it's difficult to judge which impacted the tier the most as they were all used during different stages and meta games, so for others voting I encourage you to at least consider the factor of longevity and sustained impact. Pokemon such as Xatu, Rhydon and Mesprit (along with some others on the list) have been in the tier for the entire generation, constantly making an impact in every single meta game. However, pokemon such as Feraligatr, Typhlosion, and Sceptile (again, along with others) were banned, thus making their impact more "stage" specific and somewhat limiting their impact on Gen 6 NU as a whole. For this reason, I'm voting Mesprit.
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Project Top 10 6th Gen NU Titans
- Thread starter erisia
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Xatu gives it stiff competition but I'm going to vote for Typhlosion. Typhlosion dominated the tier all through XY and ORAS and shaped the meta around having one or two fire resists per team. Fire-types are obviously still important, but they're much less tricky to handle than Typhlosion was, and in this meta you can get away with much softer checks, when before the meta was entirely centralized around them. I feel as though a lot of the arguments I'm making could be made about Sawk as well, but if you remember the distant land of XY, you might remember that it wasn't nearly as dominant then as it was during its peak in ORAS. As a result, I feel Typhlosion was the more dominant Pokemon this generation
You can still nominate these if you're quick!
typh also
I highly disagree with the votes for Mesprit as the best poke of 6th gen when uxie was better than it when it was in the tier and even musharna was more viable than it at times. Typh is really close but the impact feraligatr had during its stay in the tier during XY, and the fact that imo nothing has really been more threatening since for an extended period of time, is going to make it my vote.
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Feraligatr Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 322-380 (90.9 - 107.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Feraligatr Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 322-380 (90.9 - 107.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
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Saying Uxie was objectively "better than mesprit" is just incorrect. Healing Wish alone sets Mesprit apart from Uxie, not to mention +30 in both SpA and Atk. As a CM sweeper, yes Uxie was more viable, but as an overall Pokemon they were about equal, further supported by the fact they were both A+ in the VR. Same issue with Musharna, they did different things well as Psychic types, yet were equal in viability and both ranked A+. What sets Mesprit apart from these is the fact that it has consistently been amazing for the entirety of gen 6, while Uxie rose via usage and became irrelevant, and the meta has adapted heavily to Musharna and it hasn't been as effective as it once was for a while now. Disagreeing with Mesprit is fine that's ur call, but calling Uxie and Musharna objectively "better" is not as cut and dry as you make it out to be.
Sawk, even Typhlosion was a bit more threatening and Mesprit was here all of ORAS, Sawk had the power to still leave the tier in the state it use to be with bulky poisons still remaining good despite having a little less reason to use it post Sawk. Just me imo but Typhlosion is also up there.
I wasn't here during Uxie meta and not enough time to write a quality nomination for MAudino, if someone else wants to do them fast, feel free
tough choice between gatr and xatu imo. i'll vote xatu for now but if it comes down to a fight between gatr vs something else i'd like to change it to gatr :o
typh is cool but i thought it was a lot harder to stop gatr, even before sheer force, since gatr isn't weak to stealth rock and it had two sets that did very different things but were still equally terrifying.
xatu though had always been an amazing pokemon plus it was very influential in the hazards game, so it made mons like scyther and zard much less painful to use. it was just a nice mon to have on almost every team since nobody likes hazards and it is very customizable. it has stayed above the field in pretty much every NU stage. eternally's post summed it up quite nicely :>
typh is cool but i thought it was a lot harder to stop gatr, even before sheer force, since gatr isn't weak to stealth rock and it had two sets that did very different things but were still equally terrifying.
xatu though had always been an amazing pokemon plus it was very influential in the hazards game, so it made mons like scyther and zard much less painful to use. it was just a nice mon to have on almost every team since nobody likes hazards and it is very customizable. it has stayed above the field in pretty much every NU stage. eternally's post summed it up quite nicely :>
Gotta go with Sawk. It had a longer lasting effect on teambuilding than some wallbreakers and it was significantly more brutal in some ways than typh with shit like sturdy and a plethora of sets.
Rhydon
This Pokémon has been relevant throughout all of Generation 6 NU, adapting to all the metagame trends that has passed. Rhydon is just so bulky and powerful that it can run both potent offensive and defensive sets. It has also been capable of checking a lot of S-Tier Pokémon throughout Gen 6, including Typhlosion, Tauros, and Garbodor.
This Pokémon has been relevant throughout all of Generation 6 NU, adapting to all the metagame trends that has passed. Rhydon is just so bulky and powerful that it can run both potent offensive and defensive sets. It has also been capable of checking a lot of S-Tier Pokémon throughout Gen 6, including Typhlosion, Tauros, and Garbodor.
Sawk.
Whether it was Scarf or Band, Sturdy or Mold Breaker it was a tad bit more scary than Typhlosion. Scarf vs Offense was pretty good where as Band was a really fucking scary set vs Balanced and other playstyles. Mold Breaker allowed it to hit stuff like Weezing with EQ where as Sturdy granted access to revenge kill a lot of stuff. It might have not been in tier as long as stuff like Mesprit but as mentioned before, it had the power + a longer lasting effect on team-building.
Whether it was Scarf or Band, Sturdy or Mold Breaker it was a tad bit more scary than Typhlosion. Scarf vs Offense was pretty good where as Band was a really fucking scary set vs Balanced and other playstyles. Mold Breaker allowed it to hit stuff like Weezing with EQ where as Sturdy granted access to revenge kill a lot of stuff. It might have not been in tier as long as stuff like Mesprit but as mentioned before, it had the power + a longer lasting effect on team-building.
Nominating Mega Audino
What effect did Mega Audino have on the metagame?
Audino functioned as an incredibly bulky wall whose unique typing and impressive movepool including a wide variety of coverage options and status moves. An okay SpA stat allowed it to not be completely passive. While bulky Poison and Steel types such as Weezing and Steelix could generally wall it, it dominated against all Fighting and Dark types, and found many setup opportunities against those that could not damage it, like Sliggoo. Access to Regenerator before Mega-Evolution also made it and excellent pivot, and its lack of a removable item made it invaluable for switching into Knock Off.
In what main roles was Mega Audino used?
Mega Audino had two main sets, though there were often many devations to use its expansive movepool. However, they usually fell under one of these two:
- Calm Mind (Defensive)
- Calm Mind (Offensive)
Audino fitted on many types of teams except Hyper Offense most of the time. Its great bulk allowed it to serve as a blanket check to many Pokemon, and it provided valuable Wish and Heal Bell support. Its very unique Fairy typing also covered a lot of resistances and weaknesses.
The Defensive Calm Mind set was Calm Mind / Dazzling Gleam / Wish or Rest / Protect or Sleep Talk. Calm Mind was used to set up whenever Audino could, sometimes even to +6/+6. Dazzling Gleam was Audino's strongest, most reliable STAB attack, and Wish / Protect | Rest / Sleep Talk allowed healing. Full investment was put into HP, along with 208 Defense EVs and 48 in SpA to give it a better chance of defeating Malamar.
The Offensive Calm Mind set was actually pretty similar; it ran Calm Mind / Fire Blast / Dazzling Gleam / Surf or Thunder Wave. Calm Mind was again used to setup, though usually only once or twice due to the set's more offensive nature. Fire Blast let it beat the Steel types that walled it, such as Ferroseed and Steelix. Dazzling Gleam was used as a consistent STAB attack, and Surf let it beat Fire types such as Magmortar that would normally wall Audino. Thunder Wave was sometimes used to provide utility for other team members. Full investment was put into Spe and SpA.
Audino had several different roles and was often a critical team member to many teams.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Audino's 103/126/126 bulk, a great typing, access to an incredible ability in Regenerator (pre-mega), excellent synergy and its ability to sweep entire teams is what truly made it a titan. Game Freak certainly made a monster when it gave this butterfly-rabbit access to Calm Mind.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in NU?
Audio's best checks consisted of walling it (with a Steel/Poison type), poisoning it (Toxic or Toxic Spikes), preventing it from using Calm Mind (Haze, Circle Throw, Encore, Taunt) or setting up in return (with your own Audino, or a Xatu or something). Audino was certainly very hard to deal with, but over time it has become a balanced staple, though certainly one with a lot of tricks hidden under its cute demeanour.
What effect did Mega Audino have on the metagame?
Audino functioned as an incredibly bulky wall whose unique typing and impressive movepool including a wide variety of coverage options and status moves. An okay SpA stat allowed it to not be completely passive. While bulky Poison and Steel types such as Weezing and Steelix could generally wall it, it dominated against all Fighting and Dark types, and found many setup opportunities against those that could not damage it, like Sliggoo. Access to Regenerator before Mega-Evolution also made it and excellent pivot, and its lack of a removable item made it invaluable for switching into Knock Off.
In what main roles was Mega Audino used?
Mega Audino had two main sets, though there were often many devations to use its expansive movepool. However, they usually fell under one of these two:
- Calm Mind (Defensive)
- Calm Mind (Offensive)
Audino fitted on many types of teams except Hyper Offense most of the time. Its great bulk allowed it to serve as a blanket check to many Pokemon, and it provided valuable Wish and Heal Bell support. Its very unique Fairy typing also covered a lot of resistances and weaknesses.
The Defensive Calm Mind set was Calm Mind / Dazzling Gleam / Wish or Rest / Protect or Sleep Talk. Calm Mind was used to set up whenever Audino could, sometimes even to +6/+6. Dazzling Gleam was Audino's strongest, most reliable STAB attack, and Wish / Protect | Rest / Sleep Talk allowed healing. Full investment was put into HP, along with 208 Defense EVs and 48 in SpA to give it a better chance of defeating Malamar.
The Offensive Calm Mind set was actually pretty similar; it ran Calm Mind / Fire Blast / Dazzling Gleam / Surf or Thunder Wave. Calm Mind was again used to setup, though usually only once or twice due to the set's more offensive nature. Fire Blast let it beat the Steel types that walled it, such as Ferroseed and Steelix. Dazzling Gleam was used as a consistent STAB attack, and Surf let it beat Fire types such as Magmortar that would normally wall Audino. Thunder Wave was sometimes used to provide utility for other team members. Full investment was put into Spe and SpA.
Audino had several different roles and was often a critical team member to many teams.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Audino's 103/126/126 bulk, a great typing, access to an incredible ability in Regenerator (pre-mega), excellent synergy and its ability to sweep entire teams is what truly made it a titan. Game Freak certainly made a monster when it gave this butterfly-rabbit access to Calm Mind.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in NU?
Audio's best checks consisted of walling it (with a Steel/Poison type), poisoning it (Toxic or Toxic Spikes), preventing it from using Calm Mind (Haze, Circle Throw, Encore, Taunt) or setting up in return (with your own Audino, or a Xatu or something). Audino was certainly very hard to deal with, but over time it has become a balanced staple, though certainly one with a lot of tricks hidden under its cute demeanour.
Tough choice but gonna go with Typhlosion.
The biggest proponent for me is that while the other noms are certainly impactful, few possess Specs Blaze Typhlosion's ability to pose a massive threat at pretty much any stage of the game, including the early-game (unlike Gatr) & with little need for prediction (unlike Sawk). Other factors include the fact that most Typh answers typically didn't have any reliable recovery or/and worry about getting blown back by coverage Typh can easily afford, plus Typh's Speed tier being arguably the most important during its time, despite the decent-to-high number of faster mons.
Flash Fire's debut was rather short so its potential wasn't fully drawn out, but it certainly didn't curb the presence of Specs Blaze whatsoever and only served to give Typh more viable versatility; the fact that Flash Fire vs Blaze 'Typhlosion wars' were a thing when Ninetales was barely mentioned during Blaze Typh's reign probably spoke for itself.
The biggest proponent for me is that while the other noms are certainly impactful, few possess Specs Blaze Typhlosion's ability to pose a massive threat at pretty much any stage of the game, including the early-game (unlike Gatr) & with little need for prediction (unlike Sawk). Other factors include the fact that most Typh answers typically didn't have any reliable recovery or/and worry about getting blown back by coverage Typh can easily afford, plus Typh's Speed tier being arguably the most important during its time, despite the decent-to-high number of faster mons.
Flash Fire's debut was rather short so its potential wasn't fully drawn out, but it certainly didn't curb the presence of Specs Blaze whatsoever and only served to give Typh more viable versatility; the fact that Flash Fire vs Blaze 'Typhlosion wars' were a thing when Ninetales was barely mentioned during Blaze Typh's reign probably spoke for itself.
teddeh is right typh was never broken, people just got bored of running fire checks (newsflash: offensive teams didnt lose to typh even if they didnt have hariyama!)
its definitely mesprit tho, it continued to adapt through a multitude of metagames all the way from the beginning of XY to pretty much always be a relevant player (phys scarf / phys def / special scarf / LO HW / specs to name a few, all in different metagames) except for maybe like early oras but that was when all the broken stuff was here anyways, no doubt it was the most influential mon of this generation
its definitely mesprit tho, it continued to adapt through a multitude of metagames all the way from the beginning of XY to pretty much always be a relevant player (phys scarf / phys def / special scarf / LO HW / specs to name a few, all in different metagames) except for maybe like early oras but that was when all the broken stuff was here anyways, no doubt it was the most influential mon of this generation
Mesprit
I kinda really disagree with Mesprit being #1 because in spite of being really adaptable, dominant, and easy to fit unto teams, I've never really seen it as a mon I hugely had to prepare for, and I find stuff like Musharna during its peak much scarier and annoying than Mesprit has ever been. I get some of the counterarguments against Typh, Gatr, Sawk, and Xatu, but they've simply shaped the meta to a way higher extent while Mesprit has mostly been reacting to it
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