Project Top 10 Titans of Generation 8 OM Metagames

[UT]

 

[Clas]

genuinely serious about it this time lol but theres a lot of good #10 noms

 

[Andyboy]

Zacian

 

[iapt]

 

[Dragonillis]

Zacian

 

[TGtz8920]

 

[berry]

Blissey

 

[Ducky]

 

[rarre]

 

[Tanny89k]

 

[in the hills]

Zacian wins the 10th and final spot! Here are your Top 10 Titans for Generation 8 Mix and Mega!
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

STABmons submissions will start on Sunday

 

[in the hills]

It's time for STABmons submissions! These submissions will run from August 21st to September 4th!

Please use the format below to frame your posts or we won't count them!

Format

Enter your nominee's sprite here.
:ss/pokemon:

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. Be sure to consider their impact in previous iterations of SS STABmons as well if they weren't removed.

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 STAB?

What are the best checks/counters to this Pokemon? How does the metagame adapt to this Pokemon?

Format Example

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?

It was around for a while in the DLC2 metagame and mostly ran Choice Specs sets with Astral Barrage until it was restricted and then Moongeist Beam and Blue Flare.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?

It clicked Blue Flare and Astral Barrage/Moongeist Beam and shit died if they didn't have a Tyranitar or AV Pex

What caused it to have a significant impact?

See above

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in STAB?

Tyranitar and AV Toxapex were pretty much the only common switchins beyond getting predictions right, and offensive checking from priority Accelerock and faster mons like Tapu Koko and Choice Scarf mons

please format your suggestions more seriously than this one it's just an example to show off the format

You're allowed to reserve nominations, but make sure to finish them in 24 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. If you pick a Pokemon that has more than one form, be sure to clarify which it is. Happy posting!

Nominations so far

Tapu Koko
Seismitoad
Tyranitar
Tapu Bulu
Tapu Lele
Magearna
Gengar
Aegislash
Dragapult
Dracovish
Garchomp
Urshifu-S
Zapdos-Galar

 

[The Dragon Master]

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?

Tapu Koko gained almost everything it could possibly ask for in stab, getting Rising Voltage, Bolt strike, Fleur cannon, and Moonblast just to name a few. It had a profound effect on the metagame, with perhaps the most obvious one being that Ground-types, like Seismitoad, ran mostly specially defensive sets in order to take on Tapu Koko's most formidable sets. It was also one of the best offensive pivots and speed control options in the tier, because of its insane speed and power. It was a great facilitator of wallbreakers, as it could lure in stuff like Seismitoad, for various brokens like Tapu Lele to wreak havoc. It was the primary reason nidoqueen saw some use, as one of the few mons capable of safely answering all the Koko sets (pretend u turn dosent exist). Amongus also saw some use for the same reason. Another very important thing to remember about koko is how insanely strong it was in the endgame, once its checks were weakened (they didn't need to be that weakened), it would go to town. What made koko stand out in the ocean of brokens that inhabited STAB at that time, were 1) its speed, and 2) its ability to facilitate the other borked mons.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?

In a word, it could fill 123673790363930 roles. Jokes aside, it had insane versitilty, being able to run like 10 different sets and run them well. Special sets were more common that physical sets in general, mostly due to the sheer power of Rising Voltage. Choice Specs sets could sometimes simply power past Ground and Grass types with fairy stab and Rising Voltage respectively. On the other hand, HDB sets, while not having the sheer power of Choice Specs, had excellent longevity and could act as great speed control. Its most notable trait was its ability to facilitate the other brokens in the metagame, by luring in its checks and u turning into them. Calm Mind sets were also occasionally run, but these were less common. Physical sets could not be ignored either, due to Tapu Koko's great physical attack and STAB combination. Scarf sets could also be used, if u wanted SPEEEED.


What caused it to have a significant impact?

Tapu Koko had great stats, notably insane speed and good mixed attacking potential, a fantastic movepool in STAB, and a great STAB combination. it was mostly just these traits that lead it to be completely broken.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in STAB?

The way most people dealt with it was Ground-types. Spdef Seismitoad could take on spdef sets fairly well, but had a very hard time vs physical sets. Excadrill was a good overall check that was not passive, but it could be overwhelmed eventually. Nidoqueen was probably the best check, but it wasn't really a great mon besides checking Koko. Grass types like Amongus, Tangrowth, and Tapu Bulu could also annoy it, and the former 2 could even run helm to punish u turn. However, most of these could be broken and koko could just click funny u turn and get in broken # 69 in for free.

 

[Byleth]

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?

Frogger leaped into action checking various dangerous top metagame threats throughout the metas span such as ttar, koko, vish, keldeo, itself (badumtss), heatran, melm, zera, etc. While doing this is generates momentum and spikes for your team so it capitalized on its checks greatly. Toad is so prominent you could say grass coverage in Stabmons right now is the equivalent to HP Ice in past gen OU's.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?

It was used as a check to most of the threats listed above. In addition to that, Seismitoad capitalizes on momentum as a defensive pivot greatly with flip turn. It also gains access to shore up which is the reason it can stay healthy vs many of these mons consistently and allow it to maintain its job unlike in standards. Gaining spikes are also a huge asset, as it means as long as toad is not facing a pressure defogger, it can always exert pressure with hazards even when it cannot deal damage itself which is a common occurence. While the least important move in its arsenal and often dropped, twaves can trap things like ttar, itself and more, and force them to immediately switch by the threat of having it.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

This is pretty much outlined in the previous two questions but in addition it has great bulk and its typing and stab options allow it to do just that.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in STAB?

Many electrics in the tier opted for grass coverage such as Grass Knot on Tapu Koko and Zera or Grav Apple/Freeze-Dry on both Rotom-H and Rotom-W, and while rarer non electrics like energy ball Magearna on shift gear sets were niche picks. Variants of Toxic toad have arised in order to punish opposing toad for staying in and sacking both toads for it along with potential for shed shell on stuff like Toxapex and other Toad. While it can set spikes, relying on the combination of flip turn and twaves/toxic leaves it vulnerable to being set up on even if it flip turns out.

 

[pannu]

Nominating Tyranitar


What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?

Ever since pre-home, Tyranitar has been one of the best Pokemon in STAB. Its always been able to check prominent threats throughout different stages of the meta, from Dragapult and Blacephalon to Thundurus-I and Naganadel. Its also been an offensive menace, having access to some of the strongest moves in STAB. One of the best Pokemon since day one.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?

Tyranitar can fill both a more Utility-based set, but also be run as a threatening breaker with the most common sets being Specially Defensive, Choice Band, and Life Orb.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Tyranitar is good at everything, it has amazing base stats, a very strong ability, and and immensely deep movepool featuring, Dark, Rock, and Ground-type moves- notably Shore Up, Knock Off, Diamond Storm, Accelerock and Spikes, lets it be an incredibly diverse Pokemon. One of its most important moves it got is Shore Up, which lets it check the likes of Thundurus-T, Spectrier, and Kyurem throughout longer games. Accelerock and Sucker Punch are is also immensely important, as its priority access lets its revenge kill offensive threats such as Salamence, Gyarados, Weavile, and Aerodactyl. Its also very easy to slap on almost any team, as it has bad synergy with very few Pokemon, while having good synergy with a plethora.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in STAB?

Physical walls such as Buzzwole, Toxapex, and Ferrothorn are commonly used to deal with Tyranitar, Bulky Ground-types like Seismitoad and Mudsdale which run Shore Up are also fantastic checks, tanking advantage of its sand. Offensive checks are very common, with the likes of Keldeo, Excadrill, and Urshifu-R seeing heavy usage thanks to their ability to KO Tyranitar, alot of Pokemon such as Reuniclus, Thundurus-T, and Tornadus-T started running Fighting-type coverage to deal with it too.

 

[drampa's grandpa]

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?

Tapu Bulu entered the metagame at DLC2, with Grassy Glide already here for it to use. This gave it the ability to fire off extremely powerful priority while maintaining its wallbreaking ability, making it simultaneously the undisputed best revenge killer of its time and a top wallbreaker / sweeper. Anything that did not resist Grass was significantly hampered in its ability to sweep by the presence of Bulu as a cornerstone of offense in the metagame.

Tapu Bulu applied significant offensive pressure to many Pokemon. Urshifu-Rapid-Strike and Keldeo were two of the most harshly punished by Tapu Bulu's presence in the metagame, as Bulu resisted both their STABs and could Glide them into submission. Tyranitar, one of the most consistent threats in the metagame, was another Pokemon threatened by Bulu, especially the more defensive sets that were more popular during that era. Tapu Bulu's defensive presence was also notably threatening. Bulky Swords Dance sets with Strength Sap could use would-be walls such as Corviknight as setup, or set up on the otherwise extremely threatening Garchomp.

Tapu Bulu was an effective but imperfect check to Tapu Koko until Koko was banned, and a good Tapu Lele check. In return both of these checked Tapu Bulu, as their terrain would override Grassy Terrain. However once Tapu Koko, Zapdos-Galar, and Oblivion Wing were banned too many checks to Bulu were removed from the metagame and it was banned a couple months later.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?

Tapu Bulu was used on teams for its combination of powerful priority, bulk, and team support. It was the best revenge killer during its time in the metagame, while also providing significant role compression by checking some powerful threats such as Garchomp. Bulu had a lot of longevity, even with a Life Orb, thanks to Grassy Surge providing it with passive recovery, making it effective at tanking several hits over the course of a match. Tapu Bulu was also a good, self-sufficient sweeper or cleaner, which could either boost up or simply wait for a team to be chipped and push through with Grassy Glide.

While it was initially thought that Tapu Bulu wouldn't differentiate itself enough from Rillaboom for it to be noticeable, there were several things that made Bulu stand out. First, its defensive typing gives it more resists, notably to Fighting and Dragon, giving it more opportunities to set up and more opportunities to simply 1v1 a threatening opponent. Second, it has a notably better and wider coverage movepool, including Close Combat over Superpower and niche options such as Zen Headbutt, although the lack of U-Turn is notable. And third and least, Tapu Bulu has very slightly better stats in both bulk and power.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Tapu Bulu had a significant impact because it has Grassy Glide and Grassy Surge, and was the best abuser of them. It had powerful, STAB, terrain boosted priority coming off a high attack stat. While it certainly has other positive attributes they are the icing on a grassy cake.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in STAB?

The best checks to Tapu Bulu were in a nutshell faster offensive threats that resisted Grass and could force it out. Good examples of this were Thundurus-Therian, Offensive Heatran, and Tapu Lele. Tapu Koko was also an excellent pivot into it before it was banned, removing the terrain and being able to Fleur Cannon for huge damage or simply pivot out. Zapdos-Galar was perhaps the best of all as it could set up a No Retreat without fear on a Tapu Bulu, while Strength Sap only boosted its attack and even Stone Edge was neutral.

Hard counters to Tapu Bulu were rare thanks to Strength Sap sets being able to turn many would-be counters into setup fodder and its decently wide coverage. Amoonguss and Tangrowth stood out as good counters to most sets thanks to their Poison coverage. Defensive Buzzwole was also an excellent wall, although Strength Sap sets could give it some trouble without the right setup.

 

[pannu]

Enter your nominee's sprite here.


What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?

During its tenure in STAB, Tapu Lele was one of the most fierce wallbreakers the tier had seen, thanks to the plethora of insanely strong moves it got, notably Expanding Force, which had amazing synergy alongside Psychic Terrain. It heavily warped the way you built due to demanding really specific counterplay, mostly in the form of bulky Steel-types like Magearna, Ferrothorn, and Heatran, but also Psychic-types like Slowbro and Slowking.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?

Tapu Lele was mainly used as a powerful breaker, thanks to all of the insanely powerful moves it gets, the likes of Expanding Force, Fleur Cannon, Focus Blast, and Psystrike, it was tough to switch into due to having near-perfect coverage and hitting much of the tier for super effective damage.. However, Choice Scarf sets also saw usage, taking advantage of Trick and Lunar Dance. Calm Mind sets also saw play, albeit much rarer than the other two.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Its insane breaking prowess and its different sets require different forms of counterplay. I.e you would prefer to use a Bulky Psychic- or Steel-type like Slowking or Ferrothorn against Choice Specs sets, but they could quite easily be overwhelmed, same goes for Calm Mind sets. It also took fantastic advantage of many of the staple defensive Pokemon in the tier, being able to threaten Toxapex, Tyranitar, and Seismitoad with relative ease. Offensive checks would deal with Choice Specs and Calm Mind sets but are complete fodder for Choice Scarf variants, sorta creating a guessing game where you try to figure out what your opponents Tapu Lele is and What moves they've got. Furthermore, it was quite splashable and had fantastic synergy with the likes of Magearna, Cinderace, and Rotom-W.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in STAB?

AV Slowking was quite possibly the best answer to Lele, being able to eat any hit and then Flip Turn into a revenge killer such as Gengar, Aerodactyl, or Keldeo. However, most Steel-types would provide a fine check too, smart building and running both defensive and offensive checks to Tapu Lele was key, as it meant you were safe against both Specs and Scarf variants.

 

[Fc]

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?

Magearna warped the meta a lot at a time when hyper offense was insanely prevalent, and it was probably the biggest offender. With screens it was impossible to kill, and had the best snowball potential at the time with Soul Heart and Stored Power. Defensively, Magearna's typing and bulk is incredible, walling Ttar's STABs, Tapu Lele's STABs, and a bunch of other broken pokemon. It was one of 2 relevant Doom Desire users but unlike Heatran it wasn't weak to Focus Blast and had reliable recovery in Moonlight, so Tapu Lele wasn't as much of a threat. Combine that with Volt Switch and Magearna became one of the best defensive pivots in the tier if not the best, up there with Toxapex and Tornadus-T.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?

Magearna was either a set up sweeper or a support pivot. It would run the standard set from other tiers of Shift Gear, Calm Mind, Draining Kiss, Stored Power with a weakness policy if it was trying to sweep. Behind screens on hyper offense teams Magearna was one of the most oppressive forces ever in STABmons. The support set was equally amazing, being really good in the lele meta and without it, running Moonlight, Doom Desire, Volt Switch, and a filler that was usually Moonblast. Magearna with reliable recovery is broken.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Versatility and insane sweeping potential, support filled so many defensive roles and provided a good deal of offensive pressure with Doom Desire and strong Moonblasts, while CM just killed pretty much everything.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in STAB?

There weren't that many checks, Excadrill could do alright until it someone threw out the random Focus Blast or if Mag got set up w screens since EQ would activate WP. Haze pex could work too, but after a CM Stored Power could do good damage and HO teams would overwhelm it, not to mention Doom Desire sets just setting one up then pivoting out. Heatran was probably the best answer since it's really bulky, but even that could be broken if screens were up and mag got CM into weakness, but it hard countered Doom Desire sets w King's Shield blocking any attacks trying to take advantage of the Doom Desire. Steels, Grounds, and Fires were generally the best at taking it on but mag could run stuff that beat almost all of them.

 

[drampa's grandpa]

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. Be sure to consider their impact in previous iterations of SS STABmons as well if they weren't removed.

Gengar has had a weird history in Generation 8 STABmons. While it existed from the beginning of the generation, until about a month before DLC 1 dropped it was overshadowed as an offensive Ghost-type by Dragapult. This isn't to say it was bad; but Dragapult was the dominant Ghost and one of the "big four" Pokemon used in that period of the metagame, while Gengar sat lower down in viability. Once Dragapult was banned and DLC 1 dropped it very quickly became apparent that Gengar was too strong for the metagame as it stood. With tools such as Shell Side Arm and Moongeist Beam its Nasty Plot, Specs, and Choice Scarf sets were too varied and too strong for the metagame to reliably answer.

With DLC 2 Gengar was freed joined several other ghost-types in immediately spooking the metagame. Tyranitar or a blob was seen as necessary to deal with Gengar, Spectrier, and Blacephalon. Soon, Astral Barrage was removed from the metagame by a council vote split between removing the move and removing Gengar and Blacephalon (Spectrier having already been banned). Blacephalon was eventually banned, and another competitor of Gengar's, Aegislash, left around the same time.

Gengar now has nearly no competition left in the tier. It is capable of blasting through most defensive Pokemon in the tier, although in the current, Speed-heavy metagame it finds itself a little less than top tier. Nevertheless over the course of the generation it has stood with the other top tier Ghosts, outlasting them all and pushing the metagame into running constant counterplay () for them.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?

Gengar utilizes its excellent typing and high Speed to perform various offensive role, including being a setup sweeper, abusing choice items, or stallbreaking.
Generation 8 gifted Gengar with Nasty Plot, which boosted its sweeping potential greatly. This combined with its excellent Ghost/Poison/FIghting coverage options and, as always, its excellent statline allowed it to work as one of the top special sweepers for much of the generation. Besides this, its Ghost/Poison typing allowed Gengar to set up on certain Pokemon very effectively. The existence of Pokemon utilizing mono-Normal movesets, or attempting to utilize Body Press as their main attack (or either of those plus the 4x resisted U-Turn) gave Gengar many opportunities to either Nasty Plot or set up a Substitute.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Gengar's power, offensive flexibility, and the difficulty of revenge killing it all contributed to the impact Gengar had on the metagame. Because of the unreliability of Gengar's few checks and counters many teams have been pigeonholed into running Tyranitar for most of the generation. The flip side of this is that Tyranitar has been near omnipresent for the entire generation (not just because of Gengar), making Gengar a risky choice at times due to how common its best answer is.
Teams have to be prepared to tank Specs sets, not be cleaned by Scarf sets, avoid and pressure Nasty Plot sets, and be able to break Substitutes with their walls. Gengar being able to do any of these is terrifying, and a misprediction can lead to a lost mon, if not simply a game over.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in STAB?

One of the main things that make Gengar so fantastic in STABmons is the lack of Ghost resists. Between all of its sets it really has no truly reliable counters that will eat a hit. However there are ways to play around it due to immunities to all of its common moves and Gengar's extreme frailty putting it in poor positions if it does not predict perfectly.
Tyranitar is, and has been the best Gengar check and counter for the entire generation. Chople Berry Tyranitar can switch into Gengar once per match no matter what, and the types of teams Tyranitar typically fits on should not need more than that, especially since Gengar is incredibly frail and should not be given many opportunities to come in. Non-Focus Blast Gengar does not threaten Tyranitar significantly. Blissey also serves as a counter to most of Gengar's sets, although it must be wary of Trick or Taunt, and has to carry Shadow Ball. Mandibuzz is perhaps the most reliable Gengar counter, but is generally passive in a fast metagame and overall a poor option.
Despite Gengar's excellent speed it is still vulnerable to faster threats or priority. Tornadus-Therian, Tyranitar, Zeraora, Weavile, or various Choice Scarfers can all pressure Gengar due to its frailty, including its weakness to Knock Off and Sucker Punch.

 

[UT]

What effect did Aegislash have on the metagame?

Aegislash was a difficult to check Pokemon due to its sheer offensive versatility. Ghost / Steel / Fighting is perfect neutral coverage, and with powerful new STAB options like Spectral Thief, Sunsteel Strike, and Moongiest Beam, it receives a significant damage boost compared to standard tiers. Very few things can switch into all of Choice Specs Moongiest Beam, Choice Band Sunsteel Strike, and Close Combat. Additionally, it still had effectively 60/140/140 defensive stats with excellent defensive typing, making it very hard to KO without taking a hit or two in return.

While early generation Aegislash centered around Choice-item or four attack sets, in late 2021 it began seeing significant use on hyper offense teams with Swords Dance and Autotomize sets that were exceedingly difficult to handle. Hyper offense as an archetype exploded in this time period, and Aegi was seen as one of the main culprits. A set-up Aegi was exceedingly hard to deal with, and screens or webs made it all the more powerful. It was banned by council vote in a (I think mostly successful) attempt to re-balance HO teams.

In what main roles was Aegislash used?

Early gen, Choiced or AoA breaker that could trade hits with the best of them. Late gen, setup mon on HO that could take a few things with it pretty consistently.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

When you give Ghosts good moves, they are broken. This is doubly true when they can go physical or special, like Aegi could. And good bulk does not hurt either. The lack of consistent answer, especially until set was revealed, and especially if it had team support to help set up, was hard.

How do/did you deal with this Aegislash in STAB?

Aegi was not perfect. It had no recovery, so it was vulnerable to chip and being worn down in longer battles. Some fatter things like Hippo and Mandibuzz could handle some/most of its sets, and with recovery, outlast it. But ultimately, the way Aegislash was dealt with in STAB was by being banned.

 

[in the hills]

What effect did Dragapult have on the metagame?

Dragapult was immediately one of the most threatening Pokemon in the metagame, gaining Moongeist Beam and Clanging Scales on the special side and Spectral Thief on the physical side. Having a real physical Ghost STAB meant that it could easily switch between Specs and Band sets, which made switching into it more complicated. Physical walls like Corviknight and Ferrothorn couldn't handle Specs sets the best, while special walls like Sylveon were heavily chipped by physical attacks. With a STAB combo that was only resisted by Grimmsnarl at the time, Dragapult typically required two or more switch-ins to it, and in longer games it was common that even that was not enough. Dragapult was on everyone's watchlist from the get go, and many wanted it banned for months before it was eventually suspected and banned with a 100% Ban vote.

In what main roles was Dragapult used?

Both Choice Specs and Choice Band sets were common and had different counterplay. Until Home, Dragapult was the fastest non-Scarf user (and was faster than a +1 Dracovish) in the metagame with an immunity to Extreme Speed, so it most commonly doubled as the speed control slot for the team. The natural Speed and choiced attacks that were difficult to switch into also made Dragapult a threatening sweeper.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Lack of counterplay, speed tier made it easy to put on literally every team, and important immunities to priority early on. Super powerful both physically and specially meant that no team was ever safe against it.

How do/did you deal with this Dragapult in STAB?

Beating Dragapult almost always required a good amount of prediction. Predicting whether it was Specs or Band, predicting which STAB move it could click by switching into either Sylveon/Corviknight/Ferrothorn or Tyranitar/Obstagoon to block it, or even predicting whether it would stay in against Sucker Punch. Making the wrong predict was not always devastating, but over long games making the wrong prediction could easily put you in a losing spot, and a lot of the time it could just click U-turn to gain momentum against you. Grimmsnarl was uncommonly used as a check that was immune to/resisted both of Dragapult's STABs, but other than that you usually just had to outplay it.

 

[in the hills]

What effect did Dracovish have on the metagame?

Dracovish was a very scary threat in the metagame, with Strong Jaw Fishious Rend breaking past almost the entire metagame. Choice Band and Choice Scarf sets were the most common early on while Dragon Dance sets rose up a few months into the generation once people realized Substitute Dragon Dance was able to set up on Ferrothorn, one of Dracovish's only switchins. After Dragapult's ban, this was the main set and it didn't take long for Dracovish itself to get banned.

In what main roles was Dracovish used?

Dracovish was primarily a wallbreaker with Choice Band, or a sweeper with Dragon Dance sets. Occasionally it'd be used as a Choice Scarfer for speed control but being slower than Dragapult and Zeraora meant it was not the best at this.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Fishious Rend was just an unbelievable pain to switchin to, and pretty much required Ferrothorn, Toxapex, and Seismitoad (which didnt have shore up yet). Once SubDD became the main set these Pokemon stopped being checks unless Ferrothorn opted for Power Whip which just never really happened.

How do/did you deal with this Dracovish in STAB?

Dragapult was the main way of dealing with Dracovish, as it was faster than +1 Speed Dracovish and had Infiltrator or Clanging Scales to break through its Substitute, walling it was tougher but the aforementioned Ferrothorn, Toxapex, and Seismitoad were okay at it.

 

[Fc]

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?

Garchomp forced a very small pool of Pokemon onto every team, usually just bulu buzzwole or corv / skarm. With access to Poison Jab and Fire Fang it could slowly break these too, though, so its pool of checks was super limited and a lot of teams needed offensive counterplay as well like Weavile or Dracozolt.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?

Garchomp was usually offensive, with Dragon Dance or Swords Dance and Thousand Waves / Earthquake, Dragon Darts / Scale Shot, and Shore Up / a coverage move. It cleaned or was a midgame breaker that was really hard to stop, especially if teammates like Dragonite or Tapu Bulu were around that appreciated Buzzwole Skarmory etc being gone or could break them itself for Garchomp late game.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Insanely spammable coverage, 2 of the best set up moves, and it's a Garchomp but with recovery. Nothing could reliably beat every set long term and it was really up there for the most threatening Pokemon in the meta it was in, right in company with another banned mon, bulu.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in STAB?

Skarmory, Corviknight, Buzzwole, and Tapu Bulu were the best checks since they could eat the STAB moves and threaten back with Iron Defense or just strong coverage respectively, but Garchomp could still beat them. Clefable and Rotom-W could also soft check it. Offensively, Weavile, weather sweepers, Mamoswine, and certain scarfers like lele could pressure but could be in trouble if it got enough speed boosts or had a tech resist berry / psy terrain up for the priority mons.

 

[in the hills]

What effect did Urshifu-S have on the metagame?
Urshifu-S made an immediate impact on the metagame, with Wicked Blow being the biggest rave of new DLC1 tools. Even prior to Wicked Blow being restricted, Urshifu-S was considered one of the better users of it. Once Wicked Blow got restricted, however, it skyrocketed to being one of, if not the best Pokemon in the metagame. Choice Band sets had nearly no switchins beyond prediction, its Speed tier was solid for the time and it had Sucker Punch to catch revenge killers off guard. Fairies were the only reliable counterplay to Urshifu-S, but even they were susceptible to potential coverage options it had. Most teams relied on switching Toxapex in to tank a hit and then recovering it off slowly with Regenerator, which was very easy to wear down in games. Urshifu-S would have undoubtedly been quickbanned had DLC1 not been such a short time span, but the council decided to hold off and see what it would do in DLC2. In DLC 2, Urshifu-S did fall to the side for a few weeks as things settled down and the meta was overrun by the 3 Tapus, but after about a month it started showing signs of being broken again as the Tapus were very poor switchins to it and other counterplay was even less available than in DLC1, so it was swiftly banned.

In what main roles was Urshifu-S used?
Choiced sets were the main role, primarily Choice Band but occasionally Choice Scarf to outspeed things like Tapu Koko, Spectrier, and Cinderace. Rarely, No Retreat sets saw use and were very terrifying in their own right, really not having any checks in the metagame.

What caused it to have a significant impact?
Wicked Blow was the main reason Urshifu-S was so powerful, combined with Fighting STAB you really only had Fairy-types to try and check it, all of which were not the most physically bulky so they were pretty easy to get past.

How do/did you deal with this Urshifu-S in STAB?
Fairy-types mostly, with Toxapex to try and wear its PP down/scout what move it clicked. faster Pokemon had to be wary of Sucker Punch but could revenge kill it pretty easily if it was already locked into another move

 

[drampa's grandpa]

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?

Obstagoon was one of the most powerful Pokémon prior to the restriction of Extreme Speed. It was the top Extreme Speed user in the metagame thanks to its typing enabling it to punish Ghosts with Sucker Punch, notably Dragapult. Guts gives it a notable power boost, especially on Facade which it used as its primary power attack.

After the restriction of Extreme Speed and the ban of Dragapult Obstagoon fell off hard. It is still a niche wallbreaker but no longer nearly the top pick it was.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?

Obstagoon was the best revenge killer in the pre-DLC metagame. With both Extreme Speed and Sucker Punch and no need to be choice-locked it could stop the sweep of almost any Pokemon. It was also an excellent wallbreaker thanks to Guts Facade.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Obstagoon's influence came from its ability, which gave it power, typing, which let it beat the powerful ghosts (mostly Dragapult), and the access to Extreme Speed STABmons granted it.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in STAB?

During Obstagoon's heyday the best answers to it were Corviknight and, unless Obstagoon had the fairly rare and suboptimal Close Combat, Tyranitar. Obstagoon's middling bulk, constant chip damage, and 4x weakness to Fighting was very exploitable, as anything it did not OHKO could leave Obstagoon dead.
Hazards were good Obstagoon counterplay. Because its primary purpose was to revenge kill it would be coming in and out a lot, and could not effectively run Heavy Duty Boots. This lead to racking up chip damage, which combined with Flame Orb damage, would prevent Obstagoon coming in too many times.