Hi! I'm interested in writing an XY Little Cup article about the metagame changes following Sneasel's recent ban. A lot of things that were hard-pressed for teamslots or just nonviable during its existence in the tier are seeing use again; also there are new strategies and cores that have begun to take form now that the threat of Sneasel is no more. I would like to highlight some of the important changes to the metagame as well what the new top threats are.
There is already a LC article this issue that Flame Emblem and myself will be working on and I hope that doesn't discourage this one from being approved. I thought about maybe merging this topic with his existing one but honestly, there's so much to cover regarding the tier's functionality without Sneasel that it would need its own article, I believe.
1. The renowned super-wall Regenerator Slowpoke is now usable again and it can function well again with its Regenerator counterpart Foongus to form an awesome core.
2. Yanma is now a huge threat with Speed Boost and no Ice Shard Sneasel to keep it in its place, and the coverage it gets with Tinted Lens scores a super effective hit on almost everything without caring about resists switching in.
3. Scarf Amaura is a newer threat that's viable now that Sneasel is gone, one that can use Nature Power with Refrigerate to score a hard-hitting STAB Ice-type Tri Attack with practically a free Life Orb boost, as well as the 20% chance to status. Refrigerate also lets it have access to a STAB Ice-type (practically Life Orb boosted) Hyper Beam for extreme circumstances, and it completely obliterates anything that doesn't resist it.
4. Scarf carriers in general don't have to be at 16 Speed in order to feel safe in the metagame anymore; they can now run 14 Speed and outspeed everything like they could in the past. This allows a lot of slower Pokemon to come back and run Scarf sets to good effect again, and XY brought some new mons that can make use of it now as well.
5. Scraggy isn't completely useless now, and can go back to being the bulky setup threat it was, while Fairy-types do tone its presence down a bit.
6. Gligar is now the absolute best hazard remover/utility supporter in the tier who also has a respectable Speed stat and offensive presence, without having to worry about the extreme offensive Ice-type threat of Sneasel. The fact that Flying Gem is illegal in XY (as far as we know) limits its offense enough so that it's not broken like it was with its Flying Gem + Acrobatics antics that got it banned in the past.
7. Sticky Web users can now have a lot more options for offensive teammates. Sneasel outsped many of them even after Sticky Web's Speed drop, since it was so fast.
8. Tangela is now a lot more comfortable switching in the tier without fearing the opponent making a double switch into Sneasel. Also, Life Orb Sneasel's Ice Punch was the strongest physical move in the tier against it and it no longer exists.
9. Mach Punch Timburr will not be as necessary to carry now that Sneasel is gone, especially with the Fairy-types running around resisting Fighting/Dark coverage. Unless Timburr opts to run Poison Jab while losing out on one of its other important moves, Croagunk is now the superior option in many cases.
10. ALL POKEMON can breathe a little easier in the tier and can more freely find spots on teams and switch in battle without always fearing the severe crippling of Sneasel's STAB Knock Off, which hit everything incredibly hard as well as got rid of their items.
Sorry if this was a lot. ♥ I'd like to cover these points and maybe a few others I may think are important later. We are still having new players joining the XY LC community and I'd like the public to be knowledgeable of these recent changes as we continue to grow in Smogon, while making the read interesting and providing tips so that players can be informed and also find the article engaging. As always, I appreciate this opportunity to contribute and I hope you'll consider my idea!
There is already a LC article this issue that Flame Emblem and myself will be working on and I hope that doesn't discourage this one from being approved. I thought about maybe merging this topic with his existing one but honestly, there's so much to cover regarding the tier's functionality without Sneasel that it would need its own article, I believe.
1. The renowned super-wall Regenerator Slowpoke is now usable again and it can function well again with its Regenerator counterpart Foongus to form an awesome core.
2. Yanma is now a huge threat with Speed Boost and no Ice Shard Sneasel to keep it in its place, and the coverage it gets with Tinted Lens scores a super effective hit on almost everything without caring about resists switching in.
3. Scarf Amaura is a newer threat that's viable now that Sneasel is gone, one that can use Nature Power with Refrigerate to score a hard-hitting STAB Ice-type Tri Attack with practically a free Life Orb boost, as well as the 20% chance to status. Refrigerate also lets it have access to a STAB Ice-type (practically Life Orb boosted) Hyper Beam for extreme circumstances, and it completely obliterates anything that doesn't resist it.
4. Scarf carriers in general don't have to be at 16 Speed in order to feel safe in the metagame anymore; they can now run 14 Speed and outspeed everything like they could in the past. This allows a lot of slower Pokemon to come back and run Scarf sets to good effect again, and XY brought some new mons that can make use of it now as well.
5. Scraggy isn't completely useless now, and can go back to being the bulky setup threat it was, while Fairy-types do tone its presence down a bit.
6. Gligar is now the absolute best hazard remover/utility supporter in the tier who also has a respectable Speed stat and offensive presence, without having to worry about the extreme offensive Ice-type threat of Sneasel. The fact that Flying Gem is illegal in XY (as far as we know) limits its offense enough so that it's not broken like it was with its Flying Gem + Acrobatics antics that got it banned in the past.
7. Sticky Web users can now have a lot more options for offensive teammates. Sneasel outsped many of them even after Sticky Web's Speed drop, since it was so fast.
8. Tangela is now a lot more comfortable switching in the tier without fearing the opponent making a double switch into Sneasel. Also, Life Orb Sneasel's Ice Punch was the strongest physical move in the tier against it and it no longer exists.
9. Mach Punch Timburr will not be as necessary to carry now that Sneasel is gone, especially with the Fairy-types running around resisting Fighting/Dark coverage. Unless Timburr opts to run Poison Jab while losing out on one of its other important moves, Croagunk is now the superior option in many cases.
10. ALL POKEMON can breathe a little easier in the tier and can more freely find spots on teams and switch in battle without always fearing the severe crippling of Sneasel's STAB Knock Off, which hit everything incredibly hard as well as got rid of their items.
Sorry if this was a lot. ♥ I'd like to cover these points and maybe a few others I may think are important later. We are still having new players joining the XY LC community and I'd like the public to be knowledgeable of these recent changes as we continue to grow in Smogon, while making the read interesting and providing tips so that players can be informed and also find the article engaging. As always, I appreciate this opportunity to contribute and I hope you'll consider my idea!
