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SS UU has honestly been three different tiers at least. Not only was a generational mechanic banned for the first time, but a large range of Pokemon were also actively removed from the metagame starting out, and even more challenging was that many of these Pokemon were reintroduced in massive bursts with not just one, but two DLC drops. As such, SS UU as a tier went through several key phases, with several Pokemon excelling in some but falling flat in others. This makes the evaluation process for the tier's Top 10 titans a very unique experience compared to previous iterations of this project. I am too lazy to reword this so I'm stealing it entirely from ausma. Thanks x
The big question that we will try to answer with this thread is, which of all the Pokemon were the 10 most influential throughout Gen 8?
From May 25th to June 14th, you will nominate Pokemon that will be voted on for the top 10 most influential Pokemon throughout Gen 8. 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. Please keep in mind that we're not ranking Pokemon based on how good they are, but we're ranking Pokemon based on how influential they've been. When nominating Pokemon, consider their influence not just in the current Crown Tundra format, but in the Isle of Armor, Home, and Pre-Home metagames as well (if they were there, of course)!
Please use the format below to frame your posts or we won't count them!
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 UU 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 UU?
What are the best checks/counters to this Pokemon? How does the metagame adapt to this Pokemon?
What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
We had him for like three days and he was insanely broken. People unironically ran boots Hydreigon to avoid a 2HKO from Fire Blast.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
It clicked Fire Blast and Shadow Ball and shit died
What caused it to have a significant impact?
See above
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
You didn't
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!
Noivern was the single most important Pokemon throughout all of DLC1 and DLC0. Being the 2nd fastest viable Pokemon in the format was huge, and on top of that it packed a lot of power relative to the much lower overall strength levels of the tier, and its access to Roost let it act as a capable wall to much of the metagame in large part thanks to its great resistances. These let it act as a decent pivot into the likes of Sirfetch'd, Cobalion, Zarude and more, and made it a very popular choice on all kinds of teams. It was #1 in usage for over a year!
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
It was primarily a pivot and speed control option, though it was also a capable Defogger when necessary. It could be run either fully offensive or with some bulk, and was very malleable to make it fit any team.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Being so fast, reasonably strong and the single best option for patching up a huge number of holes on a team gave it a huge impact. This meant you had to pack solid checks for it, too, which is a large part of why Pokemon such as Primarina, Milotic and Sylveon were popular, in addition to their other great traits of course.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Noivern is strong but not massively so; generally bulky Pokemon like Milotic, Incineroar, Umbreon, Bronzong and more could keep it in check fairly well, and it really didn't have a whole lot to hit bulky Fairy-types like Sylveon and Primarina. It was also offensively checked by Pokemon like Mamoswine and Lycanroc-D, which helped a lot to keep it safely balanced but still dominant.
Anyone who has been playing UU during the Crown Tundra metagame knows just how dominant this Pokemon has been throughout this era. Primarina had been tried and banned twice from UU, but with the new power crept meta Primarina would remain, though it would certainly match the dominance it had in SM. Only going below A+ or S- once, Primarina has been a top tier threat in the various iterations of the tier, ranging from dual screens to Pelipper rain to the living hell known as Kommo-o meta to Mienshao VoltTurn. Primarina is very tough to switch into with its potent Water + Fairy STAB combination, as most specially defensive Steelt-types lack the reliable recovery to withstand Primarina's Water-type attacks. Furthermore, its typing is excellent for UU, matching up well against threats like Salamence, Hydreigon, Moltres, Keldeo, Skarmory, and Hippowdon through walling or offensive pressure. The common widespread use of one of Tangrowth or Amoonguss on nearly every bulky offense team is attributed to dangerous threats like Primarina's presence in the tier. Any team without a Primarina check will be largely be unsuccessful.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Primarina has been used for both offensive and defensive roles, usually outdoing competition like Keldeo and Azumarill because of its better typing and bulk. Currently Primarina operates with a Substitute + 3 attacks or Choice Specs set to use its fantastic offensive potential to break through common walls like Hippowdon and Mandibuzz. RestTalk still has lots of potency answering top threats like Salamence, SubToxic Aegislash, and Hydreigon, giving it niches over other defensive Water-types like Slowking who fail to answer the latter two. Being able to act as a reliable glue while still having a potent STAB combination in Scald to burn Steel-types like Aegislash and Celesteela while and Moonblast for strong neutral damage puts Primarina on top of the reef as a Pokemon you don't want to be underprepared for.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Primarina just has such an amazing typing offensively and defensively that provides lots to many teams regardless of using it for offensive or defensive purposes. It compresses many great glue traits like status absorber and specially defensive wall to check Salamence, Keldeo, and softcheck Aegislash, all threatening Pokemon that needed to be accounted for. At its peak, Choice Specs was such a massive threat with little counterplay, leaving Primarina to define the entirety of the metagame as the biggest threat out there. It takes advantage of Aegislash making Zarude a lot more common, as Zarude fails to switch into Primarina like Amoonguss and Tangrowth, making a solid offensive duo. Primarina can change up its set depending on metagame trends; Substitute + Calm Mind can take advantage of a possible Tangrowth decline and abuse counters like Amoonguss and Slowking, while RestTalk can rise to prominence to combat other rising threats like Keldeo and Hydreigon.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Primarina doesn't have many switch-ins, but bulky Grass-types like Amoonguss and Assault Vest Tangrowth typically can switch into it fine. Tangrowth even runs Power Whip over Giga Drain solely to fix the SubCM Primarina matchup. Other pokemon like Tentacruel and Chansey do well as switching into it too. Most of these do have to watch out for Choice Specs, as it can break through them with proper prediction. However, it can be offensively pressured quite well by common threats like Zarude, Thundurus-T, Nidoking, and more. Offensive sets lack the defensive utility RestTalk does, straining building to find reliable answers to super dangerous threats like Mamoswine, Choice Specs Keldeo, and Choice Specs Hydreigon without stacking weaknesses.
Anyone who played DLC0 UU knows how dominant Milotic could be, as by far the most important Pokemon in all of early DLC0. The Pokemon absolutely defined the pre HOME and post HOME - pre drops metagames as an incredible unkillable wall that was also incredibly difficult to switch into, while massively reduced knock off and toxic distribution pre HOME rendered a lot of Pokemon unable to punish it at all. The Pokemon was truly dominant and made bulky playstyles around it super strong, Ice Beam also made a lot of grass-types very unreliable as checks to it longer term, we saw stuff like Vaporeon + Machamp get used purely to take advantage of it which could still be checked by teammates like Weezing-Galar. It continued to have relevance going into the HOME metagame as a solid answer to threats like Incineroar and Cobalion but its true dominance was in the pre HOME metagame where it was truly an incredible S rank Pokemon that defined the metagame hugely, even causing sets like fast Taunt Umbreon and Imprison Milotic to rise up simply to counter it.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
It was used primarily in defensive roles due to its ability to counter all sorts of otheerwise offensive threats like Noivern, Weezing-Galar, and Doublade, usually featuring sets of scald ice beam recover and an optional 4th move such as Haze or Imprison. With HOME release this changed to running Toxic with Imprison replacing Ice beam if used. Offensive Competitive sets saw use even as early as pre HOME metagames to really punish Defog users, at the time this was mostly Noiverns which it countered, later into DLC1 this became one of Milotics bigger niches for being ran, giving it the ability to really enforce Spikes to stay up with its Substitute Ice Beam Scald Rcover Competitive sets, and punishing Incineroar Intimidates with smart doubles.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Primarily its unkillable naturee as an incredible fat wall that could punish scalds hard with marvel scale and the lack of toxic / knock dstribution, while being extremely difficult and irritating to switch into. Set versatility gave it some nasty applications it could provide with options like Imprison and Competitive but it was mainly just one of the major glues holding together the incredible defensive playstyles it was the posterboy of alongside Umbreon and Weezing-Galar at the time.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Vaporeon + Machamp as mentioned before was a fairly popular option to use due to the Guts wallbreaker being scary and Vaporeons ability to freely Wish up on Milotic. Synthesis Roserade could switch in and use it as a Spikes opportunity but could get forced into recovery very easily due to Ice Beam PP. Imprison Milotic and Taunt Umbreon gave strong counterplay to stop it recovering as a way for bulkier teams to force progress. Rotom-C and Rotom-F could take advantage of it but didn't like switching in much, while offensive threats like Mamoswine could potentially overwhelm it.
Zeraora was arguably the most centralizing Pokemon in the UU metagame during the time it was here. Its Speed tier was unlike anything that's ever stayed here. It was the first major elite Speedy UU Knock Pivot this gen had (Incineroar did this before Zeraora arrived but it was very slow), and many have attempted to imitate that role since then such as Thundurus, Thundurus-T, and Azelf, none of which were nearly as good as Zeraora while it was here. Zeraora could counter nearly any Pokemon with the right set, as it could Knock switch-ins, boost with Bulk Up OR Calm Mind, could pack Grass Knot for things like Rhyperior that were commonly used to try to answer it, and even had Blaze Kick for Scizor, as it was also a major part of the metagame at that time. Heavy Duty Boots meant it didn't need to worry about hazard chip or being slowed down by webs. And let's not forget that Plasma Fists is one of the best exclusive moves in the game, while Volt Absorb gave you an electric immunity without necessarily needing a Ground-type. While it was never banned, Zeraora stayed in the tier for a few shifts before OU finally took it to the promised land.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Zeraora had many roles, which made it very difficult to answer. The most common role was the speedy Knock Pivot, as it could use Knock Off and Volt Switch and abused this frequently. Having 143 base Speed meant that you rarely needed to use a +Speed nature and could even add some bulk with EVs. It was also commonly used on HO builds, especially ones with dual screens, as it could boost up with Bulk Up and had the movepool to selectively answer whatever you wanted to answer in the metagame (Play Rough for Kommo-o, Blaze Kick for Scizor, Close Combat for Mamoswine, etc.). Calm Mind sets were rare, but they were also an option as Zeraora had access to Grass Knot and Focus Blast, and could run Substitute as well to avoid being hit by Amoonguss status which would have otherwise stopped it. No matter how you swung it, you could find the Zeraora set that fit your team and answered whatever major threats you wanted to answer.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
The pivot set was by far the most influential, as it significantly changed the way UU pivots would function for the duration of SS UU. Zeraora was so good at being a speedy Knock Pivot that after it rose to OU, people started looking for replacements. Thundurus was the most logical second-mon-up, as it was fast (though not nearly as fast as Zeraora), and had access to Knock + Volt/U-Turn. After that was banished to UUBL, Thundurus-T and Azelf assumed the primary role of this Knock style speedy pivot, but neither did it with the same ease as Zeraora, as Thundurus-T is just a bit too slow and if chipped it cannot deal with some of the elite speedy threats like Keldeo and Cobalion, while Azelf lacks the defensive typing and STAB Electric attack to do it as effectively. Not to mention that a max Speed Zeraora forced many set up sweepers and Choice Scarf users to run a +Speed nature, as Modest Kommo-o and Adamant Gyarados at +1 were still outsped by a Jolly Zeraora, and it could easily revenge with Play Rough or Plasma Fists. Since it fit on so many archetypes, it made your team better no matter what teammates you were using.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
There was no blanket check to Zeraora - its answers depended on what set it was using. Rhyperior was used to try to answer the Pivot set, but Zeraora adapted and many people started running Grass Knot with that set. Quagsire could answer the Bulk Up set pretty easily, but that was only on stall archetypes. Tangrowth could handle a +1 Blaze Kick easily, but people started getting clever and using some sort of disposable item like Lum Berry + Acrobatics. Scarf Krookodile was a good offensive check to it, but if it was behind a sub then you could be getting KO'd and hard switching in was very risky. Ironically your best answer was usually your own Volt Absorb Zeraora and you would just have to hope your EVs beat the other EVs, or you win a Speed tie (or lose a Speed tie if using Close Combat). It's hard to see anything in UU since Zeraora that has been so centralizing without being banned. Despite all of its qualities and mismatches, UU never suspected it and it just naturally rose to OU. Perhaps one day it will come back.
Salamence What effect did Salamence have on the metagame?
Ever with the introduction of Fairy-types knocking it down from OU, Salamence has been UU at some point in the generation, even being considered a titan of ORAS due to how insane its movepool was and was banned due to its counterplay being either too weak or too niche. Salamence lasted in the tier even less due to the introduction of Z-moves making it extremely difficult to check Dragon Dance sets, as there were virtually no way even some resists could handle a +1 Supersonic Skystrike. Salamence was one of the first Pokemon cut in Dexit, only coming back in the massive dump of Pokemon OU dropped onto the tier. Generation 8 has also blessed it with great buffs to its Flying-type STAB in Hurricane and Dual Wingbeat, and an indirect buff in Heavy-Duty Boots. Many assumed that it would be ban worthy, as who would really want to be taking on a DD Salamence that now had secondary STAB without the two turn Fly. Even then it could now ignore Stealth Rock with Heavy-Duty Boots. Then, many people was then realized that Dual Wingbeat is a way worse move than Flyinium Z, so people just preferred Gyarados anyway due to more consistent STAB and better coverage. Even with that, Salamence has been a top tier Pokemon during its time in the tier. Its introduction also knocked off the former king of the tier up until that point, Noivern, back down to RU, due to outclassing it in most facets.
From day one, Salamence has been a top tier Pokemon and strong check to physical attackers like, Blaziken, Victini, Scizor, Buzzwole, Conkeldurr, Zarude, and Excadrill thanks to Intimidate and Roost. Its great matchup against other hazard setters like Cobalion and Skarmory also makes it a consistent defogger for many bulky offense teams that wanted to role compress offense, defense and hazard control in one slot.
Dragon Dance sets can turn on its usual counterplay such as Nihilego, Thundurus, Choice Scarf Hydreigon by boosting both its Attack and Speed to ravage through weakened teams. Its choice of item is also helpful for breaking through teams like butter. Heavy-Duty Boots is obvious, Lum Berry lets it ignore status during its set up/sweep and Life Orb gives it better damage rolls on Aegislash with Earthquake and Primarina with Dual Wingbeat. Fire Blast is an option that nails Skarmory after Stealth Rock as well. Roost over Outrage and Intimidate over Moxie can help it bluff the special attacker set to let it lure in Nihilego well while helping its longevity.
This set has also been used on more balance and stall teams since they can be even sturdier checks to the previously mentioned threats the special attacker checks, while retaining its speed advantage over Hydreigon. Dual Wingbeat gives it a consistent STAB against threat to such teams like Substitute Keldeo. Toxic helps it cripple switch-ins like Thundurus-T. Flamethrower helps it against Scizor and Excadrill. Earthquake gives it the advantage of Nihilego matchup.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Being blessed with the pseudo-legendary stats, an amazing movepool, and Dragon typing, Salamence was bound to make an impact in UU. This also made it seem like a much more attractive pick over then tier king at the time Noivern. It has the advantage of much better bulk due combined with Intimidate, better offensive stats, and Dragon Dance to boost up and sweep. Noivern still definitely has a niche in the tier thanks to its much higher Speed and access to U-turn, but there is a reason that it is RU now. It initially shot up in usage all the way back in December, due to Blaziken holding the metagame in a chokehold, being one of the few reliable checks there were in the tier for it, even though it did not appreciate taking Knock Off. It only got better kept getting better as the tier evolved, since it no longer had to deal with powerful threats like Terrakion and Latias being banned, as well as other shifts like like Kyurem and Zeraora rising to OU and Buzzwole coming down as a new foe that it can check. Since then it has consistently been a top 5-10 Pokemon for the rest of the time in the tier's lifetime.
How do/did you deal with Salamence in UU?
Priority users such as Mamoswine and Lycanroc-D are great checks to any set of Salamence, since Ice Shard OHKOes it even at +1. Lycanroc-D is already naturally faster than it can switch into non-Draco Meteor special variants. They both don't appreciate switching into many of its other sets though
As mentioned previously Nihilego is one of the best checks there is to Salamence due its high HP and Special Defense helping it completely blank special variants letting it take Draco Meteor, letting it revenge kill it with Meteor Beam or Power Gem. It doesn't like to switch into defensive sets since it risks Earthquake and it can't check Dragon Dance variants at +1.
Specially defensive staples like Chansey can cripple it with status while Slowking can switch in to scout out the set and freely Teleport out. Mandibuzz can also nuke Dragon Dance sets with Foul Play.
Fairy-types are generally bulky enough to take even boosted hits from Salamence and KO if they also switch in to Outrage freely and either set up or KO it.
During generation 7, for a time Kommo'o was a healthy addition to the UU metagame with its broken Z move banned, however this broken Z move is what caused it to rise up to OU, where it stayed for the rest of the generation. Despite the removal of Z moves in generation 8, Kommo'o still had a solid role in the OU meta game when it came back in the isle of armor. However, it finally dropped to UU once again when the crown tundra was released. I will mainly be discussing it's effect on the tier during 2021. Kommo'o had always been an A rank mon in early 2021, and could preform as either a reliable offensive or defensive stealth rock setter, since body press was tailor made for defensive Kommo'o, but by far it's greatest trait was being one of the best options for hyper offense teams, due to how strong its clangorous soul set was with screens up, and also had access to both swords dance and dragon dance. Hyper offense was a dominant threat from January to February(and only a slight drop-off in its popularity as a screen abuser in March), with ladder being absolutely demolished by it during this time period. And then on May 24th, 2021, disaster struck for hyper offense players. Light clay was officially banned, and both screens offense and Grimmsnarl were dead in UU. However this didn't deter Kommo'o very much, since it was still an amazing Pokémon when it wasn't preoccupied with abusing dual screens, and the swords dance set was seeing a greater rise in usage, and thanks to bulletproof it was one of the greatest ghost switch-ins in the tier. It was a really good pokemon in UU, and then things got even better for it in October and November. In October UU had one of the biggest metagame shifts it had received since the crown tundra released, with OU taking both Buzzwole and Pelliper, and Excadrill, Mandibuzz, Hydreigon, Skarmory, Swampert, and Slowking dropping to UU, on top of Latias getting a retest. Despite all of these new drops and additions, this was when Kommo'o went from being a great Pokémon in the tier, to being one of the tier's best Pokémon. Kommo'o was one of the most versatile Pokémon in UU, with access to stealth rock, solid physical and special attack, solid 75/125/105 bulk, and the ability to run 4 different sweeping sets and run all of them effectively. And then, we get to the climax of Kommo'o's UU adventures. During October, the user Twilight created by far one of the most used sample teams on the ladder, which was one of the things to get the second reign of hyper offense going in 2021, with many mid to high ladder players using this team, or variants of it(https://pokepast.es/3fa6fbdd54521d9b). Kommo'o was easily one of the biggest threats in UU, and could also provide some of the best defensive utility as well. Eventually this reached a boiling point, and Kommo'o was suspected on November 3rd, 2021, and then later banned, since being a jack of all trades, and a master of most makes a Pokémon unhealthy for the metagame, and a complete nightmare in the builder.
In what main roles was Kommo'o used?
Kommo-o @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
This Kommo'o set was one of the best defensive stealth rock setters in the tier, being able to act as a reliable check to many of the physical attackers in the tier, such as Krookodile, Excadrill, Jirachi, offensive Tapu Bulu, Zarude, scarf Diggersby, Darmanitan, Scizor, and Mienshao, and is very good at both setting up stealth rocks and spreading toxic.
This Kommo'o set was a more offensively oriented take on the usual defensive stealth rock setter, being able to throw out two of it's most powerful stab moves, and even being able to have either clanging scales or close combat act as a pivoting move, thanks to eject pack. This Kommo'o set was a very threatening mixed attacker, and could be made even more threatening if one decided to use life orb over eject pack for even more power, and you could use either poison jab for the tier's fairies, or flamethrower to melt Aegislash, other steels not weak to fighting, and the grasses in the tier. Due to the high base power of both of its stab moves, this set could be difficult to switch into safely, and could threaten Excadrill attempting to spin the rocks away.
This was Kommo'o's most dangerous set by far, and the main catalyst to its ban. it could easily clean up weakened the opponent's teams, or can weaken opposing teams for its teammates to clean up. It's not surprising that having an omni boosting move is overpowered, but with the only cost being losing 33% health, and the move in question also activating throat spray, Kommo'o was destined to be a menace on hyper offense as soon as it dropped. once Kommo'o uses clangorous soul, it becomes incredibly hard to stop. Unless your opponent has either a Primarina or Chansey, Kommo'o is very hard to force out, especially when you consider that you get +1 in speed and both defenses, and +2 in special attack. This was the most feared set in Kommo'o's arsenal, and was one of the biggest threats in the meta.
Remember how I mentioned Primarina being one of the only answers to clangorous soul Kommo'o? Well it gets folded by the swords dance variant, especially if the Kommo'o is running poison jab and life orb. This was another threatening set Kommo'o could run, and it was very good at running it, easily being able to break through weakened teams after a single swords dance.
This set is rather similar to the swords dance set, and did much similar things. Usually this set wasn't used as much though, since while it was still threatening in its own right, Salamence was preferred as a dragon dance sweeper thanks to its ability moxie, and was often overshadowed by Kommo'o's other 2 main setup sweeper sets, but this was still a great set it could run.
I don't know too much about this set because it was fairly uncommon, but from what I do know Kommo'o was very hard to stop once it got up a substitute, used belly drum, and activated salac berry, and could sometimes just win the game when used correctly.
What caused Kommo'o to have a significant impact?
The main reason to why Kommo'o had such an impact on the tier was due to its immense versatility. Being able to do so many things on different teams and do all of them incredibly well is an amazing quality for any Pokémon to have, and that was certainly no exception for Kommo'o, it was able to fit on multiple styles of teams, and fulfil whatever role that was needed on the team, on top of being on one of the most popular sample teams for this generation of UU. It also had a big impact since the meta was often favorable to it, especially with hyper offense being a dominant playstyle twice, and fighting types being great in the meta as well. Despite its 4x weakness to fairy, Kommo'o has a great typing, being a dragon type able to break through steel types with its secondary stab, and having a multitude of useful defenses, and 2 of the best immunity abilities in the game, being the sole reason why Nihilego had to run sludge wave for so long, and why it could reliably deal with ghost types despite not actually resisting ghost itself. It was one of the best stealth rock setters, one of the best early to mid game breakers, and one of the best late game cleaners the tier's ever had. One of the biggest negative impacts it had though was its constraints on the team builder. Like I mentioned earlier, Primarina can reliably beat the clangorous soul variant of Kommo'o, yet easily loses to any of its physical sweeping sets. This is true about a lot of other Pokémon that check one set but fold to the other, but I'll talk more about those cases in the next segment. Having to account for all 6 of Kommo'o's sets just to not lose to the set you didn't prepare for is incredibly unhealthy for the teambuilder, and the overall meta as a whole. While Kommo'o was relatively balanced when it was in generation 7 UU before OU stole it, this sadly wasn't the case for generation 8 UU, where it's issues became more and more hard to deal with, resulting in it finally being banned from the tier in November. Kommo'o definitely had a big impact on the tier, and I firmly believe that it was one of the top 10 titans of the UU metagame.
How did you deal with Kommo'o?
Both stealth rock setting versions of Kommo'o could be easily dealt with by fairies, fast psychics and bulky psychics, strong flying types, and is prone to being revenge killed by Mamoswine. The clangorous soul variant was dealt with reliably by mainly just Primarina and Chansey, the swords dance, dragon dance, and belly drum variants were dealt with by Tangrowth, Skarmory, and Slowking(aside from the belly drum variant). However, the main issue here is that most of these sets require vastly different checks, and a lot of these checks lose to other variants of Kommo'o. Chansey can beat clangorous soul Kommo'o easily, but it loses to all other Kommo'o variants since every other major set ran a physical fighting type move. Skarmory and Tangrowth can reliably check the physical sweeping variants, but got burnt to a crisp by flamethrower from the defensive, mixed, and clangorous soul variants. At first this was ignored due to the absurd power level of early crown tundra, but as the tier started to settle down and more problematic Pokémon were banned, the issues Kommo'o presented to the tier began to show more and more, and it became clear just how hard it was to deal with. While it was possible to deal with every set of Kommo'o with a good gameplan, this wasn't enough to justify it being as hard to deal with on teams as it was with its multiple sets.
Only dropping to UU when DLC 2 arrived, Amoonguss has been a staple of Bulky Offense teams since then. At first it was almost mandatory on teams as it was one of the only counters of Zeraora that didn't mind a knock off, however, it has remained relevant thanks to great bulk and Regenerator while being able to basically invalidate a Pokemon with spore and spread status (Not to mention the great synergy it has with other defensive staples). Spore in particular has been so incredibly warping on the teambuilder, that having a sleep absorber of sorts was and still is almost mandatory on every team. Sleep Talk Specs Hydreigon Vanilluxe and Chandelure, Googles G-Slowbro Skarmory and Scizor and Googles/Substitute Kommo-o. Being able to abuse Amoonguss has been incredibly important during all DLC 2.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Amoonguss has solely been used as a defensive Pokemon that could pivot into various attackers thanks to good typing and Regenrator, however its biggest strength is to reliably put something to sleep for the rest of the team to capitalize on, a 100% sleep move is what really puts it above other defensive Pokemon, Its especially effective at this thanks to STAB Sludge Bomb to threaten grass types. Its poison typing also makes it immune to Toxic and being poisoned, a common tactic to get rid of walls.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Amoonguss has been so incredibly splashable, and especially very easy to build with. Slapping an Amoonguss and a Water type already can be a good foundation for both defensive and offensive teams. With Spore it can create pseudo-momentum and this alone can enable so many other offensive Pokemon making it a building crutch for so many players.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Simply making it waste its spore, once the sleep is burned amoonguss becomes very passive and easy to exploit by basically every poison immune Pokemon, even then many others don't mind taking a Sludge Bomb poison. For this same reason Safety Googles Pokemon started being used, as amoonguss is a sitting duck against them. Breakers and setup sweepers that could muscle past amoonguss have been incredibly relevant like Mamoswine, Chandelure, Zygarde, Kommo-o, Victini. Exploiting amoonguss's passivity, tendency to get pivoted on and the fact that its a grass that doesn't resist ground.
The effect this pokemon had was being a huge threat in the isle of armor meta and a good pokemon in general ever since the crown tundra. This pokemon can abuse CM to setup on many grass types of the tier, it was consistent in its role of being a defensive presence with AV, a consistent pokemon to setup CM and spread status to cripple many of its would be checks/counters. It was a clear S rank in the isle of armor meta. Many pokemon just flat out feared to check its CM set as it can cripple them for something else to abuse, poisoning krookodile or rhyperior and giving rotom's a lot more freedom to spam volt switch or crippling steel types such as doublade and bisharp to make sure they aren't going to pose a threat.
This continued into the crown tundra where it settled into the B+ rankings as it made itself a bulky special wall since many more pokemon shut down the cm set now with aegislash in the tier, excadrill, zygarde-10%, hydreigon, specs keldeo, nidoking, nidoqueen, and some more can theaten the CM set now which caused its slight fall... its av set is its best set due to its high bulk and its ability to spread status and not being as passive unlike something such as umbreon, chansey, av tangrowth, mandibuzz and some more.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
In the isle of armor and early crown tundra the calm mind set was the star of the show. It boasted such great bulk that even hits from krookodile, doublade, zarude, incineroar, obstagoon would not do much especially with the appropiate resist berry since it was so bulky on the physical side. After a boost it was so bulky that it could tank many super effective hits easily on the special side such as specs keldeo hydro pump, starmie's attacks, and some more.
Now it uses an assault vest set to tank hits from special pokemon such as salamece, primarina, moltres, meteor beam nihilego, starmie, raikou and potentially some more. It can setup future sight for its teammates to abuse and itself since it is good at generating opportunities for itself while it could just fire off shell side arms to threaten poisons that could vitally cripple many pokemon
What caused it to have a significant impact?
The immense bulk of the CM set and the threat of being burnt or poisoned while trying to check it caused such an impact that it was S tier and it can easily snowball out of control. Assault vest sets nowdays are just bulky walls that stand in the way of special based pokemon that give it opportunities to click its attacks which is still very good
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
in DLC 1 i dealt with it via my own slowbro-g, rest talk obstagoon, specs chandelure with teleport chansey, and just pressuring it with spikes to make it hard for it to find opportunities to setup. Nowdays is to double switch and pressure it from the physical side with powerful attacks and also knocking off the assault best makes it very difficult for it to check the pokemon it would want to such as salamence, moltres, keldeo, primarina, etc
Cobalion has been a consistent contender in the tier, always having found its way into the A+ and A ranks throughout the tier's history, and only truly finding a low point in the early Crown Tundra meta. This consistency amongst all three iterations of the tiers mainly stems from Cobalion's multiple incredible traits. It’s typing is unique, and alongside its great physical Defense, has acted as a check to great Pokemon like Bisharp, Mimikyu, Sylveon, and Zarude defensively. It also has a great movepool, boasting many good utility options like Stealth Rock and Volt Switch. Cobalion is also one of the most fearsome offensive threats in the tier with a solid Swords Dance set. The threat potential it boasted with this SD set was especially noticed in the IoA meta, where it was considered an absolute top tier pick.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Cobalion has had two major niches in the metagame - a utility pivot option and a Swords Dance breaker / sweeper.
Utility Cobalion was one of the most reliable hazard setters in the tier, boasting solid
What caused it to have a significant impact?
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Throughout the tier's history, Cobalion has had few answers. However, in the current metagame, there are a good number of valid checks. The most notable is Aegislash, which more or less hard walls Cobalion and uses it as fodder. Other good checks include Ground-types like Nidoking and Zygarde-10%, bulky Water-types like Rotom-W, Tentacruel, and Quagsire, and other Pokemon like Slowbro-Galar and Celesteela.
Incineroar was unquestionable one of the most dominant forces that has ever arrived to UU, more specific during the HOME metagame when it arrived (March 2020) until it started to be completely forgetable when DLC 2 came. It was a staple on Bulky offense and balance, but it was also usable on HO with a Sword Dance set and was usable on Stall with a SleepTalk set. This pokemon was capable to keep in check staples during that time like Bronzong, Necrozma, Slowbro-G, Celebi and Zarude when it was released. Other pokemon that it checked that were more niche-yet dangerous were Polteageist and Chandelure. It was a A rank pokemon the first time it was introduced and slowly but surely makingway into S rank. Incineroar also was the reason why Psychic types sometines used a Colburr Berry as their item in order to be able to lure it and play around it.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
This pokemon was capable to be used on HO builds with Sword Dance and Stall with SleepTalk set as I mentioned before, however, the main role this pokemon had was being used as a pivot on Bulky offense/Balance teams. It was the main Ghost resist of the metagame (everyone who has played SS knows how broken Ghost types are) and also the main Knock Off user having Stab on it. Also being a Ghost resit pokemon that wasn't weak to Grass, instead of it being a Grass resit allowed teams to not get murdered by Polteagesit and it dangerous Shell Smash set.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Incineroar on the previus generation wasn't even considered as a pick in UU, but there are 3 main changes that allowed Incineroar to be a top tier pick when it arrived:
1. Abusing the new introduced item Heavy-Duty-Boots, removing the Stealth Rock weakness that hindered his pivot capabilities.
2. The new move that it was given to it, Parting Shot, previusly a exclusive move from Pangoro, this move allowed Incineroar to escape from an uncomfortable situation, this has the same switching effect as U-turn (move that Incineraor already had) but with the effect of lowering the opponent offensive stats by 1 stage, this means that whoever was joining after Incineroar, it would take less damage from the opponent move.
3. Due to the Pursuit remove, Ghost types became broken in SS, and Incineroar having both Ghost resist and Stab Knock Off both thanks to the Dark typing allowed to be the Ghost-buster of the tier.
Incineroar fited perfectly in the tier, alongside to the previus listed changes, other aspecs of Incineroar that already had on the previus generation helped a lot to shine. Intimidate, one of the best abilities of the game, allowed it to pivot on physical attackers, even if Incineroar didn,t exactly check some physical attackers during those times like Flygon, or risk a Close Combat from Cobalion, just the ability to soft their physical moves and then pivot on something else made excelent pairings. It also had a really mixed and solid bulk, non of them being really hight but good enought to take hits, a 95/90/90 defensive stats alongise intimidate was a pretty good combo, you were able to adjust your Incineroar bulk as you wished, the variations were inmense, you coould EV it on SpDef so it would have an easier time removing item from Noivern (another top pick around those times) and Sylveon, a more Phy Def to be even bulkier on that side and abuse more Intimidate. Incineroar was so common and flexible on the EVs side, that some people began to use their own Incineroar to lure into the opponents Incineroar, there were faster Incineroars with Close Combat to destroy other Incineroar, peope even considered the trait of a Knock Off exchange between 2 Incineroar so the opposing Incineroar would became less consistent due to losing Heavy Duty Boots.
Due to Mega Evolutions and Z moves being removed, have acces to Knock Off became even more valuable than ever, Incineroar abused this as well, anything that switched to Incineroar would be punished in some way, either losing an item, taking a huge damage from Flare Blitz, get statused with either Will-o-Wisp or Toxic, or just getting pivoted by Parting Shot giving the chance to the opponent to send a wallbreaker.
If you wanna know if there was a specific pokemon that paired with incineroar made a pretty good core, well, to be honest almost any pokemon was a good pair for Incineroar, just to look as some examples, Incineroar + Noiven + Rotom-Wash formed a pretty standar and good pivoting core, Incineroar + Specs Keldeo also made play around them even harder, Incineroar + Sylveon provided a way to Incineroar to heal thanks to Wish from Sylveon, in return Incineroar can deal with Steel types so Sylveon can pass Wishes and deal with Fighting types that annoyed Inci. Incineroar was good and splashable on teams, being on the tops of usages on both ladder and tournaments
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Incineroar had a huge amount of good qualities and tools, but it had 3 main issues:
1. It relied on Heavy-Duty-Boots in order to be consistent, losing them would make it less consistent as it has both a Stealth Rock weakness and no direct recovery.
2. It was vulnerable to status, meaning that if this pokemon gets poisoned, its likely to not force as many progress as you might want.
3. It was slow, meaning that there would be circunstances that you wont be able to pivot with Parting Shot against the opponent, and it wasn't that hard to send on a faster threat that forced it to manually switch out.
Fighting types were the main offensive counterplay against Incineroar, Cobalion, Keldeo, Terrakion and Pangoro were the most common ones.
Coverage moves on Psychic types like Focus Blast Reuniclus, Earth Power Necrozma (didn't have acces to Meteor Beam yet), and Scald Slwobro-G were adapted to deal with Incinearoar, some Reuniclus sets used Knock Off to reomove Heavy-Duty-Boots.
Water types like Keldeo, Rotom-Wash and Primarina cased troubles to it, tho the first 2 didnt enjoy getting their Item removed or get statused.
Incineroar was a top pick on the UU metagame, until it died as a whole when DLC 2 came, the metagame became both faster and stronger, Incineroar speed became mediocre for the tier standars, it didn,t have the same defensive valuable typing as a pivot, and more Dark types were introduced, and Zarude fited better on that new metagame and became the new premier Dark Type. Now days Incineroar is a pretty niche pick, as it is outclassed as a Dark type by Hydreigon, Zarude and Krookodile, all of them having more valuable qualities, also being a Fire Types unable to constantly check Scizor and being a Dark types that will get pusnished by Aegislash by either taking a Close Combat or Toxic makes it even worse.
Obstagoon has has a Rollercoaster of a UU metagame. Starting this generation instantly banned from UU alongside other broken monsters like Gengar and Crawdaunt, became a top tier threat in DLC1 and now its niche. The fact it was banned in the beginning instantly is a testament to its power
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Obstagoon was used as a Guts Facade wallbreaker, difference to Conkeldurr is STAB Facade and STAB Knock Off and alot faster with 95 Speed, crippling its checks and counters. Switchins were very few and far in between in the beginning. Switcheroo can cripple and burn walls while negating its burn damage or remove the boots. in DLC1, Obstagoon viably run a Resttalk set for better longevity and still be able to break walls. Close Combat gives perfect coverage to hit Steel types. Now Obstagoon can take advantage of sub toxic Aegislash
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Obstagoon in DLC0 became the face of UU Automatically with an easily abusable movepool that allows Obstagoon to cripple its checks. Obstagoon even ran Defiant Choice Scarf to abuse Defog. Lack of reliable switch ins made Obstagoon a tall task to check. Obstagoon gave viability to Weezing-Galar. Weezing was a pillar of stall teams at the time just to answer Obstagoon. As soon as DLC2 came in Obstagoon became from powerful to Niche still decent wall breaker due to the abundance of Fighting types.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Weezing-Galar was the best check with Neutralizing Gas negating Guts to check Obstagoon. The fast fighting types when they dropped in DLC1 metagame all offensively check Obstagoon which made Obstagoon drop from BL. Speed creep and Power creep for offense decreased any viability and Obstagoon when from Broken to Top Tier to now Niche.
Zygarde-10% has stuck around the SS UU metagame for a while, but it's presence has been most felt more recently. Its elite Speed tier combined with Thousand Arrows having very few resists has made it a very low-cost high-reward mon to use, making it an immediate threat to almost anything not named Tangrowth or Tapu Bulu. The recent surge of Zygarde-10% has been many months in the making since the departure of Buzzwole, a common answer, to OU in past shifts. Even a physical wall like Skarmory cannot switch in due to Thousand Arrows being a 2HKO. While it is a risky switch-in due to its paper thin defenses, it also stops a lot of Rotom-based volt turn sequences. Zygarde-10% has pretty much mandated that all teams have a Grass-type on their team that can take a Thousand Arrows hit. Even Zarude, a naturally bulky Grass type, can be in trouble if Zydog clicks Superpower or it's worn down enough.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Zygarde-10% is almost exclusively used as a Choice Band breaker or cleaner. While other sets do exist, such as Glare, Coil + Thousand Waves, or Dragon Dance, they all see minute usage compared to the standard Choice Band set. Thousand Arrows is typically clicked 90% of the time, while Outrage and Extreme Speed are easy second options. The last move is typically Toxic, Superpower, Skitter Smack, or a number of other options depending on what the team needs. Since Zygarde outspeeds almost all of the most dangerous threats in SS UU, such as Keldeo, Nihilego, and Thundurus-T, it can clean up effortlessly once the enemy is withered down.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Thousand Arrows is one of the most broken moves in all of Pokemon, and this is why Zygarde-10% is so dangerous. It has the ability to OHKO Rotoms, as well as near OHKO Thundurus. It can 2HKO Skarmory and Celesteela on the switch in. Air balloons on Aegislash have no effect. And with its unbelievable Speed, it is one of the easiest mons to use and abuse. And having 80 BP priority in Extreme Speed allows it to revenge set up sweepers like Gyarados. There aren't really any Pokemon quite like Zygarde-10%, and it appears it will remain an SS UU staple as the tier winds down.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Tangrowth, Tapu Bulu, or fully Physically defensive Amoonguss. Those were the only reliable answers to Zygarde-10% defensively until Hippowdon's recent drop, though that also isn't always a perfect defensive check, and three out of four of these can be hit with a Toxic on a switch in. If you don't have one of these on your team, then you are usually relying on something like Zarude to not get worn down too easily, as Zarude being the only Thousand Arrows resist puts a lot of pressure on staying healthy. Other niche answers like Dhelmise have also popped up, but they are less common. Offensively, it can be checked by Mamoswine, but beyond that there aren't many offensive answers that are commonly used, and you have to start looking at things like Crobat and Noivern, or a Choice Scarf user, to be able to deal with the dawg.
It made HO the shining star of the meta and was spammed to no tomorrow. It was spammed like no tomorrow around may 2021 and was the only team that was used on the ladder during that time and the main abuses of it were moltres-g, gyarados, and kommo-o. They were brutal to deal with under screens esp with 8 turns of setting up which gives a lot of room to just set them up, switch out, and setup. The main pokemon were bulky as hell and could easily setup under screens and were very very hard to deal with. Grimmsnarl having prankster as well made denying screens a pain in the ass.. oh did i forget to mention prankster taunt which denied any opportunity at removing the hazards. Screens were to good with light clay and gave to much turn to the abusers to just roll over teams and this was seen by the abundance of it on ladder
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
lmao unless ur KM ur mostly gonna be using a screens set and not a barbari berry fire punch grimmsnarl for scizor.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
The ability to set screens with ease and the ability to deny opposing pokemon from removing it via defog.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
You either knock off its light clay and try to stall out screen turns. Or you spam the living shit out of priority users which is what i did and it worked somehow. Or you use your own HO and it just comes down to who haxes who more
stealing smogon blade and shield reservation from user: moutemoute
(if someone can send me the animated avatar/edit it in that would be appreciated)
What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
It has consistently been one of the most dominating forces that this metagame has to offer, and it is one that has gotten banned from UU once again. It initially got ranked A in the viability ranks after getting unbanned, which, looking back, was definitely the wrong placement for it, and it has since risen to and stayed in S rank for its duration. With great offensive and defensive typing, an ability that allows it to transform into a strong attacker or a strong defender on both ends, and a fairly expansive move set, it commands a high level of respect when taking it into account on the teambuilder.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
In this current meta, SubToxic is currently its most potent set as it takes the most advantage of the fact that teams have trended towards slower, fatter builds, while providing strong defensive utility of its own. However, offensive sets are still super potent and do a fantastic job of wallbreaking. Choice Specs blasts through stuff that would otherwise be decent switch-ins to SubToxic. Swords Dance + Kings Shield became popular prior to Scizor and Hippowdon dropping, as it proved to be a lethal sweeper. SubKS + 2 attacks (usually Shadow Ball + Flash Cannon/Close Combat) takes good advantage of both its offensive and defensive capabilities. Choice Band and Autotomize can also put in strong work, although those two sets are far less common than the others.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
One big takeaway from Aegislash is its unrivaled ability to adapt to metagame changes and retain its dominance. As mentioned above, it takes multiple checks on a team just to effectively pressure it, and as more sets have gotten added to its arsenal, it has continued to become a more meta-restricting force. There are plenty of plausible reasons why a large part of this community wanted it gone, and I see this as one of those huge reasons.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
While there are plenty of offensive threats around to threaten Aegislash, there are not very many good, consistent switch-ins to its wide variety of sets. Chansey, Amoonguss and AV Tangrowth can help scout its potential set, with the latter threatening it with Knock Off, but they generally struggle to deal with it 1v1, especially against its SubToxic set. Zarude is a great switch-in to SubToxic and can threaten it back with Lariat, but it has to be wary of CC/Specs Flash Cannon if the set hasn't been revealed, and it especially must be wary of getting PP stalled by it. In a solid 8 out of 10 situations, pressuring it offensively is the way to go, as it sits in a relatively slow speed tier and any miscues in its Blade forme can be very easily taken advantage of, especially when it opts not to run King's Shield.
Thundurus What effect did Thundurus have on the metagame?
Thundurus was really held back in the beginning of the DLC 2 meta, due to the excellence of Zeraora as competition as an Electric-type pivot with Knock Off, made it very hard to justify lower speed and a lack of an Electric immunity. Once Zeraora rose to OU it lost its main competitor, and with July taking Mew and Scizor away, Thundurus just became plain oppressive.
This is Thundurus' bread and butter set. Psychic is great coverage in tandem with Thunderbolt, as it hit the most popular Electric resists like Kommo-o and Amoonguss super effectively. Knock Off lets it brute force through checks like Chansey, Tangrowth, and Rotom-H, by removing their Eviolite, Assault Vest, and Heavy-Duty Boots respectively, making them easier to wear down over the course of the game. U-turn was its preferred pivoting move, as it has no immunities and would greatly dent Krookodile and Zarude that can switch into its other moves. Defiant gives it the Attack boost via the aforementioned Krookodile's Intimidate or Aegislash's King's Shield. Volt Switch could also be used alongside Grass Knot to lure in and crush counters like Rhyperior and Gastrodon.
This set trades in the pivoting to act as a late-game cleaner on bulky offense and hyper offense teams. Focus Blast is fantastic coverage in tandem with its moves to break through foes that can take them on like Chansey and Krookodile. Defiant helps it bluff the pivot set. However, it must be said that Thundurus-Therian was usually the better choice for a Nasty Plot sweeper, due to its higher Special Attack, and further support like Sticky Web to overcome the lower Speed.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Thundurus' amazing 111 base Speed let it zip past many already faster threats like Keldeo, Zarude, and Nihilego. This and its coverage let it force switches easily, letting Thundurus pivot out with ease. Heavy-Duty Boots also let it come in much more easily without worrying about the sneaky pebbles. Moreover, there were no naturally faster Knock Off users other than Choice Scarf Krookodile, which would proc Defiant and get 2HKOed by U-turn or have its Choice Scarf removed, and Azelf, which was niche at the time.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
Thundurus was a team building nightmare, as its checks were very specific, such as Choice Scarf Krookodile, Assault Vest Tangrowth, Rhyperior, and other niche options like Gastrodon and Flygon, none of which being foolproof checks either. They would either get pivoted out on, have their items removed, blasted by coverage, or taken out with brute force on Nasty Plot sets.
This left priority users like Lycanroc, Mamoswine, and Azumarill as some of the few somewhat reliable checks to it, but towards the end of its time in the tier, Thundurus could run a few Defense EVs to even live Lycanroc-D's Life Orb and Tough Claws-boosted Accelerock.
Due to their higher speed, Zygarde-10%, Azelf, and Starmie outspeed and revenge killed it, but they really couldn't switch in safely without taking heavy damage or being crippled by Knock Off.
The Sun Squad, composed of Venusaur, Torkoal, Darmanitan, and 3 fillers, has been omnipresent in SS UU since Venusaur was unbanned. Venusaur is good enough in sun to sweep entire teams, including stall teams, and you cannot go one SS UU ladder session without running into at least one sun squad. Without Venusaur, Sun would not be very viable, and as such it has anchored this playstyle for over a year. The playstyle is good enough to see major tour usage as well, with SS UU Sun teams w/ Venusaur being brought in major circuit tours like UU Open and Masters, as well as team tours like UUPL and UUSD.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Sun sweeper is its only role, as after one Growth in Sun it can just sweep you if you are ill-prepared. Giga Drain lets it set up and beat Chansey on stall teams, while Weather Ball eliminates Steel types. Sludge Bomb is the last move of choice since it's STAB, but Venusaur can run things like Earth Power or even Earthquake to eliminate its most common checks like Nihilego and Chandelure.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
The relative ease of use of a Sun team has made Venusaur Sun an SS UU ladder revelation. Ever since Kommo-o was banned, it has taken off tremendously and to much success. Grass + Fire is a crazy offensive combo, as Weather Ball + Giga Drain has practically no answers other than dragons, but then those are handled by Sludge Bomb. In fact, other than Chandelure, there is no Pokemon that sees usage that resists all of Venusaur's attack, and as previously stated even those have to watch out for a rare Ground attack. Even in the most recent UULT, one of the qualifiers made it using purely a sun team the entire time.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
When Kommo-o was back in the tier, that was the easiest answer, as it resisted Fire and Grass and was immune to Sludge Bomb. After it left, you had to resort to Chandelure, Nihilego, or Tentacruel to attempt to defensively "check" it, though this usually just meant trading. If you had a Mandibuzz, you would usually need to EV it to withstand a +2 Weather Ball so that you could Foul Play. Priority users like Scizor and Zygarde-10% can help finish it if it's sufficiently withered down. Other niche options like Snorlax can help a little, or Ditto to revenge it. And if all that fails, you just have to try to stall out the sun with protect mons or predicts on switching out to other mons.
Buzzwole was very important from its drop in april 2021 till its rise in october 2021. it was a definitive part of the meta as a great wall to many pokemon, a great offensive pokemon, and formed a great core with roserade which skyrocketed its usage. It pretty much stone walled alot of pokemon in the tier and had many viable sets during that 6 month period while also applying a lot of pressure in return.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
It was used mainly as a 3 attacks wallbreaker that would break through teams using its sheer power with LO and would nuke a lot of pokemon out of the park such as 2hko'ing skarmory after stealth rocks, and using its coverage to nail targets such as salamence with ice punch, and moltres with stone edge.
Defensive was usable as a stone wall to most physical attackers such as lycanroc-d, zarude, mamoswine, tapu bulu, diggersby, crawdaunt, rhyperior, and some more. It threatened them with BU or toxic to force progress on them.
Choice band was usable as a nuclear wallbreaker that took opportunities on pokemon such as umbreon, chansey, rhyperior, zarude, and more and would 2hko even potential resists. It was quite prediction reliant and sacrificed a ton of utility but it was certainly usable
What caused it to have a significant impact?
its massive phys. def bulk caused it to have a significant impact on the tier as it stone walled a lot of them and can force progress on them. It also was plenty powerful with beast boost making it so it can either be stupid powerful after one or stupid unbreakable on the physical side. The many sets also caused it to have a lot of diversity and customization in what it can do
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
you dealt with it by crippling it with toxic, throwing special attacks at it, or be an amoonguss and annoy it with rocky helmet, sludge bomb poisons, and being able to shrug of its hits.
Been well past 24 hours so im taking Zarude from Starfalcon555
Enter your nominee's sprite here.
What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
Zarude has provided a lot to the development of the tier, for its ease of use by being a pivot that also has solid resistances, a solid speed tier, and ability to shrug off status with Jungle Healing. Pokemon such as Buzzwole and Cobalion were sometimes forced to run Rocky Helmet in part because of how difficult it would be to punish Zarude for spamming U-turn otherwise. It helped give rise to a lot of VoltTurn teams that would define several stages of the metagame, and helped fulfill other niches as other playstyles like hyper offense or balance became more prominent.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Zarude is most known for being a pivot with Heavy-Duty Boots, taking major advantage against common Pokemon throughout certain stages like Krookodile, Slowking, and Hippowdon. Alongside this, Choice Scarf was one of the better revenge killers of the tier, getting rid of setup sweepers like Gyarados or otherwise faster threats like Azelf. Choice Band was also seen on occasion as the additional raw power made Zarude capable of overwhelming answers such as Salamence and helped ensure other Pokemon such as Aegislash wouldn't retaliate with close combat if not at full health.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Many of Zarude's qualities contributed to its impact on the tier; being a grass-type that can also gain momentum easily was very beneficial for Zarude to take easy advantage of Pokemon such as Krookodile, Zygarde-10%, Slowking, and Rotom while Jungle Healing provided the means to shrug off any status while preserving some of its health, ensuring its longevity. Zarude's solid speed tier also made it great at pivoting out of dangerous Pokemon such as Salamence and naturally revenge killing Pokemon such as Jirachi and Thundurus-T. Its ghost resistance was monumental during Aegislash's time in the tier for its ability to check SubTox sets. Heavy-Duty Boots made it very difficult to punish without a rocky helmet user; additionally its ability to use Choice Scarf or even band let its user pick out its role better. It paired well with many other pivots such as Rotom, Thundurus, and Mienshao while facilitating scary wallbreakers such as Mamoswine and Azelf.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
One of Zarude's bigger problems is that its a grass-type that has the worst matchup spread against the other grass-type Pokemon. Tangrowth, Amoonguss, and even Tapu Bulu gave it grief. The rise in Rocky Helmet usage on Pokemon such as Skarmory, Buzzwole, and Cobalion throughout certain periods did it no favors as well. Jungle Healing does heal off status but its reliance to spend a turn on it could make it more vulnerable to aggressive counterplay, and teams that had SubTox Aegislash also began running Pokemon like Umbreon and Slowking that would also force it to eventually run out of PP, winning the war of attrition against Zarude. Also unlike some of the other Grass-types, it had issues against some of the water-types like Primarina and Keldeo so its team would have to make special accommodations for them.
Popping in for one more just to make sure it's on the list for voting:
Celesteela
What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
Celesteela landed in SS UU with a big boom and has stood the test of time, being a prime SS UU option for the entirety of the metagame post-Crown Tundra. It is easily one of the most annoying things to face with its Leech Seed/Protect set, which has been the primary set for a while. It's ability to sponge special hits made it so annoying that people were calling for its ban early during its stay in the metagame, citing ways how it can 1v1 Magnezone and Volcanion which shouldn't be possible. Eventually people learned to play around it with bulky grass types + knocking its leftovers, but every now and then you can find a unique set, such as Substitute/Toxic or Choiced, as it has access to a wide movepool to allow for some experimentation. And let's not forget the standard HO Meteor Beam set which is a staple on many HO teams, and which some of have said is actually not on the fringe of being overpowered. The versatility it brings to SS UU, and its uniqueness that leaves nothing really to compare to it, have certainly made a lasting impression.
In what main roles was Pokemon used?
The main role of Celesteela is a special sponge that can annoy the team with Leech Seed/Protect shenanigans, while also offering moderately powerful attacks in Heavy Slam and coverage with Flamethrower. The HO Celesteela set is also a major menace, as after +1 Meteor Beam sets up, it can spiral out of control and unless you have a Chansey it's difficult to stop (and even Chansey can get flinched by Air Slash one too many times and lose). Its bulk allows it to set up seamlessly and fire off risk-free attacks on either set. The specially defensive set was also a key check to Aegislash while it was still in the metagame, as it pretty much stalled out the subtoxic set and threatened others with slower Flamethrower on sword form. All in all, the ability to be a sweeper and also a defensive backbone wrapped into one make Celesteela an excellent pick for any type of team.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Celesteela's bulk combined with its diverse movepool have given it an important function in SS UU that has rarely been seen in previous iterations or even previous generations. You have to dance around the Leech Seed so as to not let your whole team take chip too easily, sometimes switching to a grass hoping it doesn't flamethrower. Protect helps it punish many offensive teams that rely on volttturn, and its bulk lets it take Volt Switches fairly easily if you'd rather not switch and just Leech Seed what comes in. And the HO version has been a staple on all kinds of HO, giving the tier a bulky Steel type that can fire off powerful Special attacks with boosted Speed.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in UU?
For the standard Leech Seed set, a substitute water-type like Sub CM Keldeo can blanket check it. Otherwise, a slower pivot like Swampert or Slowking can take a Leech Seed and pivot out slowly to allow your new offensive answer (typically an Electric or Fire type) to come in fresh. Absent this, then Knock Off always cripples Celesteela, as the Leftovers + Leech Seed are its only form of recovery. You can even sacrifice a fire hit on Tangrowtth just to get the Knock Off done and it will usually be well worth it. For the HO set, your only real defensive answers are Chansey, Specially Defensive Quagsire, or an Assault Vest Pokemon like Reuniclus or Galarian Slowbro. Slowking will lose after one flinch and does not do enough damage in return, and other niche specially defensive mons like Goodra and Diancie are simply non-existent. Usually it's better to do as much damage as possible before it sets up with whatever you have on the field, and then hope you have something that doesn't die that can do the rest.
Nihilego What effect did Nihilego have on the metagame?
Nihilego has been on a steady rise throughout the generation, as most of the metagame changes have seen it benefit in one way or another. It being an Ultra Beast blesses it with great stats, movepool, and typing to hit Thundurus-T, Moltres, and Tangrowth super effectively, while checking many threats like Chandelure.
In what main roles was Nihilego used?
Nihilego @ Black Sludge
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock / Toxic Spikes / Grass Knot
- Power Gem
- Sludge Bomb
- Knock Off / Grass Knot / Hex
Nihilego's vast movepool and amazing coverage can let itself fit whatever role its team needs to. Power Gem and Sludge Bomb are its most reliable STAB moves, but it can mix and match its moveset from here. The most common one you would see is as a Stealth Rock setter, since it handles common Defoggers, with Knock Off, letting it remove items from checks like Swampert, Excadrill, and Aegislash. It could also run some auxiliary coverage to better handle checks. Grass Knot is the most common one, since it nails Hippowdon and Swampert, and could even be used over Stealth Rock if there is another setter. Hex hits Aegislash and Jirachi.
On more offensive and hyper offense teams, Nihilego can act as a deadly sweeper in the late game, thanks to Meteor Beam and Beast Boost. With 176 Special Attack EVs and a Timid nature, Nihilego boosts its Speed with Beast Boost to better sweep through teams and KO revenge killers like Azelf and Zarude. Thunderbolt lets it hit Celesteela super effectively and other Steel-types like Jirachi neutrally. Power Gem can be used as an alternative to hit Salamence super effectively without needing Meteor Beam. Grass Knot nails Hippowdon and Swampert.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Nihilego is one of the best Stealth Rock setters in the metagame since it could outspeed the most common form of hazard removal, Salamence. This also forced Moltres to run U-turn over Defog, since it would always let it in for free just to set up Stealth Rock again or KO it with Power Gem or Meteor Beam. Nihilego's dominance also led to more exploration of faster threats like Zygarde-10% and niche Pokemon like Inteleon. Its access to Knock Off also let it have so much utility throughout the game, as most of its checks can't afford to take it.
How do/did you deal with this Nihilego in UU?
Ground-types can pivot in and KO Nihilego with their quad-super effective STAB moves. Nidoking can pivot in on Stealth Rock sets, but it cannot switch into Meteor Beam sets since +1 Meteor Beam into Grass Knot will always KO it. Zygarde-10% and Krookodile outspeed and reveng kill Nihilego. Swampert and Hippowdon easily tank all of Nihilego's moves and coverage, except for Grass Knot. None of them like taking a Knock Off, since they all rely on their items for damage and general utility.
Similarly to Ground-types, Steel-types are immune to Nihilego's STAB moves and fire back with their moves. Excadrill is a near perfect counter to Nihilego, since it takes every one of its attacks, even boosted ones, and removes its hazards easily, allowing it to outspeed and KO it. Jirachi can revenge kill it with Choice Scarf Iron Head. Cobalion outspeeds and can use Nihilego as setup fodder, an opportunity to set up Stealth Rock, or pivot out. It also can easily take Knock Off. Specially defensive Celesteela can take +1 Thunderbolt and KO it with Heavy Slam. Aegislash could also set up a Substitute on it, but it has to be risky to not take a Knock Off,
Nihilego's horrible physical Defense makes it easy prey for priotity users to come in and revenge kil it, though they can never switch into it without risking heavy damage.
Chansey is the standard special wall to all of Nihilego's sets, but really doesn't want to take a Knock Off.
