Hello, so with the start of this new generation it is becoming pretty apparent that it will take quite some time for PU to be settled in so I decided that will become quite a bit more active here in the LC community. Being so late in on this I will go head and speculate on how I feel certain new Pokemon will effect the starting metagame of Gen 7.
Rockruff
Rockruff appears to be a fast offensive rock-type which is pretty uncommon so it's nice to see a bit of uniqueness here. This can make for a possible solid Flying check for offensive teams hopefully dealing with Fletching as long as it's defense isn't incredibly low. Rock being a good offensive type may also lead to wallbreaking capabilities hopefully being granted access to EdgeQuake coverage hitting the majority of the tier for solid neutral coverage. Falling prey to Diglett and being checked by the abundance of fighting-types might cause a bit of trouble for it but all-in-all I have high hopes for this little dog.
Mudbray
Mudbray immediately reminds me of Ponyta so based off that I'm assuming it has similar stats. Offensively I see it being outclassed by Diglett unless it has a very high attack stat being used as a wallbreaker that is. It is possible it may check electric-types like Magnemite but it seems to be rather average on the spdef side so I don't see it really switching in freely. Stamina is basically a free Kee Berry everytime it is hit by a physical attack which can be a bit interesting but I don't see it coming in super useful as we have other defensive ground-types that appear to either be bulkier or just bring more utility. It may have a fast Stealth Rock but unless it is faster than Drilbur I don't see that becoming too common. Just seems to be rather mediocre so I am not expecting a giant impact from this.
Stufful
Stufful seems to be a bulky powerful Fighting-type which is granted dual STAB in it's almost unique secondary normal typing. Fluffy being like a worse Fur Coat may grant it a small niche in checking a few physical attackers but it has some very common weaknesses in Flying, Fighting, Psychic and Fire do to it's Fluffy ability, which seems to be very detrimental to its effectiveness. Unless it's speed stat is much higher than anticipate I don't really see a reason to use this outside of Pokemon like Meinfoo, Timburr, or even Porygon and Munchlax so I'm not expecting this to be very common, it sure is cute though.
Jangmo-o
Jangmo-o outside of Bulletproof just dosesn't have anything that sticks out to me. It is possible it has access to Dragon Dance so it may find some opportunity to utilize this but it also appears to be rather slow so it would be susceptible to being revenge killed rather easily. I don't know I', just not too sure about this one may have a bit of viability but to me just seems sort of meh.
Yungoos
To me, Yungoos just looks to be a simple normal-type. Stakeout could be cool for dealing extra damage if you opponent switches out but honestly I don't see it's initial damage output to be incredible by any means so it may not even warrant a switch on some of the bulkier Pokemon of the tier. just too me seems rather mediocre with nothing that stands out in the slightest outside of its ability which may not even make a difference as I still very much doubt it will be doing much to the normal resists of the tier.
Sandygast
I actually like the looks of Sandygast, appearing to be fully defensive it could make for a decent blanket check of physical attackers. While it's ability, Water Compaction looks cool on the surface granting a +2 defensive boost if hit by a water attack I don't see this being super useful unless it also grants an immunity to water, which in fact would make it overall even more solid. I don't want to speculate too much on Sandygast without seeing its full movepool as without reliable recovery I can see it just being outclassed by Hippopotas, fingers crossed on this cute little sand heap.
Rowlet Rowlet is a breath of fresh air being the first starter Pokemon to have a dual type since Bulbasaur, having grass flying typing, not unique but in LC only facing competition from Hoppip which in its own right isn't seen. I heard a bit of talk on it being a decent fighting check, which it very well could be. I see a bit of a problem with that though as it seems to be much more spdef invested meaning it can still take a nit of damage, weakness to Stealth Rock would further hinder this. Speculation on it having Roost would help quite a damn bit but I digress by saying I'm not convinced on this either way it does, however, seem to be the better of the three starters at first glance.
Litten Litten just seems like a standard fire-type with nothing to differ itself from the likes of Ponyta or Magby. It dosesn't look to be necessarily awful but it just seems like it will face competition from the other offensive fire-types of LC; Not much more to say on this one.
Popplio
Popplio looks to be a bulky water, meaning it will face heavy competition for a team slot over Pokemon like Tirtouga, Slowpoke, and Tentacool so it may not every find a slot on teams in this nature. To give Popplio the benefit of the doubt I'll propose heavy speculation and say by the looks of it it is possible for it to have access to both Belly Drum and Aqua Jet which would be unique outside of Marril, but may have the defensive capability to actually pull it off,which could give it a niche, but even than it will still face competition from the likes of Zigzagoon.
Alolan Grimer
Alolan Grimer seems like it could be decent depending on the movepool it will recive, it may have acces to moves like Pursuit and/or Sucker Punch which could make it quite a decent check to psychic-types and Gastly, which to be fair it could do regardless of these moves but this would at least give it some usefulnesss outside of that.
Alolan Rattata
I love the design of this Pokemon, but sadly outside of that I just feel it really will not have a strong showing. Facing offensive competition from the likes Houndour and Pawniard i just don't see it finding it's way on teams, I doubt very much it will be awful but it just lacks some of the usefulness other Dark users bring to the table such as the nifty flying resistance Pawniard has and the sencondary fire typing and mixed wallbreaking capability Houndour has.
Alolan Sandshrew
I honestly feel this is a downgrade from regular Sandshrew, losing it's good ground defensive typing and moving into an atrocious ice / steel defensive typing. I could make a decent check to Fairy and Grass types but outside of this i just don't see why you would use this.
Alolan Vulpix
Vulpix, to me, seems to have gotten an even shittier deal than Sandshrew losing out on drought means it doesn't support sun teams in the slightest, and it doesn't help that it now faces competition from other offensive ice-types such as Amaura. Keeping fire-type moves may help it in hitting steel-types but I am just really disappointed in this at the moment.
Alolan Meowth
Ima jump the gun and say this is by far the best Alolan Pokemon we have. Hitting the pristine 19 speed tier and already having access to moves such as Knock Off it seems like it will make a decent addition to the LC tier. It may even be able to pull off Nasty Plot sets, Im really looking forward to trying this out.
Eevee
We all know that Eevees Z move just seems ridiculous basically giving it two Ancient Power boosts for free(sorta). Having Baton Pass it can even give this boost to teammates so some are already calling bullshit on this Pokemon. I however do not want to make too many assumptions on Eevee as of right now as it loses out on Eviolite to even gain access to it's z move, and not knowing what checks may pop up, we'll just have to wait and see on this one guys.
Type: Null
Now before I get into Type: Null I wanted to point out a big assumption I have, that I already mentioned in the chat. Type: Null to me seems to be a Pokemon that will be unable to breed, and the odds of getting it at level 5 seems rare so a shot in the dark guess makes me feel as if this Pokemon will not be available for use in LC. Assuming it is available at level 5 my mind is all over the place on it. It may have above average LC stats for sure but it is very much possible that it just will be great, but manageable in my opinion this will all be determined by both it's speed stat and its movepool, another big shot in the dark tells me that this Pokemon has base 90 speed, why base 90? because I feel it's evolution will have a stupidly good speed stat and I feel if I were designing this game I'd slow it down enough to be usable but not super great so I feel base 90 is a good guess. If this is the case then it will come down to it's offensive stats and movepool, it is just so hard to judge this Pokemon, it is very much possible all its stats are garbage, but the desprition does not make this seem so. This is a Pokemon that is generating much hype and we will just have to wait to see what the future holds on this.
Sorry about no picture the only ones I found were gigantic.
Rockruff
Rockruff appears to be a fast offensive rock-type which is pretty uncommon so it's nice to see a bit of uniqueness here. This can make for a possible solid Flying check for offensive teams hopefully dealing with Fletching as long as it's defense isn't incredibly low. Rock being a good offensive type may also lead to wallbreaking capabilities hopefully being granted access to EdgeQuake coverage hitting the majority of the tier for solid neutral coverage. Falling prey to Diglett and being checked by the abundance of fighting-types might cause a bit of trouble for it but all-in-all I have high hopes for this little dog.
Mudbray
Mudbray immediately reminds me of Ponyta so based off that I'm assuming it has similar stats. Offensively I see it being outclassed by Diglett unless it has a very high attack stat being used as a wallbreaker that is. It is possible it may check electric-types like Magnemite but it seems to be rather average on the spdef side so I don't see it really switching in freely. Stamina is basically a free Kee Berry everytime it is hit by a physical attack which can be a bit interesting but I don't see it coming in super useful as we have other defensive ground-types that appear to either be bulkier or just bring more utility. It may have a fast Stealth Rock but unless it is faster than Drilbur I don't see that becoming too common. Just seems to be rather mediocre so I am not expecting a giant impact from this.
Stufful
Stufful seems to be a bulky powerful Fighting-type which is granted dual STAB in it's almost unique secondary normal typing. Fluffy being like a worse Fur Coat may grant it a small niche in checking a few physical attackers but it has some very common weaknesses in Flying, Fighting, Psychic and Fire do to it's Fluffy ability, which seems to be very detrimental to its effectiveness. Unless it's speed stat is much higher than anticipate I don't really see a reason to use this outside of Pokemon like Meinfoo, Timburr, or even Porygon and Munchlax so I'm not expecting this to be very common, it sure is cute though.
Jangmo-o
Jangmo-o outside of Bulletproof just dosesn't have anything that sticks out to me. It is possible it has access to Dragon Dance so it may find some opportunity to utilize this but it also appears to be rather slow so it would be susceptible to being revenge killed rather easily. I don't know I', just not too sure about this one may have a bit of viability but to me just seems sort of meh.
Yungoos
To me, Yungoos just looks to be a simple normal-type. Stakeout could be cool for dealing extra damage if you opponent switches out but honestly I don't see it's initial damage output to be incredible by any means so it may not even warrant a switch on some of the bulkier Pokemon of the tier. just too me seems rather mediocre with nothing that stands out in the slightest outside of its ability which may not even make a difference as I still very much doubt it will be doing much to the normal resists of the tier.
Sandygast
I actually like the looks of Sandygast, appearing to be fully defensive it could make for a decent blanket check of physical attackers. While it's ability, Water Compaction looks cool on the surface granting a +2 defensive boost if hit by a water attack I don't see this being super useful unless it also grants an immunity to water, which in fact would make it overall even more solid. I don't want to speculate too much on Sandygast without seeing its full movepool as without reliable recovery I can see it just being outclassed by Hippopotas, fingers crossed on this cute little sand heap.
Rowlet Rowlet is a breath of fresh air being the first starter Pokemon to have a dual type since Bulbasaur, having grass flying typing, not unique but in LC only facing competition from Hoppip which in its own right isn't seen. I heard a bit of talk on it being a decent fighting check, which it very well could be. I see a bit of a problem with that though as it seems to be much more spdef invested meaning it can still take a nit of damage, weakness to Stealth Rock would further hinder this. Speculation on it having Roost would help quite a damn bit but I digress by saying I'm not convinced on this either way it does, however, seem to be the better of the three starters at first glance.
Litten Litten just seems like a standard fire-type with nothing to differ itself from the likes of Ponyta or Magby. It dosesn't look to be necessarily awful but it just seems like it will face competition from the other offensive fire-types of LC; Not much more to say on this one.
Popplio
Popplio looks to be a bulky water, meaning it will face heavy competition for a team slot over Pokemon like Tirtouga, Slowpoke, and Tentacool so it may not every find a slot on teams in this nature. To give Popplio the benefit of the doubt I'll propose heavy speculation and say by the looks of it it is possible for it to have access to both Belly Drum and Aqua Jet which would be unique outside of Marril, but may have the defensive capability to actually pull it off,which could give it a niche, but even than it will still face competition from the likes of Zigzagoon.
Alolan Grimer
Alolan Grimer seems like it could be decent depending on the movepool it will recive, it may have acces to moves like Pursuit and/or Sucker Punch which could make it quite a decent check to psychic-types and Gastly, which to be fair it could do regardless of these moves but this would at least give it some usefulnesss outside of that.
Alolan Rattata
I love the design of this Pokemon, but sadly outside of that I just feel it really will not have a strong showing. Facing offensive competition from the likes Houndour and Pawniard i just don't see it finding it's way on teams, I doubt very much it will be awful but it just lacks some of the usefulness other Dark users bring to the table such as the nifty flying resistance Pawniard has and the sencondary fire typing and mixed wallbreaking capability Houndour has.
Alolan Sandshrew
I honestly feel this is a downgrade from regular Sandshrew, losing it's good ground defensive typing and moving into an atrocious ice / steel defensive typing. I could make a decent check to Fairy and Grass types but outside of this i just don't see why you would use this.
Alolan Vulpix
Vulpix, to me, seems to have gotten an even shittier deal than Sandshrew losing out on drought means it doesn't support sun teams in the slightest, and it doesn't help that it now faces competition from other offensive ice-types such as Amaura. Keeping fire-type moves may help it in hitting steel-types but I am just really disappointed in this at the moment.
Alolan Meowth
Ima jump the gun and say this is by far the best Alolan Pokemon we have. Hitting the pristine 19 speed tier and already having access to moves such as Knock Off it seems like it will make a decent addition to the LC tier. It may even be able to pull off Nasty Plot sets, Im really looking forward to trying this out.
Eevee
We all know that Eevees Z move just seems ridiculous basically giving it two Ancient Power boosts for free(sorta). Having Baton Pass it can even give this boost to teammates so some are already calling bullshit on this Pokemon. I however do not want to make too many assumptions on Eevee as of right now as it loses out on Eviolite to even gain access to it's z move, and not knowing what checks may pop up, we'll just have to wait and see on this one guys.
Type: Null
Now before I get into Type: Null I wanted to point out a big assumption I have, that I already mentioned in the chat. Type: Null to me seems to be a Pokemon that will be unable to breed, and the odds of getting it at level 5 seems rare so a shot in the dark guess makes me feel as if this Pokemon will not be available for use in LC. Assuming it is available at level 5 my mind is all over the place on it. It may have above average LC stats for sure but it is very much possible that it just will be great, but manageable in my opinion this will all be determined by both it's speed stat and its movepool, another big shot in the dark tells me that this Pokemon has base 90 speed, why base 90? because I feel it's evolution will have a stupidly good speed stat and I feel if I were designing this game I'd slow it down enough to be usable but not super great so I feel base 90 is a good guess. If this is the case then it will come down to it's offensive stats and movepool, it is just so hard to judge this Pokemon, it is very much possible all its stats are garbage, but the desprition does not make this seem so. This is a Pokemon that is generating much hype and we will just have to wait to see what the future holds on this.
Sorry about no picture the only ones I found were gigantic.
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