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Between the new pokemon and Z-moves, this generation has been unique from previous generations. Z-moves immediately became a prime aspect with how they allowed a mon to bypass traditional answers. Ultra Sun and Moon brought back Move Tutors and made Pokemon like Kommo-o more viable. The big question that we will try to answer with this thread is, which of all the Pokemon were the 10 most influential throughout of Gen 7?
From July 15th to July 23th, you will nominate Pokemon that will be voted on for the top 10 most influential Pokemon throughout Gen 7. After that, you will all evaluate all the nominations and individually rank the Pokemon from 1-10 by vote. Of course, all the nominations will count as long as they're reasonable and fit the criteria. Keep in mind that we aren't ranking on how good a Pokemon is, we are ranking on how influential the Pokemon has been this generation, and how much of an impact it has had on the metagame itself.
A general rule of thumb: The Pokemon should have been available at least for 2 or 3 metagame stages in order to accurately determine their influence. Pokemon like: Mega Diancie, Mega Venusaur, etc would be very hard to analyze since they were in the tier for a very small amount of time but Pokemon like Clefable, Gliscor or Serperior can be brought up. Again, 2 or 3 metagame stages (you know like stage 0, 1, 2, 13, the np threads will help with that). And I would recommend for you to be familiar with the metagame of course, living the experience is an important part y'know :V. Also note that I will be grouping Megas and their regular formes (so Pokemon like Slowbro and Aerodactyl will have 1 nomination for its mega + regular form), so be sure to include both formes in the nomination post!
Here's an example format of what your nomination can look like:
Nominating Pokemon
Enter sprite here.
What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
Explain how the Pokemon effected the metagame as whole, and how the metagame adapted around it. A brief description of which Pokemon it countered and which Pokemon it did well against would be good here as well.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Explain why this Pokemon was used on a team more often then most other Pokemon, and what was it particularly used for? What made it so good at this role?
What caused it to have a significant impact?
What exactly made this Pokemon have such a large impact on the metagame? Was it its stats, ability, useful resistances, amazing synergy, or the ability to sweep most of the metagame very easily? Did a certain Pokemon cause it to become that much better when it was partnered with it?
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
What are the best checks/counters to this Pokemon? How does the metagame adapt to this Pokemon?
Make sure they look EXACTLY like this, or else I wont count them. Make sure they are also very informative, factual, accurate, and detailed.
You're allowed to reserve nominations, but make sure to finish them in 48 hours, or they will be back up for grabs! Also, you can only reserve one nomination at a time. This is to make sure that your reservation gets done before you finish another.
Azumarill was a dominant threat throughout the majority of Gen 7 where it was first welcomed to the tier in November of 2017 before finally getting the ban hammer much later in April 2018. During this time frame, Azumarill secured itself as an S rank threat thanks to how much utility and power it could bring to a team. Azumarill had a lot of diversity in its sets allowing to be a powerful wallbreaker with Choice Band variants, an amazing stallbreaker and defensive check to strong threats like Breloom and Serperior with Sap Sipper Perish Song variants and finally being an effective late game wincon thanks to its Z Belly Drum set.
Azumarill's versatility and ability to make all these sets extremely potent forced the meta to centralize around trying to handle it, due to how splashable Azumarill was to fit onto almost any team. Pokemon like Mega Aggron, Mega Slowbro, and Amoonguss being some of the best counters to sponge hits from Choice Band variants. On the other hand, Z Belly Drum Azumarill had very little counterplay defensively apart from Unaware users like Quagsire, forcing the tier to resort to faster Pokemon capable of stomaching a +6 Aqua Jet and KOing back like Serperior, Haxorus, and Tentacruel. Perish Song variants allowed Azumarill to act as a phenomenal stallbreaker even forcing some Pokemon to run Shed Shell just to avoid being trapped and inevitably lose. This variant of Azumarill also being one of the best defensive answers to threats like Serperior and Breloom by virtue of Sap Sipper. All of these factors combined with the difficulty of identifying the set it could be running making it such a dominant force throughout its time in UU. It was only until Amoonguss rose to OU that Azumarill completely went over the edge after losing one of its best and most consistent defensive answers.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
As I explored above Azumarill could fit on a myriad of teams by virtue of its amazing offensive and defensive typing in Water / Fairy allowing it to be an effective wallbreaker or answer to top tier threats whilst having stallbreaking capabilities. It had so much diversity allowing it to fulfill completely different roles without explicitly revealing the nature of the set immediately from team preview, unlike other Pokemon.
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Play Rough
- Knock Off / Superpower / Ice Punch
- Aqua Jet
This was by far the most splashable and consistent set that was run on Azumarill. Choice Band in conjunction with Huge Power allowed Azumarill to take advantage of its immediate power to break through a majority of the metagame bar a few selected switch-ins. This coupled with Azumarill's above average bulk allowed it to stomach hits from a lot of Pokemon from full, such as Maero Stone Edge, and retaliate by KOing them in return. Water and Fairy is a very potent offensive typing that has very few answers capable of resisting both STAB moves which made Azumarill such a good breaker. Thanks to its item and ability Aqua Jet also became a very strong priority move allowing it to revenge key threats and potentially sweep a weakened team. Its ability to provide all of this in one slot made it a great fit on a majority of squads.
Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Whirlpool
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Rest
While this set lacked any offensive presence it allowed Azumarill to perform a completely different role for some teams. During its lifetime Serperior and Breloom were other powerful threats running around and Sap Sipper allowed it to essentially wall almost every variant of them. It also allowed Azumarill to be a great defensive answer to many Fighting-types such as Kommo-o which were unable to break through it even with Poison Jab, without several boosts. After Azumarill was given access to both Whirl Pool and Perish Song it could effectively trap and remove most defensive walls in the tier, including a lot of its defensive switch-ins to its offensive sets such as Tentacruel. If the Pokemon lacked Shed Shell or access to phasing moves like Roar, Azumarill could almost always guarantee the removal of said trapped Pokemon at the cost of maybe some chip in return. While this set wasn't as easy to fit on teams unlike Choice Band, it found itself on several archetypes such as BO and Stall.
Azumarill @ Normalium Z / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
With the introduction of Z moves, Azumarill gained access to the ability to use Belly Drum at any point regardless of its health. Normalium Z healing Azumarill to full before the effect of Belly Drum activates. This essentially allowed Azumarill to set up very easily as long as it could tank a hit, in most instances this being the case due to its decent bulk. Another perk being its ability to still use Z Belly Drum even after being Taunted, making it very difficult to prevent it from doing so. While this set could only fit on a select amount of teams, it was an extremely difficult threat to switch into after getting +6. Most of Azumarills defensive answers being slower than it couldn't take a +6 hit even with its lack of a strong Water STAB. The most consistent answer to it being Unaware users that could brush off a Play Rough. Other teams being reliant on pressuring it from setting up or relying on Water resistant threats that could eat an Aqua Jet.
Azumarill had a lot of flexibility to meet what a team needed and it having the unique ability to do so, set itself apart from other Pokemon in the tier.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
I have explored the reasoning behind this above, but to summarize it there are several reasons that made it have a huge impact on the metagame. Azumarill has the ability to forge itself onto a multitude of teams and meet the requirements they need, whether that be ranging from a wallbreaker to defensive switch-in to top tier threats. Azumarill also had access to two amazing abilities in Huge Power and Sap Sipper which it could both use effectively on different sets which helped it secure the roles it fulfilled. Water and Fairy is a phenomenal typing which only a few Pokemon have access too. This typing being amazing for it to break due to how hard it is to resist its STAB combination on top of the useful resistances it provides. This allowed it to beat a lot of the popular Pokemon in the tier like Gliscor and Latias. Not to mention it could work well with a lot of things due to the number of sets it could run. Set up sweepers like Scizor and Serperior appreciated its wallbreaking potential and ability to trap stuff.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
: Amoonguss was one of the most consistent answers to Azumarill sets thanks to it resisting its dual STAB coverage and having the ability Regenerator to keep pivoting around to regain health to switch into it. Poisinium Z Amoonguss being a decent option to outright KO Azumarill on top of other threats in the tier.
: Other bulky walls such as Mega Aggron and Mega Slowbro were capable of taking a strong hit from Azumarill and retaliate back, in the case of the former being able to Roar out Belly Drum variants. However, these couldn't keep switching into Azumarill as effectively as Amoonguss. Quagsire was otherwise one of the best answers to Belly Drum Azu by virtue of Unaware.
: Faster Pokemon that resist Water STAB and could reliably remove or pressure offensive variants of Azumarill were great answers to it. Serperior, Rotom-W, and Latias being good examples of Pokemon that could absorb the hit and pressure and remove it. Faster Pokemon in general like Mega Manectric and Scizor could inflict a lot of damage to Azumarill, especially ones not locked into Aqua Jet and lacking the Belly Drum boost to remove them.
Throughout the generation, Scizor has been one of, if not the most influential Pokémon this tier ever had. From the rise of Moltres or Rotom-Heat, to the popularity of Electrium-Z Latias and Nihilego, to justifying Magneton's existence, almost everything in the tier revolves around Scizor.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Scizor can act as a reliable pivot thanks to its typing and bulk, taking the hits of numerous metagame threats such as Latias, Terrakion, Togekiss, Aerodactyl-Mega, Mamoswine, Altaria-Mega or Celebi before threatening them out with its powerful priority Bullet Punch. Its access to U-turn combined with its low Speed allow it to easily get the momentum back if needed, and its access to Roost allows it to keep these threats in check through the match instead of getting worn down too quickly. This role was mainly represented by the bulky Swords Dance set, but Scizor has also been using Choice Band a lot, giving up its recovery for much more power on its attacks and allowing it to reliably use Pursuit against Psychic-types like Latias and Celebi. Choice Scarf is also a notable set that fulfills that role, giving up power and recovery for the ability to U-turn and kill Celebi and Latias before they could try to use coverage moves meant to hit Scizor, such as Hidden Power[Fire], Gigavolt Havoc (for Latias) or Tectonic Rage/Shattered Psyche (for Celebi).
Scizor also has the ability to act as a powerful breaker with its offensive Swords Dance set, abusing either Buginium Z to break past walls that are neutral to it (such as Alomomola, Suicune, Amoonguss or Hippowdon) , or Fightinium Z to break past bulky Steel-types (such as Aggron-Mega or Steelix-Mega).
Finally, Scizor can act as a powerful cleaner thanks to its Technician-boosted Bullet Punch coming off its base 130 Attack.
Oh, and it can also viably run a defensive Defog set thanks to the amount of switches Scizor forces, giving it ample time to get a Defog off.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Its Bug/Steel typing is amazing in this metagame, giving key resistances to Dragon, Psychic, Ice, Poison, Fairy, Bug and Grass for only one weakness -albeit a 4* one- to Fire. Scizor's ability, Technician, also gives it access to a powerful priority STAB in Bullet Punch, which makes up for Scizor's relatively low base 65 Speed. Scizor's 70/100/80 bulk is not the greatest with no investments, but it's still high enough to let uninvested sets sponge resisted hits without too much trouble, and take at least 1 or 2 neutral hits from pokémon such as Hydreigon, Krookodile or Cobalion if needed.
Scizor's movepool also provides it with everything it needs : Bullet Punch, U-turn, Roost, Swords Dance, Defog, Superpower, Knock Off, Bug Bite, Quick Attack, Pursuit are all moves that Scizor can run on its various sets.
As far as partners go, most Electric-types like Zeraora, Rotom-Heat, Rotom-Mow and Manectric-Mega appreciate Scizor drawing Water-types in, and can form powerful VoltTurn cores. Rotom-Wash was its best partner when it was in UU, as Rotom-W was able to punish both the Ground- and Water-types that tried to come in on Scizor. Frail wallbreakers such as Crawdaunt appreciate Scizor's slow U-turn to bring them in safely, Water-types such as Primarina, Crawdaunt and Volcanion can punish the bulky Ground-types and the Fire-types that switch into Scizor, and Scizor can get rid, depending of its set, of various pokémon to help these wallbreakers (Buginium Z scizor can get rid of Amoonguss for Primarina, Choice band Scizor can trap Latias for Volcanion, all sets can force Altaria-Mega out for Crawdaunt).
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Rocky Helmet Amoonguss can punish Scizor for clicking U-turn, and can keep itself healthy thanks to Regenerator, but it loses to offensive Swords Dance variants carrying Bug Bite, and to Z-move variants of Bulky Swords Dance Scizor (which runs attack investments specifically for this).
Silvally-Steel can revenge kill any Scizor set thanks to Flamethrower, but it can't take a Choice band Superpower on the switch, and its lack of recovery on top of not having a way to punish U-turn means it has trouble dealing with Choice Band and bulky Swords Dance sets.
Rotom-Heat can't be OHKO'd by any Scizor set and KOs back with its Fire-type STAB, but it lacks reliable recovery, and as such is prone to getting worn down by repeated u-turns from Choice Band and bulky Swords Dance sets, while offensive SD sets can carry either Knock Off to cripple Rotom, or quick attack to kill it after a handful of chip damage.
Moltres is the same as Rotom, but it can actually punish Scizor going for U-turn thanks to Flame Body potentially crippling it for the rest of the game, and has reliable recovery in the form of Roost. However, Moltres' 4x weakness to rocks mean Entry Hazards need to be out of the equation for Moltres to handle Scizor, as +2 LO Bullet Punch has a good chance to kill offensive Moltres after Stealth Rock damage.
Volcanion is in a similar case as Rotom and Moltres, but it lacks any kind of recovery whatsoever unless it runs a pinch berry.
Bulky Water-types such as Swampert, Alomomola, Quagsire, Suicune,Tentacruel or Jellicent resist Bullet Punch and have a chance to burn Scizor with Scald, but most bulky-Waters lack reliable recovery, or a resistance to U-turn, and most of them can't punish a Scizor clicking U-turn (of the ones listed, only Alomomola can reliably carry Rocky Helmet as its item).
Infernape can revenge kill Scizor easily, but it can't switch into anything Scizor uses if it doesn't want to be put in range of +2 Bullet Punch/Quick attack.
Chandelure can deal with anything Scizor has except for Knock Off on the switch, and can punish U-turn thanks to Flame Body.
Some pokémon that Scizor is supposed to handle can also run lures - either specifically for Scizor (Babiri Berry Terrakion, Babiri Berry Togekiss, Hidden Power [Fire] Latias/Celebi, or Steel-types in general (Groundium-Z Celebi, Flamethrower Togekiss, Fire Blast Altaria-Mega, Electrium-Z Latias/Nihilego, Fire Fang Aerodactyl-Mega).
Magneton is able to trap and kill all Scizor sets.
Cobalion and Lucario outspeed Scizor and can kill it with their respective All-Out Pummeling, but they have to watch out for a Superpower on the switch (and Cobalion needs a Swords Dance boost to kill a healthy Scizor).
Aggron-Mega can take almost anything from Scizor, but it has to watch out for All-Out Pummeling/Choice Band Superpower, and bulky Swords Dance Scizor can fight Aggron-Mega 1v1 if it doesn't carry Fire Punch or Roar.
Steelix-mega is the same thing as Aggron-Mega, except the move that allows it to 1v1 SD Scizor, Curse, isn't used solely for Scizor (as opposed to Fire Punch Aggron-Mega).
Hydreigon was and still is an extremely powerful threat in the UU metagame, as it's well rounded combination of speed and bulk made it easy to slot on to many teams. Resistances to ghost, dark, fire, water, grass, electric, and it's immunities to psychic and ground also give it the ability to check many threats at once, while it's impressive special attack and high base power moves like Draco Meteor gave it a strong offensive presence that often affects how teams are built even to this day. Hydreigon can do immense damage to certain teams once certain conditions were met, while Hydreigon itself can also keep many threats of the tier such as Krookodile, Chandelure, Crawdaunt, and many others in check with it's presence. Hydreigon also has an incredibly massive movepool of viable moves that it can use to switch up it's roles within a team, making even more versatile and easy to splash onto many builds.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Hydreigon is used in many roles within UU. It could used a choice scarfed set to become a strong, versatile revenge killer that conserved more momentum than other scarfers through use of U-turn. Many of it's other sets like taunt variants, roost 3 attacks, and choice specs all served as impressive breakers in some form. It could even take more supportive roles as a defogger or using one of it's various lure sets like Z-belch to smack its usual checks and pave way for teammates that also struggled with those same checks. And that's just touching the tip of the iceberg, Hydreigon's well rounded stats and versatile movepool make many sets possible, naming and explaining every set that has seen serious play over the course of gen 7 UU would take several multi-paragraph posts.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Hydregion is an extremely splashable and versatile threat that allows it to take any role the team needs, be it a breaker, a revenge killer, a support, and so on. And it could do this while checking many threats in the UU metagame by virtue of it's many resistances and decent bulk. This combination of offensive and defensive utility along with it's movepool allowing it to be incredibly flexible makes Hydreigon a viable pick for nearly any team archetype in UU, many teams can slot it because it can take any role the team needs while taking on many threats at once. Its versatile movepool also made it hard for teams without some of it's stronger answers (Such as the dominant fairy types) to be completely safe against, and has contributed to the dominance of such pokemon overall. This versatility has also made Hydreigon easily able to adapt to changes within the format, letting it withstand the test of time and preparing itself to handle any new threats or trends that enter the UU metagame. Hydreigon has rarely been considered a poor choice no matter what shape the metagame takes.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
I touched on this briefly, but the fairies of UU are the best answer to Hydreigon, Most fairies can easily stop it by resisting it's STAB combination and hitting it 4x super effective. Most fairies like Mega Altaria, Togekiss, Florges, Diancie, Primarina, and so on usually have the bulk and/or typing to take on most of it's bag of tricks. Some steels can also take on Hydregion in a pinch by resisting it's main stab draco meteor and either hitting back with a strong move or inflicting status, but most of them have to be careful of coverage moves like fire blast, or struggle to wear down Hydreigon without status, leaving them bait to taunt variants. Some general special walls like Blissey and Umbreon can also take on Hydreigon by easily stomaching it's Draco Meteors through sheer bulk, but like some steels can falter if they can't inflict toxic on it. Non scarf variants could also be outsped by a slew of pokemon such as Terrakion, Latias, Dazzling Gleam Celebi and Gengar that can put the pain on it. Scarf Variants are a bit more susceptible to steels and general special walls with toxic due to the scarf set's lack of recovery and taunt, however. Hydregion could also be taken out by common priority moves like Ice Shard, Vaccum Wave, and sometimes Scizor's bullet punch if it was worn down too far. Some pokemon that it's meant to check like Crawdaunt, Chandelure, and Decidueye can also muscle right past it from certain HP ranges if they deploy overwhelmingly powerful Z-moves. Hydreigon also suffers some weaknesses to common attacking types like fighting, bug, fairy, ice, and dragon that can be deployed on many pokemon to attack it.
Edit: idk if I currently have the motivation to do this in the next 24 hours. Rather than waiting another 24 hours, if someone really wants Terrakion, then they can take it now. I'll probably have motivation next week though
What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
Gliscor was a dominant figure in its time in Gen 7 UU, it was an extremely splashable mon on teams that needed holes to be covered up. Gliscor could take on many roles for a team and provide more than needed, thanks to its great attributes. Gliscor had great physical defenses of 75/125, and a speed tier enough to take on defensive mons. Gliscor possessed a valued typing, in flying ground which enabled it to resist fighting, not to mention the incredible immunity to ground and electric. Gliscor had a sublime ability as well, in Poison Heal, making Gliscor indifferent about status inducers and gaining 1/8 of its HP every turn. (after one turn to trigger toxic orb). Gliscor’s plethora of sets which it could run surprised many of its intended checks, which made this mon so strong and annoying to deal with. It had Taunt, dismantling stall to prevent from using their support moves, such as Blissey/Alomomola, but also allowing it to 1v1 sd scizor and preventing setup mons from sweeping the team. Gliscor also enjoyed clicking Toxic on ground immune pokemon or just fat mons in general, such as Mega Aerodactyl, Hippowdon, etc. Gliscor could also utilize protect on stealth rock weak teams, to gain health to cancel out the hazard chip, along with sub because 2 turns of poison heal canceled out the sub hp loss (1/4 = 1/8 + 1/8). Some variants also ran facade, to be less passive and hit mons like poison heal Breloom, another UU titan that was extremely powerful. Gliscor could also run a fang move like ice fang or fire fang to hit opposing gliscors/dragons or scizor respectively. Finally, Gliscor could use different ev spreads, like living hp ice from mmane or being offensive/defensive. All of these varius qualities helped Gliscor become a consistently solid mon in UU.
Gliscor quite an impact on the metagame, it was one of the main reasons why banded Pokémon had trouble breaking through builds with Gliscor, unlike now where banded Pokémon poses themselves as much more perilous and menacing after Gliscor got the ban hammer. Gliscor was also a very formidable mon to deal with stall with taunt and stall was an archetype which saw its peak in early - mid UU. All of these advantages seem great for Gliscor, but it still had struggles against the likes of Azumarill, Drizzle, and Thundurus - I, that could use it to take advantage of gliscor by setting up or clicking a move and getting chip damage, with its stab water moves, or other powerful attacks. Luckily for Gliscor, those threats became banned from UU and Gliscor saw its peak time, shooting up to S rank, and getting to the point of where it was too much for UU to handle.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
As mentioned before, Gliscor had many sets it could run for a teams intended purpose. Gliscor’s roles ranged from being a utility mon, to being a defensive blanket, to breaking through stall. The diversity of moves Gliscor could run was immense, which it could use to go up against various archetypes in UU, as well as some of the best mons in the tier. Teams that needed a reliable check to things like Breloom, Terrakion, Coballion, Scizor, etc. all used one of Gliscor’s many possible sets. Some teams that needed a last resort Mmane check used specific EVs to live an HP Ice, for example. If a team wanted a Ground immunity, Gliscor was probably one of the better options. If a build struggled to break against stall, Taunt Gliscor was a great options, even occasional Hyper Offense/BO utilized Gliscor to set up with SD and hit hard with double base power (140bp) Facade. There were many others sets besides these, and aren’t gonna be mentioned in this, but were perfectly viable. These moves were Sub, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Protect, Knock off, and U-Turn.
This set utilized taunt, a move used to cripple mons that rely on support moves, such as Blissey to prevent it from doing its cleric/healing roles. Toxic was used to put timers on non-poison mons or ground immune mons/fat rockers. This set was used on build that struggle to break through stall or just need a blanket to the offensive pressure that Gliscor can take. The jolly 56 speed was there to outspeed the base 70s. Teams that were weak to some base 80 premiers like Togekiss used 136 speed EVS. The rest was poured into hp and defenses as it provided teams better support outside of stall. Earthquake is a base 100 move, and also got a STAB boost from Gliscor, which was important especially for the steels and a must for every Gliscor variant. This type of Gliscor was used on bulkier teams that had hazards taken care of. Many stalls utilized a bulky steel to avoid getting swept by stuff like non fighting togekiss and Trick Latias, which could cripple Blissey. Gliscor completely didn’t care about a mega steel, making it even more useful. Like the mention about banded mons, a poisoned Gliscor did not care about it. This set also filed the whole of a physical blanket to the team. As mentioned earlier, some of the strongest physical attackers in the tier like Terrakion and Scizor were usually unproblematic with Taunt. This was huge for teams with holes and issues on the defensive side. Gliscor solved it and also gave teams a better matchup vs stall.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Roost
These 2 sets were the most used throughout Gliscor’s lifespan in UU, and summed up Gliscor in a nutshell. Consistency and Utility. Consistency was a very valued trait for a good hazard controller, and no Pokémon other than Gliscor could be as reliable of a rocker/fogger. Gliscor could literary Defog on most rockers in the tier and not care about healthiness, since Gliscor had the ability to heal 1/8 every turn without getting inflicted with status, along with roost. It could take on some of the tiers best rockers like Hippowdon and non ice fang Mega Aerodactyl with toxic. Gliscor outclassed many of the defoggers that are used today, like Empoleon, which I didn’t see nearly as much as now. In this particular EV spread, Gliscor definitely needed that max defensives. It needed to be able to hold it self up against rockers like coballion to not get hit so hard by a +2 Iron Head or a Steelium even. Gliscor needed to be able to come in when a team desperately needed rocks out of the way or on the other side, which the HP EVs and defensive EVs came in handy. Not much more was needed for Gliscor to claim itself as the best and most used Pokémon in UU for hazard control. Like the Taunt Set, these 2 variants of Gliscor handled the physical monsters very effectively. Gliscor was ideal for teams that needed a defensive backbone and a rocker/fogger.
This set was also used throughout Gliscor’s lifespan in UU, even though it did face competition from other setup sweepers like Coballion. Everything was invested so that it could hit hard and be fast. Facade was a great attacking move as it’s base power of 70 doubled to 140. Groundium Z was sometimes used alongside Facade to take advantage of Stab and hit the steels better. However, it usually wasn’t used very much as giving up 1/8 recovery and status immunity for power. Teams that destroyed steels or had it in check could also have the option of using Rock Polish, to help Gliscor outspeed such threats like a scarf latias with a single rock polish, and Gliscor could become a force to be reckoned with if it had a Swords Dance on top of that.
+2 252 Atk Gliscor Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latias: 268-316 (89 - 104.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Gliscor Facade (140 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 295-348 (86.2 - 101.7%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Gliscor Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Breloom: 294-347 (112.6 - 132.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
With the correct hazard support and good pivots, gliscor could become a big threat and an important contributor to BO/HO teams. This set scared many assumed checks to Gliscor that would try to come in or revenge it. This variant of Gliscor was mainly used on offensive builds. With power lost some of the bulk, limiting its ability to beat the physicals, but Facade Gliscor was still an excellent choice as a offensive mon that couldn’t get status induced.
There were other sets along with this, such as sand veil, which was used among sand teams. This particular set helped Gliscor in a unique perspective of evasiveness. However, just like groundium, it usually wasn’t worth it to lose the heal and status immunity. The sets above I have seen in UU and were the best sets I used. The incredible ability of Gliscor to run many different sets and make it do so many useful roles for a team made it one of the most used during its time gave it top usage and a very good representative of the tier.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
This was mentioned earlier on, but Gliscor was one of those mons that were extremely splashable on teams. Gliscor had so many sets and a team that needed a role could usually be fulfilled by Gliscor. Gliscor also held the extremely useful ability Poison Heal, and it couldn’t be denied how important it was to Gliscor’s success. The double heal and immunity to status helped Gliscor to its job so well, whether it was the prevention of getting burned while setting up, or being toxiced to get crippled down as a defensive utility mon. The versatile of moves that it offered was beyond good, and had exceptional matchups against some of the best in the tier, like Scizor/Maero/Terrakion/Coballion. Gliscor was one of those mons that could easily pull of a surprise sweep with a swords dance and Rock Polish, against the dragons and “checks,” which made it super threatening. It was a very splashable mon, as mentioned before, was seen around in various archetypes, this impacted the opposing player’s strategy and the way they would play around the Gliscor. For these reasons, many players started adapting to this Pokemon, and the metagame started to shift a little as a whole. Boltbeam Latias, for example, was starting to be used more on teams that struggled to beat Gliscor. Ice type moves started to become a tech as well. Specially offensive mons, such as cm keldeo, Serperior, and Hp Ice Mega Manectric started to see more play in the metagame. But Gliscor still had a way around these mons, as putting this kind of offensive pressure on toxic or even a hard hitting facade would hinder the ability of those mons to effectively beat Gliscor. The player couldn’t tell the set of the Gliscor until they met it, and they couldn’t tell if it had a ice fang when they had a dragon or a U-Turn when they tried to bring in Celebi. In short, the amount of Utility, movepool, Poison Heal, and a great defensive typing contributed to Gliscor’s impact in UU.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
An ice type move as always the most reliable way to take out a Gliscor, which at 4x weakness to it. I do feel like I was the most comfortable using Keldeo/Sub Kyurem to beat Gliscor. Both of these mons could reliably check Gliscor and I used Kyurem to sub up and Keldeo to set with with Calm Mind to take advantage of a Gliscor. Other mons such as Serperior were excellent, as it could take on Gliscor by hitting it on the weakener end of the spectrum, with a stab leaf storm that only grew stronger every time it hit. I also used mega slowbro, thanks to its wonderful defenses and stab scald to hit Gliscor hard. However, it was very difficult/risky to bring these mons in to Gliscor, as rocks support and status could make those mons a lot less scary. The popularity of toxic orb Breloom rose, so that it could take advantage of Poison Heal and those Breloom variants were an excellent counter to a Gliscor without facade. Those Breloom were often Setup mons as well, and so Gliscor would become a fodder without Facade. Azumaril also went up in popularity as more and more offensive sets were used and ripped through Gliscor, with choice band or belly drum. In general, mons which hit hard in the special side had a strong matchup vs Gliscor. Finally, it’s worth mentioning Scizor as well. With its Technician Stab Boosted 130 atk Bullet Punch, it could pose as a threat to Gliscor after a Swords Dance, because Gliscor can’t really hit it and taunting wouldn’t do much to a +2 Scizor that is already killing your Gliscor. I also enjoyed using Mega Manectric with HP ice, as it could volt switch in combinations with other volt switchers/uturners to wear down Mane’s checks like Hydreigon to limit the effectiveness of Gliscor. Despite all of this being said, Gliscor was still a fantastic mon and a choke could lead it to walling your whole team.
Everyone’s least favorite mushroom Breloom was introduced into the tier way back when it was being suspect tested alongside Buzzwole to see if Breloom could be unbanned. As the story goes, Breloom was freed from UUBL, but it was shown to do nothing but wreak havoc in the tier before it was inevitably banned. At a glance, Breloom’s awful defensive typing and speed could be quite restricting for it. But the tools it wielded and abilities made it completely irritating to face. Its Base 130 Attack alongside Technician and Mach Punch gave it priority that rivaled Scizor’s Bullet Punch. This was a time where Moltres and Rotom-H’s usage was already rising due to the catastrophic threat of Scizor and Amoonguss was shown to be one of the very few counters to the classic Swords Dance Breloom. But much like Scizor, Breloom could run counterplay like Rock Tomb to shut down these birds and Fire-types if they dared to immediately switch in. Amoonguss was one of the very few Pokémon that could counter Swords Dance Breloom, but Amoonguss eventually rose to OU, which allowed Breloom to run rampant even more. This caused even more validity to use Flying-types, Celebi, Doublade, and even to go as far to use Vileplume who had a seriously justifiable niche once Amoonguss left.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Breloom had a powerful blend of roles as a wallbreaker, revenge killer, and a cleaner. It was a powerful Pokémon for offense due to its access to Spore a 100% accurate sleep inducing move. This could almost always guarantee a free turn of set up for Breloom as it places the opposition to sleep. Breloom also had another set that used its other nifty ability in Poison Heal along with a Toxic Orb to let it pose as a stallbreaker and have a stronger matchup against bulky Water-types due to it being unable to be burned.
Breloom is a highly potent offensive mushroom with this set. Spore is able to effectively induce Sleep upon a possible check or counter that the opponent has to Breloom given they aren’t a Grass-type and allow Breloom to easily take advantage of its status effect. Breloom can now freely set up a Swords Dance and take a major chunk out of the opponent’s team. However Rock Tomb over Swords Dance combined with a Focus Sash proved to be a feasible alternative. This allowed Breloom to lure its Flying- and Fire-type checks in, live the hit with a Focus Sash, and then retaliate with a Technician boosted Rock Tomb. If the opposing Pokémon is still alive, then it could be taken advantage of with your team due to its Speed drop or finished off by Breloom. A Focus Sash also gave Breloom a strong matchup against opposing offensive teams as it was a looming revenge killer capable of finishing off a sweeper that got out of hand with a Mach Punch. This set with its variations is dangerously unpredictable and its variations are near impossible to scout at team preview. A well played Technician Breloom is one that will always surprise you and keep you on your toes.
Now we have the less common but still seriously deadly Poison Heal Breloom. As opposed to the Technician set, Poison Heal Breloom could actually beat Amoonguss given that it’s reasonably healthy. This Breloom set though was a stallbreaker and had a much better shot against bulky Water-types as it cannot get burned once the Poison kicks in. Mach Punch was usually preferred as effective priority while also bluffing Technician before the Toxic Orb sets in. Drain Punch does have some use on this set as it gives Breloom even more recovery. Seed Bomb could be used over Spore to allow Breloom to immediately defeat Suicune, Alomomola, and Swampert without having to continuously take their Scalds. It also busts through Quagsire who would otherwise wall this set. Although this set wasn’t as popular as Technician, it still was another factor that’s added into how unpredictable Breloom was in the tier.
Set #3: Banded Shroom
Breloom @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 3 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Rock Tomb
- Spore / Any sort of filler tbh
This set could be seen by many to be the nail in the coffin for Breloom’s ban. This set was made popular in the tournament scene thanks to how insane Breloom’s damage output was with a Choice Band. Common counterplay could not hard switch in and risk Bullet Seed landing 5 hits as that in most instances OHKOed most or severely damaged. Breloom still functioned as a revenge killer as well with Mach on it. The only drawback (if there were any) to using this set was because it didn’t offer a slow U-turn to provide easy momentum.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
It would be foolish to think that it was only Spore that made Breloom broken and severely unhealthy for the tier. Of course Breloom can guarantee a turn of set up if it was against a team lacking a Grass-type but there’s more to the puzzle than Spore. So let’s dive deeper. A good factor is once again unpredictability. It is impossible to scan and figure out what the Breloom might be carrying at the beginning of the match. Things get even more dicey when Breloom can just as easily bluff one of its spectacular abilities in Technician and Poison Heal, or trick you into thinking it’s not carrying Rock Tomb, or more niche options like Natural Gift Yache Berry or even Z-Superpower. But what I could definitely say was the straw that broke the camel’s back is the unfavorable luck of Bullet Seed. Breloom’s Technician boosted Bullet Seed was in violation to Smogon’s tiering policy: The RNG involved in using Bullet Seed could subvert Breloom’s counterplay. Bullet Seed is a multi hitting attack so it ranges from 2 to 5 hits. The issue with this is that common counterplay like Togekiss and Rotom-H could potentially be 2HKOed or even removed if they’ve taken enough substantial chip damage upon switching in to Breloom if the mushroom is lucky enough to get 5 hits with Bullet Seed. This made scenarios like these a gamble that was usually in Breloom’s favor. This overbearing dependency on the RNG of Bullet Seed was definitely enough to banish Breloom from the tier. Breloom even fitted with common staples like Latias and Gliscor due to them defeating Amoonguss.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Amoonguss was one of the biggest counters to Breloom’s Technician set before it was moved up to OU thanks to its typing. Amoonguss however did lose to Poison Heal and the niche Natural Gift Yache Berry set.
Latias could only really revenge kill Breloom as even 3 hits from Bullet Seed 2HKOed Latias.
Togekiss and Crobat both resisted Breloom’s Bullet Seed and Mach Punch thanks to their Flying-typing but the former risked being dismantled by the possible RNG of Bullet Seed landing 5 blows and dealing over 70% damage and then being finished off by Mach Punch if Rocks were on the field. The latter risks Rock Tomb far more but both despise this Rock-type move.
Moltres and Rotom-H are both Fire-types presented with blanket check typings. The issue is that Rocks need to be removed before hand if they want to check Breloom as a +2 Mach Punch causes Rotom-H to fall Victim after Rocks while having a good chance to remove Offensive Moltres from there. Moltres can be a little threatening with Flame Body though.
Chandelure and Infernape are both other Fire-types that both threaten Breloom but these two are at best soft checks. Infernape is destroyed by a +2 Mach Punch while Chandelure risks Rock Tomb or it could even be defeated by Bullet Seed’s RNG.
Doublade is a fine defensive answer, but Breloom can easily make it sleep fodder and then set up all over it. A +2 Bullet Seed that deals 5 hits 2HKOs Doublade and another one with 3 hits at the very least will finish Doublade off.
Mega Pidgeot is nothing more than a soft check as it also falls to a +2 Mach Punch but other than that, it’s a revenge killer.
Vileplume was a niche but definitely viable option for handling Breloom. Its shared typing as Amoonguss and Strength Sap to neuter Swords Dance made it a great answer. But similarly to Amoonguss, if Vileplume still has a little bit of chip damage, Poison Heal Breloom defeats it and the niche Natural Gift Yache Berry Breloom also pummeled it.
What effect did Alola-Ninetales have on the metagame?
Alola-Ninetales was one of the best if not the best Support Help for Hyper Offensive Teams in the UnderUsed tier for its Ability to set Aurora Veil with relative ease
on the opposing team as its high speed tier and good offensive typing allows it to do so.
Alola-Ninetales had not only Veil in its Slot to support its teammates to setup infront of the opposing pokémon, it also had Safe Guard in its arsenal and other supportive moves such as Hypnosis and Encore.
Alola-Ninetales also had Freeze-Dry in its Movepool and is able to hit many mons for at least neutral damage. But the tipping point was its speed tier and
access to set Aurora-Veil instantly as its Ability Snow Warning allowed it to do that job consistenly.
Alola-Ninetales functioned very well in this role to Support the Setup-Sweepers in the back and with its many tools it was definetely seen as a threat the more progress has been done in the UU-tier.
It was a hot Topic in the UnderUsed Community at the end of her Stage in the UU-Tier and was heavily discussed at this time around.
However Ninetales-Alola left UnderUsed before something could have been done on it for the OverUsed tier as it was able to make the cutoff and go to the OU-tier via usage.
After a while at the OU-tier Alola-Ninetales found itself at the UnderUsed tier again through a tier shift in Janaury 2018.
Alola-Ninetales instantly was seen as a hot topic by the UnderUsed Community again and the Council decided to start a In-Depth discussion on it and the other drops at this time around.
This time the UnderUsed Council decided to do something against Alola-Ninetales and they held a council-vote on Alola-Ninetales and the Result was very clear, a super majority voted to ban her from UU to UUBL.
In what main roles was Alola-Ninetales used?
Alola-Ninetales had only one main role, functioning as a setup support with its dangerous weapons especially the Aurora-Veil, the Set(s) were pretty simple and not very diverse:
Its Impact was mainly caused by Aurora-Veil offense teams and its good support for helping its teammates sweep freely and
consistently with its high speed tier and good offensive typing and its access to Snow Warning
to set - unlike other pokémon - the Veil immediately as it was able to scare a good portion of the UnderUsed tier out and in this process setting up the Aurora-Veil.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
-As an Ice Type it was extremely vulnerable to Stealth Rock and each time it comes on the field the Stealth Rocks where able to weaken Alola-Ninetales heavily,
so getting Stealth Rocks up early was a good and necessary tool. -It was also pretty vulnerable to pokémon like Mega-Aerodactyl, which is faster and can threaten a OHKO with Stone Edge or Taunt it to prevent it from setting up its Veil,
also fire types and steel types scare out Ninetales-Alola
as they can spread out heavy damage on it. -Special treatment goes to Scizor as he can threaten Alola-Ninetales instantly with a strong STAB Bullet Punch, which Alola-Ninetales found itself 4x weak to.
Kommo-o was released with sun and moon, as the pseudo legendary for generation 7. When it was originally released however, it was fairly lackluster due to a lack of move tutors, leaving it with sky uppercut as it's best fighting stab available to it.
The release of USUM on 17th November 2017 had multiple benefits for Kommo-o. It now learnt close combat at level 75, but move tutors also gave it access to a range of moves, including the elemental punches, and stealth rocks. It also gained access to an exclusive z-move, Clangerous Soulblaze, an upgraded version of Clanging Scales, which was a 185 BP move which offered an omniboost if it caused damage. This exclusive z-move however was deemed too strong for UU, and was banned in a 10-1 majority by council vote on 1st December of 2017. As this move was around for less than half a month, I will be focusing purely on other sets for this nom, however it was an incredibly dominant force for the few weeks the z move was available for.
Clanger has had quite powerful effects on the metagame over it's time in UU this gen, before it was stolen in broad daylight by OU. In the earlier stages, when it predominantly ran soundproof, it singlehandedly forced pixilate users to run moonblast instead of hyper voice, especially sylveon, which had a hand in making florges a slightly better option by taking away one of sylveons main niches over it. These belly drum sets were dangerous but one dimensional, often being very dangerous to play against if you didn't have pokemon which could wall it after a belly drum, by forcing you to never give clanger a free sub.
Later on, kommo-o started to shift more to running bulletproof over soundproof, especially with the introduction of the popular mixed Clanger set, which had two forms, as an offensive rocker, or as a stallbreaker. As a rocker, it became the face of Hyper Offence teams, thanks to its great typing and defensive 75/125/105 stats, and access to taunt allowing it to shut down defoggers and opposing hazard setters, being seen on well known teams such as the popular Froslass Spikes + Kommo-o team by Adaam. As a stallbreaker, it became an incredible pick on Balance and BO teams, with great splashability with what it could offer the team and the resistances and immunities it provided through its typing and ability, and due to its coverage options in the 4th slot was able to pick and choose what counters it had. This fourth moveslot also allowed it to not be walled by fairies in other matchups, if it chose poison jab (or flash cannon to a lesser extent).
The rocker set however was still a fantastic pick on Balance and BO teams as well, further adding to Kommo-o's splashability onto teams, as it was always able to provide something of value to the team, either as a rocker, a stallbreaker, or just by providing key resistances and bulletproof immunities to dangerous balance breakers.
This set had a huge effect on the metagame, with bulletproof shutting down lots of popular moves, such as sludge bomb, focus blast, aura sphere, shadow ball, gyro ball etc. This allowed it to serve as a great answer to pokemon such as chandelure, roserade, nasty plot infernape, and to a lesser extent other dangerous pokemon like nasty plot lucario and gengar too, which although they still had a stab that could hit it, clanger could kill them back (trhough substitute in gengars case thanks to clanging scales).
This forced a lot of pokemon to start running z-moves on ballistic moves in order to start breaking kommo-o. Overcoat sets also started to see usage on some teams as it was able to act as a swap in to amoongus as it became immune to spore. However, a lot of teams appreciated the immunities to popular moves that bulletproof gave more.
Kommo-o was eventually stolen by OU, at the same time as they dropped sableye-mega for us, causing a lot of people to have to throw away many of their teams, as the z-move is not banned in OU. It has however been sorely missed ever since by many people, but has been rising in usage each month ever since in OU :( #freeclanger
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Originally, Kommo-o mainly used set up sweeper sets, either involving belly drum or dragon dance. However, over time mixed taunt sets eclipsed the others in usage, finding usage on HO teams as an offensive rocker with taunt, and on BO/Balance teams as either an offensive rocker or stallbreaker depending on the choice of the 4th move.
The substitute belly drum set was one of the older sets for Kommo-o. Thanks to soundproof, sound based moves couldn't be used to damage through its substitutes such as hyper voice, allowing kommo-o to get a guaranteed belly drum and speed boost if it was able to find an opportunity to come in and force a pokemon out and gain a free substitute. Thanks to drain punch, it was also able to recover it's HP after a belly drum, making it harder to revenge afterwards.
Unfortunately this set had some issues. Pokemon such as crobat could still damage it through its substitute thanks to infiltrator. It also had competition for it's 4th move, with ice punch being required to not be walled by gliscor (and later gligar), but this left you walled by pokemon such as slowbro. It also was unable to deal with quagsire on stall due to unaware, and was a very one dimensional set with only one real set up opportunity, due to its average speed tier it really needed the salac, which meant that it needed to run an even number of HP, so if you broke the first substitute it could never set another one.
With the release of USUM, Kommo-o gained access to close combat. The dragon dance set allowed clanger to take advantage of its very respectable 75/125/105 bulk and 7 resistances to run a set up sweeper role. Soundproof allowed it to deal with pixilate users such as hyper voice altaria and sylveon, forcing them to run moonblast instead. Later on, Bulletproof and Overcoat sets became more commonplace, thanks to bulletproof giving immunities to key moves such as shadow ball, gyro ball, energy ball and focus blast, while overcoat let you take advantage of non clear smog amoongus.
With the release of USUM, Kommo-o also gained an exclusive z-move, clangerous soulblaze, an upgraded form of clanging scales which also provided +1 in all stats should the move hit, allowing it to run double dance sets. This z-crystal was however banned from uu in Stage 5, on 1st December 2017, via a council vote, with reasons mainly focusing on how hard it was to revenge after it had an opportunity to set up thanks to its good bulk, its unpredictability between dual dance and special sets, and an omniboosting z-move which isn't useless after being used unlike moves such as celebrate. Special sets with Clangerous Soulblaze were also used during this time, which added further mindgames to kommo-o. Although fairy types could block the z-move, it all came down to mindgames, due to the coverage kommo-o could run.
After this ban clanger's swapped to running fully physical dragon dance sets instead, with z-outrage, allowing them to avoid being locked into the move once. Thanks to z-outrage, this set was able to deter Quagsire from directly swapping in as a close combat into a z outrage would kill it, therefore it put up a far better matchup vs stall compared to the belly drum set. It was also far more reliable in other matchups, although it would normally struggle to find opportunities to hit +2 speed to stop it being revenged by scarf hydra and other Pokemon however.
Other variants also existed, such as z-poison jab, to guarantee OHKOs on more bulky fairies at +1.
The eponymous Clanger set. This was the set that really brought clanger to the forefront of UU, as a fantastic offensive rocker, being used on noteable teams such as Adaam's infamous froslass spikes + rocks clanger HO team.
As an offensive rocker, taunt both allowed it to shut down opposing hazard setters, and also defog users. It's stab combination and typing also let it deal effectively with common rapid spinners such as tentacruel and non ice beam m-blastoise, the latter of which in particular is excellent at spinning on offensive teams. Its mixed stab moves allowed it to pressure both physical and special walls, making it much harder to defensively wall, while taunt prevented them from recovering, allowing it to greatly pressure would be swap ins to its physical attacks such as alomamola and hippowdon. Its great 75/125/105 bulk let it easily get rocks up, even with a -spdef nature, however it was slightly let down by its speed, being outsped by other taunt users such as krookodile.
It also gained a lot of traction on Balance and BO teams, both for the rocks set and a stallbreaker/wallbreaker variant. It was very splashable due to a fantastic typing that let it check threatening balance breakers such as crawdaunt, and an ability which gave it a fantastic set of immunities to certain popular moves, resulting in a lot of pokemon such as chandelure, infernape and roserade having to run z crystals to be able to hurt it, as well as the fact it was very rarely dead weight in a matchup, due to it's bulk, taunt, and fantastic moveset. Overcoat was also an option on these mixed sets, allowing kommo-o to serve as a swap in to amoongus.
The fourth move on these sets was infinitely customisable. On HO teams, this set would nearly always run rocks, due to its ability to keep them up vs defoggers and prevent opposing hazards through taunt. On other balance teams where rocks were on another pokemon however, it was able to choose from a fantastic selection of coverage moves, such as poison jab to hurt fairies such as primarina, florges and sylveon which would otherwise wall the rocks set, flamethrower to OHKO scizor and hit doublade hard, and flash cannon to more effectively deal with support altaria than poison jab could.
The set had two main items it ran, either life orb or dragonium-Z. The z crystal offered it a one time nuke, and let it act as a knock off sponge, especially useful with its resistance to dark moves, which in particular let it check pokemon such as crawdaunt better. It also let it dodge the defence drop from clanging scales once, which was helpful vs pokemon such as hippowdon.
Life orb however offered it a much greater power boost, noteably powering up its close combat and coverage options too, with some noticeable changes such as allowing it to potentailly 2hko florges after rocks with poison jab, 2hko support m-altaria without rocks with flash cannon, 2hko hippowdon with clanging scales without the z crystal, and kill quagsire with a close combat into a clanging scales, lowering the need for prediction, along with many others.
This however came with the downside that kommo-o would get chipped very quickly by life orb, meaning life orb was better saved for 3 attack sets and dragonium-z for rocks sets. Other fringe items also existed here such as poisinium-z, but were much less common.
The above 4 sets are some of the more uncommon niche sets that saw some occasional use towards the end of clanger's reign in UU. Automotize sets dropped taunt in favour of being able to speed boost, allowing it to outspeed potential revenge killers, such as hydreigon and latias, even in their scarfed forms. Both Naive and Rash natures were options here, since a Rash nature still let it outspeed scarf latias after an automotize, but a naive nature made sure it had a decent speed tier before setting up, allowing it to act as a mixed clanger more reliably in matchups where it didn't have opportunities to speed boost.
Work up sets allowed kommo-o to boost both its attack and special attack, but only 1 stage at a time. While it also lost the utility of taunt, a +1 boost to both stats let it reliably kill with pjab specs primarina after rocks, and have a ~40% chance to ohko florges and togekiss after rocks too, while other options such as flash cannon let it ohko mega altaria at +1, or flamethrower doublade at +1, enabling it to boost without caring so much for prediction when it forced swaps.
Swords Dance sets served to try and break with more power than dragon dance sets, and allowing it to deal far more damage to defensive fairies without the use of a poisinium-z. They however were much more prone to being revenge killed, and it struggled with its mediocre 295 speed sometimes.
Specs sets allowed kommo-o to hit as high as possible with its signature stab move clanging scales, and deal far more damage to defensive steels such as mega aggron with its fighting stab (which took a close combat much more reliably), while getting to take advantage of kommo-os fantastic special coverage moves. They however had to rely on focus miss for a fighting stab, and lacked the benefit of running mixed stabs. However the surprise factor of a specs focus blast hitting would be swap ins to close combat was often strong, and the lack of recoil was a noticeable benefit over mixed sets. It was however more easy to take advantage of through protect scouting and locking however.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
The impact kommo-o had was wildly dependent on it's set. Belly drum sets were probably the least impactful, but they always put the opponent in a tricky position of never letting you in unless they had a specific counter to it.
Dragon dance sets had an impact as a set up sweeper, teams lacking good speed control or bulky enough fairies often found themselves losing to it very easily, and had to make sure to keep their answers alive. Even during the mixed clanger meta, these sets were still run fairly often, taking advantage of peoples assumptions that it would be a mixed clanger, and often putting the enemy in a seriously bad position just by offering a free dragon dance.
Mixed clanger sets had by far the most impact, and really skyrocketed the usage of kommo-o to a mainstay on HO, BO and Balance teams. The ability to set hazards while simultaneously keeping them off and preventing defog while having 75/125/105 bulk made kommo-o a fantastic rocker, while its access to an insane variety of coverage moves coupled with taunt and mixed stabs made it a fantastic stall/wallbreaker.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
During the period of time that soundproof was most common, moonblast on pokemon such as sylveon enabled it to kill kommo-o. Florges was also a good option as it didn't lose any of its niches by running moonblast.
To deal with belly drum sets, crobat was the best counter as it was able to swap in as it subbed, and then kill through substitute with infiltrator brave bird. Depending on the coverage options, other pokemon were also capable of dealing with it, such as slowbro if it ran ice punch, or gliscor/gligar if it didnt run ice punch. Quagsire also walled this set completely, due to unaware.
To deal with bulletproof sets, pokemon such as nasty plot infernape had to run fightinium-z instead, lots of other pokemon did this too such as chandelure with z-shadow ball and roserade with z-sludge bomb, in order to not be walled by it.
Mixed sets were vulnerable to being revenged by faster pokemon such as hydreigon and latias. Rocks versions couldnt deal with fairies so they were excellent swap ins, poison jab variants had to be more careful but could still force clanger out. Aggron as a bulky steel could also force it out due to filter and high def and lack of attack investment on clanger making it struggle to break it, as close combat was only a 3hko and heavy slam did 80%+ after a close combat.
Defensive mega altaria's in particular could tank life orb poison jabs fine, however they were still 2hkoed by the rarer flash cannons on mixed sets, and specs sets.
Fairy coverage on pokemon in general was an excellent way to deal with kommo-o, due to a 4x weakness to it. Pokemon such as rotom-heat were capable of running lure sets for it, such as z-disarming voice, and other pokemon could give up a slot to run dazzling gleam. Life orb sets were also vulnerable to being chippd over the course of a match, and due to close combat and clanging scales both reducing defence (and spdef for cc), left them open to being revenge killed by scizor, and other faster pokemon.
Dragon dance sets were quite vulnerable to being revenge killed by scarfers like hydreigon and latias, as they often struggled to get two boosts. Due to being fully physical, they could often struggle with pokemon such as hippowdon, alomamola if their z-moves were baited, enabling them to whirlwind it out of toxic stall it. While it could break through quagsire with a close combat into a z-outrage, if given a free swap in to quagsire, kommo-o was unable to beat it. It also required fairies to be chipped a decent amount in order to sweep, unless it carried z-poison jab, which could cause it to get locked into outrage.
While Aerodactyl's base forme has been useless in both SM and USUM UU, it's mega has been a metagame staple and always been considered as one of the premier pokemon of the tier, providing a great option for a variety of team styles. It's incredible speed, solid power and coverage means it can be relied on to 1v1 or revenge kill the majority of the offensive pokemon within the metagame. Add to this the option to Pursuit trap some of the tier's biggest threats while having access to a whole host of other utility options and you start to see why Aerodactyl has always been considered one of the top pokemon within any gen 7 UU metagame. While it might not always have been the outright best mega in the tier, it's always been right up there and a great choice on many teams.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
While the moves it runs can have a decent amount of variation, Aerodactyl's sets will typically be offensively biased in order to make the most of it's attributes, namely it's blazing speed and coverage. Even though it's so fast, max speed with a Jolly nature is still the most preferable option as while Mega Sceptile and Beedrill at base 145 Speed are rare, being outsped by the occasional Scarf Togekiss as well as them would reduce it's niche as a Togekiss response and revenge killer to offensive threats, while once you outspeed those you may aswell go to full investment to ensure that you at least tie with other Mega Aerodactyl.
Virtually all sets will have Stone Edge and Earthquake, as the former is it's strongest STAB move that hits a lot of key targets hard, and the latter is it's best coverage move in tandem with Stone Edge. It's the other two slots that see the variation mentioned previously and allows Aerodactyl to be customised to it's teams requirements. Unnerve is usually chosen as the pre mega ability as it's seen as the least useless of the 3, but this ultimately will be irrelevant 99.9% of the time.
The above 2 sets are very similar and both show Aerodactyl's best traits, acting as a revenge killer to much of the offensive metagame without the need for a Choice Scarf while exerting a great deal of offensive pressure. The obvious difference between the two is the trade off between Roost and an extra coverage move, which is a decision made based on the team build and what's required from it to help that team function best. On the bulkier teams that Aerodactyl can find its way onto, Roost will almost certainly be chosen as it allows it to come into the threats that it handles such as Flying types Moltres and Togekiss more often over the course of a game. These types of teams will often favour Pursuit as the last move too, as it allows them to trap threats that could otherwise threaten their defensive core. Other teams might prefer the coverage against Ground types that Ice Fang or Aqua Tail gives them, especially if they have another Pursuit user. Certainly in the metagame stages when Gliscor was a part of UU, Ice Fang was an extremely popular choice as Aerodactyl could switch into it as well as mostly anything and apply immediate pressure on one of the metagame's best picks.
Aerodactyl can also be used as an offensive Stealth Rock option which can be effective once again thanks to it's Speed virtually always allowing it to find an opportunity to set them up, even against offensive teams with dedicated leads if required. The fact that it also pressures a lot of the common hazard removal options even if it can't directly switch into many of them also helps it perform in this role. This set uses the same two attacking moves found on every set and obviously it has Stealth Rock as well, but the last slot can vary. Most often it will be Roost in order to allow Aerodactyl to still handle the threats it usually does over the course of a game and give it more opportunities to set up Stealth Rock. More offensive teams might wish to drop Stealth Rock however as they don't need the longevity as much and can run one of the coverage moves mentioned in other sets. Another option that this set can run is Taunt, which can prevent Defog users that Aerodactyl can't OHKO from removing it's rocks while also giving an option to prevent hazards going up from the opposing team. This is pretty rare however, as in the vast majority of cases if you're doing this you'd probably be better off using a dedicated hazards lead and another Aerodactyl set or just another mega entirely. Running Stealth Rock has always been an option on Aerodactyl and has seen occasional if sporadic showings throughout gen 7 UU, but has started to gain a bit more respect towards the end of the generation as an actual set as opposed to a quick fix to teams that would otherwise lack Stealth Rock.
It should be mentioned that Aerodactyl has a host of other moves that aren't mentioned above but have seen use at different times. Fire Fang OHKOes Scizor and was seen used from time to time during earlier stages of the metagame when bulky Scizor was a lot more common as an Aerodactyl response, as it took Stone Edge a lot better than the Scizor sets often used now. However the majority of what Fire Fang hits outside of Scizor is also hit by Earthquake, which has more targets beyond that and hits a bit harder even after the Tough Claws boost is accounted for, meaning it's rarely used now. A neutral Stone Edge also hits nearly as hard as a 2x super effective Fire Fang, reducing the need for it further. Wing Attack (chosen over Aerial Ace for it's superior PP) allowed Aerodactyl to OHKO Breloom and Serperior, but has lost much of it's niche by the end of the generation due to neither of them being present. Crunch allows Aerodactyl to punish Latias, Celebi and Starmie that try to stay in on Pursuit or tank an Ice Fang in the former two's case as hard as possible, it also hits Reuniclus and some other lower usage pokemon harder than any other Aerodactyl move. However Pursuit is generally preferred for it's ability to force traps, particularly on weakened or otherwise vulnerable pokemon (a Latias at -2 SpA for example) and running both Dark type moves greatly cuts into Aerodactyl's options. Honourable mentions to the even rarer Iron Tail to hit Fairies harder than anything else, in particular Mega Altaria which it could outspeed at +1, and Hone Claws which presents Aerodactyl with it's only set up move. Both were very rare however as Aerodactyl could not often find room for them due to options that performed better against the metagame in general.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
As has been pointed out many times throughout this post, Aerodactyl owes a lot to it's base 150 Speed (the fastest pokemon in UU without any stat boosts/items) making it as good as it is. Great speed alone isn't all that defines Aerodactyl however, as it's wide movepool in conjuction with it's good base 135 Attack and ability Tough Claws gives it the tools to threaten almost all offensive pokemon, as well as certain defensive pokemon. While Mega Aerodactyl is by no means a defensive wall, it's unique typing (outside of Archeops anyway), Roost and speed allows it to react to a select few threats such as Moltres and Togekiss. In general Aerodactyl's bulk is just good enough that it's very rare for it to straight up die to unboosted attacks unless they're really strong or hitting it super effectively, which when you're almost certainly moving before the opposing pokemon gives a lot of options to play with. Aerodactyl has found a place on all team styles in UU, ranging from straight up offense to full stall. The reasons why it's great on offense are hopefully quite clear by now, but for stall teams it provides a solid answer to Nasty Plot+Heal Bell Togekiss while also helping to check other sets, and can give stall builds the speed needed to revenge kill threats that they can't wall, such as Nasty Plot versions of Infernape and Lucario.
In terms of things that have traditionally paired well with Aerodactyl, Grass types have always had fundamentally solid synergy with it, as they pressure some of it's best responses in bulky ground and water types, while Aerodactyl fends off the Flying types that would cause them trouble. Builds featuring Aerodactyl plus Serperior/Breloom/Celebi have been seen at different points of the metagame to be strong options, thanks in part to the basic typing synergy described above and also because they all appreciate Pursuit support in some way. Talking of Pursuit support it's another great reason why some pokemon benefit from being used beside Aerodactyl, outside of the grass types already mentioned some of these would be Fighting types such as Infernape, Lucario and Keldeo in the early stages of the metagame.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Bulky Ground types have always been some of the finest responses to Aerodactyl, in particular the Water/Ground types. Although some of them have reduced in usage in later stages of the metagame, Swampert/Seismitoad/Quagsire are as close to insurmountable as they come for Aerodactyl as often all it can do is hit them with an Earthquake that they shrug off relatively easily while they can respond with Scald. Hippowdon can come into anything comfortably bar the uncommon Aqua Tail which can threaten to 2HKO with chip, but can't really do a lot back unless it's running Toxic outside of setting up Stealth Rock and phazing it. Gligar is in a similar boat but suffers from Ice Fang generally being more common than Aqua Tail if Aerodactyl is running coverage for Ground types. Scarf Krookodile can come into Aerodactyl at least once thanks to it's Intimidate and threaten to KO it after rocks with Stone Edge if it's running it, however Aerodactyl's Ice Fang can also 2HKO and Krookodile cannot KO a full health Aerodactyl. Mamoswine can comfortably eat any one hit bar Aqua Tail from Aerodactyl and KO it with Icicle Crash in a 1v1 situation, it can also threaten it with strong super effective priority from Ice Shard.
Steel types also make solid answers to Mega Aerodactyl, although some of them might have to be more wary than others. Mega Aggron, Mega Steelix and Doublade can all switch into Aerodactyl fairly well, taking negligible damage from most moves outside of Earthquake and threatening it out with Steel STAB. With no Leftovers recovery however they have to be careful of getting worn down by repeated switch ins. Scizor would much rather come in on a coverage move than Stone Edge as it will do reasonably heavy damage to non bulked out spreads, but it can still do it and threaten it out thanks to Bullet Punch's priority. Cobalion can't switch into Earthquake unless it's Shuca Berry, but it can come in on any other move and survive a following Earthquake. Empoleon is in the same boat but doesn't viably run Shuca so needs to come in on a coverage move or on a free switch. Klefki can just about come in on Earthquake and threaten to paralyze Aerodactyl with priority Thunder Wave, however it can't actually heavily damage it and risks losing itself in exchange.
Some Water types might not resist Stone Edge, but thanks to their high physical bulk and access to Water STAB, they can respond pretty well to Aerodactyl. Slowbro and Alomomola both take pretty minimal damage from it and threaten the Scald burn in return. Rest variants of Suicune do much the same, while the SubCM set can come into it if really required but generally prefers not to take chip until it starts boosting and setting up subs. Crawdaunt takes a huge amount of damage from Stone Edge but can live one and easily KO Aerodactyl, or it's extremely strong and priority Aqua Jet also does huge damage or OHKOes depending on set, very similar to Azumarill when it was also UU.
Fuck i didn't realise this was so long lol, will probably add sprites and some links to teams/replays if I can find some to add a bit more context to parts.
Havent posted in a long while but, I'll reserve Conkeldurr (I swear I played during this meta uwu)
What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
Conkeldurr started out as an overlooked threat (hovering around the B/B- tier in regards to viability), as ORAS sets such as Assault Vest/Choice Band were rather mediocre in SM, as well as the FOTM Bewear rising in popularity which was seen as competition at the time. However, with the innovation of Flame Orb sets by YouthBerry (and meeps?), Conkeldurr started to rise as a prominent threat in the metagame. Conkeldurr's immense wallbreaking potential with Flame Orb + Guts (which took advantage to the damage of burn decreasing from 12% to 6% in Gen 7), access to priority + recovery without much sacrifice, decent bulk (105/95/65) alongside 140 base Attack allowed it to pressure the entire tier. Due to these reasons (and more covered down below), Conkeldurr proved too overwhelming for the tier was banned in a public suspect in August 2017.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Conkeldurr was primarily used as a wallbreaker but, it also had solid revenge-killing capabilities as well. This set takes advantage of Guts as well as the recovery from Drain Punch + neutral coverage with Facade to pressure the entire tier. Flame Orb + Guts is standard, as it makes Conkeldurr "immune" to status, provides it a free boost, and allowing it to be a Knock Off sponge. The EVs takes advantage of Conkeldurr's natural bulk by adding the remaining EVs to Speed, allowing it to outpace bulkier Pokemon such as Togekiss (no Speed EVs) and Clefable, rest go into Attack for obvious reasons. Adamant nature is used since Conkeldurr wants as much power as possible and, the extra Speed doesn't really benefit it since Jolly nature doesn't outspeed any notable threats bar fully-Physically Defensive Togekiss on Stall teams. Mach Punch allows Conkeldurr to pick off opposing mons and also potentially sweep late game with Bulk Up. Drain Punch improves Conkeldurr's survivability while providing a solid STAB option. Facade is really want makes this set very threatening (imo) as it invalidates a lot of defensive answers/switch-ins (Amoonguss, Gliscor, Clefable, etc.) since Conkeldurr will be able to 2HKO them as long as Guts has been activated. Last move really depends on preference/meta. Bulk Up was a lot more common in post-Gengar metas due to the lack of extremely viable Ghost-types and Facade was pretty much perfect coverage for it so it could opt for Bulk Up, however Knock Off was used 50/50 of the time when Gengar was still in the tier since it was a decently big-ish threat at the time.
Conkeldurr's effect on the metagame (after Flame Orb sets became mainstream) was that it had very limited answers AND it's access to priority + recovery without any sacrifice at all making it very difficult to revenge-kill and wear down. In addition, Conkeldurr's survivability was unrivaled against other wallbreakers (Primarina and Volcanion come to mind) because of its access to recovery through Drain Punch, in tandem with its solid natural bulk. The combination Flame Orb + Guts + Facade allowed Conkeldurr to break past previous defensive threats to it such as Gliscor, Clefable, and Alomomola which prevented them from switching in freely against it. Conkeldurr's wallbreaking capabilities were a pain for many archetypes however, Stall teams faced the most trouble from Conkeldurr (considering the suspect ladder was basically almost all stall since Conkeldurr was not allowed). Conkeldurr's wallbreaking ability with Facade along with status immunity was a nightmare for Stall teams to deal with. Stall teams had to rely on Physically-Defensive Togekiss/Sylveon (post Clefable-meta) or Clefable as an answer, though they must be kept in good shape since they were all 2HKO-ed by Facade. Interesting tech such as Counter Quagsire and Sash + Counter Weavile were also used to deal with Conkeldurr. Balance also struggled with Conkeldurr's recovery + status immunity + Bulk Up and its tendency to dismantle pretty much every defensive core the tier has to offer (this was very noticeable with the rise of Clefable) and threaten offensive cores with Mach Punch/Facade which limited a lot of switch-ins.
It is also important to note that Conkeldurr could get away without having to run Knock Off due to the lack of Ghost-types (especially when Gengar rose, leaving Chandelure/Doublade/Jellicent as "prominent" Ghost-types which were pretty niche at the time) along with the presence of Pursuit trappers (Bisharp, Weavile, Krookodile, and more niche ones such as Alolan-Muk to trap Ghost-types and potential revenge killers such as Latias and Starmie). While even defensive variants of Sylveon were able to OHKO Conkeldurr with Hyper Voice, Sylveon was a meme since it was extremely outclassed by Clefable on both balance and stall. The June 2017 tier shift also proved beneficial to Conkeldurr, as solid answers to it such as Clefable, Mew, and Gengar rose to OU. However, while this tier shift also brought it a solid counter to Conkeldurr via Buzzwole, it was soon banned in July 2017 via council. Overall, the pressure Conkeldurr placed on the meta (even when Conkeldurr's checks were still in the tier, it was still a pain to deal with) with all of its reliable checks rising / the ban of Buzzwole made it too much for the tier to handle.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Faster and Healthy Pokemon that are not weak to Mach Punch - These Pokemon are able to revenge-kill Conkeldurr with their respective super-effective STAB moves. However, even though most of these revenge-killers resist Mach Punch, they must be decently healthy as a Mach Punch will still do a decent-ish chunk, moreso if it's at +1. Physically offensive revenge-killers such as Talonflame and Hawlucha needed quite a bit of chip onto Conkeldurr since it is quite physically bulky.
Buzzwole - For the month it was in UU, Buzzwole was a very solid answer to Conkeldurr. Buzzwole's higher speed and immense physical bulk (as well as resistances to Fighting) allowed it to tank Facades very well and recover off the damage with Roost, while also threatening to 2HKO Conkeldurr with Hammer Arm with burn damage included (bulkier variants such as Spdef Bulk Up Buzzwole had a chance to 2HKO Conkeldurr if they had Hammer Arm, Drain Punch variants required a boost). Sets with Lunge could easily 1v1 Conkeldurr since Lunge decreases the opponent's Attack each successful hit.
Bulky Fairy-types - Physically Defensive Togekiss is a pretty consistent answer to Conkeldurr, as it was able to tank a +1 Facade (Nasty Plot sets are unable to tank a Facade) and deal quite a lot with Air Slash. Clefable was also able to tank Facade (Magic Guard Clefable risked getting OHKO-ed at +1) and also deal quite a lot with Moonblast. Post-Clefable meta, Physically Defensive Sylveon was able to tank a Facade (risked getting OHKO-ed at +1) but, it is able to OHKO Conkeldurr with Hyper Voice.
Ghost-types - Any Ghost-type was able to wall Conkeldurr due to their immunities to Fighting and Normal-type moves. However, they needed to be careful of Knock Off.
The metagame adapted to Mega Altaria's sore in usage near the end of gen 7 by carrying multiple checks on teams to be able to handle it. This usually consisted of needing at least two, to be able to handle it. Mega Altaria is one of the big reasons that Steel-types are necessary on almost every team due to how difficult it is to check otherwise. Other Pokemon influenced this too but it is why Steel-types especially Scizor have such high usage. Amoonguss is another popular wall that rose in usage to be able to combat Mega Altaria due to the utility in its kit in conjunction with Regenerator to beat it. Moltres is another Pokemon that rose in usage due to Mega Altaria's presence as it can hard wall any coverage Mega Altaria carried, but it had to be very careful of Facade boosted variants and Stealth Rock. Mega Altaria has a unique typing which allows it to counter or check a majority of the tiers top threats.
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Counters | Hard checks (Vulnerable to coverage) | Can beat effectively with Refresh sets | Soft checks
Mega Altaria does well against a lot of the metagame as it can adapt its set to break what it wants. Can be a wallbreaker, sweeper with stallbreaking capabilities, and a defensive answer to many of the tiers threats whilst providing great utility. It's vast movepool, unique typing, and very good stats have allowed it to shine as a top threat in the metagame.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Unique typing offensively and defensively
Ability to change its set flexibility to work around counters
This set was at its prime when Gliscor was still in the meta along with a ton of other threats. Mega Altaria supported a team a lot more as a breaker with 3 Atks to break past Pokemon like Gliscor, Steel-types, etc. This exact set is not prevalent as much anymore as it became outclassed by the better options it can run in the metagame.
Dragon Dance with Refresh has become the best set in the current metagame as it allows Mega Altaria to be less susceptible to the many status users in the tier. Status being one of the huge things that can prevent it sweeping + it greatly improves its matchup against Stall as it can break and set up on Alomomola, Glgar, etc. without being punished. This allows Mega Altaria to set up multiples boosts to sweep a team at the cost of coverage to break some of its checks.
Similar to the above set where it acts as a wincon, but it can run Facade in conjunction with Fire Blast to beat many Scald users as it appreciates being burned for the damage bonus. It doesn't appreciate over status but it can take advantage of Natural Cure to get a status that is less detrimental. However, its damage is very lackluster without being status so it is extremely reliant on doing so. Fire Blast allows it to nuke Scizor and beat other Steel-types in the tier. It can also hit Amoonguss fairly hard. Earthquake is another option that allows it to still hit some Steel-types whilst beating Pokemon like Tentacruel, Gengar, and Nihilego etc.
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Body Slam
- Heal Bell / Defog
- Roost
- Flamethrower
This set acts as a stronger countermeasure to strong threats like Crawdaunt, Infernape, etc. as it looked to take advantage of its typing defensively. This set acted as a sponge for strong hits then proceed to recover the damage off and provide utility for its team. It acted as a strong user of Heal Bell and Defog for this reason to give a team a way to cure status or remove hazards respectively.
This set fell off but was still very effective at being a wallbreaker. It still provided the defensive utility a team may need due to the max HP investment, but it was primarily used to break past its counters it invited in. It has the coverage of Fire Blast + Earthquake to have a way to lure in the many Poison- and Steel-types that wall Mega Altaria. Its wallbreaking capabilities are greatly appreciated by sweepers like Infernape and Scizor for this reason.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
As I have previously mentioned Mega Altaria has a very unique advantage of being the only Pokemon with a Dragon- and Fairy-typing which gives it amazing defensive and offensive utility. In conjunction with its respectable bulk and offenses, Mega Altaria can achieve several roles for a team. Its stats could be utilized to run a maximum defense variant to handle Pokemon like Crawdaunt and Infernape, the latter having few hard counters to it. Its bulk also allowed it to always get a Dragon Dance off against many Pokemon who are unable to KO it. Mega Altaria's typing allows it to have immunity in Dragon which it would otherwise be weak too, and it can also afford to not run Dragon STAB for this reason. Its Fairy typing allowing it to hit everything else super effectively or neutrally, allowing it to run several coverage options, making it harder to wall. At the stage of writing this Mega Altaria is an S rank threat that is one of the few Pokemon that can simply turn a game around with its Dragon Dance set. Not many things can hard wall Mega Altaria guaranteed as it can have the coverage to break past conventional checks. Refresh sets sore in usage allowing it to avoid being status, a huge hindrance to it, and can help it in the Stall matchup. Mega Altaria synergizes with a lot of Pokemon due to its ability to fit onto a multitude of teams. Magneton is a very standard core that can be run alongside Mega Altaria to remove almost all of its best checks being Steel-types. This allows it to fire off its strong Fairy STAB easier and have a greater chance to sweep too.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
- Scizor is one of the best and most efficient ways of handling Mega Altaria thanks to its priority Bullet Punch. Scizor is able to revenge DD variants of Mega Altaria and switch into them fairly easily, with access to recovery in Roost. However, it still has to be wary of Fire-type coverage in Flamethrower or Fire Blast.
- Bulky Steel-types are able to tank pretty much anything Mega Altaria goes for including eating at least 3 Fire Blasts from DD variants. Bulky Steels are one of the biggest objectives that stop a Mega Altaria sweeping, making them mandatory on almost every team.
- Poison-types are able to pressure Mega Altaria with their STAB coverage. Amoonguss being one of the best answers to Mega Altaria thanks to its typing and ability in Regenerator. Amoonguss is able to threaten Altaria with Sludge Bomb or remove its boosts with Clear Smog. Amoonguss can still be broken through with Earthquake or Fire Blast so it still must be wary. Other faster Poison-types are able to outspeed and KO Mega Altaria. Mega Beedrill outpacing it even after a Dragon Dance.
- Priority from some Pokemon can help reduce the impact Mega Altaria has. Mamoswine is able to revenge DD variants with Ice Shard and force it out naturally if it is at a neutral speed. Swords Dance Lucario has access to Bullet Punch which can pick off a weakened Mega Altaria, making it a decent check to it. Klefki is able to beat Mono-STAB Mega Altaria and has Prankster T-Wave to pretty much shut down any attempt of it sweeping.
- Moltres is one of the hardest counters to Mega Altaria as it resists or is immune to all coverage options it can carry, then retaliate with a Hurricane or Super Sonic Skystrike. However, Pressure Moltres is unable to beat Mega Altaria as it will use it as set up fodder especially if a Refresh variant. While Flame Body can punish Mega Altaria it can also act as a benefit if it is running Facade, allowing Altaria to almost KO it at +1. Moltres also has a glaring weakness to rocks making it a shaky answer.
- Unaware users pretty much hard wall Mega Altaria in its tracks, with Refresh sets only being a hindrance to them. They do have to worry about being in a Facade boosted or Double Edge range, but in most cases, they can stall it out.
Status is a really big problem for Mega Altaria as all status can stop it dead in its tracks to sweep. WoW crippling its Attack to be able to clean up, T-Wave allowing it to be revenge killed easier, and Toxic putting it on a timer. Mega Altaria adapted to this by running Refresh Dragon Dance sets to avoid said issues at the cost of it having the coverage to break past some of its checks.
If Scizor were to be called the king of Gen 7 UU, it wouldn't be unfair at all to crown Latias as the queen of the tier. The two have been around since the very beginning, and both of them contributed heavily to the way UU has shaped up throughout the course of the generation. For starters, Latias is the reason why Krookodile's flagship set in ORAS UU fell into obscurity during the transition to Sun and Moon, as Latias' nifty speed tier created a need for faster Pursuit trappers, which essentially forced Krookodile to forfeit the additional power provided by Choice Band in order to be able to pressure this Pokemon properly. Besides that, Latias' presence has been a huge driving force behind a lot of metagame trends, such as Choice Scarf Scizor, Mega Steelix, (Toxic) Diancie, Assault Vest Bisharp, Silvally-Steel and even Return Sylveon, as Latias would otherwise be able to boost up its stats with Calm Mind on the latter's special moves.
However, this is not all when it comes to this Pokemon. Besides the influence of its regular forme in the tier, UU also went through a period where Mega Latias was allowed. During that short time, this Pokemon became able to execute other roles that it wasn't capable of otherwise. Thanks to the additional bulk provided by its mega evolution, Latias was able to shrug off multiple hits from weaker Pursuit users, which affected Choice Scarf Krookodile's viability immensely, and caused stronger (and mostly slower) users of the move to take the spotlight, like the (then allowed) Weavile and Alolan Muk. Teams had to be prepared for different iterations of Mega Latias' Calm Mind set, and it wasn't uncommon to see multiple Latias answers stacked together.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Honestly, I could go on all day, but when it comes to Latias sets, there are multiple categories in which these can be categorized, which should simplify things a little overall. It is important to note that throughout the entirety of Gen 7 UU, Latias has almost always been a strong and fast special attacker that aims to either clean up weakened teams or punch holes within defensive builds with the help of a Z Crystal and Calm Mind. However, there are other roles in which this Pokemon has been seen throughout the history of the tier, which I will also get to. Without further ado, here are (pretty much) all of Latias' most influential sets during the course of Sun & Moon UU:
I'll preface this by saying that Soul Dew is not really a thing anymore, and non Z-move Calm Mind sets are usually better off running Colbur Berry for the extra insurance against Krookodile. However, this item has some historical value in the sense that it was an option which a lot of people messed around with at the beggining of the generation. "New" toy syndrome and stuff, y'know. Z-Draco Meteor is a sight to behold, and even the sturdiest resists (i.e. Empoleon and other bulky Steel-types) will be getting chunked heavily by it after a Calm Mind boost. Psychic STAB does a good job at covering Fairy-types, and Thunderbolt is a move that allowed Latias to act as a half-assed lure to Empoleon and other Steel-types without having to use its Z-move right off the bat. Roost is a staple on most Latias sets for obvious reasons (allowing it to set up on moves it wouldn't be able to otherwise, providing it with longevity for longer games and so on), but Hidden Power is an option that isn't completely unheard of, as it still sees usage nowadays. This is the set that started it all, so to say, and had me complaining to dodmen about Latias for pretty much all of the early stages of the tier.
The Good Ol' Reliable (for people who hate Fairy-types a lot)
Latias (F) @ Psychium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
- Roost / Hidden Power [Fire]
Same as above, except you blow up things like Sylveon, Diancie and Togekiss away. It used to be a really good lure before people found out about the superior option (which will also be covered in this post), but it was the 2nd most common Calm Mind set before Mega Aggron and Mega Steelix were released back in the tier's earliest stages, so it still holds value in that regard.
The superior option (until you face Rotom-H or Mamoswine)
Pretty much the new age lure set, except it actually took off big time and became a thing of its own beyond the ability to nuke Steel-type Pokemon, because BoltBeam coverage is just that good, and Latias is in a position where it can abuse that incredibly well. Thunder gives you a stronger Z-move, while Thunderbolt adds some consistency after the nuke. I've never not used Thunder, but I know a lot of people who feel differently, so it's been included in this post. Ice Beam complements Thunder(bolt) the best, and using a Dragon-type move alongisde Electrium would leave it completely walled by Mega Altaria, which is not a very good idea all around. Turns non-Choice Scarf Scizor into a nonissue after a Calm Mind boost, which is what makes it such a valuable team player in the UU metagame all around.
Was actually an outstanding option during the Mega Gardevoir metagame, as it covered that + Jirachi in a single slot, and both of those Pokemon were broken as hell. Doesn't have that much value nowadays for obvious reasons, and Celebi does it better beyond the lower speed (which was a key trait at the time this was "common").
Right after Mega Steelix was released. Need I say more?
The Stall Killer
Latias (F) @ Psychium Z
Ability: Levitate
(I don't actually know what EVs people use on this, but I'm assuming HP / Speed with a Timid nature)
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Roost
- Refresh
More of a recent thing, but it definitely deserves a mention, as alongside Necrozma, it is one of the biggest culprits behind Blissey resorting to Confide on stall teams. Boost up until Stored Power kills everything. If there's anything that prevents set up, use Z-Stored Power to blow past that (if possible). It's not very good outside of that single match up, but the fact that stall became so prevalent towards the end of Gen 7 definitely justifies it in a way.
Miscelaneous Regular Latias sets
Life Orb Attacker
Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor / Psychic
- Ice Beam / Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Roost
The most immediately threatening Latias set (with the exception of Choice Specs, which has never been overly common either way). STABs are self-explanatory, while the second slot aims to cover Pokemon that can threaten Latias otherwise, with Ice Beam covering Mega Altaria (as well as Gliscor back when it was allowed), and Thunderbolt helping fend off Empoleon and bulky Water-types in general. Hidden Power Fire is used exclusively for Scizor, and Roost, while more replaceable than it is on most Calm Mind sets, can be used during free turns in order to help Latias stick around for longer periods of time. This set makes short work out of bulky offenses that rely on either Scizor or Mega Aerodactyl as their Pursuit trapper (or even teams that aren't packing a Pursuit trapper at all, even if those aren't as common), but Krookodile's prevalence makes it an inconsistent option all around.
Once again, Pursuit's existence turns this set into a less consistent option, but it's probably the set with the most "historical" value aside from Calm Mind variants, and it shows in the fact that Choice Scarf Latias has been a hyper offense staple for a long time now, due to its unparalelled utility in Trick/Defog/Healing Wish, but especially the latter. It was also a common sight on slower teams for a while, but not so much anymore, and it could even be argued that Celebi's access to U-turn makes it a better option for this role if Defog (or the ability to hit opposing Latias) isn't needed. Still, Choice Scarf Latias' influence can not go unmentioned or downplayed, as it was once one of the Choice Scarf users to beat, and even nowadays it still sees a lot of usage in ladder play.
A more fringe option overall. It was actually very solid earlier on, and it still has its uses, but unfortunately, the weaknesses of any set regular Latias pulls off can be summed up in one single word: Pursuit, which makes other offensive Dragon-type Pokemon a lot more appealing for the role of nuking things in a hit-and-run manner like this set likes to do.
Mega Latias was pretty much able to check at least half of the tier on its own while still being able to dish out damage consistently even without any investment. While this sounds broken (and Mega Latias did end up getting banned after all), this set was actually an amazing addition to the tier, and there were still pretty good ways of playing around it by using hazard setters that could deal with it 1v1, such as Toxic Blissey and Klefki. Still, it had a ton of value due to the fact that its enormous bulk + access to instant recovery allowed it to outlast a lot of things if required, and BoltBeam was deceivingly hard to switch into for a lot of things in the tier, even when unboosted. With this set, Latias mostly acted as a glue Pokemon for teams with extremely bulky cores (as showcased by my archived RMT)
Calm Mind + Stored Power
Latias-Mega (F) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Roost
- Refresh / Reflect Type / Substitute / Roar
This set's goal was to slowly rack up boosts in front of basically everything (while being mindful of Dark-type Pokemon in the process) and attempting to win that way. Sounds really standard (and also not that hard to stop, considering how historically bad mono Psychic coverage is in this tier), but the catch here is that all of this Pokemon's last slot options allowed it to fit on all sorts of different teams with all sorts of different gameplans: Roar could be used on Spikes-centric teams, allowing it to rack up damage on Dark-type switch ins, Refresh let it sit on any defensive Pokemon and rack up boosts on them, Reflect Type was an option that allowed it to switch out of strong Pursuit users more easily and Substitute was a hybrid of all aforementioned options, pretty much. Here's a squad that showcases one of this set's variants in action.
Bulky Calm Mind (except it actually does damage before its third Calm Mind)
Pretty much the same as above, really, except that it didn't snowball as hard, with the added benefit of being able to damage things before boosting. This allowed it to be more relevant to the match outside of its position as a win condition, by giving it the ability to soft check stuff with its offensive options (standard Ice Beam for Gliscor, Thunderbolt for Crawdaunt/Bulky Water-types and STABs for overall solid damage output vs anything that wasn't a Steel-type). Some people also opted for a hybrid option between the 2 Calm Mind sets, with Stored Power + a second offensive option, but unless my memory is failing me big time, it wasn't as common of an option all around.
The least common set of the bunch, that's for sure. I'm only adding it because it's a flavor pick that I personally found myself resorting to in at least two instances. Used to be a cool filler on the old Aurora Veil cheese teams, and it wasn't uncommon to rack up at least 3 Calm Mind boosts even without Roost (though that was definitely usable, hence the slashes). Regular Latias was usually better for these kind of sets overall (even when taking the extra bulk into account), but sometimes you'd just find yourself without any other Pokemon to slap a Mega stone on, and thus this atrocity was born.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
I've already explained this briefly across multiple instances in this post, and since I feel it's already getting a little too dragged out, this section will be explained through bullet points:
Insane versatility: Regardless of what the metagame threw its away, be it through drops or just overall fads, Latias almost always managed to find a way to adapt to it. When standard Calm Mind sets with dual STAB moves started falling out of flavor, people started using Electrium Z with Ice Beam and Roost in order to circunvent most of this Pokemon's common answers. Even nowadays, a lot of Latias' sets are pretty good, even if some of them have become a lot more situational as the tier ran its course.
Good speed tier: Self-explanatory. There are very few Pokemon which are naturally faster than Latias in UU, and this gives it more opportunities to perform its role in a given match, as not many things are able to pick it off after it gets going.
Neat typing + passable defensive stats: This tends to be underrated a ton, but the fact that Latias barely manages to survive Krookodile's Pursuit on the switch out from full most of the time is huge. It also forces this Pokemon to run Crunch a lot of times, which heavily shifts a couple of other interactions it has with other top tier Pokemon. Besides that, Latias' special bulk is incredible, and it really shows in the fact that Sylveon's main niche in the tier right now is being able to bypass that through Pixilate-boosted Frustration, as it would be set up bait otherwise (and it actually makes people think twice before throwing Florges and Diancie around as Latias answers without adequate compensation). Also, being a solid Infernape (as well as a lot of other Fighting-types) check is cool, and Dragon doesn't really need to be explained from a defensive standpoint.
Z-moves: It's safe to say that Latias would be nowhere near as good as it is if it didn't have the option to nuke one thing per game as it pleases. A lot of Pokemon, regardless of whether they were good or bad before benefitted from Game Freak's flavor-of-the-generation mechanic, and Latias would definitely remain a menace without these, but besides Terrakion, this Pokemon is pretty much the poster child for Z-moves in SM UU, and it shows in the fact that pretty much every Calm Mind set I showcased above resorted to one of those in order to perform its role. In a nutshell, Latias is a Pokemon that can break for itself and then proceed to clean house, all thanks to its interaction with this mechanic.
As for Mega Latias, a lot of the above still applies (with the exception of the last bullet point for obvious reasons), but here's an extra that is worth noting in its case:
80/120/150 bulk and base 140 Special Attack: I tend to nag on people a lot for stating the obvious in their viability rankings post. If somebody told me that a Pokemon should be looked into because [insert trait of theirs here], I'd usually be the first to jump on the case to call that person out, but I feel that Mega Latias is the exception: it was that goddamn bulky, and just stating how bulky it was usually left a pretty strong impression. To put this into perspective, Krookodile's Pursuit on the switch out goes from always OHKOing regular Latias after Stealth Rock damage to doing a pitiful 67.5% maximum to Mega Latias, and Knock Off was not even a surefire 2HKO, which made the match up extremely bleak for the Krookodile user. The important catch here is that Mega Latias could afford investing into its HP while still having pretty much the same amount of Special Attack as a regular Latias (319 for regular Latias vs. Mega Latias' 316).
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Pursuit trappers (that can threaten Latias if it chooses to stay in)
Bulky Steel-type Pokemon (that aren't OHKOd by +1 Gigavolt Havoc)
Priority move users (that can hit it for passable damage)
Other revenge killers (usually @ Choice Scarf)
Miscelanous bulky Pokemon (that Latias can't set up on for free)
reserving the other broken shroom amoonguss. will edit stuff in piece by piece
post status: probably complete enough but i'll continue adding important details
also Pearl i've tried 212 hp/240 def/56+ spe on stored power latias while others have tried max speed and max hp/spA. wasn't nearly as effective as mega latias but it did its job vs stall decently enough
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pls burn in a fire
What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
In the 2017 metas, it didn't have a profound impact, as there were a lot more threats in those metas compared to now (including Gliscor, Conk, and co) that were capable of effectively overwhelming the shroom. It wasn't until mid-2018 when it truly shined as a key defensive cog on many teams, particularly when there were prominent threats that it reliably checked
including
this
annoying
piece
of
shit.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Pivoting 24/7, mainly on balance/bulky offense and very rarely stall. It boasts a valuable defensive typing, giving it key resistances to Water-, Fighting-, and Fairy-types, while being a grounded Poison-type that doesn't take super-effective damage from Ground moves. On top of that, it's gifted with Regenerator, significantly boosting its longevity when the player decides it's best to be an annoying pos and switch it in and out endlessly, and Spore, which renders threats useless for short periods of time.
Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet/Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fire
- Clear Smog/Sludge Bomb
This is the set it generally runs nowadays, but aside from EVs and other more niche options it ran either in this meta or previous ones (Foul Play, Synthesis, Stun Spore, Poisonium-Z for Perish Trap Azumarill), this is basically the one and only set it ever uses/needs to use in this meta. Rocky Helmet is the preferred item since it, but Leftovers is also a good option for recovery if the user opts for a more SpDef spread and/or the team has plenty of back-ups vs the big physical threats; additionally, it can occasionally be a difference maker when Regenerator for some reason isn't doing its job of being broken.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
In the mid-2018 meta, Amoonguss became a vital balance/bulky offense staple as it was very much one of the thin lines of thread that kept the biggest threats in Serperior, Azumarill, and Breloom simultaneously in check, holding the vital trait of resisting their most dangerous and common attacks; its presence in UU was sorely missed when OU stole it for three months, as Azumarill proceded to get quickbanned and Breloom subsequently got banned in the following suspect test. In this current meta though, it continues to be a reliable, valuable switch-in to a myriad of top-tier threats in this meta, most notably DD Mega Altaria. And while it isn't quite a counter to the likes of Choice Specs Primarina, Scizor, Hydreigon, or a select list of other Choice-locked threats, it provides a good scouting report to switch into teammates better equipped to deal with the scenarios at hand.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Fire.
FIRE.
LOTS OF FIRE.
Sets up Calm Mind freely, with the latter notably being immune to Sludge Bomb poison
Sets up a free substitute although the latter takes significant enough damage from Foul Play
Broken Flying moves blablabla
Strong offensive pressure in general since Fungus will generally fail to OHKO shit even when its moves hit for super effective damage
What effect did this Pokemon have on the metagame?
In a UU Council decision, Serperior was freed from UUBL into USUM UU in late 2017 alongside Azumarill and Scolipede. Its access to Contrary + STAB Leaf Storm alongside an excellent Speed stat allowed it to immediately pose a threat as a great sweeper that could fire off its most powerful attack while accumulating boosts. Its effect on team building was felt pretty immediately, with its SubSeed and Z-move sets forcing every team archetype to adapt. Choice scarfers like Infernape, Latias, and Chandelure became near staples of offensive teams, as well as fast Pokemon capable of naturally outrunning and pressuring Serperior, like Crobat and Mega Pidgeot, which were significantly at their best in the garden snek meta. In order to combat the SubSeed set, stalls more frequently strapped phazing moves on Pokemon like Mega Aggron or ran options like Mega Aerodactyl and Nihilego that could offensively overwhelm Serperior. Its ability to work around nearly any check depending on its set centralized the meta greatly and brought about many trends, rising Pokemon like Chandelure and Crobat to prominence and hurting the usability of later tier staples in Krookodile and Celebi (who respectively sit in A+ and A on the current vr, but found themselves in B+ and B- when Serperior was at its peak). A Pokemon's identity in the Serperior meta was always at least somewhat defined by their matchup against it, and due to its immense potency teams were expected to always carry at least 2 somewhat reliable countermeasures. It rose to OU in July 2018, though throughout its time here players consistently called for suspect tests, frequently questioning its high degree of centralization over the tier.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Serperior was able to get a surprising amount of mileage out of its seemingly small movepool, with several viable sets that each had individual merits of their own. Some of the most prominent included:
Serperior's ability to force switches against tier staples like Azumarill and Rotom-W allowed it to get a Substitute up and force opponents into fairly stressful situations pretty consistently. Thanks to Leech Seed and its fast Substitute, it was easily capable of wearing down defensive countermeasures like Mega Aggron, Alolan Muk, and Blissey, which could all easily be overpowered after chip damage and a few boosts. The set also retained its solid offensive matchup, being able to reliably set up behind Substitute while working around several of its designated revenge killers much more easily.
3 Attacks (Z-Hyper Beam)
Serperior @ Normalium Z
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power Fire
- Hyper Beam
- Glare / Giga Drain / Taunt
This set took a more offensive approach to dealing with Serperior's defensive checks, blowing past a few that it was more hard pressed to deal with using just its SubSeed set, like Mega Altaria and Amoonguss. Using a boosted Z-Hyper Beam, Serperior was able to power through common Grass resists, like Hydreigon, Latias, Moltres, and the aforementioned two. Its lack of Substitute also opened up room for decent customization in its fourth slot, which mostly led to Serperior using Glare to nab a lot of Pokemon that would attempt tanking a Leaf Storm on the switch and revenging it, like Choice Scarf Infernape and Crobat, with paralysis. If using Taunt, this set could still prove useful in the stall matchup, forcing several defensive checks out as they lose their ability to recover or status Serperior. Some variations of this set without the Z-move were run, often featuring Giga Drain and Glare in the last two attacking slots, though this proved the most consistent at making the most out of Serperior's offensive tools.
Assault Vest
Serperior @ Assault Vest
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Giga Drain
- Dragon Pulse
This set picked up some usage in Serperior's final months in the tier, largely popularized by pokeisfun and Kink. The boost to Special Defense AV provided proved useful in allowing Serperior to both set up on various special attackers while being less scared of some of its more common revenge killers, like Scarf Hydreigon and Overheat Mega Manectric. Foes like Hydreigon, Latias, and Pidgeot that would often find themselves directly coming in on Leaf Storm would be surprised in their struggle to reliably OHKO Serperior, with the former two even succumbing to the coverage Dragon Pulse was capable of providing it. While this set never became as common as the previously mentioned two, its niche in surprising a good amount of Serperior's offensive counterplay was quickly proven.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Contrary + Leaf Storm - obviously a huge factor in Serperior's impact on the tier, this combination alone allowed it to overwhelm a surprising amount of Grass resists sheerly through clicking its main STAB move. Minimal chip damage w as required for slower Grass resists like Heracross, Cobalion, and Infernape to fall victim to a 2HKO using just Leaf Storm, while the move's solid bp in general allowed Serperior to circumvent its poor initial power to an extent as well.
Fantastic Speed - Serperior's Speed was crucial in allowing it to get off its infamous fast Substitutes, but it also was useful for taking on traditional Grass-type checks like Hydreigon and Infernape on its own. Serperior's high Speed also allowed it to function as a solid revenge killer to multiple fearsome presences, including Azumarill, Primarina, and Terrakion.
Set Versatility - Serperior was able to work around nearly all of its checks between the three sets listed above, allowing it to consistently keep opponents on their toes and require that several different Pokemon that could check one of its sets was the enemy team. The advent of Z-moves aided it in its ability to bypass a few checks as well.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Flying-types
Most relevant Flying-types at the time Serperior was in UU had the tools necessary to do a decent job checking it. Crobat was particularly useful in the Serperior meta for its 4x Grass resistance, higher Speed than Serperior, and access to Infiltrator, which allowed it to bypass Substitute if need be. Mega Pidgeot and Mega Aerodactyl were frequently used as solid revenge killers to Serperior, the former at times often attempting to switch in directly. Moltres and Togekiss were susceptible to Z-Hyper Beam or Glare, but could consistently tank two Leaf Storms and threaten Serperior with powerful STAB moves. While Serperior had ways around its Flying-type answers, they were still often commonplace due to their fair matchups against it.
Various means of revenge killing
Since Serperior's defensive counterplay was often hard to come by or dependent on its set, different methods of revenge killing it were very often used to deal with it. Scizor and Mamoswine posed decent threats against it with their powerful priority attacks, while Pokemon capable of naturally outspeeding it and hitting it hard, like Mega Beedrill and Mega Manectric, were also quite reliable. Choice Scarfers like Latias, Infernape, and Chandelure, which was particularly helpful thanks to Infiltrator, were quite popular in the Serperior meta due to their solid matchup against it and ability to come in on an unboosted Leaf Storm from full if need be.
Various means of defensive counterplay
As was said before, Serperior's defensive answers often came down to its set, though a few answers were fairly consistently reliable in most scenarios. Mega Altaria was able to tank two Leaf Storms, set up, and power through Serperior with its boosted Return. Defensive sets could also quickly whittle Serperior while tanking Z-Hyper Beam from full. Amoonguss could tank a Z-Hyper Beam from full, use Clear Smog to remove Serperior's boosts or Sludge Bomb to immediately threaten it, and recover some of its health lost with Regenerator. Filter allowed Mega Aggron to tank Hidden Power Fire quite nicely while its typing and good bulk allowed it to consistently tank Leaf Storms. It also could use Heavy Slam to threaten Serperior and Roar to phaze SubSeed sets. Alolan Muk's AV set could tank any hit thrown at it while threatening Serperior with Pursuit or Poison-type STABs, though it did occasionally struggle combating SubSeed sets if Serperior predicted correctly.
At the time, Clefable was known to have been a "shell of its former self" in the OU tier (hovering at the B/B- rank since OU thought it was mediocre and/or bad), causing it to drop into UU in the February 2017 tier shift. However, Clefable quickly made its name in UU as one of the most diverse and flexible Pokemon available and easily became one of the best Pokemon in the tier. With 2 great abilities to choose from, decent bulk (95/73/90) complimented by a great defensive typing, and a diverse movepool with a variety of defensive/supportive and offensive options to choose from made Clefable an incredibly flexible Pokemon that could fit into a lot of teams (specifically balance/stall/bulkier teams in general). Due to Clefable's hold on the meta, many wanted it to be suspected and even banned due to its versatility and unpredictability. In the end, when OU realized Clefable was actually a good Pokemon in the OU tier, it rose back to OU in June 2017 along with other UU staples such as Bisharp, Gengar, and Mew.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
While Clefable does have a lot of moves to choose from, many of the sets have the same moves so I'll just be focusing on the differences in the set descriptions. Every Clefable set involves Moonblast, because Moonblast is OP and it hit most of the tier for neutral/super-effective damage. Most sets carry Soft-Boiled since it is the most reliable recovery move for Clefable to use. Magic Guard is standard for all sets (besides the Unaware set) since it prevents Clefable from being chipped by harmful status effects (also allows it to set up on bulkier Pokemon such as Alomomola or Mew that rely on Toxic/Burn damage to chip their foes) and it allows Clefable to freely switch in and out without having to worry about entry hazards.
Calm Mind Sweeper
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave / Flamethrower / Knock Off / Encore
Calm Mind Clefable is one of the most popular Clefable sets in UU, as it can use its typing + natural bulk to set up on a good amount of the tier (especially against choice-locked foes such as Keldeo and Latias) or, it could threaten to sweep late-game once all of Clefable's answers are either weakened, crippled, or taken down. Maximum HP and Defense investment with a Bold nature allows Clefable to be as bulky as possible on the physical side, while relying on the SpD boosts from Calm Mind to make it bulkier on the special side. Thunder Wave allows Clefable to cripple common switch-ins such as Cobalion, Scizor, or Aerodactyl-Mega. Flamethrower (or Fire Blast) is primarily used to lure in Scizor but, it can also be used to damage Amoonguss, Doublade, and Metagross pretty hard. Knock Off allows Clefable to beat Pokemon such as Nidoqueen (mainly Defensive variants, Offensive variants lost if Clefable is at +1 SpD and Nidoqueen is at -1 from Moonblast), Suicune (VinCune mainly), and Blissey 1v1, while also being able to cripple common switch-ins such as Empoleon and Tentacruel. Ice Beam allows Clefable to beat Gliscor 1v1, as it is able to secure the 2HKO on bulkier sets. Encore enables Clefable to beat other bulkier setup sweepers such as Reuniclus, Slowbro, and Togekiss 1v1.
Stealth Rock Setter
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave / Fire Blast / Knock Off
This set mainly focuses on Clefable's utility as a Stealth Rock setter. The EV spread focuses on giving Clefable as much mixed bulk as possible, being able to check "weaker" (comparatively) Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Keldeo, Mega Aerodactyl, and Raikou (even with a Calm Mind boost). Other EV spreads such as fully physically/specially defensive can also be used as well, while 44 Speed EVs can be included since it outspeed bulky Scizor (a fairly common set at the time). Stealth Rock is the bread-and-butter of the set, as Clefable is able to check entry-hazard removers such as Defog Latias (one of the most common Defog users along with bulky Scizor at the time since it was one of the few with actual offensive pressure) and Mandibuzz. Thunder Wave can be used to cripple Pokemon on the switch (Clefable checks such as Volcanion, Bisharp, and Scizor don't appreciate being paralyzed), Fire Blast is used to lure in Steel-types (the extra damage is needed to OHKO/cripple them on switch, Fire Blast fails to 2HKO Amoonguss), and Knock Off lets Clefable cripple entry-hazard removers such as Starmie, Empoleon, and Tentacruel. Healing Wish was also a rare option to support other offensive Pokemon or setup sweepers if necessary.
Unaware / Cleric
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell / Calm Mind
This set took advantage of Clefable's bulk + typing + movepool as a really good Unaware user in Stall teams. At the time, there were a lot of physically-offensive setup sweepers (Cobalion, Bisharp, Conkeldurr, Mega Absol, Hone Claws Mega Aerodactyl, Talonflame, etc.) compared to specially-offensive setup sweepers (most were either bulky or Clefable could beat them such as Reuniclus and Calm Mind Latias), so a fully physically-defensive EV spread was a lot more favorable. Unaware is the ability of choice, since it allowed Clefable to check a lot of common setup sweepers (Haxorus typically runs Mold Breaker, which Clefable needed to be aware of, especially if Haxorus has already set up). Wish + Protect is Clefable's most reliable form of self-recovery and it also allowed it support its team. Moonlight is also another option for the instant recovery but, it has less PP and it isn't as reliable with Hippowdon in the tier to set up the Sandstorm. Keep in mind Soft-Boiled was illegal with Unaware since Soft-Boiled is a FRLG Tutor move and Unaware is Clefable's hidden ability (can't transfer a Clefable with Unaware into Pokemon FRLG for obvious reasons). Last slot was almost always Heal Bell but, Calm Mind was a fairly niche option that allowed Clefable to beat opposing setup users such as Calm Mind Clefable, Gliscor, and Togekiss.
Offensive Tank
Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 SpA / 4 Def
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam / Thunderbolt / Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled
This was a very rare set that could catch the opponent off-guard, (I believe this set was used as a "surprise factor" by either Killintime or Cake?) that utilized Magic Guard + Life Orb and Clefable's expansive offensive movepool. Clefable didn't exactly need the Speed investment, unless you really wanted to outspeed Conkeldurr (which was fairly uncommon until Flame Orb sets became a thing), Bewear (also fairly uncommon past the FOTM period after that one Research Week), and Primarina (Primarina still beats it unless Clefable has Thunderbolt), so full HP/SpA with a Modest nature was the way to go. Fire Blast was used for the extra firepower, being able to OHKO many Steel-types and 2HKO Amoonguss. Ice Beam was used to lure in and OHKO Gliscor, Thunderbolt was used to lure in the Tentacruel and Empoleon, Calm Mind allowed Clefable to boost its offensive potential even more (and it also made people assume it was the standard Calm Mind Clefable set as well which can catch people off guard).
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Versatility / Unpredictability - Clefable was one of the most splashable and versatile Pokemon at the time, being one of the best glue mons any balance/stall/bulky offense team could ask for. Clefable's unpredictability caused problems for teams, as it was very difficult to scout considering Clefable spammed Moonblast + recovery quite often (unless it found opportunities to set up Rocks or Calm Mind) which forced the player to be cautious around Clefable.
Customization - Clefable's ability to pick and choose its mean to deal with its checks and counters made it incredibly difficult to keep in check in battles and during team building. While Clefable's first 3 moves are pretty consistent (Moonblast, recovery, Stealth Rock/Protect/Calm Mind depending on the set), it's last slot was incredibly flexible and allowed it to lure in its answers with ease. With Fire Blast or Flamethrower it could lure in Steel-types, the biggest one being Scizor which it could knock out or severely weaken it, Ice Beam dealt with another solid answer in Gliscor, Knock Off crippled many foes (mainly Pokemon that relied on their item for extra power or recovery) which Clefable could use to create more opportunities to either set up or be a solid switch-in, while Thunder Wave also allowed Clefable to catch common switch-ins with ease. Other niche options such as Stored Power + Cosmic Power, Psychic (primarily for Gengar but, it also hits Tentacruel and Amoonguss), and Encore were also used to catch other checks/counters off guard to create more opportunities for Clefable and its team.
Decent Bulk + Solid Defensive Typing - Adding on to Clefable's ability to customize its sets pretty effectively, it could go fully physical/special/mixed bulk pretty effectively depending on what your team needs. A lot of Clefable's defensive power comes from its typing, so it could easily customize its EV spread without too much of a drawback. Clefable's bulk also gave Clefable a lot of setup opportunities for Calm Mind sets, especially against common Pokemon such as Keldeo (choice-locked), Latias, Hydreigon, and more while also being able to switch into a good amount of the tier as well. Any team without proper answers to Clefable (as mentioned before, Clefable has the means to lure in its most common checks/counters) risked either getting completely walled by it or provide it with ample set up opportunities for Calm Mind sets.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Steel-types - Steel-types have the type-advantage over Clefable, being resistant to Fairy and threatening it with Steel-type STAB. Cobalion, Scizor, and Doublade are able to tank Moonblast well (Cobalion still takes quite a bit but, isn't 2HKO-ed) and can set up Swords Dance (must be wary of Encore) or threaten Clefable with Steel-type STAB. Bisharp and Lucario both have a harder time switching in since it has a chance of being 2HKO-ed by Moonblast but, they can still threaten Clefable with Steel-type STAB. While Empoleon rarely runs Steel-type STAB, it can Defog away Clefable's rocks and also use Roar to phaze it out if it wants to set up Calm Mind. Magneton and Metagross are also able to tank Moonblast very well but, Magneton doesn't appreciate the SpA drops from Moonblast. Though all of these Pokemon bar Empoleon should fear Fire Blast or Flamethrower, while Doublade should be wary of Knock Off.
Poison-types - Like Steel-types, Poison-types have the type-advantage over Clefable and can threaten it out with their STAB moves. Gengar and Crobat are able to either Choice-lock Clefable (though Scarf/Specs Gengar wasn't too common since it risked being Pursuit trapped if locked into an unfavorable move but, it was still an option) or threaten it with Sludge Wave, while Crobat can use Taunt to prevent Clefable from doing much (though it couldn't do much unless it had Cross Poison which isn't that good). Amoonguss and Tentacruel can annoy Clefable with Clear Smog, with Amoonguss being able to use Spore and Tentacruel able to get rid of Clefable's rocks with Rapid Spin. Nidoqueen, Nidoking, and Toxicroak are other Poison-types that can threaten Clefable out with Poison-STAB but, Nidoqueen/king don't appreciate the SpA drops and having their Life Orb knocked off (Nidoqueen risks losing 1v1 to Calm Mind Clefable without Life Orb) and Toxicroak risks getting 2HKO-ed by Moonblast. Though Clefable must be cautious of Poison-type coverage on Pokemon such as Hydreigon (Z-Belch) or Conkeldurr/Haxorus (Poison Jab)
Wallbreakers / Hard-hitting Pokemon - Most of these Pokemon shouldn't directly switch-in unless they are healthy and Clefable is low enough (Keldeo, Bewear, Latias, Conkeldurr) but, all of them are still able to threaten Clefable out with hard-hitting moves. Specs Primarina, Latias, Keldeo, and Volcanion or Band Infernape, Entei, Scizor and Bewear are all able to 2HKO Clefable with their respective STAB moves. Conkeldurr is also able to 2HKO Clefable with either Guts boosted Facade or Banded Poison Jab as well. Fire-types such as Infernape, Entei, and Volcanion (Moltres/Rotom-H were very uncommon in this meta, only gaining popularaity when Serperior dropped iirc) are also able to freely switch into Clefable as well since they resist Moonblast (though Infernape risked getting 2HKO-ed by Moonblast, moreso with Flare Blitz recoil damage). Z-Move holders such as Krookodile and Haxorus are also able to threaten to knock out a weakened Clefable, Haxorus also having Mold Breaker to bypass Unaware Clefable as well.
Other Setup Sweepers - Standard Calm Mind Clefable sets lose 1v1 to a lot of bulkier setup sweepers in the tier. Suicune (CroCune and VinCune variants) are able to win 1v1 with Substitute (to block Thunder Wave) or RestTalk in conjunction with Pressure (though Clefable wins against VinCune if its Leftovers has been Knocked Off). Reuniclus and Slowbro are able to win 1v1 due to access to Psyshock to target Clefable's Defense while having the Special Defense boost from Calm Mind to easily tank Clefable's boosted Moonblasts. Gliscor is one of the biggest counters to Clefable (as long as it doesn't have Ice Beam) since it doesn't care for Moonblast SpA drops and, it is able to use Taunt on Clefable to prevent it from setting up or healing while being able to set up with Swords Dance itself. Lastly, Togekiss has a good chance at winning the 1v1 due to flinch hax, Heal Bell, and Nasty Plot. Though, a lot of these setup sweepers are easily beaten if Clefable carries Encore.
With us for the entirety of SMUU, Blissey's main effect on the metagame was to balance out powerful special attackers and maintain stall as a strong play style by combining extraordinary special bulk with extremely good utility moves. It was a catch all special attacker that could almost effortlessly wall powerful and relevant special attackers like Choice Specs Primarina and Z Hurricane Moltres. This more than anything else almost made it mandatory on stall because other potential walls like Umbreon and Sylveon just couldn't provide the special bulk to wall these threats. Blissey's massive bulk also let her see some use on more offensive teams, if only rarely because her bulk and utility would be generally more than offset by her passive nature and openings that caused.
These problems were why she found her main home on stall teams - physical attackers like Scizor and Cobalion would be easily countered by teammates like Quagsire, Alomomola, Gliscor and Gligar after Gliscor rose to OU. Special care would be made to fit concrete counters to special attackers that Blissey could not beat. For example, Mega Aerodactyl could beat Nasty Plot Heal Bell Togekiss and Substitute Calm Mind Chandelure. Besides her special bulk and utility, the most important thing to remember about Blissey would be that practically all of her relatively few weaknesses would be covered by her teammates on stall.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
More specifically, Blissey always kept her special bulk but in terms of utility had two main roles as a Heal Bell user and then as a Stealth Rock user. She also used Wish passing sets which was less seen because competition with Alomomola, various niche sets like Z Ice Beam for Gliscor, and combinations of these sets such as Heal Bell and Stealth Rock on the same set.
Heal Bell
Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell
This set would often be paired with stalls that used Mega Aggron, Mega Steelix, and occasionally Nihilego as they were reliable Stealth Rock users, freeing up that move slot for Blissey to use Heal Bell instead. Heal Bell would be essential for stall teams so they could play more actively. For example, with Heal Bell Blissey, Mega Aggron could more easily set up Stealth Rock in the face of a bulky water with Scald because even if Scald burned Aggron, Blissey could likely heal Aggron later in the match letting it counter important Pokemon like Latias again.
Blissey was a particularly good Heal Bell user because her massive bulk gave her plenty of opportunities to use the move while Heal Bell supported herself too, not just the team. The rest of her moves and maximum defense investment, which doubled her overall physical bulk, allowed her to counter essentially all non-boosting special attackers, like Volcanion and quite a few physical attackers, like Krookodile. Toxic is necessary to wear down attackers with recovery such as Roost Moltres and just put attackers on a timer in general - for example, Blissey has enough physical bulk to tank a Crunch from Mega Sharpedo and put him on a Toxic timer, should the situation be desperate enough.
Stealth Rock
Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
This set would often be paired by stalls that used Mega Altaria and Articuno, as they were excellent Heal Bell users (although not quite on par with Blissey), which would give a free slot for Blissey to set up Stealth Rock. By giving such a bulky Pokemon Stealth Rock, Blissey could pretty easily keep up Stealth Rock against most teams that relied on Defog or Rapid Spin instead of offensive pressure to keep off Stealth Rock. For example, Latias was one of the early Defog users and while her sets evolved away from that, future Defog/Rapid Spin users like Rotom-Wash, Rotom-Heat, and Tentacruel would all be pretty much unable to keep off her Stealth Rock.
Certainly some Pokemon like Toxic Defog Gligar and play styles like Hyper Offense with multiple Taunt users could keep Stealth Rock off but these were the except rather than the rule. No other Stealth Rock user had Blissey's recovery, bulk, and status healing ability which made her one of the best defensive users of the move.
This set was never as prominent on stall because of Alomomola's high usage. Alomomola always used Wish so there was generally no need to double up on the role. However, Wish was still a fine role for Blissey because of a familiar story - gigantic special bulk gave Blissey plenty of opportunities to pass Wish, especially to physical walls like Mega Aggron which covered Blissey's slightly below average physical bulk. Unlike in SM OU, quite a few of UU's walls had no reliable recovery, including Mega Aggron, Tentacruel, Alolan-Muk, and Doublade. Using these Pokemon generally meant Wish support was a very good idea.
As mentioned before, Blissey faced competition for this role mainly from Alomomola on stall although Umbreon and Sylveon stalls were not unheard of. Alomomola was better in general because Regenerator made it pass Wish more easily but Blissey's ability to instantly heal with Soft-Boiled also made it a formidable Wish user as it too could not be stopped from healing itself with Roar or Whirlwind. One benefit of using this set over other Blissey sets is that it could also run Protect to synergize with Wish, which incidentally also let it scout important Choice moves from the common Choice Band Scizor and Terrakion.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Some of the nominations are more difficult because of the extensiveness of the project - Scizor depending on the time in SM UU was either using Knock Off or Quick Attack, bulky EVs or offensive EVs, Choice Band or Swords Dance, etc. Blissey though, remained constant with the exception of that final utility move in Stealth Rock, Heal Bell or Wish, with only very few additions like the occasional Fire Blast for Scizor. What caused its impact was basically constant - amazing stats, amazing utility moves, and amazing partners.
While the stats and the utility moves made up the previous section, an important concept not mentioned yet is the Alo-Quag-Bliss core which was the backbone of a huge majority of stall teams. It saw use on multiple sample teams and two RMT archive teams here and here. Very possibly one of or the single most used stall in tournaments also used the core. The idea of this core is to wall physical attackers that Blissey generally could not handle - with strong nonboosting Pokemon like Mamoswine handled by Alomomola and boosters like Cobalion handled by Quagsire. Meanwhile, the rest of the stall team provided the utility move Blissey was missing, hazard control, and counters to the rest of the special attackers Blissey could not beat like Togekiss. With few exceptions (particularly with Unaware Clefable and Pyukumuku occasionally being used over or in conjuntion with Quagsire), this core defined stall in UU for an entire generation.
Pearl please let me know if something should be changed for the stall team you had
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Blissey's prominence on stall was to the point where basically any special attacker that could bypass her somehow would be considered a stallbreaker - that and strong physical attackers ensured she would never be able to wall a majority of the metagame. Dealing with Blissey would never be enough though - any beginner could slap on a Choice Band Entei and technically have a Blissey counter. The higher level question though would be how to deal with Blissey and her usual teammates, like in the Alo-Quag-Bliss core, which Choice Band Entei obviously could not break. There was at least three categories of Pokemon for that.
First would be boosting physical attackers that could get past Quagsire. This could mean physical Grass types like Deicidueye - which became much more common after Unaware Clefable left the tier - or amazingly powerful attackers like Flame Orb Guts Heracross. Second would be boosting special attackers that could quickly overwhelm Blissey like NP Celebi and NP Psyshock Azelf or slowly ignore Toxic like Substitute Calm Mind Chandelure or Calm Mind Magic Guard Reuniclus. Third, Taunt stall breakers stood a very good chance of annihilating Blissey and her teammates if only they avoided the initial Toxic - Taunt Mew and Taunt Gliscor which didn't even care about Toxic.
Of course there were other niche options that occasionally surged, such as Block Slowbro being heavily used in January 2019 and Stored Power users like Mega Latias and Xatu. The above categories stayed the most consistent however and the evolution of stall in UU could be fairly described as the metagame changes around Blissey, the core she brought, and the support she brought to defend her core. No other Pokemon set the stage for a play style as Blissey did for stall; to acknowledge her power is to acknowledge stall's presence.
Rotom-W was the face of VoltTurn offense in its time in UU. Dropping down in fall 2017, it immediately rose the archetype to stardom, making it an infamously annoying play style to fight albeit super easy to use. Its amazing typing and utility effected several Pokemon's viability as soon as it dropped, hurting Mega Pidgeot, Raikou, and Slowbro immensely while being almost solely responsible for Seismitoad's rise to UU towards the end of the year, as well as allowing the likes of Mega Sceptile and Mega Beedrill to notably sit at their peak stages of the entire generation. Overall, Rotom-W had the perfect combination of tools to warp several huge meta trends around it and effect many Pokemon's usabilities based on how they matched up against or competed with it, both in offensive and defensive roles.
This set provided amazing utility using Rotom's typing, bulk, Levitate, and solid support movepool. It provided a great check to a bevy of big presences in the metagame at the time, including Mega Pidgeot, Mamoswine, Gliscor, Togekiss, and of course Scizor. Its great matchup against nearly any Ground-type thanks to its Water-typing allowed it to generate momentum and chip checks with Volt Switch super reliably, though it also was capable providing goodies like Will-O-Wisp for crippling checks like Alolan Muk, Toxic for wearing down walls like Seismitoad and other switch-ins like Hydreigon and Latias, and Defog for clearing entry hazards against the several setters it matched up well against, like Gliscor and Empoleon. Pain Split threw off opponents like Blissey while recovering Rotom's health. Another added benefit of the set is that it had enough Speed to revenge kill Azumarill, a desired trait of a Water resist at this stage in the metagame.
This set took advantage of the offensive perks of Rotom's typing, though its solid natural bulk still allowed it to blanket check threats like Scizor and Mamoswine fairly decently. With Waterium Z, Hydro Pump became a super powerful and perfectly accurate STAB move capable of powering through foes like Cobalion and Scizor in one hit. It also reliably 2HKOed the likes of Swampert and Klefki. Thunderbolt was picked up on this set as a way of using a more powerful Electric-type STAB than Volt Switch that also didn't force Rotom out, allowing it to pressure Azumarill, Primarina, and Empoleon more reliably. Thunder Wave was often in the fourth slot as a way of hindering a lot of Rotom-W's common offensive switch-ins, like Serperior, Latias, and Hydreigon, though HP Grass was also used to take on Seismitoad and the rare Gastrodon, Rotom-W's otherwise hard counters. This set was seen a fair amount on VoltTurn, having fantastic synergy with other pivots like Gliscor, Manectric, and particularly Scizor.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Typing + Levitate - Rotom-W's typing alone was fantastic for allowing it to check a huge amount of Pokemon, like Scizor, Mega Pidgeot, and some Infernape sets, but Levitate even furthered its defensive potency by allowing it to check the vast majority of the tier's Ground-types both by switching in and being able to nail them with a super effective STAB attack, which is huge for an Electric-type. Its ability to prevent Ground-types from switching into its Electric-type attacks largely allowed it to revolutionize the prevalence of VoltTurn. Its typing also had great offensive perks in addition to its Ground-type matchups, offensively dealing with top tier threats like Azumarill and Mega Aerodactyl quite well.
Set Versatility - Rotom-W's ability to reliably function in both offensive and defensive roles allowed it to fit onto just about any team archetype. Its great stats further enabled it to run a bevy of different EV configurations, allowing its perks to be applicable and tailored to any team that needed them.
Solid Utility Movepool - Rotom-W's icing on the cake was all the extra utility options that came with it. Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, Thunder Wave, Pain Split, and Defog were all fantastic options that it often had multiple opportunities in a match to take advantage of its access to. All of its status moves were also instrumental in working around some of its most prominent checks, such as Serperior, Latias, Hydreigon, and Alolan Muk.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Grass-types
Amoonguss was a particularly strong answer to Rotom-W during its time in the metagame, thanks to its great bulk and resistance to its STAB attacks, as well as a Toxic immunity, Regenerator allowing it to restore damage taken should Rotom nab it with Pain Split, and the opportunity to fire off Spore that Rotom-W could consistently give it. Mega Sceptile was a particularly strong offensive check thanks to both its typing and Lightning Rod. It could easily pivot in on Rotom's STAB attacks, gaining a boost in Special Attack if it tried switching out, only realistically fearing Toxic (or Will-O-Wisp if it was running physical sets but meh). Serperior feared the threat of Thunder Wave, but could otherwise eat any hit from Rotom-W while using it as setup bait thanks to its access to Contrary Leaf Storm. Options like Rotom-C and Celebi were also available thanks to their solid bulk and resistances to Rotom-W's attacks, though both these Pokemon faced fairly consistent competition in the meta at this stage and weren't seen as often as the three listed above as a result.
Dragon-types
Dragon-types also resisted Rotom-W's STAB combination, and often made for decent checks due to this. Latias's strong special bulk made it a popular switch-in, though it often had to fear either Toxic or Thunder Wave, as well as a Volt Switch into a Pursuit user, which was a common way to deal with it at the time. Hydreigon and Kyurem were also sturdy switch-ins to its typing despite their fear of status. Bulky Rotom-W's tendency to run Will-O-Wisp could often scare Altaria from switching in, though it could still handle its STAB attacks and power through it if running Facade or Refresh, though these weren't as common of moves then as they are now.
Specific Defensive Counterplay
Rotom-W often beat most defensive Pokemon or had easy ways of crippling them, though a few could combat it quite well. Seismitoad and Gastrodon's viabilities were largely defined by Rotom-W's existence, as both could come in on Hydro Pump to restore health thanks to their abilities, effectively allowing them to take no damage from Rotom's entire STAB combination. They were susceptible to HP Grass, however. Blissey was annoyed by Pain Split but also made for a fairly consistent switch-in thanks to its colossal bulk and natural cure, though it hated getting pivoted on.
Strong Wallbreakers
Pokemon capable of outspeeding and overwhelming Rotom-W after some chip, like Terrakion, Heracross, and Choice Band Infernape, were commonly used to keep it in check. Zygarde-10% was particularly notable for its ability to bypass Levitate with STAB Thousand Arrows, which OHKOed Rotom. This allowed it to have arguably the largest impact it's had in the meta for the entirety of gen 7 UU, which further illustrates Rotom-W's dominance.
VoltTurn offense absolutely took over the late SM metagame, and Mega Manectric dropping down to UU in fall was a huge component in this trend. Its Speed, coverage, and ability all combined excellently to allowed it to function as a great fast pivot on its own, as well as a solid partner to several other fantastic choices for these teams, such as Gliscor and Scizor. It was found on a majority of VoltTurn play styles, which are remembered for how dominant and troublesome to face they were. Manectric largely mandated the use of Ground-types on opposing teams just so it couldn't freely generate momentum. Its influence isn't as big in today's metagame due to the surge in counterplay since its drop almost two years ago, though Manectric is largely responsible for some notable trends, being arguably the main reason Rhyperior rose to prominence. Even now most teams do everything they can to fit a Ground-type due to forcing Manectric to think on its feet a little more, as otherwise it could still generate momentum at relatively little cost. Several checks to it may even be found on teams due to its ability to bypass some Ground-types, like Gligar and Krookodile, which has also resulted in some of Rotom-H's popularity in particular.
In what main roles was this Pokemon used?
Offensive Pivot
Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Overheat / Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
This is the only set Manectric has really ever utilized throughout the generation, though it still has proven vital in allowing it to hold a solid grip over the tier. Its Fire-type coverage alongside Intimidate has proven excellent in allowing it to revenge kill Scizor, though throughout the generation it's also been good for revenging Serperior, Breloom, Cobalion, and Celebi while also covering Steel-types like Steelix and AV Bisharp. Hidden Power Ice was used in the Gliscor meta for obvious reasons, and now it's used to combat Gliscor while dealing respectable damage to floaty Dragons and Ground-types like Krookodile and Nidoking. Hidden Power Grass was a great option in the Rotom-W meta due to Seismitoad's prominence and Swampert being a better option for a Ground-type than most of its competitors at the time. Signal Beam and Toxic have also been explored some as worthwhile coverage/utility options but have never been staple parts of its set or approach.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Excellent Speed Tier - Mega Manectric is and has been one of the fastest unboosted Pokemon in the tier since its introduction. This allows it to excel as a revenge killer, being able to take on several current metagame staples when weakened, like Infernape, Cobalion, and Togekiss, while also being able to revenge kill previously prominent forces, like Serperior and Azumarill.
Coverage - Manectric's coverage has always been a defining part of its influence in the tier and is why it's so tricky to deal with. It can work around several common Electric-type checks using the right move, KOing Grass-types with Fire-type moves and threatening any Ground-type barring really Hippowdon depending on which Hidden Power it's running. Its change in choice of HP coverage has been instrumental in the viabilities of several Ground-types across the generation, which can be seen in Swampert falling off quite a bit earlier in 2019 as Manectric more frequently ran HP Grass, which just further shows its influence.
Great Synergy with Other Top Threats - Manectric could work around several defensive checks through just pivoting out of them into something that threatened them. It had notably excellent offensive synergy with Scizor in its prime, and even now the two Pokemon make for one of the tier's more commonly used offensive cores. In the VoltTurn meta it also shared great synergy with the likes of Gliscor, Serperior, and Rotom-W.
Intimidate - Intimidate gives Manectric its valuable defensive utility and has been important for it to check various Pokemon it can revenge kill, most notably Scizor but also Cobalion, Breloom, and Pokemon like Mega Sharpedo and Mega Aerodactyl in emergency situations.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Ground-types
While most Ground-types could drop to the right coverage move, they were and are always important to the Manectric matchup through their ability to just discourage it from Volt Switching without thinking twice. Hippowdon is a particularly reliable answer due to its ability to tank any hit from Manectric and recover it off, though it will be burdened with Toxic if Manectric happens to be running it. Krookodile's Scarf set could always switch in once if absolutely need be and revenge kill Manectric or Pursuit trap it. Seismitoad and Swampert have infrequently been good checks depending on Manectric's frequency of running HP Grass. The same went for Gliscor and goes for Gligar depending on how often Manectric has opted for HP Ice throughout the gen.
Dragon-types
Dragon-types don't love being pivoted on but have often been able to combat Manectric's coverage. Latias and Altaria are bulky enough to fend off HP Ice, while Kyurem doesn't take super effective damage from any attack. Hydreigon and Kommo-o often ran sets throughout the generation that complicated their ability to recover, making them shakier checks, though they could switch in on a Thunderbolt and revenge kill Manectric in Choice Scarf Hydreigon's case.
Specially Bulky Pokemon
While also not large fans of getting pivoted on, the likes of Blissey, Sylveon, and Florges could still consistently answer to Manectric due to excellent special bulk allowing them to sponge any hit and recover the damage taken. Despite Alolan Muk's lack of recovery, it still proved troublesome with AV sets being able to take advantage of Volt Switch to pursuit trap Manectric while also tanking any other move.
Terrakion had a fairly odd generation in all honesty. When it first dropped down its best sets were Rockium Z and SubSalac SD, though it struggled to compete with Cobalion, who was a huge metagame staple at the time, to an extent. It was always a great wallbreaker but never directly at the top of the metagame, until around the middle of 2018, where both Breloom and Gliscor left the tier. Terrakion had slowly been surging in usage already, but as soon as this happened it quickly evolved into a top tier wallbreaker and sweeper that abused its great Speed, power, and fantastic STAB coverage to wreak havoc on the metagame. As it currently stands, Terrakion is a contender for the tier's most overtly threatening offensive force, and has been put in to question as a suspect candidate by several users since its rise to dominance. Its presence is seen in the increased popularity of Pokemon like Nidoqueen, Palossand, and somewhat Gligar, the former two owing a lot of their initial surges in usage once first discovered in late USUM to Terrakion's threat level.
In what main roles was this Pokemon used?
Choice Band Wallbreaker
Terrakion @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide / Quick Attack
One of the most ubiquitous sets in the current USUM meta, Choice Band Terrakion is a pretty terrifying sight to see for really any team. Playing around it is extremely difficult since Terrakion's STAB combo alone provides nearly perfect coverage. Earthquake covers some of what resists both its attacks, like Doublade and Nidoqueen, while Rock Slide is more reliable than Stone Edge in some scenarios while Quick Attack can be an okay priority move for picking off super weakened foes. This set often requires excellent prediction to work around, usually capable of 2HKOing all of an opponent's team with the right attack and picking up multiple kills in a match just by itself.
Swords Dance
Terrakion @ Rockium Z / Fightinium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
Terrakion's other flagship set, Swords Dance is notable for its ability to break through slower teams on its own quite easily while acting as a fantastic sweeper once offensive checks were removed. Rockium Z has been its preferred option throughout most of the generation, currently breaking Gligar and Slowbro, but targeting the likes of Gliscor, Buzzwole, and Mega Venusaur in earlier iterations. Fightinium Z covers some of Terrakion's bulky Ground-type counterplay, taking on Hippowdon and Swampert while reliably KOing Mega Aggron and Mega Steelix. Life Orb was at one point often tacked on this set for its ability to 2HKO Quagsire with Close Combat, making Terrakion's stall matchup even stronger. Protect and Stealth Rock have also been explored as options in the fourth slot, allowing Terrakion to scout moves from foes like Scizor and Krookodile or set hazards on forced switches, respectively.
Choice Scarf has always been a generally less used set of Terrakion's, but has also always had some merit for its ability to revenge kill a decent amount of threats. Terrakion's higher power than Infernape, its main competition as a scarfer, alongside STAB Rock-type coverage gave it more of an edge against bulkier sweepers like Suicune and Latias, as well as the ability to better revenge kill Flying-types. Toxic is an option on the set for its ability to burden a lot of Terrakion's defensive checks, like Slowbros and Hippowdon, with poison.
This set was one of Terrakion's primary options at the time of its introduction, allowing it to circumvent its lower Speed than threats like Latias and Krookodile with Salac Berry. Substitute also gave it more opportunities for setup as it forced switches against foes like Blissey and non-Scarf Hydreigon. It was overall a pretty neat option in the time where Terrakion hadn't yet been fully explored, allowing it to use both Substitute and its Speed boosts to circumvent some offensive counterplay, like Latias, Scizor, and Dark-type scarfers, while having more protection to whittle down defensive threats thanks to Sub, like Hippowdon and Gliscor.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Combination of Speed + Power + Typing - Terrakion's typing serves it almost no defensive benefit but has amazing coverage on its own, allowing it to abuse its high attack to 2HKO nearly the entire tier. This, alongside a Speed stat that allows it to outrun other staples like Celebi and unboosted Hydreigon, has allowed it to take the late gen 7 metagame by absolute storm, influencing teambuilding to the extent in which reliable means of offensively pressuring it requires multiple Pokemon.
Synergy with other great Pokemon - Terrakion can do a lot on its own, but it also thrives alongside support from some of the tier's best Pokemon. Choice Scarf Krookodile revenge kills a large majority of the offensive Pokemon capable of outrunning Terrakion and pressuring it while also providing Pursuit support for Latias. Primarina, Scizor, and Mega Manectric are all excellent partners as well, being able to break some of what Terrakion can struggle to break, or pivoting it into play more easily.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Various means of offensive counterplay
Terrakion's super limited amount of defensive checks meant that offensively covering it was often the only option for some team archetypes. Scizor was often a very reliable revenge killer thanks to the threat of Bullet Punch. Breloom's powerful Mach Punch also assisted it greatly in the Terrakion matchup. Pokemon that naturally outsped Terrakion were also great for revenge killing it, making Latias, Serperior, and Mega Aerodactyl capable answers to a slightly weakened Terrakion. Choice Scarfers like Infernape, Krookodile, and Hydreigon were also used as offensive answers to Terrakion rather frequently.
Various means of defensive counterplay
Terrakion had no true counters, but a few Pokemon were capable of blanket checking it with their various defensive perks. Doublade fears Earthquake, but otherwise walls Terrakion's STAB combo and threatens it with Gyro Ball. Nidoqueen is in the same boat, resisting Terrakion's STABs but fearing Earthquake. Mega Slowbro can tank any boosted hit from full and use Scald or Psyshock to burden Terrakion, though when chipped it can struggle a fair amount. Gligar and Gliscor have both been used as decently reliable pivots into Terrakion, tanking Close Combat and in Gligar's case, even running EV spreads that allow it to miss the 2HKO from Stone Edge from full. Palossand has stood out for its ability to more adequately check Terrakion than anything else in the metagame thanks to its typing allowing it to wall Terrakion's STABs while taking neutral damage from Earthquake. Palossand's existence in the tier at all is largely thanks to Terrakion, which demonstrates its dominance.
Krookodile has carved its niche on this gen mostly on its ability to revenge kill or trap scary threats by making use of its Scarf set. It's no exaggeration to say it was one of the most used ways to deal with Latias in the whole gen, but it has great attributes that made it stand out as a very consistent scarfer throughout all the generation:
It could Pursuit trap many Pokemon such as Gengar and Chandelure, and the aforementioned Latias, making it a desirable partner for many Pokemon, such as Infernape;
Packing great STABs in the form of Earthquake and Knock Off made it a reliable revenge killer;
It was a great role compresser as it would be a splashable Ground-type, Ghost resist, and a holder of the ability Intimidate, making it also sponge a hit or two from Mega Aerodactyl, another valuable trait.
Aside from its main niche, it proved to be a valuable rocker later on by making use of Taunt and even Z-moves.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Choice Scarf
Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge / Crunch / Iron Tail / Fire Fang
This is the main trait Krookodile has had this gen: being a reliable revenge killer and pursuiter, pressuring Latias and general Psychic- and Ghost-types. This is a very valuable niche and it also packs aforementioned attributes such as Intimidate, Ground-typing and being a Ghost resist. It also makes great use of its last slot as it can be used to enhance the ability to threaten Aerodactyl and Togekiss with Stone Edge, being able to scare out Latias and Pokemon like Celebi more easily by using Crunch, being able to hurt and even surprise Fairy-types by making use of Iron Tail, and it also has Fire Fang in case a backup for Scizor is needed.
Stealth Rock
Krookodile @ Iapapa Berry / Groundium Z / Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
A set that has been growing in popularity recently but that has been tested for a good while. Krookodile makes use of its good Speed tier and access to Taunt to keep Stealth Rock very effectively, either shutting down, crippling or threatening a KO on many removers, while also being useful to stop opposing Stealth Rocks. Holding an Iapapa Berry grants it an ability to be an interesting pivot for Pokemon such as Aerodactyl and in some cases makes it able to afford to lose some HP to be able to Taunt a Pokemon without worrying too much. Groundium Z extends the window of the KO's it threatens, being useful and having shone in tour matches. Rocky Helmet is a lesser seen item, but has its use in crippling Pokemon that dare to touch the Croc.
If Scizor were to be called the king of Gen 7 UU, it wouldn't be unfair at all to crown Latias as the queen of the tier. The two have been around since the very beginning, and both of them contributed heavily to the way UU has shaped up throughout the course of the generation. For starters, Latias is the reason why Krookodile's flagship set in ORAS UU fell into obscurity during the transition to Sun and Moon, as Latias' nifty speed tier created a need for faster Pursuit trappers, which essentially forced Krookodile to forfeit the additional power provided by Choice Band in order to be able to pressure this Pokemon properly. Besides that, Latias' presence has been a huge driving force behind a lot of metagame trends, such as Choice Scarf Scizor, Mega Steelix, (Toxic) Diancie, Assault Vest Bisharp, Silvally-Steel and even Return Sylveon, as Latias would otherwise be able to boost up its stats with Calm Mind on the latter's special moves.
However, this is not all when it comes to this Pokemon. Besides the influence of its regular forme in the tier, UU also went through a period where Mega Latias was allowed. During that short time, this Pokemon became able to execute other roles that it wasn't capable of otherwise. Thanks to the additional bulk provided by its mega evolution, Latias was able to shrug off multiple hits from weaker Pursuit users, which affected Choice Scarf Krookodile's viability immensely, and caused stronger (and mostly slower) users of the move to take the spotlight, like the (then allowed) Weavile and Alolan Muk. Teams had to be prepared for different iterations of Mega Latias' Calm Mind set, and it wasn't uncommon to see multiple Latias answers stacked together.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Honestly, I could go on all day, but when it comes to Latias sets, there are multiple categories in which these can be categorized, which should simplify things a little overall. It is important to note that throughout the entirety of Gen 7 UU, Latias has almost always been a strong and fast special attacker that aims to either clean up weakened teams or punch holes within defensive builds with the help of a Z Crystal and Calm Mind. However, there are other roles in which this Pokemon has been seen throughout the history of the tier, which I will also get to. Without further ado, here are (pretty much) all of Latias' most influential sets during the course of Sun & Moon UU:
I'll preface this by saying that Soul Dew is not really a thing anymore, and non Z-move Calm Mind sets are usually better off running Colbur Berry for the extra insurance against Krookodile. However, this item has some historical value in the sense that it was an option which a lot of people messed around with at the beggining of the generation. "New" toy syndrome and stuff, y'know. Z-Draco Meteor is a sight to behold, and even the sturdiest resists (i.e. Empoleon and other bulky Steel-types) will be getting chunked heavily by it after a Calm Mind boost. Psychic STAB does a good job at covering Fairy-types, and Thunderbolt is a move that allowed Latias to act as a half-assed lure to Empoleon and other Steel-types without having to use its Z-move right off the bat. Roost is a staple on most Latias sets for obvious reasons (allowing it to set up on moves it wouldn't be able to otherwise, providing it with longevity for longer games and so on), but Hidden Power is an option that isn't completely unheard of, as it still sees usage nowadays. This is the set that started it all, so to say, and had me complaining to dodmen about Latias for pretty much all of the early stages of the tier.
The Good Ol' Reliable (for people who hate Fairy-types a lot)
Latias (F) @ Psychium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
- Roost / Hidden Power [Fire]
Same as above, except you blow up things like Sylveon, Diancie and Togekiss away. It used to be a really good lure before people found out about the superior option (which will also be covered in this post), but it was the 2nd most common Calm Mind set before Mega Aggron and Mega Steelix were released back in the tier's earliest stages, so it still holds value in that regard.
The superior option (until you face Rotom-H or Mamoswine)
Pretty much the new age lure set, except it actually took off big time and became a thing of its own beyond the ability to nuke Steel-type Pokemon, because BoltBeam coverage is just that good, and Latias is in a position where it can abuse that incredibly well. Thunder gives you a stronger Z-move, while Thunderbolt adds some consistency after the nuke. I've never not used Thunder, but I know a lot of people who feel differently, so it's been included in this post. Ice Beam complements Thunder(bolt) the best, and using a Dragon-type move alongisde Electrium would leave it completely walled by Mega Altaria, which is not a very good idea all around. Turns non-Choice Scarf Scizor into a nonissue after a Calm Mind boost, which is what makes it such a valuable team player in the UU metagame all around.
Was actually an outstanding option during the Mega Gardevoir metagame, as it covered that + Jirachi in a single slot, and both of those Pokemon were broken as hell. Doesn't have that much value nowadays for obvious reasons, and Celebi does it better beyond the lower speed (which was a key trait at the time this was "common").
Right after Mega Steelix was released. Need I say more?
The Stall Killer
Latias (F) @ Psychium Z
Ability: Levitate
(I don't actually know what EVs people use on this, but I'm assuming HP / Speed with a Timid nature)
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Roost
- Refresh
More of a recent thing, but it definitely deserves a mention, as alongside Necrozma, it is one of the biggest culprits behind Blissey resorting to Confide on stall teams. Boost up until Stored Power kills everything. If there's anything that prevents set up, use Z-Stored Power to blow past that (if possible). It's not very good outside of that single match up, but the fact that stall became so prevalent towards the end of Gen 7 definitely justifies it in a way.
Miscelaneous Regular Latias sets
Life Orb Attacker
Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor / Psychic
- Ice Beam / Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Roost
The most immediately threatening Latias set (with the exception of Choice Specs, which has never been overly common either way). STABs are self-explanatory, while the second slot aims to cover Pokemon that can threaten Latias otherwise, with Ice Beam covering Mega Altaria (as well as Gliscor back when it was allowed), and Thunderbolt helping fend off Empoleon and bulky Water-types in general. Hidden Power Fire is used exclusively for Scizor, and Roost, while more replaceable than it is on most Calm Mind sets, can be used during free turns in order to help Latias stick around for longer periods of time. This set makes short work out of bulky offenses that rely on either Scizor or Mega Aerodactyl as their Pursuit trapper (or even teams that aren't packing a Pursuit trapper at all, even if those aren't as common), but Krookodile's prevalence makes it an inconsistent option all around.
Once again, Pursuit's existence turns this set into a less consistent option, but it's probably the set with the most "historical" value aside from Calm Mind variants, and it shows in the fact that Choice Scarf Latias has been a hyper offense staple for a long time now, due to its unparalelled utility in Trick/Defog/Healing Wish, but especially the latter. It was also a common sight on slower teams for a while, but not so much anymore, and it could even be argued that Celebi's access to U-turn makes it a better option for this role if Defog (or the ability to hit opposing Latias) isn't needed. Still, Choice Scarf Latias' influence can not go unmentioned or downplayed, as it was once one of the Choice Scarf users to beat, and even nowadays it still sees a lot of usage in ladder play.
A more fringe option overall. It was actually very solid earlier on, and it still has its uses, but unfortunately, the weaknesses of any set regular Latias pulls off can be summed up in one single word: Pursuit, which makes other offensive Dragon-type Pokemon a lot more appealing for the role of nuking things in a hit-and-run manner like this set likes to do.
Mega Latias was pretty much able to check at least half of the tier on its own while still being able to dish out damage consistently even without any investment. While this sounds broken (and Mega Latias did end up getting banned after all), this set was actually an amazing addition to the tier, and there were still pretty good ways of playing around it by using hazard setters that could deal with it 1v1, such as Toxic Blissey and Klefki. Still, it had a ton of value due to the fact that its enormous bulk + access to instant recovery allowed it to outlast a lot of things if required, and BoltBeam was deceivingly hard to switch into for a lot of things in the tier, even when unboosted. With this set, Latias mostly acted as a glue Pokemon for teams with extremely bulky cores (as showcased by my archived RMT)
Calm Mind + Stored Power
Latias-Mega (F) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Roost
- Refresh / Reflect Type / Substitute / Roar
This set's goal was to slowly rack up boosts in front of basically everything (while being mindful of Dark-type Pokemon in the process) and attempting to win that way. Sounds really standard (and also not that hard to stop, considering how historically bad mono Psychic coverage is in this tier), but the catch here is that all of this Pokemon's last slot options allowed it to fit on all sorts of different teams with all sorts of different gameplans: Roar could be used on Spikes-centric teams, allowing it to rack up damage on Dark-type switch ins, Refresh let it sit on any defensive Pokemon and rack up boosts on them, Reflect Type was an option that allowed it to switch out of strong Pursuit users more easily and Substitute was a hybrid of all aforementioned options, pretty much. Here's a squad that showcases one of this set's variants in action.
Bulky Calm Mind (except it actually does damage before its third Calm Mind)
Pretty much the same as above, really, except that it didn't snowball as hard, with the added benefit of being able to damage things before boosting. This allowed it to be more relevant to the match outside of its position as a win condition, by giving it the ability to soft check stuff with its offensive options (standard Ice Beam for Gliscor, Thunderbolt for Crawdaunt/Bulky Water-types and STABs for overall solid damage output vs anything that wasn't a Steel-type). Some people also opted for a hybrid option between the 2 Calm Mind sets, with Stored Power + a second offensive option, but unless my memory is failing me big time, it wasn't as common of an option all around.
The least common set of the bunch, that's for sure. I'm only adding it because it's a flavor pick that I personally found myself resorting to in at least two instances. Used to be a cool filler on the old Aurora Veil cheese teams, and it wasn't uncommon to rack up at least 3 Calm Mind boosts even without Roost (though that was definitely usable, hence the slashes). Regular Latias was usually better for these kind of sets overall (even when taking the extra bulk into account), but sometimes you'd just find yourself without any other Pokemon to slap a Mega stone on, and thus this atrocity was born.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
I've already explained this briefly across multiple instances in this post, and since I feel it's already getting a little too dragged out, this section will be explained through bullet points:
Insane versatility: Regardless of what the metagame threw its away, be it through drops or just overall fads, Latias almost always managed to find a way to adapt to it. When standard Calm Mind sets with dual STAB moves started falling out of flavor, people started using Electrium Z with Ice Beam and Roost in order to circunvent most of this Pokemon's common answers. Even nowadays, a lot of Latias' sets are pretty good, even if some of them have become a lot more situational as the tier ran its course.
Good speed tier: Self-explanatory. There are very few Pokemon which are naturally faster than Latias in UU, and this gives it more opportunities to perform its role in a given match, as not many things are able to pick it off after it gets going.
Neat typing + passable defensive stats: This tends to be underrated a ton, but the fact that Latias barely manages to survive Krookodile's Pursuit on the switch out from full most of the time is huge. It also forces this Pokemon to run Crunch a lot of times, which heavily shifts a couple of other interactions it has with other top tier Pokemon. Besides that, Latias' special bulk is incredible, and it really shows in the fact that Sylveon's main niche in the tier right now is being able to bypass that through Pixilate-boosted Frustration, as it would be set up bait otherwise (and it actually makes people think twice before throwing Florges and Diancie around as Latias answers without adequate compensation). Also, being a solid Infernape (as well as a lot of other Fighting-types) check is cool, and Dragon doesn't really need to be explained from a defensive standpoint.
Z-moves: It's safe to say that Latias would be nowhere near as good as it is if it didn't have the option to nuke one thing per game as it pleases. A lot of Pokemon, regardless of whether they were good or bad before benefitted from Game Freak's flavor-of-the-generation mechanic, and Latias would definitely remain a menace without these, but besides Terrakion, this Pokemon is pretty much the poster child for Z-moves in SM UU, and it shows in the fact that pretty much every Calm Mind set I showcased above resorted to one of those in order to perform its role. In a nutshell, Latias is a Pokemon that can break for itself and then proceed to clean house, all thanks to its interaction with this mechanic.
As for Mega Latias, a lot of the above still applies (with the exception of the last bullet point for obvious reasons), but here's an extra that is worth noting in its case:
80/120/150 bulk and base 140 Special Attack: I tend to nag on people a lot for stating the obvious in their viability rankings post. If somebody told me that a Pokemon should be looked into because [insert trait of theirs here], I'd usually be the first to jump on the case to call that person out, but I feel that Mega Latias is the exception: it was that goddamn bulky, and just stating how bulky it was usually left a pretty strong impression. To put this into perspective, Krookodile's Pursuit on the switch out goes from always OHKOing regular Latias after Stealth Rock damage to doing a pitiful 67.5% maximum to Mega Latias, and Knock Off was not even a surefire 2HKO, which made the match up extremely bleak for the Krookodile user. The important catch here is that Mega Latias could afford investing into its HP while still having pretty much the same amount of Special Attack as a regular Latias (319 for regular Latias vs. Mega Latias' 316).
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Pursuit trappers (that can threaten Latias if it chooses to stay in)
Bulky Steel-type Pokemon (that aren't OHKOd by +1 Gigavolt Havoc)
Priority move users (that can hit it for passable damage)
Other revenge killers (usually @ Choice Scarf)
Miscelanous bulky Pokemon (that Latias can't set up on for free)
At least for the Scarf set. (also take your time to read pearls post it's a good post)
Also the Scarf set has the ability to pair well with Pokemon that want to see Latias gone, such as Infernape, Celebi, and Lucario. It also has great traits that have been mentioned before such as Intimidate, Ground-typing and resisting Ghost-type. It also is a good pivot for Pokemon like Sharpedo and Aerodactyl, and helps revenge killing Pokemon such as Mega Manectric and Celebi.
The Rocker set is appreciated by most wallbreakers as it is really effective at keeping Stealth Rock up, such as Terrakion, Celebi, and Infernape.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Pokémon that can abuse it being locked into Dark-type moves:
Pokémon that can abuse it being locked into Ground-type moves:
Pokémon that can abuse it being locked into any STAB:
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