Evolution of the Tournament OU metagame

By reyscarface with input from CrashinBoomBang.

It is no secret that every metagame is constantly evolving. No metagame is stale, as there are plenty of things that can shake them up, whether it be a ban, a discovery of a new great set, or just flavor-of-the-month picks. The real question is how long it takes for a metagame to change, so why not take a look at the big picture of our OU metagame and see how it compares to the one of almost 2 months ago? This will be done using Smogon Tour usage statistics gathered by Ciele.

Let's start by analyzing our current top 3 Pokemon:
* The percentage is usage %.

- 42.66%
Landorus-T tops the usage list currently, and to be honest, that's not much of a surprise. One of the most influential Pokemon around, its versatility is topped by few. You can fit it in your team as a wall, as a revenge killer, or even as a boosting sweeper. Its great move coverage and access to U-turn makes it the premier user of Choice Scarf.

- 39.67%
Latios is one of the biggest members of an offensive team. His ability to break defensive teams that aren't stall teams is really important for offensive teams. Its access to Defog makes it an incredible partner to Pokemon like Talonflame and Pinsir; offering offense a way to take on Keldeo and others is also invaluable.

- 25.75%
Ferrothorn has been a premier Pokemon since its introduction in BW. Offering incredible team support, one of the few ways to take on rain teams for certain teams, and being able to stop sweeps with Leech Seed + Protect as well as access to a strong Gyro Ball makes Ferrothorn a great option for every team.

With this out of the way, let's go in-depth on the biggest changes regarding usage, starting with the ones RISING in usage:
* Percentages stand for usage %.

- From #3 with 29% to #1 with 43%
Landorus-T experienced one of the highest jumps in usage, with a 14% rise. Many teams rely on Landorus-T to cover threats, and Intimidate only makes it better at taking physical attackers on even if they outspeed it. All in all, every team should have a way of dealing with Landorus-T.â€‹

- From #15 with 13% to #4 with 25%
Scizor experienced another brutal jump in usage in such a tiny period of time. Like Landorus, its ability to function as a defensive pivot as well as an offensive threat makes it valuable for every style of team. In tournaments, whenever a team is doing well, many people jump in the bandwagon. CBB designed a really good team that uses Scizor's offensive power as best as possible, and the many people copying his team could explain the rise in Scizor's usage. Aegislash being gone and the need of Steel-type options that weren't Ferrothorn also boosted Scizor's usage up.

- From #29 with 8.5% to #10 with 18%
One of the more impressive jumps is Greninja's. It offers very little besides sheer offensive power, which is not something that fits the top Pokemon's standard most of the time, though this is different for Greninja. The drop in usage for Thundurus probably helped Greninja, as offensive teams then had less options to deal with Greninja. Similarly, being one of the few Water-types that can hurt Mega Venusaur is huge, and many players have started running Spikes Greninja, which can play mind games with Rotom-W and offers good team support, and no Defogger apart from the uncommon Empoleon will like being in front of Greninja.

- From #22 with 11% to #11 with 16.5%
At first, I thought Charizard's usage would drop, considering that the Charizard + Goodra + Mew team that was used a LOT at the start of tour stopped being used. Contrary to that, Charizard saw more usage! CBB explains this as Mega Charizard Y being very good against balanced teams, as they usually rely on Latios to take him on, which is very easy to remove. In the same vein, Mega Charizard X offers teams offensive and defensive pressure if running a bulky set with Roost, while some players have discovered many teams rely solely on Scarf Landorus-T to beat DD Zard X, so they have started running a Jolly nature in order to outspeed it.

- From #37 with 5% to #16 with 11.5%
With a huge boost in Scizor usage comes a big boost in Manectric usage! Intimidate, Knock Off being less powerful against it, and a resistance to Bullet Punch makes it a great switch-in to the omnipresent Scizor. Having great coverage to deal with common threats and the ability to Volt Switch out of threats such as Tyranitar, Latios, and Latias makes Manectric extremely good at keeping momentum for certain teams. Bird Spam being very common makes Manectric even more attractive than it already is for its ability to take on Pinsir and Talonflame. Outspeeding Greninja, which offers Manectric great pressure against offense, is just the cherry on top.

- From #34 with 6.5% to #23 with 9%
Mega Venusaur has been a favorite of top players since the start. More recently, it's gained a good amount of usage because it's one of the few Pokemon that can completely annihilate Landorus + Slowbro + Ferrothorn cores. Depending on its coverage moves, it can take on different things depending on your team's needs. Having instant recovery and the annoying Leech Seed makes Venusaur an extremely potent tank.

- From #38 with 4.5% to #25 with 8.5%
Like Manectric, a lot of people run Raikou when they want something to deal with Bird Spam and Scizor, while keeping their Mega slot available. Sand teams losing traction due to Excadrill dropping in usage made Mega Manectric and Raikou very appealing, as neither of them were very good against sand teams which were previously very popular. Assault Vest makes Raikou incredibly tanky on the special side, letting it check most Water-types.

The following ones experienced a DROP in usage:

- From #4 with 25% to #7 with 21%
Azumarill was and probably is still known as one of the best offensive pivots in the tier. Although the slight drop in Rotom-W usage certainly helps Azumarill, the omnipresence of Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Electric-types really hurts its chances to switch in. In just a few months, the metagame has seen a shift to more powerful threats, and it seems Azumarill can't really keep up with them anymore. Lastly, with sand usage dropping, Azumarill lost one of its niches: being able to switch into Tyranitar and being able to revenge kill Excadrill.

- From #9 with 17% to #21 with 9.5%
Talonflame went from one of the most hyped and abused Pokemon to a less common Pokemon. Less offensive teams opt to carry Defog nowadays, which severely limits Talonflame's ability to switch-in. The Specially Defensive set hates Electric-types, which are very common and unless it catches it with a U-turn, Tyranitar still makes its life miserable.

- From #10 with 17% to #18 with 11%
Excadrill dropping in usage is the clearest marker to a drop in usage of sand teams in general. Even though it is incredibly useful against offense, it has a lot of trouble breaking past stall teams that run Skarmory. Its inability to switch-in easily also hurts its offensive prowess, as one wrong switch-in can either knock it out or leave it vulnerable to the very common priority moves.

- From #11 with 16% to #19 with 11%
Clefable, like other Fairies, suffers from the rise of some Steel-types. In the same vein, most teams that enjoy running Clefable are tremendously weak to a Pokemon that is rising in usage, Gengar. This CBB favorite is so powerful and threatening that giving it one free turn could spell doom.

- From #13 with 13.5% to #24 with 8.5%
Gardevoir has a tough time competing for the Mega slot. While it is a very strong and unique Pokemon, Gardevoir loses straight up to most leads 1v1, leaving it very few opportunities to switch in and Mega Evolve. The Aegislash ban helped her a ton, but with Doublade on the rise now, Gardevoir is starting to face the same problems she had in the past.

- From #19 with 12% to #29 with 6.5%
Competing for a team slot with the #1 Pokemon, Landorus-T, is certainly tough. Many players prefer Landorus-T and cannot afford to have Gliscor in as well, so that explains the drop in usage. Strong special attackers are even more common now, and Hidden Power Ice is everywhere. If it tries to go for a specially defensive set, then it risks losing to Excadrill and other physical attackers.

- From #20 with 12% to #28 with 7%
Heracross is not a bad Pokemon in any way. In fact, most people predicted it to be the next big thing after the Aegislash ban. Sadly, Heracross still can't switch in too easily, and due to the metagame shifting into more offensive oriented stuff, Heracross's ability to do damage is now limited. It is now seen mostly in rain teams, as they appreciate something that is able to switch into Tyranitar with ease. This causes a problem for the opponent, with the opponent having to make a choice between changing the weather and giving Heracross a free turn, or not changing the weather and getting ravaged by rain sweepers.

- From #24 with 10.5% to #48 with 3%
Considered before to be a contender for best Mega, Gyarados has now dropped massively in usage. It is actually pretty strange to see such a beast drop, but the prevalence of Mega Venusaur, Mega Scizor starting to run a coverage move that can OHKO it, and more Electric-types means Gyarados has a much tougher time setting up. Landorus-T being the premier Scarfer doesn't help, either. Keldeo is also as common as ever. Coincidentially, its win-rate has also gone up massively, so we might see a resurgence of Mega Gyarados.

The following Pokemon are some of the ones with the best win percentage, consider them for your team!
* Percentages are for Win Percentage.

- Remember that you don't have to run Defog on Latios! Some teams benefit more from the extra coverage.

- CBB says: Try out the Offensive SD Mega Scizor set and enjoy the free ELO.

- Greninja is considered by many of the top players to be the best Pokemon in the metagame, abuse it while you can!

- Slowbro can cover so many common threats that you'd be a fool not to consider it for your team. It counters Excadrill without losing to Magnezone!

- While its usage went down, Heracross found one of his niches in the comfort of rain teams; he is truly the Hippowdon / Tyranitar exterminator.

The following Pokemon are not used a lot. For one reason or another, they don't see much play, but their win percentage tells us theyre certainly Pokemon to take into account when building your team:

"The BKC Special" Cobalion - 68%

"Aegislash replacement" Doublade - 69%

"The Unaware" Quagsire - 87.5%

The following Pokemon are used a good amount, but their win percentage tells us that maybe the metagame isn't very favorable for them, use them at your own risk!:

- Its unpredictability goes down as more people learn to identify the Mega Charizard from Team Preview. Nonetheless it is still a very potent threat to watch out for.

- Excadrill, the king of BW, has a hard time getting past its dedicated counters such as Slowbro, Skarmory, and Landorus. But when he does get past them...

- CBB says: Stop using Gengar wrong goddamnit. Stop using the shitty Will-O-Wisp set and use LO + 3 attacks or Substitute + Destiny Bond. It can destroy teams by itself.

- The extremely offensive metagame and presence of Doublade in stall causes Gardevoir to have more trouble than she'd like.

- Dragonite faces tough competition from other dragons; its weakness to Stealth Rock, the massive use of Intimidate, and vulnerability to revenge killing make it hard to use.

The following Pokemon are used much less, usually as a "gimmick" to enhance certain aspects of a team or to alleviate a weakness; however, their win percentage tells us that there are better alternatives out there:

"Magnezone required" Diggersby - 37%

"Leave him to the best players" Crawdaunt - 27%

"The Alf Special" - 31%