So I made a post about a week ago and I thought of some more things that could be interesting to discuss. Like I said in my last post, the UU meta is in a really nice spot right now but in all iterations of UU metas, there have been these stand out pokemon that really dominate the meta. Clefable and Keldeo in one of the earliest metas. Mega Latias before it was banned. Xurkitree and Hawlucha on veil. Now we have some of these notable mons and more, but in the current meta what are the stand out pokemon that really define the UU meta right now? I'm gonna give my opinion on objectively the most meta defining pokemon in UU and for good reason.
This one should really be a surprise to no one. Scizor since it came to UU has been one of the best pokemon you can choose, and as the meta has changed, it has only gotten better. Base 130 attack, Priority in Bullet Punch, Technician to boost said priority, U-turn, coverage, and to be honest what does this not have that you would want. It's a great check to a lot of the threats in UU, and honestly if this happened to leave, UU would spiral out of control, it would be an even greater affect than Gliscor's departure. It has many sets that it can run, but to make this not run on, the biggest are: Swords Dance, and Band. It has many variations of its swords dance set from moves, to item. It is strong, it is bulky, and while it has mediocore speed at best. These speed problems are fixed through its priority. The next asset Scizor has that backs up the 70/100/80 bulk is the bug/steel typing. This has only one weakness, a 4x effective fire type attack, but it also provides many many resistances. A total of 8 resistances and 1 immunity. It has so much defensive utility while not being passive at all. This is a trait that can be seen in a few of the other choices on this list. Being able to preform as a utility mon, a sweeper, a breaker, or a momentum generator, Scizor does the job well. This metal bug has cemented its place as one of the best pokemon in UU and I doubt that will change. There has even been some controversy and conversation of, "Is Scizor suspect/banworthy?" which to be honest, I don't know. It won't be a topic for this but it's avoided the suspect radar unlike other pokemon, and is still here today.
Togekiss, the oddly shaped evolution of Togetic and Togepi. A fairy/flying type with great bulk, great ability, recovery, and surprise potential. This has such an amazing movepool, and while most of the moves are not used, it does give togekiss a surprise factor that some other pokemon don't have because of that. Though it has it's most common set in NP stallbreaker, it does have other options; Offensive Nasty Plot [Typical nasty plot runs HP instead of Special attack] with Fightinium-Z Aura Sphere, Babiri Berry steel lure, utility, scarf, specs, etc. Now Togekiss has the ability Serene Grace, which doubles the effect that moves have and Togekiss gets access to Air Slash, a move that has a 30% chance to flinch. Due to this ability, this 30% chance becomes a 60% chance to flinch. So with max speed and a respectable base 80 speed for a pokemon with 85/95/115 bulk. So most things that don't outspeed it have a very good chance of getting flinched. This becomes even more annoying if it is paired with Thunder Wave, which decreases speed by 50%, and has a 25% chance of making the opposing pokemon unable to move. This combination leaves Togekiss truly countered by very few things in the meta. It can also check a plethora of pokemon in this meta due to it's fairy typing, such as the likes of hydreigon, krookodile, and kommo-o. It also is able to break past the tiers best defensive threats through the use of boosting, flinching, it's coverage, and more. One of the best stallbreakers/wallbreakers, many underutilized sets, great coverage [if used], togekiss adds a lot to a balance/bulky offense team in terms of role compression. Togekiss I strongly believe is one of the best pokemon right now, while not on the same page as scizor, it is still one of the most meta defining.
Mega Manectric, the electric doggo. In my opinion, the face of the volt turn playstyle in UU. This does mainly one thing, but it does that one thing damn well. It's fast, it pivots, it chips, and its good. For real though, this is one of the fastest unboosted mons in the meta only second to the likes of Mega Sceptile, Beedrill, and Aerodactyl, a base speed of 135 reaching 405 total speed. Before mega evolving, it has the ability Lightning Rod which can allow it to pivot into potential electric moves and gain a special attack boost at the same time. Post mega evolving, it gains the ability intimidate, which lowers the attack of the opponent allowing some defensive utility from this pokemon. It's main stab in thunderbolt and volt switch, and coverage options in flamethrower, hidden power ice or grass, and signal beam. While not as great of a movepool as the previous two, it does what it does well. Being able to check the prevelant scizor due to access to a fire move, intimidate, and the electric typing resisting it's bullet punch. Hippowdon is the most reliable counter to manectric that can block its volt switch. There isn't as much to say with manectric due to really only having one set, but it does that set well. Volt Turn is a very prominant playstyle in UU for a reason, and mega manectric is a big part of that.
Oh Hydreigon, why are you so good? This is probably the pokemon that has risen the most out of any to prominence, being considered to join the likes of Scizor in terms of viability, consistancy, and versatility. This can fit on almost any playstyle, from hyper offense to stall. Not many pokemon can do that, and in terms of stats it does not disappoint. 92/105/90/125/90/98 are it's stats, very respectable bulk, speed, attacking power, it has everything it needs. It also has access to strong, spammable attacks, great coverage and movepool, reliable recovery in roost, and a great offensive typing. Dark/Dragon is nothing to scoff at only being stopped by the fairy types of the tier and strong special walls. Now, we go into the sets and it is easiest just to list them off: Choice Scarf, Choice Specs, Z-Move Defog, LO attacker, Taunt Roost, and Z-Belch lure. These are the main sets and it is almost always a special attacker. It can gain momentum from U-Turn, fire off powerful attacks, take hits and recover them off, prevent status and hazards with taunt, Hydreigon is just good. The thing that really sucks for it is the very awkward speed tier, just under base 100 which leaves it outsped by the tiers top fighting types which can kill it [If not choice scarfed]. It can be taken advantage of if locked into dark pulse, and it has its counters that keep it in check. By no means is Hydreigon leaving any time soon, and just like in ORAS, Hydreigon is taking the spot as one of the top dogs of the meta due to all the new moves it got in USUM.
I talked about Krook in my last post, so I won't go into as much detail as before but it is 100% meta defining with the role it can play on a lot of teams. This is a side note but I love the tail in the sprite, Krook gonna get ya. Anyways.. As said in the last post, quickly becoming one of the best scarfers, pursuit trappers, manectric checks, knock off users, intimidater. Okay, I said a lot of it, but it has so much role compression, the perfect amount of offense and defense that just makes it so great. Just its usage in snake shows this, it is the most used pokemon in snake right now by a landslide. Definately deserving of it's spot on this list.
[This is very important. S/O to Adaam for this wonderful Majors Discussion Poster, use it now]
After the important announcement, last but not least we have Latias. The other S-rank mon alongside scizor. There has been a bit of discussion about Lati earlier so i'm going to make my own points while also mentioning a bit of what was said before. I agree with aim about Lati. While yes there are many reasons why Lati may have seemingly have gone down in viability, such as the prevelance of so many dark types, mamo returning, klefki and empoleon becoming much more viable once more. In my opinion, the most important reason being Mega Steelix rising over Mega aggron in a sense as the better Lati counter. Though these are all becoming more common, Lati has not gotten worse by any means and is still a PAIN to deal with. 80/90/130 bulk with 110 special attack and speed, these stats are nothing to laugh at. It provides so much utility to a team due to its speed tier and many options due to the great movepool it has. Its best set currently is Calm Mind with Electrium-Z Thunder, which lets Latias blow through the common checks in aggron, empoleon, klefki, etc. All of its calm mind sets are viable right now and it checks so much due to the typing and bulk. Also with access to recovery, such as I said for other pokemon on this list, makes it just that much better. Great move coverage, bulk, and utility, Lati is clearly at the top of the meta and a force to be reckoned with. There isn't much to be said, while it does have it's not as common scarf set, I feel that doesn't deserve as much clear mention as Calm Mind, because that is what makes Lati so scary to me.
Now, these are my choices for the pokemon that rule the UU meta, and without them it would be different. This isn't the only thing I would like to talk about in this post and that are some interesting picks in UU that either: surprised me by its viability when used or rose to prominence when it was otherwise looked down upon previously.
The first big one I want to talk about is Gligar. Boy has this guy surprised me. When Gliscor was in the tier, there was no reason to use gliscor as it was more versatile, had a better ability, and didn't have to worry about losing its item. Once Gliscor activated its toxic orb, it was there to stay. Whereas Gligar relies on Eviolite to get its incredible bulk. 65/105/65 stats in bulk where the defense and special defense get boosted by 1.5 until it loses the item via Trick, Knock Off, etc. Gligar is INCREDIBLY BULKY. Being able to check the likes of Terrakion, Cobalion, and Infernape, the very scary fighting types and hit back with its stab earthquake. A reliable mon that can beat almost any rocker in the tier, a typical set running Defog, Earthquake, Roost, and Toxic. Though on a team of mine, originally run by TDK [I believe] is curse gligar. Curse allows gligar to beat pretty much any physical set up sweeper in the tier 1v1, and hell, even after it switches in, due to increasing its already high defense, with eviolite and one curse, it already matches the x2 attack with its down "x2.25" defense. Another very good reason to use gligar is manectric's lack of using HP ice due to gliscor, its evolution rising to OU. This lets it become one of the lost, if not the most reliable check to Mega Manectric alongside hippowdon, once again, hoping that it doesn't have HP Ice.
Another very cool pick in the current meta. I haven't been able to mess around with it much but i've been meaning to build a team with it. A great check to fighting types, mainly cobalion, lucario, and infernape. It usually runs colbur which allows it to lure and will-o-wisp dark types such as krook, and daunt, or a scizor trying to trap it. With recover in it's arsenal, good bulk, a good ability in water absorb, cool options like hex to play along with will-o-wisp. It's just, a cool mon right now, it has been having tons of success in the current meta and i'm hoping to give it a try. If anyone who has used it could say more what it does better than me, it'd be appreciated. I just wanted to mention Jellicent as no one has done it yet.
Another fun and interesting pick, nihilego has been gaining a lot of traction as a counter to prominent fire types like togekiss and moltres, a reliable rock setter, with great coverage in Thunderbolt, Grass Knot and cool options such as pain split and acid spray. A great offensive rock setter, a great general attacker with the ability to spiral out of control due to its ability beast boost. If it has the right moves, it can stop things that would usually beat it. Two jellyfish that should be given a try. Also sadly haven't used this one yet
I need to use more different mons.
That's pretty much it for this, another long one with a lot to read and talk about. What pokemon dominate the meta and what are some cool options that are worth giving a try on a team? I feel there are a lot of unique options that haven't been tried in this meta, and being discovered such as Jellicent being as good as it is, or Diancie turning out to have a solid niche. What have you people out there found? Also if you feel like something is missing, I may have written about it in my previous post. If you got through all of my blabber thanks for reading it
and I hope you guys enjoyed.
This one should really be a surprise to no one. Scizor since it came to UU has been one of the best pokemon you can choose, and as the meta has changed, it has only gotten better. Base 130 attack, Priority in Bullet Punch, Technician to boost said priority, U-turn, coverage, and to be honest what does this not have that you would want. It's a great check to a lot of the threats in UU, and honestly if this happened to leave, UU would spiral out of control, it would be an even greater affect than Gliscor's departure. It has many sets that it can run, but to make this not run on, the biggest are: Swords Dance, and Band. It has many variations of its swords dance set from moves, to item. It is strong, it is bulky, and while it has mediocore speed at best. These speed problems are fixed through its priority. The next asset Scizor has that backs up the 70/100/80 bulk is the bug/steel typing. This has only one weakness, a 4x effective fire type attack, but it also provides many many resistances. A total of 8 resistances and 1 immunity. It has so much defensive utility while not being passive at all. This is a trait that can be seen in a few of the other choices on this list. Being able to preform as a utility mon, a sweeper, a breaker, or a momentum generator, Scizor does the job well. This metal bug has cemented its place as one of the best pokemon in UU and I doubt that will change. There has even been some controversy and conversation of, "Is Scizor suspect/banworthy?" which to be honest, I don't know. It won't be a topic for this but it's avoided the suspect radar unlike other pokemon, and is still here today.
Togekiss, the oddly shaped evolution of Togetic and Togepi. A fairy/flying type with great bulk, great ability, recovery, and surprise potential. This has such an amazing movepool, and while most of the moves are not used, it does give togekiss a surprise factor that some other pokemon don't have because of that. Though it has it's most common set in NP stallbreaker, it does have other options; Offensive Nasty Plot [Typical nasty plot runs HP instead of Special attack] with Fightinium-Z Aura Sphere, Babiri Berry steel lure, utility, scarf, specs, etc. Now Togekiss has the ability Serene Grace, which doubles the effect that moves have and Togekiss gets access to Air Slash, a move that has a 30% chance to flinch. Due to this ability, this 30% chance becomes a 60% chance to flinch. So with max speed and a respectable base 80 speed for a pokemon with 85/95/115 bulk. So most things that don't outspeed it have a very good chance of getting flinched. This becomes even more annoying if it is paired with Thunder Wave, which decreases speed by 50%, and has a 25% chance of making the opposing pokemon unable to move. This combination leaves Togekiss truly countered by very few things in the meta. It can also check a plethora of pokemon in this meta due to it's fairy typing, such as the likes of hydreigon, krookodile, and kommo-o. It also is able to break past the tiers best defensive threats through the use of boosting, flinching, it's coverage, and more. One of the best stallbreakers/wallbreakers, many underutilized sets, great coverage [if used], togekiss adds a lot to a balance/bulky offense team in terms of role compression. Togekiss I strongly believe is one of the best pokemon right now, while not on the same page as scizor, it is still one of the most meta defining.
Mega Manectric, the electric doggo. In my opinion, the face of the volt turn playstyle in UU. This does mainly one thing, but it does that one thing damn well. It's fast, it pivots, it chips, and its good. For real though, this is one of the fastest unboosted mons in the meta only second to the likes of Mega Sceptile, Beedrill, and Aerodactyl, a base speed of 135 reaching 405 total speed. Before mega evolving, it has the ability Lightning Rod which can allow it to pivot into potential electric moves and gain a special attack boost at the same time. Post mega evolving, it gains the ability intimidate, which lowers the attack of the opponent allowing some defensive utility from this pokemon. It's main stab in thunderbolt and volt switch, and coverage options in flamethrower, hidden power ice or grass, and signal beam. While not as great of a movepool as the previous two, it does what it does well. Being able to check the prevelant scizor due to access to a fire move, intimidate, and the electric typing resisting it's bullet punch. Hippowdon is the most reliable counter to manectric that can block its volt switch. There isn't as much to say with manectric due to really only having one set, but it does that set well. Volt Turn is a very prominant playstyle in UU for a reason, and mega manectric is a big part of that.
Oh Hydreigon, why are you so good? This is probably the pokemon that has risen the most out of any to prominence, being considered to join the likes of Scizor in terms of viability, consistancy, and versatility. This can fit on almost any playstyle, from hyper offense to stall. Not many pokemon can do that, and in terms of stats it does not disappoint. 92/105/90/125/90/98 are it's stats, very respectable bulk, speed, attacking power, it has everything it needs. It also has access to strong, spammable attacks, great coverage and movepool, reliable recovery in roost, and a great offensive typing. Dark/Dragon is nothing to scoff at only being stopped by the fairy types of the tier and strong special walls. Now, we go into the sets and it is easiest just to list them off: Choice Scarf, Choice Specs, Z-Move Defog, LO attacker, Taunt Roost, and Z-Belch lure. These are the main sets and it is almost always a special attacker. It can gain momentum from U-Turn, fire off powerful attacks, take hits and recover them off, prevent status and hazards with taunt, Hydreigon is just good. The thing that really sucks for it is the very awkward speed tier, just under base 100 which leaves it outsped by the tiers top fighting types which can kill it [If not choice scarfed]. It can be taken advantage of if locked into dark pulse, and it has its counters that keep it in check. By no means is Hydreigon leaving any time soon, and just like in ORAS, Hydreigon is taking the spot as one of the top dogs of the meta due to all the new moves it got in USUM.
I talked about Krook in my last post, so I won't go into as much detail as before but it is 100% meta defining with the role it can play on a lot of teams. This is a side note but I love the tail in the sprite, Krook gonna get ya. Anyways.. As said in the last post, quickly becoming one of the best scarfers, pursuit trappers, manectric checks, knock off users, intimidater. Okay, I said a lot of it, but it has so much role compression, the perfect amount of offense and defense that just makes it so great. Just its usage in snake shows this, it is the most used pokemon in snake right now by a landslide. Definately deserving of it's spot on this list.
[This is very important. S/O to Adaam for this wonderful Majors Discussion Poster, use it now]
After the important announcement, last but not least we have Latias. The other S-rank mon alongside scizor. There has been a bit of discussion about Lati earlier so i'm going to make my own points while also mentioning a bit of what was said before. I agree with aim about Lati. While yes there are many reasons why Lati may have seemingly have gone down in viability, such as the prevelance of so many dark types, mamo returning, klefki and empoleon becoming much more viable once more. In my opinion, the most important reason being Mega Steelix rising over Mega aggron in a sense as the better Lati counter. Though these are all becoming more common, Lati has not gotten worse by any means and is still a PAIN to deal with. 80/90/130 bulk with 110 special attack and speed, these stats are nothing to laugh at. It provides so much utility to a team due to its speed tier and many options due to the great movepool it has. Its best set currently is Calm Mind with Electrium-Z Thunder, which lets Latias blow through the common checks in aggron, empoleon, klefki, etc. All of its calm mind sets are viable right now and it checks so much due to the typing and bulk. Also with access to recovery, such as I said for other pokemon on this list, makes it just that much better. Great move coverage, bulk, and utility, Lati is clearly at the top of the meta and a force to be reckoned with. There isn't much to be said, while it does have it's not as common scarf set, I feel that doesn't deserve as much clear mention as Calm Mind, because that is what makes Lati so scary to me.
Now, these are my choices for the pokemon that rule the UU meta, and without them it would be different. This isn't the only thing I would like to talk about in this post and that are some interesting picks in UU that either: surprised me by its viability when used or rose to prominence when it was otherwise looked down upon previously.
The first big one I want to talk about is Gligar. Boy has this guy surprised me. When Gliscor was in the tier, there was no reason to use gliscor as it was more versatile, had a better ability, and didn't have to worry about losing its item. Once Gliscor activated its toxic orb, it was there to stay. Whereas Gligar relies on Eviolite to get its incredible bulk. 65/105/65 stats in bulk where the defense and special defense get boosted by 1.5 until it loses the item via Trick, Knock Off, etc. Gligar is INCREDIBLY BULKY. Being able to check the likes of Terrakion, Cobalion, and Infernape, the very scary fighting types and hit back with its stab earthquake. A reliable mon that can beat almost any rocker in the tier, a typical set running Defog, Earthquake, Roost, and Toxic. Though on a team of mine, originally run by TDK [I believe] is curse gligar. Curse allows gligar to beat pretty much any physical set up sweeper in the tier 1v1, and hell, even after it switches in, due to increasing its already high defense, with eviolite and one curse, it already matches the x2 attack with its down "x2.25" defense. Another very good reason to use gligar is manectric's lack of using HP ice due to gliscor, its evolution rising to OU. This lets it become one of the lost, if not the most reliable check to Mega Manectric alongside hippowdon, once again, hoping that it doesn't have HP Ice.
Another very cool pick in the current meta. I haven't been able to mess around with it much but i've been meaning to build a team with it. A great check to fighting types, mainly cobalion, lucario, and infernape. It usually runs colbur which allows it to lure and will-o-wisp dark types such as krook, and daunt, or a scizor trying to trap it. With recover in it's arsenal, good bulk, a good ability in water absorb, cool options like hex to play along with will-o-wisp. It's just, a cool mon right now, it has been having tons of success in the current meta and i'm hoping to give it a try. If anyone who has used it could say more what it does better than me, it'd be appreciated. I just wanted to mention Jellicent as no one has done it yet.
Another fun and interesting pick, nihilego has been gaining a lot of traction as a counter to prominent fire types like togekiss and moltres, a reliable rock setter, with great coverage in Thunderbolt, Grass Knot and cool options such as pain split and acid spray. A great offensive rock setter, a great general attacker with the ability to spiral out of control due to its ability beast boost. If it has the right moves, it can stop things that would usually beat it. Two jellyfish that should be given a try. Also sadly haven't used this one yet
I need to use more different mons.That's pretty much it for this, another long one with a lot to read and talk about. What pokemon dominate the meta and what are some cool options that are worth giving a try on a team? I feel there are a lot of unique options that haven't been tried in this meta, and being discovered such as Jellicent being as good as it is, or Diancie turning out to have a solid niche. What have you people out there found? Also if you feel like something is missing, I may have written about it in my previous post. If you got through all of my blabber thanks for reading it
and I hope you guys enjoyed.
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