Wassup guys ! It's been almost a month since I did my huge post about dominant types in Underused and I was thinking I could make another nice post which would show which Pokemon became staples in Underused or more used than before in recent months. Usages show the evolution of the use of Pokemon from May 2018 to January 2019. Purple usages are for high ladder while blue ones are for very high ladder.
Part I : The rising stars
Hydreigon :
It was the king of the Underused in ORAS and it shares from now this position with Scizor and Latias. Since a few months, Hydreigon has become increasingly predominant in the tier. Thanks to its typing and its great Movepool, Hydreigon is able to fit in any kind of archetypes from HO to Stall. While its most used set is still the Choice Scarf one, Hydreigon has adapted to the metagame and can run a plethora of sets. Choice Scarf allows it to be a really nice Revenge Killer and a great offensive Pivot thanks to U-Turn while Choice Specs turned it into a powerful and threatening Wallbreaker. On the other hand, Hydreigon is able to run a lot of Z-Crystals such as Dragonium Z, Poisonium Z, Darkinium Z or more exotics one like Firium Z or Fightinium Z. Thanks to Taunt + Roost, Hydreigon can act as a great Stallbreaker while thanks to Defog it can remove with ease Entry Hazards which provides it a place of choice within Stall teams. Overall, Hydreigon is one of the best and versatile Pokemon in the tier and while it may struggle to deal with some Pokemon like Fairies or Blissey, it can still adjust and run Z-Belch / Flash Cannon or Superpower to lure its checks.
Krookodile :
Since a few month, Krookodile knew how to stand out as one of the best Choice Scarf users in the whole Underused. Thanks to its typing and access to Pursuit and Knock Off, Krookodile is able to pressure some common threats like Latias or Celebi. On the other hand, its Ground type allows it to check Electric types and in particular Rotom-Heat which is a lot more used than before. While it struggles to deal with Fairies and Bulky Pokemon like Hippowdon, Gligar, Chesnaught or Alomomola, Krookodile can still bother them thanks to Knock Off. Even if its Choice Scarf set is the most common, Krookodile can also act as a nice Stealth Rock setter thanks to its acces to Taunt. Krookodile is also a prominent threat in tournament and has been using as much as Scizor in SPL.
Primarina :
Primarina is another Pokemon which has become a staple in a lot of teams both in ladder and in tournaments. Its great typing allows it to check the dominant Hydreigon as well as other Dark types such as Krookodile. Its Choice Specs set allows it to be one of the scariest Wallbreaker to face while its Rest-Talk set allows it to be a great Bulky Water type which is able to handle a lot of hits without being passive. Both of its STABs are splashable and the fact that some of its check such as Empoleon are not as much used than before help it a lot.
Terrakion :
Since the rise of Gliscor in OU, Terrakion became of the greatest Wallbreaker in the tier. While it doesn't like the fact that Scizor and Latias are a lot used in Underused, Terrakion great typing and statistics allow it to pressure a plethora of Pokemon in the tier. There is only a few Pokemon which are able to stomach its attacks. While its Choice Band set allows it to hit directly hard, its Swords Dance sets are able to pressure even more defensive threats thanks to Z-Moves such as All-Out Pummeling or Continental Crush. Terrakion is a great Balanced breaker and a dominant threat in the current metagame where Balanced teams represent more than one third of the teams used.
Altaria-Mega :
I already talked a lot of Altaria-Mega :
here and
here. Altaria-Mega is one the best Pokemon in the current tier. Thanks to its typing and great Bulk, it's able to stomach a lot of hits and handle a lot of threats such as Latias, Krookodile, Hydreigon, Kommo-o, Infernape, Manectric-Mega or Zeraora. It's also a pretty versatile Pokemon which can be used as a Sweeper, a Bulky Pivot or as a Support thanks to its access to Defog or Heal Bell. While it's not as much used than Aerodactyl-Mega in tournaments, it's way more used than it in ladder. Even its offensives sets are rather differents since it can be played with either Facade, Fire Blast, Refresh and has a plethora of EV spreads which allow it to handle what you want it to handle. For some players, Altaria-Mega became more effective than Togekiss in the current metagame.
Kommo-o :
For a while, Kommo-o had a hard time imposing itself in the tier. While its Bulk is pretty nice, Kommo-o is kinda slow which means it can be Revenge Killed with ease by Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Hydreigon or Choice Scarf Latias. A few months ago, Kommo-o was mainly used with either Dragon Dance or with Substitute + Belly Drum. However, some players have started to play it as an offensive Stealth Rocks setter with Mixed STABs which allows it to take full advantage of its signature move : Clanging Scales. Thanks to this set, Kommo-o has become a prominent staple especially in some HO where it replaced Mamoswine. Thanks to its great Bulk and typing, Kommo-o is able to handle Pokemon such as Zeraora or Bisharp. Thanks to Taunt, it can prevent Defog users to get rid of its Stealth Rock. It's also useful vs Bulky Pokemon which can recover such as Hippowdon or Gligar. Overall, Kommo-o became much more viable by being able to bring a ton of support to some archetypes.
Celebi :
With the decline of Muk-Alola in usages, Celebi was able to get rid of Earth Power and Groundium Z in favour of Dazzling Gleam and Psychium Z. Thanks to it, Celebi is now able to pressure Hydreigon but also Latias. Psychium Z allows it to nuke with ease a lot of Pokemon after a Nasty Plot and even Pokemon like Scizor can't handle a +2 Shattered Psyche. Thanks to Dazzling Gleam, Hydreigon need to be much more careful now since it cannot switch securely on Celebi anymore. This change is a very good example that illustrates how a Pokémon can adapt to the metagame.
Rotom-Heat :
Rotom-Heat is a Pokemon which has recently exploded in terms of usage. Players use it a lot both on the ladder and in tournaments where it's currently the fourth most used Pokemon in SPL, ex æquo with Aerodactyl-Mega. This is due to its typing, it's ability Levitate and the fact that it's a Pokemon which can act as a Defogger and a nice Pivot thanks to Volt-Switch. Thanks to its typing, Rotom-heat is able to handle Pokemon such as Scizor, Moltres or Mamoswine. Thanks to Toxic or Will-O-Wisp, Rotom-Heat is able to bother common Switch-ins such as Latias, Hydreigon, Kommo-o or Hippowdon. While Rotom-Heat is a cool Pokemon, it still struggle to be effective in the long run since it doesn't have a way to heal itself outside of its item or Pain Split. Thus, it's pretty easy to wear it down with chip damages or Stealth Rock damages.
Gligar :
Gligar is another Pokemon which has benefited of the rise of Gliscor in OU. Since UU players can't play anymore Gliscor they turned to its little brother : Gligar. While Gligar isn't as good as Gliscor, it's still a Pokemon which has carved itself a pretty solid niche in UU as a nice Stealth Rock setter or Defogger. Thanks to Eviolite, Gligar has a really good Bulk which allows it to handle dominant threats such as Choice Band Scizor, Choice Band Terrakion, Cobalion, Doublade, Klefki, Hippowdon or Zeraora. Its great typing and nice Movepool allows it to be an effective support for a lot of teams by being able to act as a Pivot thanks to U-Turn or by being able to bother defensive threats thanks to Knock Off or Toxic.
Well, that's all for today. I hope this post may helps beginners to understand how UU has changed since a few months. I'll make another post in a few days or weeks which will talk about Pokemon which has fall in usage or are less effective than before. Thanks for reading me !
