hey SV OU! hope we're all doing well!
been silently spectating and experimenting within the tier over the last week or so and wanted to highlight some particular Pokemon I think are pretty awesome in the metagame whilst also dropping my thoughts on some other Pokemon are thing are superb in the current meta!
Volcarona

Volcarona @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
Tera Type: Grass/Ice/Ground
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain / Tera Blast
Surprising absolutely no one, Volcarona is very much still a force to be reckoned with in the tier thanks to its access to Quiver Dance and powerful STAB moves, useful defensive profile, as well as being able to fully utilise Heavy Duty Boots as it previously did in SS OU. Volcarona is able to take advantage of an array of common offensive threats such as Gholdengo, Iron Valiant and Meowscarada and turn them into opportunities, scaring them out of the scene whilst either firing off a powerful move or setting up with Quiver Dance. With the recent removal of Palafin and Iron Bundle, it no longer has to fear powerful Water-types preventing it from setting up, or stopping its sweep with Palafin's patented Jet Punch, whilst also allowing to mix things up with its Tera Type. Tera Grass is still great, as getting STAB on Giga Drain for Pokemon like Dondozo, Great Tusk and Quaquaval is extremely help (while also helping it take their Water and Ground-type moves better), Tera Ice has a lot of potential for helping it break past Dragon-type Pokemon it may struggle to break through, such as Garchomp, Dragapult, and most importantly Dragonite, being able to cleanly break through its Multiscale after its boosted.
+1 252 SpA Tera-Ice Volcarona Tera Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 404-476 (125 - 147.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Tera-Ice Volcarona Tera Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 270-320 (83.5 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Tera-Ice Volcarona Tera Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 616-732 (172.5 - 205%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Of course, there's a lot of give and take in this scenario. While Volcarona is able to bypass a lot of its defensive checks, Tera Ice leaves it prone to Scizor's Bullet Punch and Breloom's Mach Punch, which would it would previously tank with ease, as well as still leaving it walled by Skeledirge, which can be fixed by Tera Ground, which then leaves it open to most forms of priority whilst struggling immensely to handle its best check, Dragonite.
Iron Moth
Iron Moth @ Booster Energy / Heavy Duty Boots
Ability: Quark Drive
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Tera Type: Grass
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fiery Dance
- Sludge Wave
- Energy Ball
- Agility
I'll be touching on Iron Moth in a bit less detail than Volcarona, but the dancing bug's future form is one of my favourite Pokemon to use right now! Agility in tandem with its colourful movepool, wide array of resistances and access to two extremely useful items in Booster Energy and Heavy Duty Boots make it a powerful set up sweeper that people must be wary of, even if it struggles to break through Dragon-types and thus must be removed from the field before going for a sweep. Iron Moth's already high 110 Speed Stat in conjunction with its sky-high SpA makes it a powerful offensive threat capable of handling the likes of Corviknight, Iron Treads, Great Tusk and Garganacl, the latter only requiring about 18% chip (a spike and rocks do the job) to guarantee the OHKO. A set that could also be experimented with is a bulky Toxic Spikes set, making use of its insane amount of resistances and access to Morning Sun, whilst still being a powerful offensive threat and solid Special bulk to back it up.
Slither Wing
Slither Wing @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf / Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- First Impression / Leech Life
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Earthquake / Flare Blitz / like a bajillion other moves
Some of you have probably guessed the theme of the post by now, and while this prehistoric predator has sunk below many people's eyes, I find that it has quite a lot of potential in OU and definitely deserves a shot. Slither Wing's monstrous Attack stat, solid bulk and coverage moves allow it to function as powerful Choice Band user and Choice Scarf user, with Band Slither Wing being able to chunk Corviknight, Iron Treads and Dondozo for huge amounts of damage, especially if you decide to run Adamant, and Choice Scarf being able to get the jump on Pokemon like Meowscarada, Cyclizar, Chi-Yu and Adamant Chein-Pao. Similarities to Buzzwole and Heracross can be made due to its strength and typing, but Slither Wing's colourful movepool and access to priority and arguably the best Bug-type move in U-turn help differentiate it significantly. Other movesets that also deserve a mention are Bulk Up + 3A, Bulk Up + Morning sun and even an AoA set with Flame Charge, allowing it to mix up the moves it wants to use whilst being able to boost its speed with ease.
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Onto some smaller thoughts on very popular Pokemon right now:

: Dragonite is really
, really good in this metagame, and has been able to capatalise on both Terastallization and its amazing ability is Multiscale to function as a terrifying set up sweeper that is able to absolutely tear teams apart. Whilst I don't think its particularly broken, its a premier offensive threat in the tier and everyone has to account for the abundance of sets that it can wield.

: Another really strong offensive Pokemon that's I believe is worth taking a look at suspect-wise, mainly due to playerbase concern, Chien-Pao's amazing movepool and offensive stats allow it to completely break teams open if given ample opportunity. I think this is another case of the Tera Adaptability bonus boosting its power to absurd levels, but its certainly a terrifying Pokemon and deserves to be on the radar, particularly now with two strong Ice resists out of the picture.


: I haven't seen a lot of discussion regarding these two, but the powerful priority they provide is absolutely stellar in the tier right now, with Scizor having access to both Quick Attack and Bullet Punch and Breloom's Mach Punch being no joke when boosted by Technician and a potential Choice Band or Swords Dance. Both of them are able to threaten some of the strongest offensive Pokemon in the tier like Roaring Moon, Chien-Pao, Chi-Yu and Baxcalibur, whilst also providing helpful resistances for their team. Both really solid mons that I'd definitely recommend checking out.

: I have seen this thing wall a Gyarados and a Garchomp. Without Terastallising. This crocodile is so insane and eats so many physical hits for breakfast, lunch and dinner that really the only thing holding it back is its weakness to hazards and common offensive typings in Dark, Water and Ground, but Terastallising helps with that a significant amount. I won't be surprised if Skeledirge becomes a defensive OU staple or even a decent option on teams that greatly appreciate its role as an Unaware user able to pack a punch.
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That's all from me for now, happy laddering everyone and stay safe!!