UU Suspect Nominations (Round 3)

[reachzero]

It's the time you've all been waiting for! The time has come to choose new BL Suspects based on Smogon's criteria for banning Pokemon from a metagame. As a reminder, these criteria are:

Originally Posted by Fat Jumpman16 MODIFIED!

Offensive Characteristic
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it is capable of sweeping through a significant portion of teams in the metagame with little effort.

Defensive Characteristic
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it is able to wall and stall out a significant portion of the metagame.

Support Characteristic
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it can consistently set up a situation in which it makes it substantially easier for other pokemon to sweep.

1. You can nominate as many suspects as possible, provided you give good reasoning. Please Bold the Pokemon you nominate as Suspects.
2. While we will not be imposing a limitation on the number of Suspects you choose to nominate, we ask you to keep it to a reasonable number of nominations in your post.
3. Use your own reasoning and not something like "I believe that Rotom is BL because JabbaTheGriffin says so".
4. You can't nominate against a Pokemon, that is, you can't say "I don't want Honchkrow to be a Suspect".
5. Do not reply to other people's posts in this topic.
6. Depending on the quality of your arguments, your vote might not be counted. However, votes will be evaluated on a less technical, more common-sense basis than in previous Suspect nominations.
7. Only make one post. Edit all your Suspect nominations into that post.
8. Any posts that aren't nominating suspects will be deleted.
9. If you have any questions, please PM JabbaTheGriffin or reachzero.
10. Votes will not be counted until after this thread is closed.
11. While any and all users are open to nominations we ask for the sake of the integrity of the process that these votes be based on adequate experience and testing. Unlike previous tests, we will be utilizing Suspect Experience data (SEXP), so please do not attempt to nominate a Pokemon that you have not used or played against.
12. Don't be afraid to nominate Pokemon that have already been nominated.
13. It is an acceptable vote to bold vote "no Suspects". If you believe strongly that there are no Suspects in the current UU metagame, you may vote for no Pokemon to be Suspects.
14. This thread will remain open until September 16th, 2009.

 

[Stagnant]

Yanmega meets the offensive characteristic for these reasons....

Yanmega can effectively dismantle each of its counters and checks with its good movepool. U-Turn, Hypnosis, and Reversal are seldomly seen moves however they can effectively help Yanmega keep its counters in check. U-Turn off the incoming counter/ check to keep you ahead in the game, Reversal can dismantle Chansey and Registeel, two who were thought to be hard counters, and Hypnosis, albiet shakey accuarcy but still reliable, can buy you a few turns to do whatever.

Stealth Rock is considered to be a check to Yanmega however each time Yanmega (Specs) switches in expect to lose one or more people to it. So... 3 switch-ins 3 garenteed kills. A bit exagerated because of Priority users but not far from the truth.

Priority moves was deemed a check to Yanmega (Specs) however Yanmega can survive most if not all unboosted priority attacks after SR damage and procede to wipe you out.

Eh, long story short...

Yanmega has the right move pool, abilities, and stats to make it a overwhelming threat that ultimately shifted the metagames 2-3 times, iirc, in the short span of time we've been in this "stage" or what ever it is.

 

[whistle]

b is for ban yanmega

I'm nominating Yanmega under the offensive characteristic with a paragraph on the support characteristic thrown in because I think it satisfies the latter through its offensive power. For the sake of clarity here is the set I'll be referring to for this nomination:

Yanmega @ Choice Specs (Timid) – Tinted Lens
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Air Slash
- Bug Buzz
- AncientPower
- U-turn

Offensive Characteristic:
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it is capable of sweeping through a significant portion of teams in the metagame with little effort.

Given a generic sweeper, there are generally three things that can stop it from sweeping through an entire team: a.) a counter that can take anything said sweeper throws at it and win one-on-one, b.) revenge killing through a faster Pokemon that can kill the sweeper before it's killed, or c.) priority attacks that whittle down said sweeper's health.

The problem with Specs Yanmega as a sweeper is that there is a very limited number of safe switch-ins combined with the fact that it is a hit-and-run attacker rather than a setup sweeper. This means the second two ways of eliminating a sweeper are generally ineffective against it. As opposed to a sweeper like SubSalac Feraligatr or Belly Drum Linoone, which usually only get one chance to sweep a team, there's no reason Yanmega can't switch out after killing something and come back later to hit exactly as hard as it did before (well, other than SR, but that'll be discussed later). Therefore the most reliable way to stop a Specs Yanmega from rampaging through your team is to carry a counter. Unfortunately, it hits so goddamn hard that it's really really hard to find a Pokemon that can switch in safely and threaten Yanmega once, let alone twice or three times. It's not unfair to assume that the UU “metagame” more or less consists of the top fifty used Pokémon in UU. Out of these, the only Pokémon with relatively commonly-seen sets that can switch in on and survive two hits from Yanmega are Registeel, Mismagius, Milotic, Clefable, Chansey, Lanturn, Altaria, Regirock, and Miltank. Blue coloring on the damage calcs means the Pokemon can take two hits safely whereas red coloring means it's in dangerous territory if it has to switch in.

Bug Buzz vs 252/156+ Registeel
496 Atk vs 412 Def & 364 HP (90 Base Power): 118 - 139 (32.42% - 38.19%)
49.21% 3HKO with SR + Leftovers
14.29% 3HKO with Leftovers

Bug Buzz vs 252/216+ Mismagius
496 Atk vs 330 Def & 324 HP (90 Base Power): 145 - 172 (44.75% - 53.09%)
85.80% 2HKO with SR + Leftovers
0.07% 2HKO with Leftovers

Bug Buzz vs 252/0 Milotic
496 Atk vs 286 Def & 394 HP (90 Base Power): 169 - 199 (42.89% - 50.51%)
39.32% 2HKO with SR + Leftovers

Bug Buzz vs 252/252+ Clefable
496 Atk vs 306 Def & 394 HP (90 Base Power): 157 - 186 (39.85% - 47.21%)

Bug Buzz vs 0/252+ Chansey
496 Atk vs 339 Def & 641 HP (90 Base Power): 142 - 168 (22.15% - 26.21%)

Bug Buzz vs 40/216+ Lanturn
496 Atk vs 266 Def & 401 HP (90 Base Power): 180 - 213 (44.89% - 53.12%)
84.35% 2HKO with SR + Leftovers
0.07% 2HKO with Leftovers

Bug Buzz vs 252/216+ Altaria
496 Atk vs 330 Def & 354 HP (90 Base Power): 145 - 172 (40.96% - 48.59%)
100.00% 2HKO with SR + Leftovers
0% 2HKO with Leftovers

Bug Buzz vs 252/252+ Regirock
496 Atk vs 328 Def & 364 HP (90 Base Power): 147 - 174 (40.38% - 47.80%)
1.25% 2HKO with SR + Leftovers

Bug Buzz vs 240/208+ Miltank
496 Atk vs 250 Def & 391 HP (90 Base Power): 192 - 226 (49.10% - 57.80%)
Clean 2HKO with SR + Leftovers
50.62% 2HKO with Leftovers

*other common defensive Pokemon that are 2HKOed easily*

252/0 Spiritomb
496 Atk vs 252 Def & 304 HP (90 Base Power): 190 - 225 (62.50% - 74.01%)
Clean 2HKO

252/0 Arcanine
496 Atk vs 196 Def & 384 HP (90 Base Power): 246 - 289 (64.06% - 75.26%)
Clean 2HKO

252/0 Nidoqueen
496 Atk vs 206 Def & 384 HP (90 Base Power): 234 - 276 (60.94% - 71.88%)
Clean 2HKO

Apart from “holy shit that thing does a lot of damage” the first thing you might notice is that I included SR in the chance to 2HKO for all of these calculations. “But wait!” If you assume SR is up for these Pokemon, don't you have to assume that SR is also up on Yanmega's side? For the purposes of damage calculations, I think this contradiction is okay. First, there is a good chance that all of these Pokemon have taken a little bit – maybe even 12% – of previous damage walling other Pokemon or maybe even taking a Yanmega U-turn because they are defensive Pokemon and that is what defensive Pokemon do. Instead of looking at the KO chance percentages as “chance to 2HKO with SR damage” I think it's beneficial to look at them as “chance to 2HKO with a little bit of previous damage” since it's pretty much impossible to keep a defensive Pokemon at exactly 100% the entire battle. Another reason this contradiction is okay is that offensive Pokemon like Yanmega that are weak to Stealth Rock can wait until they are spun away to come onto the field. Defensive Pokemon don't have that luxury; if your entire team other than Milotic is 2HKOed by Yanmega and you need all of your other team members more than Milotic (hypothetical situation, okay, lol) you'll switch Milotic in regardless of whether Stealth Rock is up. I guess that's the definition of common battling condition I'll be using.

So Registeel, Chansey, Clefable, and Regirock are more or less the only commonly used UU Pokemon that can safely switch into Yanmega under “common battling conditions”.
- Chansey is a hard counter.
- Registeel can safely switch in but is not the best counter because the best it can do against Yanmega is to paralyze it. If Yanmega switches out it can 2HKO Registeel the next time it comes in.
- Clefable can survive two Bug Buzzes, but not very comfortably – it's slower, which means it has to keep Wishing or Softboiling until its HP is high enough to take two Bug Buzzes before it can make a move without being KOed the next turn, which could take anywhere from 5-10 turns depending on Yanmega's damage roll. It must do this while avoiding a Special Defense drop or a critical hit (assuming Yanmega doesn't go with Air Slash and its 30% flinch rate). Even then, Clefable can't do much back to Yanmega – Seismic Toss doesn't 3HKO, Facade doesn't 2HKO (maximum 48.24% damage, also note that Facade / Toxic Orb Clefable doesn't have Leftovers recovery), and Clefable that run special attacks are probably Calm Mind variants and don't run max Special Defense. Its best shot is to Thunder Wave but only 18.5% of Clefable had that in August. Clefable is a safe switch-in, but isn't doing much to threaten Yanmega – it's a shaky counter at best.
- Regirock is in the same boat as Registeel but can threaten with a STAB Stone Edge – the problem is that it has no reliable recovery and thus can't repeatedly switch in.

One hard counter and a few switch-ins isn't enough to stop Yanmega from sweeping through a “significant” portion of teams, especially when all it has to do is spam a single STAB attack. Chansey was the 26rd most used Pokemon in August and it sure isn't on a significant portion of teams given that it only accounts for 7.8% of overall usage. This seems like the most important part of the nomination but I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to say... four commonly used “safe” switch-ins, only three of which can force Yanmega out, only one of which can do it more than once. What this means in practice is that if you don't have one of these four Pokemon on your team, every time Yanmega comes out, your thought process will be “who do I let Yanmega kill” because you need to sacrifice something to safely get something in that scares Yanmega off. Even if the idea of “lose a Pokemon every time Yanmega comes out” isn't exactly written in the offensive characteristic, it's not a very large logical leap to get from that to “broken”.

Now if Yanmega can't be directly countered by a “significant” portion of teams, there are two other ways of dealing with it – priority and revenge killing. Note that if it comes down to either of these Yanmega has already done its job and killed something on your team. Anyways, since it's a choice attacker and not a setup sweeper, switching out doesn't ruin its chances of a sweep in the way that switching out a +2/+1 SubSalac Blaziken screws up its sweep. Because of Yanmega's 4x Grass- and Fighting-type resistances and Ground-type immunity along with pretty solid physical defense, it can easily switch in on lots of attacks or after a KO (the second of which is probably smarter if you lack spin support). Essentially the only thing stopping it from switching in and out repeatedly is its 4x weakness to Stealth Rock. Two arguments against this:

1. Even if SR is never spun away, Yanmega is still broken. Even with Stealth Rock up, Yanmega can get two shots at at team, once at 50% and once at 1% (assuming it's not abused early-game which is a pretty generous assumption tbh). That's two dead Pokemon which is pretty cool because if I filled my team with six Pokemon that each averaged two kills a game I would never lose. Duh that's really simplified but the point is if Yanmega has killed two Pokemon on the opposing team it's done its job.

2. It's not unreasonable to expect spin support. Yanmega clearly performs better with it than without which means it's not a question of availability. Additionally, whereas defensive Pokemon usually are required to do their jobs regardless of whether Stealth Rock is present, Yanmega has the luxury of being able to wait until Donphan or Hitmontop has successfully spun away rocks to come out. Yeah double-ghost makes it hard to spin, but really what proportion of teams use double-ghost?

It's kind of funny that the issue of priority revenge killing comes down to a side-note, but that's pretty much what this is. Most priority attacks don't do enough to even KO a Yanmega that has already switch into SR once. And again it's not very hard for Yanmega to simply switch out.

CB Azumarill Aqua Jet: 654 Atk vs 208 Def & 313 HP (40 Base Power): 135 - 160 (43.13% - 51.12%)
Donphan Ice Shard: 372 Atk vs 208 Def & 313 HP (40 Base Power): 104 - 124 (33.23% - 39.62%)
Guts Swellow Quick Attack: 403 Atk vs 208 Def & 313 HP (40 Base Power): 84 - 100 (26.84% - 31.95%)
LO TechTop Fake Out: 317 Atk vs 208 Def & 313 HP (60 Base Power): 85 - 101 (27.16% - 32.27%)

Support Characteristic
A Pokémon is uber if, in common battle conditions, it can consistently set up a situation in which it makes it substantially easier for other pokemon to sweep.

If Yanmega doesn't satisfy the Offensive Characteristic, the reasons it's so offensively devastating can also be reasons it satisfies the Support Characteristic – it can at least blow a massive hole in the opposing team and give an opportunity for something else to sweep... Mix Blaziken if Milotic or Altaria are down, Espeon or Mismagius if Registeel is down, etc. Not a very detailed nomination for the SC but the warrants for why it would qualify are all detailed above...

 

[franky]

Offensive Characteristic: Yanmega

This is easily where Yanmega belongs as it embodies the statement "capable of sweeping teams with little effort". For many reasons, it has an array of movesets that is capable of sweeping through teams.

Putting that aside, it has two "BL material" abilities that make Yanmega so dominant. Speed Boost is known for destroying unprepared offensive teams because with a great SpA stat coupled with "Speed Boost" to increase its Speed, nothing can touch it. Most Yanmega run Def investment in their Speed Boost Yanmega, 104 Def. This is enough to take a number of priority hits from the opponent.

Getting to the real ingredient for making it broken is its ability Tinted Lens. With Choice Specs + Tinted Lens, Yanmega currently has 3 solid counters / switch-ins to it. Registeel who load up alot of Special Defense "can check it" as it deals around 30-40~ by average. Meaning, if Registeel has taken hits previously (lacks recovery move), and comes in on Specs Bug Buzz, it will be taken out by another Bug Buzz. It can only take 3-4 Bug Buzz's depending on the EV spread. Milotic is also considered as a solid counter because it can take Bug Buzz and hit it with Ice Beam on its poor Special Defense stat. Although switching in Milotic is tough, as Milotic suffers a 2HKO. Most prefer bringing it in after your Pokemon dies or if you load up enough Specail Defense to survive 3 Bug Buzz's. The best counter though is Chansey, and no need to explain there. Meaning it has 1 solid counter and 2 solid checks, which is collectively very small.

Speaking of Chansey, Chansey just can't come in with ease as Yanmega also packs a way to defeat its #1 counter. SubLeichi set is perfectly avaliable, and it beats Chansey. To take it all in account, Yanmega defeats a significant portion of this metagame. Lastly, SR is considered as a counter, but its a poor reasoning. It still has 3 lives to switch-in, of course it hinders it, but it is not permanent. There are rapid spin users to help it spin. Overall, this bug fits this criteria.

Defensive Characteristic: Registeel

Registeel is a natural wall with its base stat distribution and Steel-typing to back that up. Enough blabering and let me get into the real set which makes Registeel really broken and can wall a significant portion of the metagame.

Registeel
@ Leftovers
Careful Nature (SpD+ / SpA-)
252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD

- Curse
- Iron Head
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

This could fit in both offensive and the defensive criteria, but its focused more on taking hits. Nothing can penetrate through this after literally 4-5 Curse moves, critical hits, freeze, roar and haze. With that being said, that's practically a small portion of the metagame and some of the reasoning behind it is not even valid. Unlike some Pokemon, Registeel is one of the few that can easily use Curse because it can force plenty of switch-outs. When the opponent makes one wrong switches and let it use one more Curse, its near impregnable at +2 range. When your health is reduced, Rest + Sleep Talk is really annoying firing off Curse while asleep or utilizing Iron Head to smash frailer Pokemon. Of course, Steel-type is a poor attacking option, but there is no denying that Registeel is a defensive juggernaut with a couple of Curses under its belt, and even Pokemon who resist it won't enjoy Iron Head with a very possible +6 boosts, while doing nothing to Registeel in return. Its almost like Registeel will come out on top with at least 3 Curses minimum by alternating between Curse then Rest Sleep Talk.

While I mentioned that Haze users are a bane to Registeel, Milotic can't really do much in return because of Registeel's Special Defense stat and immunity to Toxic. Now this might end up in a stall war, but its counter can't touch it meaning it has to result to PP stalling, which embodies the statement "walls a significant portion". Of course, Milotic can easily be removed with a help of team mates. I mentioned "Roar" as a counter, but really, every stat up users won't enjoy facing it. That doesn't stop Registeel from facing it at the end, and still win it. The most common users cant even touch Registeel. To sum it up, most of Registeel's counters can't touch it and Registeel can wall a significant portion of the metagame.

After +3 Curses: **Take Note this is only 3 Curses and it can use Curse again and utilize Rest / Sleep Talk, etc.**

Max Attack Adamant Donphan vs +3 Curse = 37.91% max
Max Attack Jolly +1 Arcanine vs +3 Curse = 48.35% max
Max Attack Adamant +1 Dugtrio vs +3 Curse = 36.26% max
Max Attack Adamant +1 Torterra vs +3 Curse = 44.51% max
Max Attack Adamant +2 Toxicroak vs +3 Curse = 89.56% max

Tired for now, but you get the point. Much of Registeel's success is healing off the damage and firing off attacks or boosting up while asleep.

 

[petrie911]

I nominate Yanmega under the Offensive Characteristic.

The Specs+Tinted Lens set is probably broken on its own. Chansey is really the only Pokemon that can reliably and repeatedly switch in on it. The Regis have no recovery move outside of Rest, and everything else gets 2HKO'd if they've taken even a small amount of extra damage. Further, while it's not too hard to find something faster that can revenge it, Yanmega can just switch out. Revenging Yanmega means that you already lost a Pokemon, and even with SR up, it gets at least 2 chances to come in and kill something.

However, Yanmega also has a few other very nasty options. LO+Speed Boost is a great sweeper, outspeeding everything in the tier and destroying them with its poweful STABs. Yanmega can also take nearly any priority attack due to its decent defense. SubPetaya can also be devastating, and, ironically, arguably benefits from SR, as it can switch in, sub as the opponent switches out, and be at +1 Satk, +1 spd, and behind a sub. Reversal can suddenly make Chansey into a non-counter, and Hypnosis takes one of your opponent's Pokemon out of commission, most likely the Yanmega counter that just switched in.

The offensive characteristic says that a Pokemon is broken if it is capable of sweeping through a significant portion of the teams in the metagame with little effort. This is pretty much exactly what Yanmega is now. Yanmega switches in on its 4x resists or immunity quite easily, and switching in is all it needs to pose a huge threat to a team.


I also nominate Milotic under the defensive characteristic.

This is going to be a hard nomination to make, as in all the testing Smogon has done, we've never had a defensive suspect. I'll need a bit of time to think of a solid justification for this, but I really think Milotic needs to go to BL.

EDIT: OK, here's my reasoning for why Milotic qualifies for the defensive characteristic.

First, Milotic as a whole. 95/79/125 is just great, especially when your ability gives you a 50% defense boost while statused. 100 base sp. attack means it can hit pretty hard, and its STAB, Water, has great neutral coverage. It also has Recover to prolong its life, and meaning that the only status it won't like is Toxic. Alternatively, RestTalk is great, as Milotic's ability gives it a defense boost during those mostly helpless sleeping turns. Haze stops things from setting up on it, and it can even run Toxic itself. Overall, Milotic has a great moveset for sitting there and wearing down the enemy.

Let's look at the UUs. These come mostly from my own experience. I've used Milotic extensively from the beginning of the UU test until Shaymin got banned (I decided to try some other pokemon after that). Naturally, I've dealt with Milotic the entire time, too.

And now for the exceedingly long list.

Absol--threatening, especially with +2.  However, Milotic has good defenses and can weather a hit while hitting back with STAB Surf.
Altaria--Ice Beam destroys it.  Milotic without Ice Beam will have trouble.
Ambipom--Milotic has recovery, and Ambipom doesn't.  Milotic can generally stall it out.
Arcanine--Some carry Toxic just for this purpose, but Milotic still forces it out.  And it's SR weak, which doesn't help it in this regard.
Azumarill--If Milotic has HP Grass, this generally doesn't present too much of a problem.  CB Double-Edge is worrisome, but a choiced normal attack is just asking to get set up on.
Blastoise--kind of a draw, really.  Blastoise needs Rest to recover, so in the unlikely event this happened, Milotic would probably come out on top
Blaziken--Attack+Superpower can come dangerously close to 2HKO, but Blaziken can only guarantee it by running low speed, IIRC.  And Milotic can actually outspeed Blaziken in that case.
Chansey--Chansey probably wins in the long run, but again, not an important matchup, as Chansey isn't going to be threatening your team.
Charizard--Milotic owns him.  4x SR weak really hurts when he gets forced out, and I've had Milotic survive +6 EQ from him with a fair chunk of health to spare.
Claydol--Milotic wins this fight.  STAB SE Surf
Clefable--will usually win this.  Facade/DE are quite nasty against Milotic.  Encore is ever annoying, though Cosmic Power can be Hazed away.
Donphan--Milotic used Surf
Drapion--depends on the set, but usually wins.  It will have trouble breaking Milotic's defense without CB/SD, though, and it lacks recovery outside of Rest.
Dugtrio--dies to Surf.  Unlikely to come up, though, as you can't switch into Dugtrio, and he's going to be right out of there when Milotic comes in.
Electrode--Milotic can take the Explosion.  Not that Milotic usually occupies the lead slot.
Espeon--CM versions get Hazed, Specs versions get worn down, though Specs Psychic hurts
Feraligatr--Haze brings DDance sets to a bit of a standstill.  HP Grass can often beat it outright.
Hariyama--can be worn down, but often runs resttalk.  STAB Fighting moves off high base attack let it deal with Milotic fairly well.
Hitmonlee--Milotic can revenge if necessary, but Hitmonlee's CC is generally not something you want to switch into.
Hitmontop--More manageable.  Still damaging, but you can recover off its attacks more easily, and every CC makes it that much easier to kill, with no recovery
Honchkrow--Can switch in and beat with Ibeam or Surf.  Honch has pretty good damage output, though, and Milotic needs to watch for Crit Night Slash.
Houndoom--+2 Dark Pulse hurts, but Surf hurts, too.  Mixdoom is forced out.
Kabutops--+2 Stone edge is nasty.  But Surf still hits it quite hard, especially in the rain, where Kabutops is often found
Lanturn--needs HP Grass to win.
Ludicolo--Comes out on top.  Ice Beam does pitiful damage, and Milotic is easy Subseed bait.  SDcolo also gets a good setup.
Magmortar--Tbolt hurts, but Milotic can endure and force it out.
Mesprit--usually sets up and runs.  Packs Tbolt sometimes, but SubCM can still usually be beaten with Haze
Miltank--This is pretty much a draw.  Both players would do better switching out.
Mismagius--Milotic can take the attacks, Haze CMs, and hit back with Surf.
Moltres--Milotic forces it out.  as a 4x SR weak, that's important.
Nidoking--can 2HKO with the proper application of Tbolt. But it also has difficulty taking Milotic's STAB SE Surfs.
Nidoqueen--Surfs will beat her, while she doesn't have nearly the offense of Nidoking.  If she sets up Toxic Spikes, it's an excellent opportunity to get Milotic with poison, activating Marvel Scale for only 1/16 HP loss per turn.
Omastar--Surf will generally dispatch it.  HP Grass does so even faster.
Porygon2--Trace variants will lose the stall war.  Download variants get their boost Hazed away, then lose the stall war.
Regirock--Surf wins.  Regirock only really threatens with Explosion.  Curse Regirock gets Hazed.
Registeel--Milotic wins 1 on 1.  Also an excellent chance to get paralyzed, if you want Marvel Scale's boost without the HP loss.  watch out for full para, though.  The best Regi can do here is Explode.
Roserade--one of the few things in the tier which presents Milotic with a straight up OHKO.  However, there are plenty of Grass resistant pokemon which would love the chance to come in on a -2 Roserade.
Rotom--Hazing the subcharge set can keep it in check, but no matter what, STAB Tbolts hurt.  Probably not the best way to deal with Rotom, but it can work.
Sceptile--Specs Leaf Storm also presents a OHKO, and +2 Leaf Blades hurt.  However, as always, there are plenty of things to switch into grass attacks, and the only thing better than a -2 Pokemon is a -2 Pokemon that's locked into a resisted move.
Scyther--Can do a lot of damage, but 4X rock weakness doesn't help it, and Ice Beam can make short worth of the rest of its HP.  Generally won't get the needed KO
Slowbro--HP Grass can beat it.  Otherwise, whoever has Toxic eventually wins.
Spiritomb--Crotomb gets Hazed, but Spiritomb will often win the PP stall due to Pressure.  Not that Tomb is bereft of nasty switch-ins.
Steelix--will need to explode to kill milotic.  It cannot take repeated STAB surfs, and no recovery hurts it.  the rare Crolix gets Hazed.
Swellow--generally will not be OHKOd, but always 2HKO'd.  Not a good switch in, but can revenge if high on health.
Tangrowth--gets Ice Beamed.  Milotic has trouble switching in, though.
Torterra--Ice Beam kills it, but Wood Hammer is another rare OHKO.  Milotic can be EVd to outspeed Adamant before a Rock Polish, but Torterra is still a threat.
Toxicroak--usually sets up on Milotic, and Milotic can do little but Ice Beam it.  +2 Cross Chop hurts a lot, but Ice Beam does a fair chunk back.
Typhlosion--Milotic forces it out or kills it with Surf
Uxie--see Mesprit, really.  Uxie can set up fairly well on Milotic, though.
Venusaur--probably wins, as it can get Leech Seed set up, and Milo's Ice Beam and Venusaur's Energy Ball both do meh damage.
Weezing--won't like Surfs, and can only pain split to recover.  Explosion can take out Milotic, but Milotic should win this one
Yanmega--Milotic needs full health to take it on.  But Yanmega may also be broken.  yeah.

You may have noticed that many Pokemon threaten Milotic with a lot of damage. While this is normally a problem for walls like Registeel, Milotic's fairly high speed and access to Recover means it will often be at full or near-full health. So the fact that Milotic needs to take a hefty hit to deal with those pokemon is much less of an issue, as it can easily get the HP back.

That means that, offensively, Torterra, Roserade, Toxicroak, SD Venusaur, SD Ludi, and Sceptile give it the most trouble, being the only ones that can really come into Milotic and be a threat. What do these have in common? They all have similar counters. Part of what makes Milotic so broken defensively is that the things it can't quite manage to wall are can be dealt with using perhaps 1 or 2 other mons. And there's still the sleep talk set to consider, which removes many physical mons above as counters, though admittedly, I haven't used the sleep talk set much.

Overall, Milotic actually leaves very few holes in its defense, which can be easily patched up. After that, you're left with an exceedingly sturdy wall which can keep coming back over and over to wall most of the metagame. That is why Milotic satisfies the defensive characteristic.

 

[Erazor]

Nomination for Banmega

My only nomination is Yanmega. I'm nominating him under the Offensive characteristic and the supporting Characteristic.

edit: for the purposes of SEXP, I used the account lookatthis and pikachu-test

There are two versions of Yanmega, and they're both broken. The sets I will be referring to are

The Specs Tinted Lens version:

Yanmega@Choice Specs
ABILITY: Tinted Lens
252 SpA/ 252 Spe/ 4 Def, Timid
-Bug Buzz
-Air Slash
-AncientPower
-U-turn

and the Speed Boost version:

Yanmega@Life Orb
ABILITY: Speed Boost
104 Def/ 252 SpA / 152 Spe, Modest
-Bug Buzz
-Air Slash
-Hidden Power Ground
-Protect

---------------------------------------------------

The Specs Tinted Lens set is nigh impossible to switch into. Since Yanmega doesn't give a shit about resistances, it can happily spam Bug Buzz and watch things die. Nothing can switch in safely to Yanmega, with the exception of Chansey, Specially defensive Registeel, Specially Defensive Milotic, and Regirock in a Sandstorm. That's 4 switch ins, gentlemen, in a tier of 52 Pokemon. And among them, only Chansey can switch in multiple times. Registeel can switch in on Bug Buzz once, force Yanmega out. OK. Then the next time Yanmega switches in, Registeel is 2HKOed by Bug Buzz. Same goes for Regirock. Milotic faces the same dilemna, although her life is made easier with reliable recovery.

Now, when you have a sweeper, there are generally a few ways to deal with it: Through switching in a counter and forcing it out, Revenge killing it with a faster Pokemon, and revenge killing it with Priority. We've established that only 2 Pokemon can force it out more than once. So the next thing to do is revenge it. Now, Revenging Yanmega means that Yanmega has done its job of getting at least one kill in the match. The dilemna a player faces is, "Who do I sac to kill this guy?!" Revenging Yanmega essentially forces you to sacrifice a member of your team to deal with it. Remember Garchomp in the old days?

On the note of revenging Yanmega. The Speed Boost version takes the concept of revenge killing, chews it up, chucks it back out, and spits on it. It is impossible to revenge kill a Speed Boost Yanmega without priority. And even worse, most priority attacks can't do 50% to Yanmega, meaning that he takes the hit and retaliates with a brutal Bug Buzz/Air Slash. And it's not much weaker than the Specs Version. Evidence:

Adamant Donphan Ice Shard vs 104 Def Yanmega: 372 Atk vs 234 Def & 313 HP (40 Base Power): 92 - 110 (29.39% - 35.14%)
Adamant CB Azumarill Aqua Jet on 104 Def Yanmega: 654 Atk vs 234 Def & 313 HP (40 Base Power): 120 - 142 (38.34% - 45.37%)
Adamant CB Arcanine Extremespeed: 41 - 48 %


And on Tinted Lens versions:

Guts Swellow Quick Attack: 403 Atk vs 208 Def & 313 HP (40 Base Power): 84 - 100 (26.84% - 31.95%)
LO TechTop Fake Out: 317 Atk vs 208 Def & 313 HP (60 Base Power): 85 - 101 (27.16% - 32.27%)


Yanmega also royally screws up a whole playstyle, which is Offense. Looking at Yanmega's "checks"(4 of them), we see that none of them can be accomodated on an offensive team. This means that offense's only hope is to revenge Yanmega, and I just proved how hard it is for it to be revenged. So Yanmega obliterates offensive teams.

Now, there's another "check" that hasn't been mentioned yet - Stealth Rock. Possibly Yanmega's only flaw is that it comes with a 4x weakness to SR, and it is argued that SR is a good enough check for Yanmega. It is certainly Offense's best way to check it. However, with SR up, Yanmega still gets 3 shots at the opposite team, which is quite likely to result in 3 kills, especially late game when most pokemon are weakened.

This is assuming that Stealth Rock is up at all. Sadly, it's nowhere near guaranteed to be up. Spinning is much easier in UU, and it has some great spinners in Hitmontop and Donphan.

| Yanmega | 1. Donphan |

So since SR isn't likely to be up when one faces a Yanmega, it's going to get a lot of oppurtunities to brutalize your team.

So to sum up: Yanmega has 1 counter, and 3 checks. It obliterates offensive teams. It's hard to revenge, and requires multiple priority attacks just to take it down. Taking all of these into account, it can be said that Yanmega sweeps a significant Portion of the metagame under common battling conditions.

I nominated it against the supporting characteristic as well, since it blows holes in the opposite team, meaning that even if Yanmega goes down, your other sweepers get to take advantage of a worn out Chansey/Registeel/Milotic.

 

[IceBug]

I'm going to break the trend (though I beleive Yanmega needs to go) and nominate Registeel under both defensive and support categories, for suspect consideration. Explanations to come when I'm not trying to type a 1:00am.

 

[Seven Deadly Sins]

My only nomination this round is going to be Yanmega under the offensive characteristic and the support characteristic.

The sets that are specifically broken are the following:

The Specs Tinted Lens version:

Yanmega@Choice Specs
ABILITY: Tinted Lens
252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def, Timid
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic

and the Speed Boost version:

Yanmega@Life Orb
ABILITY: Speed Boost
132 Def / 252 SpA / 124 Spe, Modest
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Hidden Power Ground
- Shadow Ball / Protect

First, we have the offensive characteristic. Yanmega can take two routes to sweep in this metagame, each with devastating results. The first is, of course, the Choice Specs Tinted Lens variant. Tinted Lens is undoubtedly the best ability in the entire game, rendering resistance to Yanmega's powerful STAB Bug Buzz absolutely useless. The only Pokemon available in UU that actually "resist" this Bug Buzz are Drifblim, Toxicroak, and Moltres, two of which are still 2koed after Stealth Rock, and the third being KOed by any one of Yanmega's coverage moves. So resisting Bug Buzz is out. This just leaves Pokemon that take it neutrally, of which there are very few. The only Pokemon that can actually take a Specs Bug Buzz without being 2KOed are:

Chansey - 496 Atk vs 339 Def & 641 HP (95 Base Power): 150 - 177 (23.40% - 27.61%)

Your only real bet, though if Chansey switches in at 50% or less it still might go down.

SDef Milotic - 496 Atk vs 383 Def & 394 HP (95 Base Power): 133 - 157 (33.76% - 39.85%)

3ko with SR easily. Crit will ruin your day as well. Recover helps, but if you don't get a chance to recover, you only switch in once. Also, with Spikes and SR up, Milotic gets 2KOed.

SDef Registeel - 496 Atk vs 407 Def & 364 HP (95 Base Power): 126 - 148 (34.62% - 40.66%)

Easy 3KO. Potentially trapped by Dugtrio if weakened by Yanmega, and Dugtrio can switch in on SR or Thunder Wave (Registeel's only options) and dispose of Registeel. Also falls to Spikes + SR for the 2KO.

SDef Regirock in Sandstorm - 496 Atk vs 492 Def & 364 HP (95 Base Power): 103 - 123 (28.30% - 33.79%)

The best bet, but requires you to not only use Regirock with a completely specially defensive spread, but also requires you to use it in tandem with the nigh useless Hippopotas. Again, potentially revenged by Dugtrio, though the base 200 Defense helps.

And there we are. Four switchins. Out of 52 Pokemon. On top of this, none of these Pokemon actually fit on any kind of an offensive team, meaning that Yanmega essentially renders hyper offense unusable due to the fact that it MUST sacrifice a Pokemon whenever Yanmega comes in on a hit that won't kill it or a slower Pokemon (such as the extremely popular Roserade).

Of course, there's always revenge killing. However, revenge killing automatically requires the revenge killer to sacrifice something to Yanmega, simply to get the chance to hit it. And even then, you've gotta have something either faster than 95 speed or a priority user. And even if you DO have a priority user, chances are it won't take Yanmega out. The only priority in the entire tier capable of taking out a 50% Yanmega is LO boosted Absol / Honchkrow Sucker Punch. Anything short of that is nigh pointless. Donphan's Ice Shard can't do it, CB Azumarill's Aqua Jet can't do it, CB Arcanine's Extremespeed can't do it, Technitop's Fake Out + Mach Punch can't do it, Guts Swellow's Quick Attack can't do it.

Of course, this is only the Specs TL set. There's still a whole world of pain left for Yanmega to inflict with its remaining sets. First, we'll shed a little light on the Life Orb set. (The spread there takes into account the fact that the old spread aimed to outspeed Crobat after +1, something that is no longer required.) First, the thing to notice is that this set only has slightly less power, but WAY more speed potential, making it much more difficult to revenge kill, running through offense without a second thought. The defense that is added allows extra ability to absorb priority, and if not weakened by Stealth Rock, takes a hell of a beating before going down, not even being OHKOed by attacks such as Azumarill's Choice Band Waterfall. In addition to this, it's not especially difficult to pass a Wish from Chansey, due to Yanmega's 4x resistance to Fighting and immunity to Earthquake.

While the Tinted Lens set focuses on punching holes in teams and causing as much damage and mayhem as it can, Speed Boost sets focus on sweeping after its counters are removed or weakened. Since it has the ability to switch attacks, it doesn't have to worry nearly as much about prediction as other Yanmega sets. Registeel at 50% is no longer able to switch into the Hidden Power Ground-empowered Yanmega, since it can dispatch a Registeel at 50% with Bug Buzz + Hidden Power Ground. On top of this, common offensive checks to the previous Yanmega, Choice Scarf users, are no longer as potent against a Yanmega that boosts its speed every turn, leaving priority the only real way to beat Yanmega. Of course, this is easier said than done because of Yanmega's considerable physical bulk - 86/86 defenses with 132 Defense EVs invested.

Of course, there's the matter of Stealth Rock. However, Stealth Rock is much more of a non-issue in UU than it is elsewhere. OU's big problem with SR is that there are so many viable SR users, two extremely viable and bulky spinblockers, and few actual usable spinners. However, in UU, there is Claydol, Hitmontop, and the newly added Donphan, each of which is extremely capable of dealing with or warding off Ghost-types while spinning away Rocks. In fact, if you look at the stats for Yanmega, Donphan is easily the most common teammate for Yanmega, which definitely says something about how it is used.

Also, aside from the two broken sets, there are the following extremely useful and destructive sets: Expert Belt, which trades general power for specific power and bulk; Reversal, which has less Special power, but is not walled by Chansey or Registeel (or possibly Regirock); SubPetaya, which uses Substitute to wreak havoc and ease prediction before sweeping all-out with a +1 Yanmega; Hypnosis, which needs a little luck, but can easily incapacitate counters with sleep before pounding them to dust with Yanmega's strong attacks.

I'm also going to go with the trend and nominate it for the Support Characteristic, simply because after Specs Tinted Lens has put a couple holes in the enemy team, it's hard to stop other extremely threatening sweepers from pouring through.

 

[keelhauled]

I Nominate Registeel under the defensive category. It has very solid defensive stats for an Underused pokemon, and provides an outright counter to a large majority of the metagame. Variants such as Curse/ResTalk/Iron Head can completely overwhelm teams who do not act quickly, and it takes relatively few turns to set up to a degree where only STAB SE attacks will hurt it, and even then, with a few curses Physical attacks do relatively little.

It also provides a counter to a very large portion of the metagame, which creates a necessity to have a designated Counter for it, such as Roar Donphan. Pokemon such as Azumarill and Absol, who normally are designated SteelKillers struggle to get past Registeel, which would create a situation where a team cannot function properly, or to a degree, at all, as soon as Registeel gets a Curse.

 

[PurpleWeezing]

Just saw that youre checking SEXP. I exclusively used my _Libelldra_ account for UU laddering, take this into consideration :x

Nominating Yanmega under the support and offensive characteristic as well as Milotic under the defensive one.

Yanmega:

Yanmega @ Choice Specs (Timid)
Ability: Tinted Lens
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Air Slash
- Bug Buzz
- Ancientpower
- U-turn

Offensive Characteristic
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it is capable of sweeping through a significant portion of teams in the metagame with little effort.

There are two ways to stop a sweeper from sweeping – countering and revenge killing. I won’t go into revenge killing here, as the only way of revenging Yanmega is to sacrifice something, which speaks for itself, seeing how Yanmega can usually switch in trice a game…
Well, countering this Yanmega is incredibly hard, seeing as Tinted Lens literally removes the opponent’s resistance to Yanmega’s STAB moves. The only mons who keep a Bug resistance in UU are Toxicroak, Blaziken and Moltres (not counting NUs like Drifblim, Golbat and Haunter). While Toxicroak and Blaziken struggle to take 2 Bug Buzzes and have no reliable way of killing Yanmega in the meanwhile, Moltres is unable to take 2 Bug Buzzes if Stealth Rocks are up. Neither or them can take an Air Slash or in Moltres’ case, an Ancientpower Making things even worse, there is no quadruple Air Slash resistance in UU, so you’d have to rely on otherwise useless stuff like Probopass.

So the only way to counter it is good special Bulk and neutrality to Yanmega’s moves. Let’s see… (calculating Bug Buzzes)

Registeel (252/156+) 32.42% - 38.19%
-> Registeel cannot do much back, the best thing it can muster is a Thunder Wave. Registeel will have problems switching in more than twice. Decent check.

Chansey (4/252+) 22.15% - 26.21%.
-> The best counter for Yanmega. Yanmega can’t hope to 3HKO without surreal luck, while Chansey can use Thunder Wave or SToss and recover off damage easily.

Milotic (252/4) 42.89% - 50.51%
-> Assuming Stealth Rocks are up, Milotic isn’t unlikely to go down. Even without Stealth Rocks, there are two options for Milotic – a) kill and get to the point where anything can bring you down or b) Recover stall until an SDef drop occurs. Specially defensive Milotic can be considered a check, but this is damn specific and Milotic will lose it qualities in walling Blaziken, Azumarill and Feraligatr.

Spiritomb (252/252+) (even though nobody should run such a split) 45.72% - 54.28%
-> Ouch, guaranteed kill with SR up, pretty huge chance at killing without SR. The best Spiritomb can muster is a neutral Shadow Ball, which does still less than 50%.

Altaria (252/216+) 40.96% - 48.59%
-> While this seems to be okay, Stealth Rocks are a huge aid once again. Even without them, Yanmega is sturdy enough to take a hit and put Altaria into kill range for nearly anything, allowing something like Blaziken to sweep freely.

Regirock (252/252+) 40.38% - 47.80%
-> Takes hits well, but will die if there is residual damage. Decent check I’d say.

Clefable (252/252+) 39.85% - 47.21%
-> Good check, seeing how SR/Spikes can’t dent it. Still, Clefable can’t do much back barring paralyse it, as even boosted Façade fails to 2HKO. One SDef drop or crit and Clefable is down. Decent check, but nothing more.

Lanturn (40/252+) 43.39% - 51.12%
-> While Lanturn can OHKO Yanmega, it can’t take hits that well, as it has a 53% chance of getting 2HKOed with Stealth Rocks and Leftovers. Lanturn also lacks a reliable recovery but can check it, even though not good at all.

Mismagius (252/216+) 44.75% - 53.09%
-> Thunderbolt does beefy damage to Yanmega, but Missy can’t outpace it with this EV-spread. Yanmega has a good chance of 2HKOing Mismagius with SR, and seeing how Mismagius’ most reliable recovery is Pain Split it’s an okay check, but that’s it.

The only counter for Yanmega is Chansey, reliable checks are Registeel, Clefable and specially defensive Milotic, which can all be worn down with a little bit of entry hazard support or simply by repeated attacks.
As said above, revenge killing is not really viable as you usually have to sac something before having a chance of getting rid of Yanmega, allowing other team members to sweep. Which is where we get into the support characteristic 8)



Support Characteristic
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it can consistently set up a situation in which it makes it substantially easier for other pokemon to sweep.

Yanmega supports the team by removing or heavily denting defensive Pokemons, allowing another one to sweep. Example needed? Okay.

Player A has Yanmega, switches into Uxie who just uses Stealth Rocks.
Player A starts spamming Bug Buzz, in comes Milotic to handle this. Milotic loses around 40% and has the options explained above – die or get heavily dented. Now Player A switches in Blaziken, who starts his rampage there.

This is a theoretical, sucky example, it just shows how the holes Yanmega plows into the opposing defense can secure the victory. Therefore Yanmega imo fits the support characteristic.

Doing Milotic later ^_^

 

[pkmn1000]

Offensive Characteristic
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it is capable of sweeping through a significant portion of teams in the metagame with little effort.

I support roserade since it sweeps really easily and very few pokes can outright counter it.

 

[Heysup]

Note: These nominations assume you know / can glance at calculations, they are everywhere, so I don't want to waste anyone's time by repeating them.

Nominations:

Choice Specs Tinted Lens Yanmega: Support and Offensive


SpecsMega:

Yanmega fills the offensive and support characteristics quite obviously in today's metagame. The removal of Crobat and Shaymin gave SpecsMega a huge opportunity to shine, and shine it did.

Support:

SpecsMega can sweep with very minimal support, and obviously without any set-up (Choice item). However, lets not forget its ability to also support team members quite effectively and easily. Yanmega can be coupled with just about any offnesive oriented Pokemon (that can KO Chansey) and make it broken, not by stating up or by trapping, or even by Taunting, Phazing, or Stalling. Yanmega can do this by flat out destroying everything in the tier, most of which with a single attack (Bug Buzz). Lets go over how many Pokemon can even (reliably) survive a single attack from Timid SpecsMega (with Bug Buzz / Air Slash / HP Ground / Ancient Power):

Altaria
Azumarill
Blastoise
Chansey
Clefable
Lanturn
Milotic
Regirock
Registeel

Clearly, not a lot of Pokemon, but not enough to make it broken. However, the point here is that nothing can switch into Yanmega, meaning it has to survive two attacks and do something back. Lets see what the list boils down to:

Chansey
Milotic (With significant SpD investment)
Registeel

As you can see, there are three purely defensive special walls (Milotic is no longer physical because of the SpD needed) who can take Yanmega's attacks, and they are easy pickings for most physical sweepers. This makes Pokemon like Swords Dance Drapion, or Honchkrow, or basically anything, able to sweep with the least effort, other then possibly taking a turn to set up one attack. Yanmega makes these Pokemon too strong.

You might think "Stealth Rock" whenever you here Yanmega, but (and this goes for the other Yanmega nom as well) it's not too hard to get rid of, and to be quite honest, 2-3 attacks from Yanmega is broken enough. Stealth Rock is the reason that Yanmega became UU, and that isn't really a factor in this metagame because of Donphan and Yanmega's ability to only HAVE to come in 2-3 times to fill the support characteristic. It 2HKOes almost every Pokemon in the tier with one attack, and makes other Pokemon sweep a significant portion of the metagame with very little, if any effort.

Offensive:

Timid Choice Specs Yanmega is basically the same arugment as above, it 2HKOes / OHKOes everything. With its good defenses it can barely be stopped and its fast speed doesn't really make it easy to revenge kill. SpecsMega is flat out too fast, strong, and deadly for this tier. It sweeps by pressing the "Bug Buzz" button, as I'm sure you can tell from the calculations in the UU thread or other's nominations. That's really all I can say here, other than repeating calc after calc. This nomination looks to be "overkill" already, so that's all I really need to say too.

 

[d2m]

Yanmega:

I would write something long and flowing, but feel much like a broken record. The Specs/Tinted Lens set that has been mentioned so far is utterly and completely devastating to most any team. There are only 2 non-gimmick sets that are not 2HKO'd by this set and those are any set of Chansey and a Specially Defensive Registeel.

95 base speed means he outpaces the vast majority of the tier. Here's a list of everything faster than it:

Electrode: Soundproof variants can switch into a Bug Buzz and nothing else. Electrode is a liability to most teams as his stats other than speed are rather pathetic and is almost exclusively a suicide lead.

Swellow: OHKO'd by Bug Buzz.

Dugtrio: OHKO'd by any move.

Sceptile: OHKO'd by Bug Buzz or Air Slash.

Ambipom: Bug Buzz does (87.63% - 103.09%). In return, an Adamant LO Fake Out will do (42.49% - 50.16%), with only a slim chance of OHKOing after SR and costs Ambipom his life thanks to LO damage. All of this is of course assuming he switches in at 100% w/o SR up.

Espeon: OHKO'd by Bug Buzz.

Mismagius: min/min takes (66.67% - 78.54%) from a Bug Buzz. A max SpA Shadow Ball can KO Yanmega, so this makes a counter in a pinch, yet it lacks reliable recovery, so Yanmega cripples it.

Scyther: OHKO'd by Air Slash w/o SR and anything else after SR damage.

Charizard: Bug Buzz does (34.68% - 41.08%). If Charizard is max speed + natured, it's Fire Punch (most common move) will easily OHKO Yanmega after SR, but either LO Recoil would kill it and it prevents the most common set (Bellyzard) from setting up and crippling it immensely.

Miltank: Defensive Miltank is taking (61.68% - 72.59%) from Bug Buzz and is outsped and 2HKO'd.

Typhlosion: Strictly a Choice Scarfed lead. Teams should have ways of dealing with this, but it stands a good chance of being OHKO'd after SR as it takes (69.70% - 82.15%) from a Bug Buzz.

So of all the ones that outspeed it, there are only 3 with even remote possibilities of switching in AND threatening it and all of those are crippled severely in doing so.

Of priority users: Absol and Honchkrow's max atk LO Sucker Punches are the only things strong enough to ensure an OHKO after SR and neither can switch into a Bug Buzz (the latter has a small chance w/o SR).

So to summarize: There are only 2 hard counters and 3 1-time checks to Specs/Tinted Lens Yanmega. Of the 2 hard counters, none fit well on offensive teams. By looking through RMTs and usage statistics, you can see even the most offensive of teams are tossing a Registeel on their team specifically for Yanmega (or are suggested to).

5/60 some odd is obviously not a significant portion of the metagame, therefore Yanmega can be said to easily sweep through vast portions of the metagame and meet the offensive characteristic.

The only argument against the Offensive Characteristic is his drastic SR weakness which limits the amount of times he can switch in. While this is true, he can still be nominated under the support characteristic as he can easily cause 1 kill per all 3 of his switch ins thus opening the way for others to sweep.

Milotic:

Most Milotic run one of these sets:

Bold/252 HP/252 Def/4 Spe (sometimes altered to outspeed Blaziken)
Leftovers or Life Orb <kinda gimmicky>

-Surf
-Ice Beam/HP Grass
-Recover/Sleep Talk
-Haze/Rest/Toxic

Specially defensive ones are cropping up but are gimmick defenses against Yanmega.

Things that 252/252 Bold wall/counter completely (alphabetically from the UU list):
Absol
Altaria (With Ice Beam)
Ambipom
Arcanine
Azumarril
Blastoise (-Toxic if not resttalk)
Blaziken
Charizard
Claydol
Donphan
Dugtrio
Feraligatr (if HP Grass)
Hariyama
Hitmontop
Honchkrow (more reliable with Ice Beam and Barring Super Luck crits)
Houndoom (+2 HP Grass fails to OHKO, Surf OHKOs)
Kabutops (with HP Grass)
Mismagius (beats 1 on 1 and with Haze after boosts)
Nidoking (barring switching in on a Modest T-bolt)
Nidoqueen
Omastar (with HP Grass)
Regirock
Scyther (cannot OHKO with +2 anything)
Slowbro (with HP Grass barring CM versions)
Steelix
Typhlosion
Weezing
Uxie

There are 53 Pokemon on the UU list, Milotic walls 28 consistently. That is over half the tier.

Checks/special conditions:

Chansey- Will PP stall it, but can't really kill it by normal means.

Clefable- Far too versitile to 100% counter. Beats pretty much all but CM version with T-bolt, but a Clefable user can easily play around Milotic and beat it, depends on skill of player and precise set.

Drapion-Some people run a specially defensive Swords Dance version that has a chance to beat Milotic (sets up right on it), otherwise, Milotic can beat it 1 on 1.

Hitmonlee-CC 2HKOs most defensive Milotic, but Milotic can beat it with Surf by switching in after a defense drop and LO recoil. So it can check it (end its sweep) but not Counter it (switch in AND end its sweep).

Magmortar- beats Choiced versions not locked in T-bolt and checks LO version.

Mespirit- beats Physical versions and all other versions without T-bolt.

Moltres- Can check choiced versions not locked in HP Grass.

Spiritomb- Can PP stall Crotomb with Haze and beat Physical versions, but the former is unreliable and takes FOREVER.

Swellow- Can force it out, but is 2HKO'd by Facade. Check.

Torterra- OHKOs with Wood Hammer after SR, but is OHKO'd by Ice Beam in return. Depends on RP or not, SR or not, but it can check him.

This adds 10 more to the total, bringing it to 38/53 that Milotic can at least check under certain circumstances with largely the same set. Considering it's coming close to 2/3 of the tier, I would say that counts as walling/outstalling a SIGNIFICANT PORTION of the metagame.

 

[dekzeh]

Since you are using SEXP I'd like to point out I played mostly under the alt B is for Brutus.

I'd like to nominate Milotic for the defensive characteristic.

Milotic @ Leftovers
Bold, 252HP, 252Def, 4SDef
- Surf
- Hidden Power Grass
- Haze
- Recover

A quick glance over the current UU list shows that Milotic can switch into/reliable wall all of the following most of the time (from the top 47 in usage, which is around NU starts.. I couldn't be bothered to calculate exactly where UU would end and NU start):

Registeel, Donphan, Mismagius, Ambipom, Uxie, Honchkrow, Blaziken, Dugtrio, Hitmontop, Azumarill, Arcanine, Slowbro, Moltres, Spiritomb, Houndoom, Altaria, Feraligatr, Claydol, Steelix, Regirock, Kabutops, Miltank, Mesprit, Nidoking, Weezing, Omastar.

That's 26 out of 46. I don't know exactly how to define 'a large portion of the metagame' but seriously, this is a lot.

It gets even worse when you consider most of those other 20 can't switch into Milotic without taking a lot of damage, I'm talking about things such as Swellow, Hitmonlee, Torterra, Absol, Espeon, Yanmega, Rotom, Drapion, etc.

Oh and to clarify, I know some of those on the list 'beaten by Milotic' somewhat commonly run Toxic, which totally ruins it. I guess it is fine to remove them, but I included due to the fact Milotic will easily beat the offensive sets who are much more threatening, and it is usually placed on a stall team, where Aromatherapy support is common.

And then again, even if you remove those, it is at least 20 out of 46.. still a lot.

Milotic combines the best of all bulky waters. It has instant recovery like Slowbro, huge special bulk that makes it a mixed wall like Lapras and the damn good pure-water typing of Blastoise. It basically has 0 draw-backs.

Honestly make the paragraph for something on the defensive characteristic is a lot harder since there will always be counters, but in the end, having tons of counters does not make Milotic any less broken: It can wall over 50% of the tier by itself, and for me that's a good enough reason to send it to BL.


And I also would nominate Yanmega for the offensive charactersitc, but seeing as I'll just repeat everything else that was said already I'll keep it quiet for now, but might do a paragraph about that later.

 

[kd24]

Hi, my name is KD24 and I started dri-- er I mean, am nominating Medicham

Medicham (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Hi Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Baton Pass / Thunderpunch


Zen Headbutt against 4 HP/0 Def Timid Rotom: 89.67% - 105.79%

Zen Headbutt againt 252 HP/252 Def Bold Rotom: 49.34% - 58.22%

OHKOs the Timid 252/252 spa/spe offensive Rotom 100% with Stealth Rock, 252 HP/252 Def Bold Rotom is 2HKOed.

The only viable ghost-switch in is basically Spiritomb, because Medicham can basically Zen Headbutt at any time. For those curious, Spiritomb with 252/252 Bold will take a maximum of 29% from Ice Punch. Why have I started with these calcs? Because Medicham's Hi Jump Kick will easily rip through any Pokemon not a Ghost-type (or Slowbro / Donphan / Weezing / Nidoqueen (ZH takes down the last 2 though)), provided Stealth Rock is up. Not only does Medicham tear quickly through Registeel/Chansey (coincidently, Yanmega's 2 only "cold counters"), but it makes you waste perhaps your best priority or choice scarfer to take it down, opening the way for a DD Feraligatr or Rock Polish Torterra. With a Choice Scarf, Medicham is hitting 388 Speed, which basically means "I outspeed Swellow, Dugtrio, and Sceptile". With only Electrode, Choice Scarfers, and Priority actually able to outspeed it, you will definitely have a hard time defeating Medicham. Relying on Spiritomb as your only Medicham counter is foolish at best, as Spiritomb will take damage from both Spikes and Stealth Rock. Not to mention with Spiritomb on the team, you are mostly like fighting other threats or spin blocking, which just leaves even more weakness to Medicham.

And before I forget, there is a beautiful attack called Baton Pass on Medicham. By using it quickly, you can scout for Spiritomb or a Ghost-type if you don't feel like guesswork. If it is Rotom or Mismagius, a Drapion or maybe a Scarf Pursuiter works great. With Spiritomb, you can probably still get away with Honchkrow Drill Peck + Pursuit (hopefully you won't get burned) or just a strong Special Attacker. How you finish them isn't the point, you have a fool-proof scouter to your opponent's monster with Baton Pass. There is one last excellent counter to Medicham which is Slowbro. You can run Thunderpunch but you still run the risk of Slowbro paralyzing or just attacking you. Baton Pass can work wonders here as well, as lo and behold, Slowbro is also Pursuit weak. You could also call Donphan and Milotic "counters" but they don't have the beautiful resist of Hi Jump Kick that Slowbro posesses, and also usually "anchor" a teams defense.

This is being edited in, but there are other options like Grumpig or Claydol to stop Medicham, but once again "Pursuit weakness" really is what gives Medicham the support to keep moving forward.

Onto priority, 252 HP/252 ATK/4 Def Choice Band Adamant Azumarill takes up to 76% from a Hi Jump Kick, a guaranteed OHKO with Spikes down, and I believe a guaranteed OHKO with Stealth Rock as well (76% is the maximum). On the flip side, Medicham will take a maximum of 68% from Azumarill 252 Adamant Choice Band Aqua Jet. Medicham takes 25% + 6% from full Spikes and Stealth Rock (Hey, I am assuming both sides have them as Spikes from Omastar/Roserade are very easy to get in UU), which means Medicham will have 69% health left. What this really means is that if Medicham is in and you bring in Azumarill to Aqua Jet, you will never OHKO Medicham, while he will OHKO back with Hi Jump Kick (assuming Full Spikes on both sides). Even without Stealth Rock or Spikes on either side, Azumarill can't switch into Hi Jump Kick, as Aqua Jet will not OHKO and another Hi Jump Kick will. Donphan is a bulky monster, 252 HP/252 Def Impish only takes 36-43%. Unfortunately, Donphan's Earthquake would only take out 61-72%, while his Ice Shard would give 16-19%. Even with SR, Max Damage EQ + Ice Shard wouldn't be OHKOing Medicham. Medicham won't 2HKO back without Spikes and Stealth Rock, but he will severely weaken Donphan who plays a pivotal role in most teams stopping Entry Hazards, Registeel, and other such things.

Most of my examples are assuming everything is running a shitload of HP and Defense, and in reality, you may need those EVs elsewhere to be effective. This isn't really part of my argument but it is important to note that many players would prefer putting those EVs elsewhere, to help defend / attack against the rest of UU's multiple beasts.

Praying for Hi Jump Kick to miss is a foolish strategy, you have a 59% chance of it hitting after 5 consecutive attempts so I wouldn't even attempt that. As I already stated, your best bet will likely be Priority / Choice Scarf, which Medicham should be able to tell "who has it". Medicham has a resistance to Fighting, giving Vacuum Wave Blaziken / Mach Punch Hitmontop little hope.

Honchkrow, Absol, Ambipom all have the most "viable" priority to defeat Medicham but they all suffer the same problem as Azumarill, not being able to directly switch in. Arcanine would make an excellent Pokemon to bring in, but a Stealth Rock weakness really hurts Arcanine, as it does Yanmega/Vespiquen/Moltres/Charizard/etc. If Stealth Rock is up, you really can't switch into Medicham at all with any of these Pokemon, as he could just use Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Rock Slide, Baton Pass and you will still take a decent amount from Zen Headbutt or Hi Jump Kick itself.

Laugh if you must but there really is only one Pokemon in my mind after a ton of UU battles that fits the offensive requirement, and that Pokemon is Medicham, a monster that rips holes through an opponent's team easily, has the right amount of Speed with Choice Scarf to outspeed and KO anything that isn't OHKOed, and makes you rely on simply revenge killing.

 

[Sheshi]

I personally consider Yanmega and Registeel should be BL. With protect, Yanmega can outspeed most if not all of UU and with a great Special Attack stat, it can, at the very worst, 2HKO all UU pokemon that aren't called Charizard, Moltres or Registeel.

Registeel has excellent defences and with Rest, it can wall practically anything in UU and if it takes too much damage, it can rest to restore its HP.

 

[phalanx]

yanmega in UU is a joke.. speed boost and huge power behind its bug buzz makes it practically impossible to play anything against it, i run a rain team and floatzal cant nail it. ludicolo is OHKOed, and the rest get outsped so you cant do a single thing to it.
i would prefer to see milotic banished to BL then registeel, it causes more problems with toxic and bulk then registeel does.

 

[Wombat Sky Forme]

I nominate Miltank under Defensive Characteristic. Lets face it, people, Access to Heal Bell is a start. Cure your Paralysis, Burns which is good for re-enabling sweepers, Poisons which is great when playing against stall, and Sleep for obvious reasons. Also, many (like me) consider Stealth Rock to be the best move in the game, and Miltank gets that too. Instant recovery is what sets good walls apart from great walls, and Miltank gets that in Milk Drink. It also has a variety of great attacking moves. It has two great abilities, Thick Fat resists the common attacking types and Scrappy is great too. Only one weakness that is usually easy to predict when it's coming, and great stats. Miltank is awesome.

EDIT: Also nominating Roserade. Number one lead in UU, Sleep Powder, Toxic Spikes, 125 SpA, 105 SpD, 90 Spe... Sheesh, this guy would probably be in the top 25 in OU if he was in that tier.... He is one of my favorite leads to use, and one of the hardest to beat. Seriously, the only other feasible lead with sleep is Smeargle, and he's OU. That's why I nominate Roserade.

 

[noob3]

In these threads, it seems people like to nominate what other people nominate. I, noob3 volunteer to get the momentum rolling on something that has to be changed to UU in order to make it a balanced and playable tier. Now that Shaymin is BL and Roserade soon to be in the spotlight of OU, we have to look deep into the eyes of UU and spot the beast within.. No my friends, not everyone's favorite killer bug, Yanmega. But Milotic. Without Roserade or Shaymin to check this threat, all that is left is Venusaur's pitiful SpD to be totally and uttererly decimated by our favorite fish.

NOMINATE MILOTIC NOW OR PAY THE PRICE IN A FEW MONTHS.

I'll make another post with calculations and all that what-not here not too much later.

 

[Snorlaxe]

Well of course, I'm nominating Yanmega under the offensive characteristic. Yanmega is easily capable of sweeping any team lacking a Chansey. While Milotic can counter it most of the time, if it switches in on a Choice Specs Bug Buzz (Tinted Lens), and gets Stealth Rock damage, then Yangmega can usually KO it next turn. Couple this with the fact that Yanmega's speed stat is already very good for UU (and can be boosted further if the battler opts for Speed Boost), and you have one deadly sweeper on your hands. Yanmega is also not shabby in the support department, with access to moves such as Hypnosis. While many people say that Yanmega is not broken in UU thanks to Stealth Rock, this really is a false statement. Provided Yanmega has Rapid Spin support from either Blastoise or Donphan, Stealth Rock wont be bothersome at all, and Yanmega can continue to freely switch in. Scizor would probably dominate Yanmega in OU, but that is the case with any frail Pokemon. Yanmega just wouldnt be played until Scizor has died. If Yanmega is banned from UU, the metagame would be open to all sorts of Pokemon, and that is a revolution that UU needs right now. Ban the bug!

 

[Misa]

Support Characteristic
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it can consistently set up a situation in which it makes it substantially easier for other pokemon to sweep.

I am voting Clefable for BL under the rules of the Support Characteristic. Immunity to every status, every entry hazards, as well as access to Cosmic Power make Clefable an incredible pain to take down. When Gallade was back in OU, Clefable seemed to be manageable due to Gallade's high attack and access to Close Combat, but now, I'm not so sure now.

Not to mention you cannot stall out Clefable with Toxic, which the majority of the walls in general fall to. Access to Encore, Reflect, Thunder Wave, as well as a lot more support move makes Clefable stand out from Chansey, a common Special Wall that Clefable is competing with.

 

[graves]

Supportive Characteristic/Offensive Characteristics
I nominate, Yanmega.
It is broken.
I cannot tell you how many time I have been swept by it,
nor how many times I have swept with it.
It is virtually un-beatable without a Milotic or Chansey.
It is very usable in OU,
and it would be great in the roll of a baton pass receiver.

 

[flashbolt]

Account: flashbolt
I nominate;
Yanmega under offensive characteristics (reasons for which are all covered in the above posts)
Milotic under defensive characteristics

My argument re: Milotic is similar to Dekzeh (and will borrow from his). But i would add that 63.0% of milotics carry Ice Beam (Aug 09 stats). With this in mind Tangrowth and Sceptile wouldnt want to switch in, Roserade and Venusaur wouldnt want to make a habit of it either. To beat a wall you have to switch in and take it down, the possibility of Milotic carrying an Ice Beam deters some pokemon from even switching into Milotic before knowing its set. If i may use Dekzeh's list and add to it my own reckoning it would leave only 7 pokemon which arent walled by Milotic which would switch into it freely.

clefable toxicroak chansey kangashkhan ludicolo lanturn hariyama

As being stalled out is also a clause under defensive characteristics i would point out that milotic out-stalls the two best switch ins chansey/clefable if not carrying toxic (and restalk versions of milotic stall even toxic)

26/46 (Dekzeh's reckoning) is in my view a 'significant proportion' walled, furthermore by my reckoning only 7 switch in freely, some of which are stalled out. For this reason i nominated it.

 

[Itsuki]

I'm nominating Yanmega for the offensive characteristic and the support characteristic.

Offensive Characteristic
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it is capable of sweeping through a significant portion of teams in the metagame with little effort.

Support Characteristic
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it can consistently set up a situation in which it makes it substantially easier for other pokemon to sweep.

Yanmega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Ancientpower / Hidden Power Ground
- U-turn

Bug Buzz Calculations

252 HP / 156 SpD Careful Registeel
[B]32.42% - 38.19%[/B]

4 HP / 252 SpD Calm Chansey
[B]22.12% - 26.17%[/B]

252 HP / 252 SpD Calm Altaria
[B]40.11% - 47.46%[/B]

252 HP / 0 SpD Bold Milotic
[B]42.89% - 50.51%[/B]

252 HP / 216 SpD Regirock
[B]28.02% - 32.97%[/B] (Sandstorm factored in)

---

Yanmega @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 SpA / 104 Def / 152 Spe
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Hidden Power Ground
- Protect

Defensive Calculations

252 Atk Adamant Donphan's Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 152 Def Modest Yanmega
[B]28.12% - 33.23%[/B]

252 Atk Life Orb Brave Cloyster's Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 152 Def Modest Yanmega
[B]46.65% - 55.59%[/B]

252 Atk Choice Band Adamant Azumarill's Aqua Jetvs. 0 HP / 152 Def Modest Yanmega
[B]36.74% - 43.45%[/B]

252 Atk Choice Band Adamant Honchkrow's Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 152 Def Modest Yanmega
[B]64.22% - 75.72%[/B]
Life Orb
[B]55.59% - 65.50%[/B]

-----

Yanmega is a very fearsome sweeper in UU. Giving problems to all types of team. Yanmega's high Speed and Special Attack, along with its abilities make it a huge threat to the UU metagame. Its Base 86 Defense also plays a huge factor, allowing it to take most priority attacks with ease, even if Super Effective. Most priority attacks can barely 2HKO and that causes many problems.

With Tinted Lens making resistance almost useless this set is very hard to switch into. There are other ways to bring it down by priority or revenge killing, however that usually mean sthe opponent will have to sacrifice a Pokemon just to take it down, and Yanmega can always switch out. Even with the Stealth Rock weakness, its Stealth Rock weakness does not hamper its offensive style. Most players run Donphan in order to Rapid Spin Stealth Rocks as well as provide a good counter/check to its counters, Earthquake can take on Chansey and Registeel, while Ice Shard can put some damage on Altaria. Most threatening Pokemon only have one chance sometimes but if Stealth Rock is off the field Yanmega can just keep switching in and out, hitting everything with a Choice Specs STAB Bug Buzz and STAB Air Slash and cause havoc.

The Speed Boost set is usually most destructive late game. With the use of Protect it can scout out moves, disable the use of Fake Out, reduce the amount of PP an opponents Pokemon has, and use the ability Speed Boost. This could as well support the support characteristic as it can scout out moves to bring in other sweepers. Speed Boost makes Yanmega a very formidable sweeper, with its Speed stat boosting to high levels it becomes impossible to revenge kill without the use of priority moves. Usually when Yanmega is out it causes severe damage to anything that switches in, aiding other sweepers to sweep late game.

As you can see on the Tinted Lens set the damage output that Bug Buzz beings upon resisted Pokemon is pretty high. Sometimes with Stealth Rock and/or Spikes it often forces these Pokemon to recover giving a counter a free switch in or take down Yanmega while forgoing on the recovery move allowing other Pokemon to sweep. Chansey is pretty much the only sure fire counter but usually other sweepers will take the chance to come in on her and wipe her out. Once she is gone Yanmega can just come back in and sweep. This supports the support characteristic in my opinion and Yanmega also benefits from this characteristic.

Also Yanmega's Base 86 Defense is nothing to overlook. The Defense and if someone uses it, Defense EVs allows it to take a myriad of attacks and also take a lot of priority attacks with ease, even when super effective. This poses a problem in terms of revenge killing, with Yanmega's high speed, people are often forced to use priority moves to take it down but as I said its good Defense stat ruins that.

All in all, I think Yanmega supports the offensive and support characteristic for reasons I have mentioned. Its Defense stat, high Speed and Special Atack poses a threat to offensive teams. Tinted Lens poses a problem to stall teams and with the ability to work well in conjunction with Pokemon such as Medicham, Torterra, Donphan, Toxicroak, etc. It poses quite a huge threat to the UU metagame and therefore I believe it should be moved to BL.

 

[Flashstorm1]

Yanmega - Offensive, Roserade - Support

First, I'd just like to share that the account I used for testing was CBDonphanTest.

Anyways, I'd like to nominate Yanmega as a suspect under the offensive characteristic for BL.

Offensive Characteristic
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it is capable of sweeping through a significant portion of teams in the metagame with little effort.

When running Choice Specs along with Tinted Lens, I feel that Yanmega is capable of sweeping through a majority of the UU metagame with little to no effort. From my experience, all of the Pokémon that can check Yanmega to an extent require Special Defense EVs to have a chance of walling it, and even so, very few of its checks are incapable of doing anything to Yanmega in return. In UU, notable checks to Yanmega are Registeel, Clefable, and Milotic, and Chansey is the only hard counter. However, looking at this list, neither of these Pokémon can effectively switch in with little to no risk to itself. Registeel is 3HKOed by Specs Tinted Lens Bug Buzz, taking an average of 42% each time it switches in factoring Stealth Rock, which in return, cannot do anything except Thunder Wave, as other attacks will never deal significant damage to Yanmega. Additionally, Registeel has no method of recovery outside of Rest, and even if it did, Registeel would still be KOed by repeated hits. Clefable will take an average of 60% when running more offensive spreads, and specially defensive variants are incapable of doing significant damage to Yanmega to properly wall it. Milotic is cleanly 2HKOed by Bug Buzz a majority of the time unless running 252 HP / 252 SpD, and Milotic will be sufficiently weakened enough to where it can no longer wall anything else, meaning Yanmega properly did its job. Chansey, of course, is a counter due to its high HP and Special Defense stat, but was not encountered nearly enough to keep Yanmega in check.

Another notable thing to mention about Yanmega is its ability to survive common priority attacks, meaning offensively oriented teams will stand no chance against either Choice Specs Yanmega or Speed Boost Yanmega, due to a lack of reliable switch-ins of offensively oriented Pokémon. For example, Donphan doesn't even 2HKO Yanmega with Ice Shard, and Azumarril barely deals 50% with a Choice Banded Aqua Jet. Many players will state that priority can still take down a weakened Yanmega, but then you have to ask which of these priority users can even switch into Yanmega to begin with. The answer is that there are none; Yanmega will have taken down at least one Pokémon on the opponent's team before the opponent's priority user can safely come in. Choice Scarf revenge killers are negated by Speed Boost, as Yanmega's base 95 Speed ensures that all common Scarfers, such as Rotom and Roserade, are outsped.

Another argument that I feel needs to be presented is that Stealth Rock will prevent Yanmega from switching in, but I feel that this is an invalid argument in keeping Yanmega from meeting the offensive characteristic. As Yanmega is capable of dealing immediate damage, I feel that it doesn't make a difference whether Yanmega is at 100% or 1%, as it will still be dealing the same damage it would normally have been. The only viable argument which can be presented is that Yanmega is more suspectible to priority, an issue which was addressed in the previous paragraph. Regardless, I feel that keeping Stealth Rock off the field is a simple (and usually recommended) task that teams with Yanmega keep in mind. For example, one of Yanmega's most common partners in UU so far has been Donphan, an effective spinner which found no trouble coming in on Rock and Electric type attacks aimed at Yanmega and using Rapid Spin to clear the field of Stealth Rock.

In conclusion, I feel that Yanmega fits the offensive characteristics when running the Choice Specs set because any of the Pokémon that come close to walling it require a heavy investment in Special Defense (for example, 252 HP / 252 Def Milotic is nearly 2HKOed), and no reliable Yanmega counters are capable of doing anything to it in return as its decent defenses allow it to survive even super effective attacks at full health. Priority attacks are also unable in preventing Yanmega from sweeping with little to not effort, as most fail to 2HKO Yanmega and no common priority user can even switch into Yanmega to begin with. Stealth Rock is also an unreliable check to Yanmega because it will not affect the damage outputs it is capable of doing and Donphan was commonly seen as a partner to Yanmega so Stealth Rock wasn't even an issue a majority of the time.

---

I'd also like to nominate Roserade as a suspect under the support characteristic for BL.

Support Characteristic
A Pokémon is BL if, in common battle conditions, it can consistently set up a situation in which it makes it substantially easier for other pokemon to sweep.

I feel that the Life Orb set (listed below) is enough to warrant Roserade as a suspect.

Roserade @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Care
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Spe)
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis

It is my understanding that Roserade consistantly sets up a situation where it is easier for other Pokémon to sweep, primarily with the combination of being able to deal a large amount of damage to ALL of the Pokémon in UU with either of its STAB moves and the ability shut down its counters with Sleep Powder. From my experience, the only safe switch-ins to Life Orb Roserade are Registeel, Drapion, Altaria, and Chansey. However, all of these Pokémon are forced to take a large amount of damage and then be unable to recover off the damage due to the nutralizing effects of Sleep Powder. This makes it so all that Roserade has to do is switch in on a resisted attack (not very hard with all of the Milotic running around), dent a switch-in with either of its STAB attacks, and then prevent any defensive switch-ins from being able to do anything. Now, you may be thinking that Chansey and Altaria's Natural Care will prevent this strategy from working - think again. Both are unable to heal because Sleep Powder prevents them from doing so, so they are forced to switch out and take another large hit the next time Roserade comes out, and the cycle continues itself.

You may be thinking, how exactly does this make Roserade broken under the support characteristic? The ability to instantly beat counters with little to no difficulty makes it simple for Pokémon with a similar counter to Roserade to sweep through the opponent's team. For example, Yanmega shares 3 out of 4 "counters" in Roserade in Chansey, Registeel, and Altaria. Once Roserade drops down either of these Pokémon's health before 50% or so, Yanmega would have no trouble sweeping. The reason Roserade fits the support characteristic over the offensive characteristic is because Roserade does not actually sweep through teams, it simply creates holes in the opponent's team with little to no effort so another Pokémon can sweep.