Metagame Topic of the Week - Week 4 - Virizion

[Take Azelfie]

approved by atomicllamas

RU Topic of the Week
This thread aims to congegate together in order discuss current Pokemon, Metagame Trends, Playstyles, etc. in RU and we might be able to get a better understanding of the current metagame from doing so. In here you can discuss anything relevant to topic at hand but don't get too side tracked as then we start to lose focus. There will also be a slate of questions that you may answer in order to get the ball rolling for discussion but feel free to go off from those questions and even make up your own.

Week 4

Virizion

Virizion is one of the Pokemon that dominates the RU metagame being the best set up sweeper in the tier while also not being one dimensional as Swords Dance can run Stone Edge and Zen Headbutt while Calm Mind can run Hidden Power Ice or Substitute.​

• How do different archetypes usually overcome Swords Dance variants? What about for Calm Mind?
• What Pokemon / types form the best cores with Virizion and why?
• What trends does Virizion influence and why?
• Virizion is hardly ever seen using anything but Calm Mind and Swords Dance but are there other sets that can be used to a great deal of success? When would you use these sets? What does this set face competition from.
• Is Virizion a healthy pressence for the tier? Elaborate.

 

[Kableye]

does a discussion thread like this really need a hall of fame? i reorganized the questions in the order i covered them.

How does Fletchinder effect tembuilding? What playstyles does it fare well against and which does it not? What trends does Fletchinder influence if any?

fletchinder has always been an interesting pokemon to me. its always required an entire slot to beat it, even when it became popular in XY, so you could make the argument that fletchinder is centralizing. but at the same time, the pokemon you need to counter fletchinder are also great against the rest of the tier so i've never had THAT much of an issue with it. alomomola, mega steelix, rhyperior and so on are all great pokemon and have always been. fletchinder definitely has a great effect on hyper offense though, more than tyrantrum did I think. you need an electric type or pokemon that can switch-in at least once. stall is probably its worst matchup because its so easy to fit multiple counters to it on that play style. teams without fletchinder counters no matter the play style are bad, but not being prepared for fletchinder most likely means you arent prepared for the rest of the tier so id say fletchinder is just another one of those pokemon that fit in the "need bulky water / steel type" sub category.

What cores does Fletchinder support / get supported by? What are must haves for Fletchinder to succeed in battle?

fletchinder to me is best support by LOTS of wall breakers. like I said earlier fletch's only way to break its counters is will-o-wisp, and with the popularity of diancie/blastoise and alomomola thats not the best solution. fletchinder needs support to break through these walls such as abomasnow for steel types or drapion for ground types or emboar for bulky waters.

What other ways are there to use Fletchinder outside of its standard set? Are there other EV spreads that secure its matchups versus other Pokemon better?

I've said this before but I think people who use slow fletchinder are insane. Definitely always run speed for other fletchinder. Since it seems most people have adopted 0 speed fletchinder or only 8 speed depending on how fancy they are, so I've only been rocking a set that is tailored to live a modest lo venusaur sludge bomb from full (if you aren't poisoned thats a sd!). I know a lot of people hype Steel Wing Fletchinder and its definitely the better of the fletchinder lures ive seen in the past (im looking at you overheat and liechi berry fletchinder). Fletchinder is to me though more of a one trick pony, these sets have their pros but they are just lures, sets that only work in some games. overall i find wisp more useful and think uturn and spdef are just memes.

 

[atomicllamas]

This is actually a pretty good first topic for the first week of this given the recent meta game shift with the banning of Mega Steelix and Tyrantrum. On the surface this seems extremely positive for Fletchinder, as two strong checks were removed from the meta. On the other hand, I actually found Fletchinder to be a lot easier to check on the suspect ladder, the primary reason for this is that the only electric that successfully counters Fletchinder, Magneton, got a lot better as it can run a myriad of sets rather than one tailored to removing Mega Steelix. The absence of these two Pokemon also is pretty nice for Diancie, as Tyrantrum made having your Dragon resists also resist Rock a pretty important quality, and obviously Mega Steelix could capitalize on the presence of Diancie. Registeel is another pokemon that gets better thanks to the absence of Mega Steelix, and Registeel actually does a better job checking Fletchinder thanks to Leftovers mitigating burn damage and seismic toss not being affected by the attack drop. Blastoise is still the best spinner in the tier, so while its match up with the suspects was generally favorable, them leaving should have a minimal effect on its usage. So while the shift seems beneficial for Fletchinder on the surface, I don't think it actually benefited that much. If anything the main benefit Fletchinder should see is an increase in the use of offensive teams which it usually excels against.

 

[Lord Death Man]

Fletch is cool because despite it having a pretty bad matchup on paper with a lot of popular balance mons, it still somehow manages to find a way to pull its own weight 90% of the time. However, I agree with almost everything llamas said; while it lost two checks, its other checks all increased in viability. Mons like Registeel and Aerodactyl are considerably better than they used to be and are arguably better checks than the mons they replaced, Magneton counters and isn't exactly easy for Fletch teams to pressure unless you're carrying two+ ground types (and specs Flash Cannon does over half anyway, and thats before Analytic!) or lol U-turn Fletch, and bulky waters all do a decent job at harassing Fletch.

That being said, Fletch does love that Fairies are easier to use, and its nice that many of its harder checks can be pretty easily trapped by Dugtrio, especially after getting burned. It also offers really nice role compression to teams that would like a revenge killer, cleaner and sweeper all in one.

Also its cool with spikes if you can somehow manage to fit the two together.

 

[twinkay]

Fletchinder definitely effects teambuilding, teams normally carry a flying resist(s) and / or rocks. These usually are not to hard to fit on a team and often both are used on one pokemon (Rhyperior, Registeel, Diancie, etc.). Magneton is a really notable check right now because it takes nothing from Acrobatics, isn't too hurt by Will-O-Wisp, and can fire back with a very powerful Volt Switch or potentially lure something like Flygon with the Hidden Power of choice. Fletchinder tends to do better against offense since offense does not have defensive Pokemon to deal with powerful priority. So Fletchinder definitely effects teambuilding, but dealing with it isn't usually that hard.

Fletchinder needs hazard support, even if it is really obvious. Flygon and Hitmonlee are normally good choices since they pressure Rock-types. Special wallbreakers are nice as well to help Fletchinder to sweep by removing physical walls. Fletchinder doesn't want to switch into things because normally what it would switch in to (weak Grass or Fighting moves) often has coverage to deal with it (Tangrowth's Rock Slide, Virizion's Stone Edge, Medicham's Thunder Punch, etc.). So slow Volt Switch / U-turn is helpful.

A trend influenced by Fletchinder is rock coverage, definitely. This can be seen on Virizion (Stone Edge), Tangrowth (Rock Slide), Hitmonlee (Stone Edge), and others that I can't think of right now. Bulky steels / rocks are pretty common on balance and defensive builds, which is partly influenced by Fletchinder.

Fletchinder can't really deviate much from it's normal set. Acrobatics is for attacking, SD is to be able to sweep late-game, Will-O-Wisp is its main way of dealing with its checks (like Rhyperior), and Roost is nice to heal off Rocks damage or to heal in general if something can't hurt you. Taunt can give it a better match-up versus stall. U-turn can switch out in an unfavorable match-up but that clashes with Swords Dance in a way. The other sets are just lures tbh. All of these options are generally subpar to Acrobatics / Swords Dance / Will-O-Wisp / Roost. I'm not one for fancy EV spreads but I'm not the biggest fan of no speed Fletch just because it makes it so easy to speed creep you. But an interesting priority speed creep is 184 speed to oustpeed max speed Adamant Absol and M-Nette, which means you get a free SD on M-Nette if you are at full.

Thanks for reading!

 

[MANNAT]

A lot of people say that mlix and ttrum leaving increases fletch's viability, but the increased usage of mag is really hurting it since it's a better fletch check than lix and doesnt rely on physical attack to kill fletch, so it's not like burning shit is even helping from fletch. I'll post most FLETCHED-out thoughts later, but im kinda busy rn lol (kek)

 

[Take Azelfie]

Week 1 is over, discussion went pretty well but here is the new topic.

Pursuit

Pursuit is a move that deals double the damage if a Pokemon tries to switch out. Pursuit usage spiked when Hoopa debut as it was the most consistent way of checking it.​

• How often is Pursuit needed when team building? Do you use specific Pursuit trappers for specific threats or because of the Pokemons other assets?
• What Pursuit trappers are used often and why? What uncommon Pursuit trappers are used and how do they distinguish themselves?
• Pursuit is mainly used for Ghost and Psychic-types but how do these types get passed it?
• What Pokemon work well with Pursuit support?

 

[Lord Death Man]

trapping is broken!!!

On a serious note, Pursuit is really nice and I think it fits the meta very well currently - despite the fact that most notable pursuit users are very good, the mons they pursuit trap are also very good, which suggests that Pursuit isn't seriously negatively impacting their viabiliy. In fact, I think Pursuit also is what makes several mons/sets viable in the first place. I couldn't imagine Sneasel being nearly as good without Pursuit (stop running pursuitless Sneasel btw), Spiritomb would likely be horrible, and when Megalix was around, Aerodactyl's big niche in the tier was pursuit trapping Fletchinder.
On the other hand, the change in teambuilding from Bronzong to Registeel somewhat hurt Pursuit's viability.

One of the most interesting aspects of Pursuit, to me, is that it's somewhat skill based; if a pursuit user, especially a choice'd one, decides to stay in for whatever reason (such as predicting the pursuit), your trapper might be out of comission. I actually don't usually think "This team needs pursuit" unless I somehow have a massive Sigilyph + Delphox weakness that I otherwise can't account for. I would say that I often put Spiritomb on teams which adds a pursuit component, but usually I only do that because I'm incredibly weak to fighting type attackers.

In terms of uncommon users, I'd say the most notable one is Aero, who still threatens out common Psychic types with it's rock stab. I'd also point to Houndoom, who I think has a significant niche in countering Delphox, access to unnerve to trap Colbur Meloetta more reliably, and the ability to lure Diancie with Iron Tail, but I know some people really hate that set. Pursuit Absol can also be really scary, but is suprisingly uncommon.

Most Psychic/Ghost types, bar Hoopa, can get around trapping by just staying in/winning the 50/50, though Meloetta and Slowking are notable for having the bulk to usually tank a Pursuit and for commonly carrying Colbur berry, which can make them very threatening to a Pursuitter, especially early game. Cofagrigus is also notable for not usually carrying that much about anything a pursuit user might do, though it's sort of a bad mon outside of that tiny niche. Hoopa often relies on having an intact sub while killing a mon in order to handle pursuit users.

Mons who work exceptionally well with Pursuit support imo are CM and Zen Headbutt Virizion, CM Delphox, and most Melotta. Generally, most offensive mons can benefit from having Slowking or Bronzong removed, and most defensive mons can appreciate Hoopa/Meloetta/Delphox/Sigilyph being out of commision. We don't have any mon who only pursuits except maybe Phys Doom - Sneasel removes lefties, scarf Drapion knocks lefties + sometimes toxic spikes, and tomb burns stuff, so it's not usually negatively impacting the team to include one.

 

[FlamingVictini]

Banded pursuit sneasel is my baby, I love using it a lot because it is imo one of the best pursuit users as it outruns nearly everything it wants to pursuit and hits extremely hard, leaving you in situations where with some prior damage, you don't even need to predict them to switch in order to click pursuit and get the kill. Even without the asset of pursuit, its an extremely good mon. Because I have used it so much, I've been looking to branch off to other pursuit users to get some variety.

One neat mon i've been messing with lately is Banded (or dread plate / LO if you want) Drapion. While SD is definitely scary, going 4 atks with pursuit on a mon that generally doesn't carry it but is also relatively fast, strong, and somewhat bulky with good typing, can be very huge. Unexpected pursuits can completely change games, and Drapion takes advantage of this very well. Its also just super strong ;o

Back when aero was still relatively new to the meta, I used pursuit on it alongside a zen virizion on a team for that chef competition thing since I could threaten and trap stuff like sigi, delphox, and fletch to an extent. It ended up working out really well and has been seeing more use on aero lately (like when teal trapped kingler's hoopa with aero). IMO the biggest asset to pursuit aero is its not as expected as from spiritomb or sneasel, and it can also outrun a lot of stuff up to scarf hoopa, which is really neat. It definitely has one of the weakest pursuits available, though, and that's why I think its best used alongside stuff that is ok with heavily damaging stuff rather than completely removing them (like viriz).

I've been using tomb more recently and I have to say that its pretty neat. The biggest asset to tomb is definitely the element of more bulk, priority to make up for speed, and the ghost typing which lets it combat fighting types with WoW and not fear Focus Blast at all. In my experience this is definitely more of a supportive mon, but it can actually have endgame potential with sucker, which is pretty neat. One of the struggles with tomb is that it fails to threaten cm shift sigi at all, which can be an issue at times. Infiltrator is extremely potent, however, as in the pursuit business it makes substitute irrelevant, and is also great to emergency check stuff like braviary.

The last pursuit user I want to talk about is houndoom. People seem to not like houndoom as a trapper much, but i've never really understood why. Houndoom boasts good speed, mixed offenses with a very potent movepool, and access to unique typing/ability. The biggest thing to me is that it can easily go mixed very effectively and have triple dark stab, with each move serving a strong purpose (Dark Pulse, Fire Blast, Sucker Punch, Pursuit). It can also use stuff like Iron Tail, HP Grass/Water/Steel and is in general pretty tough to switch into, especially when the opponent doesn't know the set. This element of unpredictability has been very useful to me when using doom, and I have to say that I like it a lot more than other users seem to think of it. LDM brought up unnerve for colbur berries, which is actually pretty cool and something I never thought of, but I actually like flash fire more as it gives a more unique element to houndoom with its typing (imagine trapping a sigi without air slash or nearly perfectly handling a delphox... yum). I definitely want to mess with this mon more as it can be pretty fun.

 

[Punchshroom]

One neat mon i've been messing with lately is Banded (or dread plate / LO if you want) Drapion. While SD is definitely scary, going 4 atks with pursuit on a mon that generally doesn't carry it but is also relatively fast, strong, and somewhat bulky with good typing, can be very huge. Unexpected pursuits can completely change games, and Drapion takes advantage of this very well. Its also just super strong ;o

Wait how is Drapion 'super strong' when it has one of the weaker Pursuit among the RU Dark-types? Even Spiritomb's Pursuit does more. I also don't particularly fancy a Drapion without a boosting move either, and especially detest the idea of one that can't switch up moves (Choice Scarf Drapion).

The last pursuit user I want to talk about is houndoom. People seem to not like houndoom as a trapper much, but i've never really understood why. Houndoom boasts good speed, mixed offenses with a very potent movepool, and access to unique typing/ability. The biggest thing to me is that it can easily go mixed very effectively and have triple dark stab, with each move serving a strong purpose (Dark Pulse, Fire Blast, Sucker Punch, Pursuit). It can also use stuff like Iron Tail, HP Grass/Water/Steel and is in general pretty tough to switch into, especially when the opponent doesn't know the set. This element of unpredictability has been very useful to me when using doom, and I have to say that I like it a lot more than other users seem to think of it. LDM brought up unnerve for colbur berries, which is actually pretty cool and something I never thought of, but I actually like flash fire more as it gives a more unique element to houndoom with its typing (imagine trapping a sigi without air slash or nearly perfectly handling a delphox... yum). I definitely want to mess with this mon more as it can be pretty fun.

I actually respect Houndoom a decent amount as a Pursuit trapper: it's fairly safe against Delphox and Sigilyph, and can even pressure certain Ghosts due to its Will-O-Wisp immunity. For that matter, I don't even know why people don't just use Scarf Houndoom over Scarf Drapion, since it packs way more neutral power and greater spamming options, hell it even gets Destiny Bond for a surprise KO and whatnot.

Another Pursuit user which I feel is really shaky is Absol. Yes I get the super powerful Pursuit + Sucker Punch mindgames and whatnot, but it's just so risky for Absol to attempt something like that due to its absolute paper bulk plus the fact that it underspeeds most of the offensive Psychic-types in the tier, and 'high risk' is not particularly something you'd want to associate with your Pursuit trapper. The only offensive mon it could reliably Pursuit trap would be Hoopa, which would force it to run Jolly which isn't really ideal because Adamant Absol is just way better. If it predicts the foe to switch out, Absol would probably have more to gain by taking advantage of its insane Attack stat + Swords Dance to brutalize the switch-in.

Well enough bashing of Pursuit users, time to bring up another potential Pursuitter:

Escavalier @ Choice Band
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Drill Run

Spiritomb isn't the only bulky Pursuitter in the tier; Escavalier trades priority + Fighting insurance for much greater immediate power (+ Fairy check) while trapping much of the same targets Spiritomb can trap safely that its Pursuitting brethren doesn't do so as comfortably, namely Meloetta, Bronzong, and Slowkings that are far more eager to throw out Thunder Waves than Scalds :P. While Escavalier doesn't trap the likes of Delphox and Sigilyph, it can corner non-HP Fire variants of Venusaur. You can Pursuit a fleeing offensive Venusaur for like 56% minimum, which is really huge damage to leave on Venusaur considering its good sustain. You can also Pursuit Mega Glalie for a niche chunk of health I guess.

Edit:

Next time check up on the facts before assuming something you don't know.

Well you brought in non-Dark type Pursuiters into your argument when I was talking about the relative power of Drapion's Pursuit compared to fellow Dark-types, and then assumed I was talking about Band Drapion when talking about my distaste for Drapion that is locked into moves when I clearly stated I was referring to Scarf Drapion. Next time reread arguments before assuming someone didn't check up on facts.

 

[FlamingVictini]

252 Atk Life Orb Aerodactyl Pursuit vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Sigilyph: 117-140 (40.9 - 48.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
220 Atk Life Orb Houndoom Pursuit vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Sigilyph: 156-187 (54.5 - 65.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Drapion Pursuit vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Sigilyph: 159-190 (55.5 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Black Glasses Spiritomb Pursuit vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Sigilyph: 164-194 (57.3 - 67.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Sneasel Pursuit vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Sigilyph: 166-198 (58 - 69.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Escavalier Pursuit vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Sigilyph: 180-212 (62.9 - 74.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Drapion Pursuit vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Sigilyph: 186-218 (65 - 76.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Sneasel Pursuit vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Sigilyph: 192-228 (67.1 - 79.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Drapion Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Colbur Berry Meloetta: 229-271 (67.1 - 79.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Sure, being unable to switch-up moves sucks (and its one reason why I really try to avoid scarf drapion), but you can't deny that banded drapion is strong and can do its job of pursuiting or tossing around strong knocks well. SD Drapion plays pretty differently, and the two shouldn't be compared imo. Next time check up on the facts before assuming something you don't know.

 

[Take Azelfie]

Little bit late on this sorry but here is the next topic

Fighting-types

Fighting-types are one of the most dominant offensive typings in RU and has a plethora of viable users in RU.​

• What Fighting-types are commonly used and why? What are some underrated Fighting-types and what sperates them from more popular choices.?
• What trends do these Pokemon influence? What Fighting-types heavily shape this trend?
• Are there good lures to beat a majority of the Fighting-types? What lures do Fighting-types use to beat there checks?
• What playstyle do Fighting-types affect the most?

 

[MrAldo]

Fighting-types are easily one of the best if not the best pokemon on the metagame, every single response to fighting types is incredibly dependant of the fighting type in question (like stuff that checks medicham, wont check stuff like emboar too well or stuff that checks hitmonlee wont check medicham that well, etc, etc), they just differ a lot in checks depending of the fighting type. On a vacuum, they are fantastic choice for a plethora of teams.

• Most common fighting types are virizion and medicham because viri is the best set up sweeper in the tier and medicham is perhaps the best scarfer and life orb is easily one of the scariest wallbreakers in lower tiers. Stuff like emboar is also really efficient, being an excellent sneasel check for offense with a scarf and being an horrifying wallbreaker with a band or life orb. I feel stuff like Hitmonlee is still underrated, what a monster. Scrafty doesnt deserve all the backslash it gets, it shit on some fighting types on its own and Hariyama is godly when offensive mega glalie answers just are so limited. Gurdurr is also a God.

• Many fighting types are really influential, especially virizion and medicham where viriz is rather oppressive for balance and scarf medicham for offense, one of the first things one always consider when building balance and offense respectively so you always an answer or check to them at worst (some even run 2 checks). Many of the fighting types are really profficient wallbreakers so one has to always consider them when building bulkier teams, hence why stuff like musharna, spiritomb remains relevant and fletchinder is such a God at handling every time through revenge killing. So all fighting types contribute to this trend.

• Luring fighting types is pretty challenging since their answers differ a lot depending of what fighting type you want to check (except for maybe fletchinder) so does the lures. However, most fighting types have good moves to get past their respective answers, lure moves or not. Hitmonlee has poison jab for example, gallade has access to knock off, hariyama can heavy slam for fairies (he is fat so imagine the damage!). Very few need lures to function efficiently hence why they are fantastic mons in general with well defined niches.

• Balance, definitely, as said. Balance benefits from having a strong fighting type such as its suffers from fighting types being so good. Scarf medicham being so scary for offense so yeah.

Update OP imo.

 

[Rollout Shuckle]

I'd say the most commonly used and most dangerous Fighting-type right now is Medicham, as MrAldo said it's very threatening for offense, and balance as well. Virizion used to be and still is great as a setup sweeper, but now I think many people are more prepared for it with mons like Scyther, Venusaur, Dugtrio, and Fletchinder so it's still really solid with bulk and all that, its just that its checks are a bit more common. Hitmonlee is still excellent and I feel it's been a bit overlooked in favor of Medicham, but of course Hitmonlee is about as powerful and has some traits over Medicham, namely cool coverage in Knock Off, Stone Edge, and Poison Jab as well as utility in Mach Punch and Rapid Spin. Scarf Emboar is a classic but for Water-types and such Emboar can be a great lure with Expert Belt, seeing as it outruns the relevant Water-types in RU even without a Choice Scarf. Now I'd like to talk about Scrafty seeing as its fallen a bit from grace: this guy is most definitely underrated and really should not be as it's a great cleaner against balance and offense. Whether you run Shed Skin + Life Orb or the potent Lum Berry + Moxie, Scrafty's good bulk can let it set up on neutral attacks. Of course its Speed is a bit lacking sometimes, and even its power, but even then it's not too shabby with proper team support, like a Fletch check and a lure for Fairy-types. Sawk is also very powerful but I've been rambling on for too long hehe

Fighting-types basically cause a rise in usage of Pokemon that can properly check them: plain and simple. Fletchinder is definitely one of the biggest among these, although its increased usage may at first be more effected by the notion that "Mega Steelix and Tyrantrum are banned so now Fletchinder's potential has increased!" Which it has, though it's found new counters as well. Anyway, Fletchinder checks every single RU Fighting-type which is a big claim to fame for Fletchinder. Another Pokemon that's seen increased usage is Granbull. Granbull is just a really nice defensive check to Fighting-types, as not only can it take little from most things Fighting-types throw out but it can OHKO them too, such as Hitmonlee, Medicham, Sawk, Scrafty, and Emboar. Uxie has been prominent as a multi-faceted mon: it can throw up SR while also checking Fighting-types and not hogging momentum, which is all pretty nice if you ask me. I guess Scyther, part 1 of the trendy ScythMag core, offers a quad-resistance to Fighting-types even though its a really soft check, but I guess a Fighting resistance is a Fighting resistance. There are definitely others but these are the main ones I've seen people talking about.

I'm not going to pretend like I know any strategies to lure Fighting-types as unfortunately I don't :( Although Fighting-types themselves use a good amount of lures to beat certain mons. Virizion can lure either the likes of Venusaur and Garbodor or the likes of Sigilyph by switching up its last moveslot. Hitmonlee gets Stone Edge for Scyther but especially Poison Jab for Aromatisse and Granbull. Emboar like I mentioned earlier has that Expert Belt set, though it can also run Heavy Slam as coverage to beat Diancie on its Scarf set. There are probably others but alas, I am not very good with lures :P

Fighting-types definitely affect balance and offense the most, as stall can usually run hard checks to Fighting-types and get away with it while in the former two playstyles, role compression is pretty important I guess so a Fighting check will usually need to offer some sort of other utility and / or offensive presence. Not saying role compression isn't important in stall but in stall you can run Togetic and Aromatisse for example, because the goal is to wear down the opposing team, while in balance and offense the goal is usually centered around quicker strategies and passivity isn't very good, so Togetic and Aromatisse are therefore seen a little less often. Offense is interesting as people will often run a soft check to Fighting-types like Delphox, Sigilyph, or Fletchinder and then a bit more reliable one like Uxie for example.

hope my rambling didn't get too much in the way of the info and that this was helpful 4 the thread!

 

[Take Azelfie]

This week has been over for almost a whole week .-. is over.

Virizion

Virizion is one of the Pokemon that dominates the RU metagame being the best set up sweeper in the tier while also not being one dimensional as Swords Dance can run Stone Edge and Zen Headbutt while Calm Mind can run Hidden Power Ice or Substitute.​

• How do different archetypes usually overcome Swords Dance variants? What about for Calm Mind?
• What Pokemon / types form the best cores with Virizion and why?
• What trends does Virizion influence and why?
• Virizion is hardly ever seen using anything but Calm Mind and Swords Dance but are there other sets that can be used to a great deal of success? When would you use these sets? What does this set face competition from.
• Is Virizion a healthy pressence for the tier? Elaborate.