Alright, moving off the unviable gecko, I wanna discuss something a little more viable but not quite 100% viable: RUBLs.
The current RUBLs include:
Absol-Mega
Durant
Entei
Houndoom-Mega
Kyurem
Mienshao
Reuniclus
Sceptile-Mega
Sharpedo
Talonflame
Tornadus
Venomoth
Zoroark
I've noticed some upward trends on some of these and downward trends on some of these that I will discuss in this
essay post. I will first discuss the mons that are RUBL and see close to no usage or some usage and haven't really moved on from there at the current point. I will then discuss RUBL mons that have seen usage recently. The names in
bold are the names of mons that are seeing more usage recently.
Alright, first off is Mega Absol.
This mon was super hyped at the beginning of the generation and since has fell from glory. At first glance, The sky-high offensive stats looks pretty appeasing with Magic Bounce preventing most burn attempts as well as Swords Dance, Taunt, Willowisp, Wish, Knock Off, Suckerpunch, etc. However, on closer inspection, the defensive stats kill this thing, at least imo. Dying to Scizor's bullet punch, one of the most common attacks in the tier, is not something that is appreciated when you're trying to sweep. Along with an abysmal HP stat, Getting this thing in safely is a pain and overall not worth it.
Next, Durant.
Imagine Scizor, but with low battery. That's essentially what Durant is. It has a decent speed tier, but misses barely on catching Latias and Gengar. It has decent attack, but No priority and terrible Special Defense. Overall, this mon is completely unviable in my eyes, and frankly will never see the light of any usage bar some low ladder shenanigans.
Moving on, Entei is up next.
Big Boy Fire Dog dropped to RU and was banned. It's okay, but it suffers from a less-then-stellar movepool and not-so-great speed. It's not the worst thing that you could use, but there are always better options. Overall, it's kinda mediocre and kinda not worth using unless you really wanna use it.
Oh boy, this'll be a rollercoaster...
Houndoom-Mega was orignally deemed too much for UU due to it's sheer wallbreaking, rather everything breaking, power under Sun. UU then banned sun and retested Houndoom and unbanned it. It stayed UU a while and then dropped off. It's still a good wallbreaker, it's just not that great to use with Scarf Krook running around everywhere. Other than that, I frankly don't know why Houndoom dropped off, it kinda just did.
Speaking of rollercoasters in the tiering department, this next mon moves more then Edward Snowdin...
This mon has shifted between RU, RUBL, and UU quite alot. It started RU and then proceeded to be banned, Got UU usage and shot up, lost usage and dropped to RUBL, shot up again and went back to UU, and finally it currently rests in RUBL. It has some fun sets such as scarf, specs, sub roost, etc. However, this is a prime example of suffering from 4MSS (Four move slot syndrome, essentially where a pokemon has alot of moves to choose from that it'd love to run, but it can only run four), as the choice between Earthpower, Substitue, Roost, Hidden Power Fire, Draco Meteor, and Flash Cannon (Ice Beam is a must no matter what) can be very difficult depending on what your team is struggling to smack. Overall, it's a fun mon that keeps shifting around and it'll probably be back in UU before the generation ends.
Mega Sceptile is probably in the weirdest spot when it comes to why it's RUBL.
Mega Sceptile isn't bad...it's just not good. I'm not going to spend much time on this mon because I rarely use it and I never keep track of where it's at so...yea. It can run like 2 sets at most: SD physical and Special All Out Attacker. It can hit a wide varienty of things, it's just not worth using in the mega slot when things like Mega Sharpedo and Mega Aerodactyl exist that can do so much more. Overall, it's just not great in the meta atm.
Normal sharpedo is outclassed by Mega Sharpedo hands down. Speed boost is pretty nice pre-mega though. So yea, that's all I got on this thing.
Tornadus is kinda awkward in the metagame. It has a good movepool and all, it's just not great. It's typing isn't bad but it's not stellar due to all the threats to flying types in the tier. Having alot of electrics being spammed atm doesn't help it either. Overall, about a 5/10.
And now for the 2nd weirdest RUBL mon: Zoroark.
Where should I start?
This mon i'm pretty sure has been blacklisted on the VR thread is i remember correctly. It's a super controversial topic apparently, so I'll tread lightly here. It has potential to be decent, it just never gets usage but it's also terrible at the same time? I frankly don't talk about this mon at all, and I feel it'd be beneficial to discuss this mon further among the thread. Anyways, This mon started RU and was banned because Nasty Plot and good coverage is something RU doesn't like for obvious reasons. Since then, it has resinated in the depths of RUBL.
Moving on from those, lets move on the those RUBLs that appear to be getting more popular.
AV Mienshao checks Hydreigon, what? This thing has caught on recently with a new and improved AV set. It still spams HJK like in the olden days though. Fighting types in general have seen an increase in usage (except Heracross (;-;). Anyways, Mienshao is back somewhat
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I know it's not getting more usage in UU, but I will make brief mention of it's increased OU usage. It's pretty nice there so yea. That's that.
Moving on..
Talonflame has seen more usage on Hyper Offense teams due to it's ability, access to taunt, swords dance, and roost. Despite those attributes, it's still 4x weak to stealth rocks and kinda weak with that meager 81 attack stat. Priority Z Brave Bird hits pretty hard and is fun though, so that's cool.
And now for the one that surprised me the most...
Venomoth is everywhere I go these days. With access to Sleep Powder, Quiver Dance, Roost, and the ability in Tinted Lens makes Venomoth seem scary on paper and scary to see in team preview. However, despite that, it's very predictable and not as fast as the majority of the scarfers in the tier, allowing for Venomoth to be revenge killed pretty easily if it is at +1. Overall, Venomoth is a very interesting mon in the UU tier that I feel deserves alot more exploring.
Anyways, thanks for everyone's time who read this gargantuan post. I wish a good day to you all :)