.

Also, might I recommend that the Research Crew look at usage stats tomorrow, to determine what to test next - I think it would be a good idea to test things with lower usage to fully explore them, or RU mons that may be viable in UU, or brand new drops from OU that have yet to be explored at all in UU.

 

[ramolost]

been a while.
not really doing the thing but just posting something on zera.
i think that zera is a great mon thanks to boots 4 atk and sit at a+ on my personal VR but its still unexplored. wont drop any team because of snake tho.
ive been messing with dual stab knock off toxic / calm mind and it was great so far. its versatility is crazy and theres 0 mons which walls all of its sets. its ability to threaten most of HO builds that we see on the ladder (because ladder matters) and to revenge kill most of the best breakers is extremly valuable. knock off / volt switch / speed control is an amazing compression which i believe fits on most BO. great offensive pivot / sweeper depending on sets imo. one of the best mon of the tier.

about tapu : nature madness is only viable on AV and i believe is not good on it. sorry

 

[Mystras]

Week 23 Report​

Ok so I decided to take a shot with this for the first time, so I may as well open by saying that there are a ton of teams I used in the making of this, and I neglected to save them as I scrapped most before remembering exactly what I used at various intervals.


Nature's Madness Tapu Bulu
Ok so I was incredibly skeptical of Nature's Madness on Tapu Bulu, in fact I straight up thought it sucked, but I decided to deal with it after a chat with Draconic. The end results were pretty mixed honestly, it was not offensively bad nor do I think it is a real game changer compared to how some other Bulu sets can be.

The first thing I ran into about Tapu Bulu in general is that I can't afford to be too passive with it; I first decided to put it on a stall team where the idea was that it could weaken Celesteela to the point Magnezone can trap it without too much worry of losing the 1v1 (God, I hate how that can happen). In practice, not only does Celesteela not come up in as many games as I had imagined, Celesteela itself is a pain to switch into even with the trap thanks to Leech and Flamethrower. Not only that but Bulu could be taken advantage of by Hydreigon or Latias given that Nature's Madness would never really K.O. and it would get walled out depending on if it is running either one of Darkest Lariat or Close Combat; there was also the conundrum of letting Komoo-o setup hazards for free since Leftovers recover and Bulu's own terrain meaning Lariat started becoming less desirable.

This replay was the first one recorded, and while Bulu did help break through Chansey and take care of his Hydreigon hits, running Lariat and Madness over any fighting coverage made them last a lot longer than necessary. (https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1230288875-ba3jumvcyhk1kh5y7bkwq299fmfssf2pw). What affirmed my dislike with Lariat Madness Bulu since like around turns 3-5, 2 rounds of Nature's Madness and instead of having around 30 percent from leftovers recovery, it ended up having 44 percent thanks to Terrains giving it more recovery. Salamence later killed with Dual Wingbeat but I still wished I still had the immediate power of CC to pressure it more. (https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1230686321-g1a7ydqa8d2xmoexw9fq4pt0kfzt49ipw)

At the time I concluded that Nature's Madness Bulu wasn't worth it on defensive teams for being overly passive, even for stall, so I decided to try it out on a more offensive playstyle where the teammates can capitalize on the damage better. I decided to switch from Bulk Up Bulu to SD since the faster increase in damage is key for taking out Celesteela after a Madness. I was running a Phys Pivot Zeraora Bulu Core with Tentecruel to invalidate Steela but as before, it didn't come up in every game, and it was it is super weak to burns. At this point I was kind of tilting up and downwards, and it was a really frustrating experience just finding something that works.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231019744-ubjqbzcgdn3rnee7dw30i48ugbm9jdypw

I ended up scrapping it for a long time in favor of testing Zeraora by itself until I decided to pick it up AGAIN; this time, determined to figure out how to make the most of it, however painful it may be. The results were more positive actually but I am still kind of back and forth as to whether or not Nature's Madness actually made a difference.

This battle kind of made me think Madness Bulu wasn't so bad after all, I killed a Celesteela after getting the Madness into SD on protect to kill it from that health range. I ended up losing, but it was not because Madness Bulu was holding the team back, more so due to me being ill equipped against regen cores, particularly Tangrowth.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1232966099-g5qjchudb30sgf8p8buquig7z4i1mmypw (turns19-21)

This is what made me decide to retest Madness Bulu on stall again; it stopped Bulk Up Zarude even after it got a couple of boosts and managed to kill it after forcing a Jungle Healing for me to get a Swords Dance off and trade blows with it (https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1231703237-bk18xozjdb8u3uii9boxwothl8jb2obpw). I later got Bulu to put Reuniclus at half health despite being burned but Reuniclus came out having near full health by the end of the 1v1, and by the end it was not Nature's Madness the did the most work, it was an SD Boosted Horn Leech which made me wonder if I needed Madness earlier to begin with since Drapion would have forced the Reuniclus anyways, but it did not hurt me in the end.(https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1233353643-i98s915atc8njt8t5o0n7vy1j4sndp7pw)

Lastly, I want to point out the interaction with other steels aside from Steela. What I liked about Madness Bulu is that it can still pressure Skarmory and force it to roost or whirlwind and since it wasn't a Brave Bird variant, it could not threaten me too much back in return so it was forced to whirlwind me out instead of spreading spikes like it was meant to, which I am not really sure if most support bulu can really pull off efectively. The second battle was unfortunate; I came across that my team had a really crippling weakness to Substitute Toxic Aegislash, where Bulu could not do much of anything as it and my team got worn down, and I ended up flailing pretty bad against it. Something to notice is that if a target is at high health, Madness will disable the sub, which is not going to be too practical but something funny.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1233863867-mqy5pmfrlsimzekqi3ghz9wnz84nug1pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1233927649-yb0h6vjmqk9jd4d63gmzj7d3jr7bemxpw


Tapu Bulu @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 36 SpD / 220 Spe
Careful Nature
- Nature's Madness
- Horn Leech
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance

This build has been the most consistent when running Madness Bulu for me; 220 speed neutral allows it to outspeed Adamant Bisharp, and Boots help in case there are webs on the field as well as in general against hazards that hinder Bulu's support capabilities. Consider a more bulky spread if the team is capable of handling Azumaril and Bisharp because the drop off in bulk on this spread compared to other specially defensive ones are notable, or add some attack investment instead to help break walls more effectively. It gives setup monsters like DD Salamence, CM Latias, and Volcarona (banned now) free reign so that's why I like to pair it with Diancie who can survive a boosted Earthquake under Terrain and lives boosted Volcarona hits and OHKOs it, and to top it all off it gives Rotom-Heat some headaches if paired and played well with Zeraora.

https://pokepast.es/a9bb036ff8628442
This was the team I ended with; it was fine on all accounts, a bit weak to Veil Offense which is pretty popular, but the recent bans of Volcarona and Gengar means you can probably replace Salamence or Diancie with something that has a better chance against monsters such as opposing Meteor Beam Celesteela, but still add something that gives Volcanion less opportunity to pressure the team. Mamoswine, Tangrowth, and Amoongus all ended up being royal pains so I added Rotom-Heat to deal with all 3, which makes for an interesting Switch core with Zera. I made this decision last day so I do not have any replays with the team, but I know it is an improvement since Keldeo was not doing much in a lot of games for me in retrospect. Also feel free to change Aegislash to a specially defensive Sub set since Tapu Lele was annoying to switch into properly with the life rob set I was running

My Conclusion: Testing with this was definitely a mixed bag for me, a very painful bag at that; I definitely would not call it the standard, nor would it ever be my first choice even now if I am actively building with any sort of offensive Bulu after. It was still fine for hitting most of Bulu's most common switch ins without missing out on one coverage move or the other, though I heavily recommend Close Combat over any other option since that's how it is going to have the best chance at breaking through Celesteela as most other steels and Kommo-o. It should not be a team's only way to break through Steela, just as a way to not give it free opportunity to heal or do damage while still having defensive utility and not requiring a boost to do damage to it.




Intro: There were two things I thought about Zeraora; it's fast as hell, but it is going to get walled by something no matter the set. I did not bother whatsoever with Bulk Up or Calm Mind sets since I felt those were outclassed by Thundurus and Raikou respectively; the former having the same Stab Knock Fighting combination, and having higher attack, and Defiant to punish defog with an immunity to Earthquake; the ladder having superior bulk, has Scald to hit Rotom-Heat and Victini for higher damage while potentially passing burns overall, and said bulk and coverage allow it to go for a Sub set, which is amazing for Amoongus that Zera can only swat at.

Note: This was me before discovering other, higher ranked players, have some higher opinions about set up Zera, so I am conceding that CM and BU Zera have more merit than I gave them credit for.

I already kind of knew what Zeraora's problems would be and that would be in regard to its lack of power and slight frailty outside of switching into Volt Switch but dear God I was not expecting the damage output to be depressing. Catching Hippowdon on the switch is cool, but the fact that it does not come close to OHKOing is a little saddening, even if it is under grassy terrain. I found that next part out in a very hard way; I am embarrassed to admit it, but I accidentally went on my main acc with NO hazard removal at the time and fought someone pretty high up. I lost, DMed the guy after to ask him how much Spdef EVs he runs on Hippo, and the answer was 0. He also gave me a couple of tips about how to fix up the team too, nice guy. Still even if it does not KO from full, threatening Hippo, a team's usual electric immunity is amazing for opening up how many ways it can assault the opponent. I guess this is why CM is appreciated sometimes.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1233386282-jqgpmd9uxcm2xebyxqzo6gbx5h7eh57pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1232954087-fln3vm5m0gtrv7zwcz3g4t4uq0bixhqpw

Zeraora should definitely be supported by something that can break through walls like Tangrowth or Amoongus, otherwise it is not going to have fun time getting through ANYTHING. Not doing that was my own fault, running Keldeo was not the call for this team, I see that now but i didnt for quite for a while (https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1232713016-25ktvujvtsif6s4nhnvxzpknlkav342pw

Later on, I was against the mighty Pif himself here; this replay kind of shows that my team was kind of lacking of things that hit dragons outside of Latias and Hydreigon, so instead of opting for the special set, I decided to not be too bothered by the burns and run a Play Rough set, switch up the Krookodile and Nihilego sets. I tried it out on someone I frequently go on friendlies with (do not mind the chat, we always joke like this), and the issue with Kommo-o was fixed. I also like how aggressively one can play Zeraora to the point of being considered reckless on something like non Nasty Plot Rotom-Heat and still get away with it, so that was fun to pull off.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1233457036-ipio4rlya35ro76r8qmlk1kz91k7ifrpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1233552694-4aw03o77zairm5cjbkc43nl2wk6ja4cpw


This is the team I made with physical Zeraora in the end. It ended up being the best way to offensively pressure cocky Kommo-o, which my team originally struggled with, while getting a harder smack on Latias while retaining the coverage on Hydreigon. Golisopod is here so that I can get Spikes support while also having a neat revenge killer on things like Scarf Hydreigon, Zarude, and Mamoswine. I definitely did not appreciate switching into fighting attacks and Nihilego has been the weakest of the bunch so I would run Latias instead.
https://pokepast.es/60780b9f80d6845f

Conclusion: Based on my experience, and from the opinions of others, Zeraora is an incredibly customizable member of your team that is capable of being tailored to suit the mold of what kind of offense you need while also providing a useful electric immunity and speed control without a scarf. Sure there are hard walls, but those walls vary depending on the set, which help add to its viability.

 

[DraconicLepus]

This is going to be a bit different post than usual with an announcement. Officially today I am going to be dropping host of this project. It's been a long time since this project had started, and i've been the host the entire time, but I realized it's time for me to put this into better hands. l won't go into details but I am very happy to announce the two hosts taking over is of course, my co-host KSt3ve and now BigFatMantis. I trust this project will be in very good hands. This will be my last post here as a host, but who knows, maybe i'll be back as a participant one day.

Now without further ado, let's close off Week 23!

Tapu Bulu was overall a disappointing choice. Nature's Madness, while good in theory for being able to chunk down Bulu's checks, is not worth it compared to its other sets. For what was told, while it worked situationally, all of Bulu's other sets would likely do better. It works, but it is not good enough to really be considered outside of what else Bulu has.

Zeraora was the opposite. It was a great choice in the current meta because of the tools it has. There is no one mon that can check all of it sets, between bulk up, pivot, and even calm mind [although not tested]. The pivot with it's great coverage in Grass Knot, Knock Off, Close Combat, and Play Rough, makes Zera very hard to predict in what coverage it may be running, meaning it's hard to know what move. Even with options such as toxic to hit bulky mons like tangrowth that would otherwise check it. Bulk up is a good option with its great physical movepool, but will struggle against pokemon like hippowdon, amoongus, and tangrowth. Even with all these upsides, it does have the downside of being quite frail. Overall, Zeraora seems like it will be one of the best pokemon in UU.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in Research Week while I've been host. It's been an extremely fun journey throughout the time along with a lot of good memories. It's been fun, and I hope to see this project continue to succeed under the new hosts. Thank you all again, and the new hosts will post the next week soon!

 

[Sickist]

Thank you for all your hard work through your time hosting! We'll always be happy to see you around!

 

[KSt3ve]

First of all, I would like to thank DraconicLepus for all the work he has done and set up for this project. Thank you again for trusting me when you had to take over the project and for appointing me as co-host, I would do anything to continue and improve this project!

Also, a congratulations to Mystras Leoxses for winning last week's Research Week and earning a place in the Research Week Hall of Fame!

Finally, we will be hosting our first ever RESEARCH WEEK TOURNAMENT to kick off the week! (See the bottom of this post for more details)

So, welcome! New and first week where me and BigFatMantis will host this project! The recent tier shifts have given us a lot of very powerful pokemon, modifying the metagame each time. Today, we will test a recent drop from OU, and a recent rise from RU, Zapdos-Galar and Nidoqueen :

Zapdos-Galar

Zapdos-Galar
Ability: Defiant
EVs: any
-
-
-
-

Nidoqueen

Nidoqueen (F)
Ability: any
EVs: any
-
-
-
-

Zapdos-Galar, one of the 2 UU drops of these last shifts. His Combat + Flight combo seems to be one of the most powerful and destructive of the tier, with only Aegislash and Thundurus resisting this combo. His Defiant talent allows him to easily find his place in offensive teams, while bringing very interesting resistances and ground immunity in this kind of team. His access to U-turn also allows him to keep the pressure on the opposing team and his access to Agility and Bulk Up allows him to place himself to finish a weakened opposing team.
What will be the best sets of Zapdos-Galar? Breaker or Cleaner, how should it be played?

Nidoqueen is our second choice. While Nidoking is ridden in OU, Nidoqueen is ridden in UU. Her double poison-ground type is one of the best for check Zeraora. Being able to play defensively, set Toxics Spikes, Stealth Rock and having access to the Sheer Force talent, Nidoqueen can become a real offensive threat with the Life Orb.
What is Nidoqueen's place in UU? What are the advantages of her offensive or defensive sets?

New :

We've made Research Week easier than ever to participate now! All you need to do is copy the optional template below when you make your research findings post. Just copy, plug in your findings, and you're done! WOW so easy! (You are not obligated to use this template, you can still post in your own way however you feel).

Help to do a report

INTRO: (write a little blurb here, w/e you want)

ZAPDOS-GALAR



SETS USED:

Zapdos-Galar @ z
Ability: Defiant
EVs: x
x Nature
-
-
-
-

(Any other sets used, list those too)

SUMMARY: (include good cores, good matchups, bad matchups, etc.)

NOTABLE REPLAYS:
(link) - (add commentary, such as: "See here how Zapdos shows it is the bravest bird")
(link) - (add commentary, e.g. "Here Zapdos fails to be anything more than fried chicken")
(more replays - put as many as are relevant!)

CONCLUSION: (final thoughts)

OVERALL RATING: (w/e you want, D through S is standard but you can use whatever scale you prefer)
-


SETS USED:

Nidoqueen @ z
Ability: x
EVs: x
x Nature
-
-
-
-

(Any other sets used, list those too)

SUMMARY: (include good cores, good matchups, bad matchups, etc.)

NOTABLE REPLAYS:
(link) - (add commentary, such as: "See here how Nidoqueen ascends to the throne")
(link) - (add commentary, e.g. "Here Nidoqueen has truly abdicated the crown")
(more replays - put as many as are relevant!)

CONCLUSION: (final thoughts)

OVERALL RATING: (w/e you want, D through S is standard but you can use whatever scale you prefer)

In order to participate you must do the following:

Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as SSRW24 Draconic or SSRW24 Cake) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
Post logs of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown UU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.
This week will end on December 12 at 11:59 PM GMT+0. Have fun everyone!!

-

RESEARCH WEEK 24 TOURNAMENT!

Time: Sunday, December 6 @ 3:30 PM GMT-5 (EST)
Topic: What if hazards did not exist in Gen 8 UU?
Rules: Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Sticky Web banned

There is NO SIGN UP required to participate in the tournament! It is a roomtour in the UU PS Room, so just show up at the designated time, with a team ready to go, and you are in! The winner will receive a very super special MENTION and TAG in a post here! How amazing! (And the winner each week may be memorialized later somewhere). Good luck everyone! And have fun!

 

[Fathiryxi]

SSRW24 Hihi

Both in the same team