Berries in SS Ubers
Reading this title sounds kinda lame tbh, but it's an interesting topic that I wanted to put together a little post on. Berries are seen a ton more than in SM, and compared to tiers like ORAS, ADV, and GSC, where the choices are fairly limited to Lum, petaya / liechi, and miracle berries respectively, multiple types of berries can see genuine use on teams. I just wanted to talk about the main ones and a few ideas I've put together but not entirely gone through with.
I think one of the keys to the success of berries definitely has to be
Eternatus. It's sheer bulk, utility, and ability to soft check so many Pokemon while threatening with good damage makes it a prime user for accomplishing almost whatever it wants in the builder through item use.
The Main Berries:
Sitrus Berry - Main User:
This might be the most popular berry overall especially when it was first picking up, because it offers a good bit of utility for little cost and severely punishes certain teams. The main target is obviously Poltergeist Marshadow, and this set combined with things like Air Balloon Xerneas made mono Poltergeist Marsahdow fall off incredibly hard. Sitrus lets Eternatus pivot into useful hits and actually threaten because it won't only have to click recover. Helping beat Marshadow, Kyogre to an extent, and even hits that almost kill it like boosted Zygarde and Specs Kyogre hits can be healed off as it fires off attacks and threatens those Pokemon.
Haban Berry - Main Users:
Zekrom is really scary for a lot of teams, and Haban Berry especially on Eternatus which resists Bolt Strike is good as a soft check. Haban Berry Zekrom is able to improof as well as set up on Eternatus in a last ditch effort situation, and with how common Eternatus is that's quite the useful trait to have. It's a solid berry that can see a lot of uses to shore up some weaknesses on teams to Zekrom and other dragons like opposing offensive Eternatus with some very good play. It's not a foolproof method but it gives a chance of a better MU.
Shuca Berry - Main User:
Ground types are scary, and sometimes you gotta deal with them in creative ways. Shuca Berry Eternatus is something
I used in SCL, as it's a good 1 time pivot into both don and Zygarde even when boosted. I didn't have a way to take out a Zygarde boosted more than once, but if that situation came up Shuca Berry Eternatus could save a game against that. It also takes a surprisingly low amount of damage from defensive Groudon and does a lot of damage to offensive even though it takes a lot in return. Cool tech option that has quite a few solid uses on teams.
Lum Berry - Main Users:
Broken Lunala and Zyg are ever so slightly less broken with Lum Berry on some sweepers. Lum helps Groudon ignore Zygarde's Glare, and while Lunala still pressures with Wisp since it's faster you can threaten one with Shadow Shield broken or if it was somehow para'd by something like Zygarde really hard. Dusk Mane still loses to defensive Zygarde, but it can break fast Lunala with Sunsteel if it gets a DD on the switch, as it can't be burned then, or Knock Off will just put it out of commission even if it doesn't OHKO and Dusk Mane will come out unscathed.
Custap Berry - Main Users:
Custap Shuckle is super risky because if you don't have Mental Herb Taunt Yveltal is incredibly threatening. It still can work, though, as with smart play this can help circumvent one of Shuckle's biggest flaws, being that it only really gets 1 hazard in most mu's. Probably the least useful in this category but it has a nice upside.
The Niche Berries:
Occa Berry - Main Users:
Occa Berry is used quite a bit less than the others, and for a good reason, but it still has good uses as a tech. Running a Tangrowth / Buzzwole with Pokemon like Kyogre that can pivot into Groudon and giving them an Occa Berry makes playing around Fire move Groudon a much easier task when it can naturally just destroy those teams with a single right prediction to free teammates up. Super fringe especailly with the power of Rocky Helmet but it's cool regardless.
Chesto Berry - Main User:
Putting this here because
I got smashed by it, but it's still niche at best because Zygarde has a billion sets to run and nothing else can really reliably run the item. Resto Chesto still exists and can work not terribly in the right mu, it's just a little tough against things like Lunala, Xerneas, etc. Having essentially a third life on Zygarde because it already gets like 2 from complete form is really good in a lot of cases, so it can work out very well. Also if you lead this and set up on Toxic Galvantula looking for that to slow you down, HO teams can be in for a rough time.
Colbur Berry - Main User:
Colbur NDM suffers from both a lack of power and a susceptibility to still being walled by a lot of things, but its main draw is both setting up on Yveltal once and living a +1 Foul Play against Choice Scarf sets. If you're able to take down a core of Pokemon like Yveltal + Ho-Oh with Stone Edge NDM because it lives an FP due to Colbur, teammates like Calyrex-S and offensive Yveltal will have so much easier of a time breaking on HO that it might be worth to use in very rare situations.
The Super Niche and Mediocre but Funny Ones:
Salac Berry - Main User:
The funny monkey sometimes wins games, and it's because of Salac Berry. Everyone knows how this plays and most people have probably been 6-0'd by it at some point or another, it just subs, drums, and wins. Calyrex-S obviously hurts it a lot as does Shadow Sneak Marshadow and other priority since it rarely lives to keep a sub up when at 25%, but it's incredibly good at mu fishing.
Yache Berry - Main User: (lol)
Okay I'll be honest this one kinda isn't real, but I've built with it in fear of broken Galar Darm. Eternatus is the main user again because it can hit back with Flamethrower and can afford not having the best item slot.
Avoiding something like this can maybe be clutch, but again this one's just more of a fun concept than a good set. You can also pivot into specs ogre even clicking Blizzard which is funny, but again just a concept and probably not super practical.
This was just a fun small idea I had, but as I wrote it out I realized there were a lot more berries than I remembered lol. While they aren't the most popular items ever, some like Sitrus still see decent usage, so I felt like this would be a cool post on the meta working with some niche things to form stronger teams with the ability to abuse the traits of berries. It's a cool side of the metagame that is really never talked about so I just wanted to bring it up as a cool thing to point out, how berries are probably better than ever in this current meta.