Nominating Florges
What effect did Florges have on the metagame?
Florges has been a notable presence since the beginning stages of the UU metagame, seeing consistently high usage on both the ladder and tournaments for all of XY UU and the majority of ORAS UU. It is one of UU's staple support Pokémon, seen forming formidable cores with a wide number partners as a Fairy-type cleric, a wall, a check to the tier’s powerful Dragon-type Pokémon, and, on many occasions, as an vital win condition. These traits combined enabled Florges to set standards for Gen 6 UU Balance teams.
A number of successful teams throughout the Gen 6 UU metagame have used Florges, too, including teams utilizing the fearsome Pink Core and the team Aerolyn, which brought more attention to Florges's Calm Mind set.
In what main roles was Florges used?
Florges was one of the most go-to Pokémon for creating the defensive backbone of many balanced teams, able to cover up many weaknesses thanks to its Sp. Defense and Fairy typing. As its main role was as a cleric with great defensive typing, Florges was usually seen switching in on unboosted special attacks or resisted hits in order to pass Wishes to its teammates or clear away status with Aromatherapy. It could scout moves with Protect, heal itself instantly with Synthesis, wear down bulky threats with Toxic, or even fire a surprisingly good Moonblast coming off a strong yet uninvested Sp. Attack. Calm Mind could turn Florges into a fearsome win condition when given the chance to set up a boost, especially when played with entry hazards.
In the late stages of ORAS UU, Sylveon arrived and inherited many of the roles where Florges had once shined. Despite this takeover, Florges still was a preferred choice for a number of balanced teams thanks to the ability to tank special attacks better than Sylveon, slightly better Speed, and for instant recovery in Synthesis to complement Wish.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Being a consistently useful cleric made Florges an often used Pokémon in the tier, especially when it came to forming balanced cores. Its Fairy typing gave it useful resistances to the tier’s common Fighting and Dark-type attacks, and an immunity to Dragon-type attacks also was a critical selling point for using Florges in a tier with powerful Dragon-type Pokémon. Its high Sp. Defense complemented physically defensive partners, namely bulky Water-types like Swampert and Steel-types like Mega Aggron. Forcing both special attackers and passive defensive Pokémon alike to switch out also made Florges a great Pokémon to use with hazard stacking Pokémon.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Most Florges used Moonblast alone for attacking, outside of the rare Psychic, Energy Ball or Hidden Power Fire, so common switch-ins to Florges were Fire, Poison, and Steel-types, with the latter two types also unafraid of switching into Toxic. Strong physical attackers deterred Florges from switching in to set up or heal. Nasty Plot users could also break through a support Florges’s high Sp. Defense.
Defensive Fairy-types were known for pressuring Fighting, Dark, and Dragon-type sweepers and wallbreakers, so to adapt, many started using Poison and Steel-type coverage to break through them. In UU, top-tier special attacker Hydreigon would run Iron Tail over Flash Cannon because the former more reliably dealt with Florges specifically, even though the latter was generally better for most Fairy-types.
Taunt was an excellent way to disrupt Florges from using any support moves or getting a Calm Mind boost, with Crobat being one of the most effective for this strategy. Rest-Talk boosting Pokémon like CurseLax and CroCune liked to set up alongside Florges, who typically could not cleanly beat them in a boosting war. Florges was also not good at dealing with Haze users and phazers.
What effect did Florges have on the metagame?
Florges has been a notable presence since the beginning stages of the UU metagame, seeing consistently high usage on both the ladder and tournaments for all of XY UU and the majority of ORAS UU. It is one of UU's staple support Pokémon, seen forming formidable cores with a wide number partners as a Fairy-type cleric, a wall, a check to the tier’s powerful Dragon-type Pokémon, and, on many occasions, as an vital win condition. These traits combined enabled Florges to set standards for Gen 6 UU Balance teams.
A number of successful teams throughout the Gen 6 UU metagame have used Florges, too, including teams utilizing the fearsome Pink Core and the team Aerolyn, which brought more attention to Florges's Calm Mind set.
In what main roles was Florges used?
Florges was one of the most go-to Pokémon for creating the defensive backbone of many balanced teams, able to cover up many weaknesses thanks to its Sp. Defense and Fairy typing. As its main role was as a cleric with great defensive typing, Florges was usually seen switching in on unboosted special attacks or resisted hits in order to pass Wishes to its teammates or clear away status with Aromatherapy. It could scout moves with Protect, heal itself instantly with Synthesis, wear down bulky threats with Toxic, or even fire a surprisingly good Moonblast coming off a strong yet uninvested Sp. Attack. Calm Mind could turn Florges into a fearsome win condition when given the chance to set up a boost, especially when played with entry hazards.
In the late stages of ORAS UU, Sylveon arrived and inherited many of the roles where Florges had once shined. Despite this takeover, Florges still was a preferred choice for a number of balanced teams thanks to the ability to tank special attacks better than Sylveon, slightly better Speed, and for instant recovery in Synthesis to complement Wish.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Being a consistently useful cleric made Florges an often used Pokémon in the tier, especially when it came to forming balanced cores. Its Fairy typing gave it useful resistances to the tier’s common Fighting and Dark-type attacks, and an immunity to Dragon-type attacks also was a critical selling point for using Florges in a tier with powerful Dragon-type Pokémon. Its high Sp. Defense complemented physically defensive partners, namely bulky Water-types like Swampert and Steel-types like Mega Aggron. Forcing both special attackers and passive defensive Pokémon alike to switch out also made Florges a great Pokémon to use with hazard stacking Pokémon.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Most Florges used Moonblast alone for attacking, outside of the rare Psychic, Energy Ball or Hidden Power Fire, so common switch-ins to Florges were Fire, Poison, and Steel-types, with the latter two types also unafraid of switching into Toxic. Strong physical attackers deterred Florges from switching in to set up or heal. Nasty Plot users could also break through a support Florges’s high Sp. Defense.
Defensive Fairy-types were known for pressuring Fighting, Dark, and Dragon-type sweepers and wallbreakers, so to adapt, many started using Poison and Steel-type coverage to break through them. In UU, top-tier special attacker Hydreigon would run Iron Tail over Flash Cannon because the former more reliably dealt with Florges specifically, even though the latter was generally better for most Fairy-types.
Taunt was an excellent way to disrupt Florges from using any support moves or getting a Calm Mind boost, with Crobat being one of the most effective for this strategy. Rest-Talk boosting Pokémon like CurseLax and CroCune liked to set up alongside Florges, who typically could not cleanly beat them in a boosting war. Florges was also not good at dealing with Haze users and phazers.
