Project A Look Back at the First Year of SV OU

[WilhelmTheOkay]

Banner Art by https://cadbury.itch.io/

The Anniversary of Scarlet and Violet

Well here we are, one year of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. I've always been fascinated by the way metagames change, whether its an alternative set becoming the new standard or a mon not experiencing any changes to itself but simply becoming more appreciated over time. Yet, these changes are so often are forgotten. I wanted to do something to document the winding, chaotic path that SV OU has taken, so, here we are, a look back on the first year of Scarlet and Violet OverUsed. So whether you are reading this out of curiosity or nostalgia, I hope you enjoy.

Table of Contents

December
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November

Teleport to Bottom

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November

Release Day
11/18/22
So here's the plan: I'm going to try to break each month of the year into sections where I will talk about the major events that took place such as suspect tests, bans, new releases, and tournaments in somewhat chronological order. To begin, here are the most basic changes that took place with the release of Scarlet and Violet.

Changes in Gen 9​

• Introduction of Terastallization, allowing any Pokemon to change into another type once per battle. The type change is permanent for the duration of the battle. The Pokemon receives the STAB boost of the new type and retains its old STABs as well, if terastallizing into the same type then the STAB boost increases 2.0x.​
• Hail has been replaced by Snow. Snow no longer does chip damage at the end of each turn but in exchange it now gives Ice types a +1 boost to Defense for its duration.​
• Certain moves had their distribution severely limited. Notably, Knock Off, Toxic, and Defog were now only learned by a handful of mons. Scald and Teleport were effectively removed entirely.​
• The addition of 103 new Pokemon and a whole bunch of new moves, abilities, and items.​

I probably don't need to tell you that the first days of the tier were a bit of a mess as the community figured out the new mechanics and Pokemon of Paldea. Here's the replay of my first Gen 9 game, so you can laugh at my utter confusion at what anything that wasn't on my team even does. In that replay you may also spot 4 currently banned Pokemon, 2 formerly banned Pokemon, and 2 banned moves. Which brings us to...

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The First Tiering Radars

Original Thread

The first tiering radar was released the same day the game released and listed out the most immediately concerning Pokemon for the health of the tier. The first seven were, Flutter Mane, Houndstone, Palafin, Iron Bundle, Chien-Pao, Roaring Moon, Iron Valiant, and Cyclizar, about a week later during the second tiering radar Gholdengo and Annihilape were also added. Of the nine Pokemon listed, seven would indeed go on to be banned with only Iron Valiant and Gholdengo never being suspected or banned. The first two tiering radars resulted in two quick bans each which I cover below.

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Ghosts of the Past: The First Bans of SV OU
11/20/22
Original Thread
​

Flutter Mane​

Flutter Mane was instantly one of, if not the biggest threat in Scarlet and Violet with its 135 base SpA and Speed, an almost completely unresisted STAB combo, good coverage options, and an ability that raised its highest stat by 1 stage in the Sun or with Booster Energy (the full discovery of how Protosynthesis' mechanics worked did not come out until after Flutter Mane's ban). Flutter Mane's efficacy as a breaker, sweeper, and/or revenge killer and the ease to which it was able to ignore or defeat its checks with its wide movepool or multiple viable Tera types warped the entire tier around the leading it to be unanimously quickbanned by the OU council. Set Flutter Mane @ Booster Energy / Choice Specs Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: Fighting / Fairy / Ghost EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Shadow Ball - Moonblast - Mystical Fire / Substitute - Calm Mind / Psyshock / Thunderbolt

Houndstone​

Despite also being a unanimous vote, the ban of Houndstone was far more controversial than the ban of Flutter Mane, which was generally seen as a necessity. Houndstone is an overall mediocre Pokemon with access to one incredible move, Last Respects. Last Respects is a 50 BP, 100 Acc Physical Ghost move that gains 50 BP every time a Pokemon in your party faints and when combined with Houndstone's solid bulk and access to Sand Rush turned this puppy into an absolute monster in the late game. The controversy, however, was the debate over what should be banned, Houndstone or Last Respects. Many in the community argued that the Last Respects should be banned as it was the main/only issue and that banning Houndstone was unnecessarily removing an otherwise unviable yet interesting lower-tier mon from the game. However, the precedent was that broken moves and abilities were only banned if multiple users of the move or ability were proven to be broken with it such as Dugtrio and Diglett with Arena Trap. Since Houndstone was the only Pokemon to learn Last Respects in the game, it was impossible to objectively prove that Last Respects was broken on every user of the move and thus Houndstone was banned until other users of Last Respects were added and the move could be examined in isolation. Sets Houndstone @ Choice Band Ability: Sand Rush Tera Type: Fighting EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Last Respects - Play Rough - Tera Blast / Body Press - Trick / Shadow Sneak Houndstone @ Leftovers / Life Orb Ability: Sand Rush Tera Type: Fighting EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Last Respects - Shadow Sneak - Play Rough - Will-O-Wisp / Body Press / Tera Blast

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Christmas is Cancelled: The Third and Fourth Bans of SV OU
11/25/22
Original Thread

Only five days after the first set of bans, the second set of bans came through as the OU council tried to quickly remove the blatantly broken elements of tier in order to give the metagame as much time as possible to develop in a healthier fashion. Also due to Scarlet and Violet existing for an entire week now, I can include actual tournament replays for each of the banned Pokemon! (everything here is from round 1 of the release tournament because that was literally the only time these guys were legal)
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Palafin​

In the very earliest days of SV, Palafin was mainly used with a Choice Band due to its incredible 160 Atk, access to the new Wave Crash, and its access to the now extremely rare Flip Turn, which synergized wonderfully with Palafin's ability, allowing it to put itself into position to break through basically anything that wasn't immune to water. However, it was the Bulk Up set that soon came to dominate by leveraging Palafin's naturally good bulk and recovery from Leftovers and Drain Punch to slowly transform into a unkillable menace. Palafin also utilized Taunt to deny opposing mons the ability to set up or status the dolphin. Regardless of the set, you could always count on facing down a barrage of Palafin's signature move, Jet Punch, a 60 BP priority Water move that could be further supercharged in the rain. In the end, Palafin's limited counterplay and constraining presence in the builder caused for this superhero to be unanimously quickbanned by the OU council.​ Sets Palafin @ Leftovers Ability: Zero to Hero Tera Type: Water / Steel / Fighting EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe Adamant Nature - Jet Punch - Drain Punch - Bulk Up - Taunt Palafin @ Choice Band Ability: Zero to Hero Tera Type: Water / Fighting EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Wave Crash - Jet Punch - Close Combat - Flip Turn / Ice Punch / Zen Headbutt Replays SV OU No Johns Release Tournament: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ubers-1722662760 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1721975691-e6f142vsz0187wfty88i7ulb6kgi1djpw

Iron Bundle​

Despite its resemblance to the relatively harmless Delibird, Iron Bundle was an absolute menace. Bundle presented opponents with the unresisted STAB combination of Hydro Pump and Freeze-Dry, enough speed to outrun everything other than Dragapult, and an assortment of support move options such as Flip Turn, Taunt, Agility, and Encore. At the time, Iron Bundle's only consistent switch-in in the entire tier was Blissey. This meant that the only real counterplay, beyond being fat af, was out-offensing the little bundle of hatred with even faster threats and priority. Notably, Iron Bundle was the first non-unanimous ban of the generation with only a 7/9 vote in favor of a ban. Sets Iron Bundle @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Booster Energy Ability: Quark Drive Tera Type: Water / Ice EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature - Hydro Pump - Freeze-Dry - Flip Turn / U-Turn - Taunt / Encore / Agility Iron Bundle @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf Ability: Quark Drive Tera Type: Water / Ice EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid / Modest Nature - Hydro Pump - Freeze-Dry - Ice Beam - Flip Turn / U-Turn Replays SV OU No Johns Release Tournament: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1720727150-fqzzvalao6xqoiiboygcn4umi8edb48pw https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1721331762-mv1zx6xt5wa5izuagqyvdg39r7pz2qppw

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[WilhelmTheOkay]

December

The Start of OU
Usage Stats for 11/22
The beginning of the month brings with it the first tier drops of Generation 9 and thus the first "official" OU Pokemon. At the start of every month I will cover the drops as it pertains to OU and make some notes about notable changes, but for this first month I'll just makes some very brief notes.

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usage-based-tier-update-for-december-2022-for-uu-and-you.3711748/post-9418813

Notes:​

• All three starters were released with their hidden abilities and all three started the generation in OU​
• Gholdengo and Great Tusk were top 5 in usage, this will not change for the rest of the year​
• An increase in Spikes distribution and the introduction of the GOAT spinblocker in Gholdengo lead to early experimentation among the limited pool of hazard removers with Great Tusk quickly being established as the premier choice​
• The offensive focus of the early metagame is apparent with strong priority users like Scizor, Breloom, and Lokix in the top 20 along with both Shed Tail users, Grimmsnarl, and Ditto seeing healthy* usage​
• Flutter Mane was number one in usage despite being banned two days in​
• The Pokemon on the bubble was Rotom-Wash, other notable drops include Pelipper (#45, 3.166%), Blissey (#46, 3.017%), Espathra (#51, 2.518%) and Hydreigon (#84, 0.741%)​

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The First Viability Rankings
12/12/22
Original Thread

A little under a month after the release of Scarlet and Violet the first ever Viability Rankings were released. Going forward I will highlight the most significant changes in between VRs, but for this first one I'm going to highlight a select few newcomers that had an immediate impact on the tier.

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First VR

From what I could find, the original VR was not archived, but thankfully this guy quoted the original post so shoutout to him

S Rank
Gholdengo

S- Rank
Chi-Yu
Dragapult
Great Tusk

A+ Rank
Annihilape
Chien-Pao
Cyclizar
Dragonite
Espathra
Iron Valiant
Kingambit
Roaring Moon
Ting-Lu

A Rank
Corviknight
Dondozo
Garganacl
Glimmora
Grimmsnarl
Iron Treads

A- Rank
Amoonguss
Clodsire
Garchomp
Hatterene
Iron Moth
Rotom-Wash
Skeledirge
Volcarona

B+ Rank
Baxcalibur
Breloom
Iron Hands
Quaquaval
Scizor
Slowking
Torkoal

B Rank
Azumarill
Blissey
Ditto
Meowscarada
Pawmot
Toxapex
Tyranitar

B- Rank
Gyarados
Hawlucha
Hippowdon
Iron Jugulis
Orthworm
Pelipper
Slither Wing
Tauros-Paldea-Fire

C+ Rank
Barraskewda
Iron Thorns
Masquerain
Pincurchin
Scovillain

C Rank
Alomomola
Arcanine
Avalugg
Ceruledge
Chansey
Charizard
Cloyster
Floatzel
Gallade
Gastrodon
Hydreigon
Lokix
Magnezone
Mimikyu
Polteageist
Scream Tail
Slowbro
Sylveon
Talonflame

D Rank
Brute Bonnet
Cetitan
Gengar
Haxorus
Indeedee
Kilowattrel
Klefki
Maushold
Quagsire
Rabsca
Rotom-Heat
Salamence
Sandy Shocks
Umbreon

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Gholdengo​	Gholdengo and, in some ways OU, is defined by its ability, Good as Gold. An immunity to all status moves makes Gholdengo this first ever Defog blocker and when combined with its excellent Steel/Ghost typing makes it impossible to remove hazards in front of Gholdengo outside of a handful of niche options. Interestingly, in a tier full of optimized stat spreads, Gholdengo's is mostly unremarkable aside from its excellent 133 SpA, possessing only decent to good speed and bulk. However, this is made up for by a strong movepool which lends itself to a variety of sets with the likes of Nasty Plot, Recover, Trick, good coverage options, and the pièce de résistance - Gholdengo's signature move, Make it Rain, a 120 BP Special Steel move that lowers SpA by only a single stage. All of this combined makes Gholdengo arguably the most influential Pokemon in the tier due to its ability to enable hazard-stacking cores to a degree not seen in over a decade despite being in a Heavy Duty Boots metagame. Sets Gholdengo @ Air Balloon Ability: Good as Gold Tera Type: Fighting EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Make It Rain - Shadow Ball - Recover / Focus Blast - Nasty Plot Gholdengo @ Choice Scarf Ability: Good as Gold Tera Type: Fighting EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Make It Rain - Shadow Ball - Nasty Plot / Focus Blast - Trick
Great Tusk​	Despite Ground types consistently being top tier, there hasn't been a new Ground type to debut in OU since the slightly underwhelming Mega Garchomp in XY. Well, Scarlet and Violet firmly ended that drought with the introduction of multiple OU-viable Grounds and the greatest of them all is the Tusk. Despite a weakness-riddled typing, Great Tusk's Buzzwole-like stat spread makes it one of the sturdiest physical tanks in OU with a strong utility movepool including Stealth Rock, Knock Off, and, most importantly, Rapid Spin. In the early metagame, Great Tusk was primarily used as one of the most fearsome wallbreakers in the tier as with its twin 120 BP STAB moves, good coverage, and access to boosts from Bulk Up and the Sun allowing it to break all but the bulkiest physical walls. Great Tusk's set variety and position as the most reliable hazard control in the tier make it an incredibly easy Pokemon to slot on to almost any team much akin to its Ground type forefathers (descendants?) in Landorus and Excadrill. Sets Great Tusk @ Leftovers / Booster Energy Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: Fighting EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Headlong Rush - Close Combat - Knock Off - Rapid Spin Great Tusk @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: Water EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD Impish Nature - Earthquake - Stealth Rock - Knock Off - Rapid Spin
Iron Valiant​	You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but if you took one look at Iron Valiant and assumed it's a heartless killing machine, then yeah you aren't too far off. Valiant is a checklist of everything a Pokemon needs in order be to be an effective wallbreaker and a sweeper. It has a great STAB combination, high speed, great mixed attacking stats, and a frankly ludicrous movepool. Iron Valiant has both physical and special coverage for whatever you may need (except Play Rough) but what truly seperates Iron Valiant is its support movepool: Swords Dance, Calm Mind, Encore, Taunt, Trick, Destiny Bond, its got it all. And just to top it all off, Valiant's Quark Drive ability lets it freely boost its speed without the downsides of a Choice Scarf. Iron Valiant not only accommodates creative set building but can excel with them making this pretty little murderer one of the most splashable offensive threats in the game. Sets Iron Valiant @ Choice Specs Ability: Quark Drive Tera Type: Fairy / Electric / Ghost EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Moonblast - Shadow Ball - Psyshock - Thunderbolt / Focus Blast / Trick Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy Ability: Quark Drive Tera Type: Fairy / Dark EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Close Combat - Spirit Break - Knock Off - Swords Dance

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On December 15th, Charizard was released!

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Finchinator vs MudkipNerd
12/21/22
Inciting Incident

On December 21st, OU Leader Finchinator was challenged by MudkipNerd for ausma's spot on the OU council in a best of three set. The series was immensely popular and inspired the SV Fight Nights series. A series of battles between well-known figures in the Smogon community, including a rematch between Finch and MudkipNerd, though it was unfortunately short lived.

Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3

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Suspect Test #1: Tera
12/14/22 - 1/4/23
Original Thread

Well it's finally time to address the elephant in the room. Terastallization is the generational gimmick of Scarlet and Violet which allows any Pokemon to change their type in battle. Like every gimmick since Gen 7, Tera is both very powerful and very controversial. In this section I will attempt to summarize the various opinions on Tera in OU but I'm not going to pretend this post is in any way comprehensive and if you want to read through the many, many opinions on the subject I'd recommend reading through the thread linked above as well as here and here. But, first I will go over the mechanics of Terastallization:

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Mechanics

• Once per battle a trainer may permanently change the type of one of their Pokemon to any one of the 18 types​
• The Tera'd Pokemon gains the STAB boost for the type they are Tera'd into, if a Pokemon Teras into a type it already is, the STAB multipler is increased to 2.0x and with Adaptability the STAB mulitpler is increased to 2.25x​
• When Tera'd a Pokemon loses all previous weakness and resistances but retains the STAB bonus of it previous type(s)​
• When Tera'd a Pokemon cannot have their type changed by any means including Protean, Transform, Soak, or Burn Up​
• Ditto will not copy the opposing Tera type and can independently Tera into its own Tera type​
• Moves that have their type is determined by the user's primary type like Revelation Dance, will have their type changed to the Tera type​
• When Tera'd any move below 60 BP that is not a multi-hit move or priority is brought up to 60 BP, this gets funky with Technician​

Technician Mechanics

Okay so, Peck is 35 BP and with Technician it is brought up to 52.5 BP

Peck normally (35 BP):

252 Atk Scizor Peck vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 39-46 (11.4 - 13.4%) -- possible 8HKO

Peck with Technician (52.5 BP):

252 Atk Technician Scizor Peck vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 57-68 (16.7 - 19.9%) -- guaranteed 6HKO


When the Tera boost is applied Peck is automatically brought up to 60 BP, effectively ignoring the Technician boost. So moves below 40 BP that are not multi-hit or priority receive no additional benefit from Technician while Tera'd.

Tera Flying Peck (60 BP)

252 Atk Tera Flying Scizor Peck (60 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 99-117 (29 - 34.3%) -- 2.5% chance to 3HKO

Technician Tera Flying Peck (also 60 BP)

252 Atk Technician Tera Flying Scizor Peck (60 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 99-117 (29 - 34.3%) -- 2.5% chance to 3HKO

Tera Flying Aerial Ace (also also 60 BP)

252 Atk Tera Flying Scizor Aerial Ace vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 99-117 (29 - 34.3%) -- 2.5% chance to 3HKO


If a move does go over 60 BP after a Technician boost (any move above >40 BP) it will not be raised to 60 BP in the damage calculation. For example Acrobatics is 55 BP and 82.5 BP with a Technician boost. When Tera'd with Technician, Acrobatics will NOT be brought up to 60 BP and Technician will NOT boost it to 90 BP and it will instead continue to be treated as a 82.5 BP move. Without Technician, Acrobatics will be boosted to 60 BP.

Tera Flying Acrobatics (boosted to 60 BP):

252 Atk Tera Flying Scizor Acrobatics (60 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 99-117 (29 - 34.3%) -- 2.5% chance to 3HKO

Technician Tera Flying Acrobatics (82.5 BP):

252 Atk Technician Tera Flying Scizor Acrobatics (55 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 135-159 (39.5 - 46.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

In summary, if a move is BELOW 40 BP, Technician WILL NOT increase its damage after Tera. If a move is ABOVE 40 BP then Technician WILL boost its damage after Tera. I have no clue if this helps

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Tera Blast Mechanics

• Tera Blast can be learned by every Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet except for Magikarp and Ditto​
• Tera Blast is a 80 BP Normal Special move in its base form​
• If the user Teras then Tera Blast will change its type to match the Tera type​
• When Tera'd if the user's Attack is higher than its Special Attack then Tera Blast will become a Physical move, this only occurs after Terastallization and can change depending on which stat is higher when the move is used. Stat drops and boosts are taken into account however items like Choice Band/Specs and Abilities like Huge Power are not. This change is not a "smart" move like Shell Side-Arm and will not take into account which damage category will do more damage to the target, it will only look at the user's stats​

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When voting for the suspect test, voters were asked to state whether they supported No Action or Action against Tera. They were then asked to rank four proposed forms of Action against Tera in order of how much they supported each idea, every voter had to do this second part whether or not they supported any Action. If 60% of the voters voted for Action then the most popular form action would be decided by ranked choice vote, if the 60% vote threshold for Action failed to be reached there would be No Action. Here are the five possible outcomes of the suspect test and the cliff notes of some of the arguments for and against them.


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Option​	Arguments​
No Action​	Tera adds a fun new layer of complexity and creativity to the teambuilder. Tera is not an instant win button, choosing the proper type and when to use it takes skill and while the mechanic can lead to upsets, the better player will still win most of the time. There hasn't been any major tournaments played with Tera yet, it is best to hold off on acting on it until it used in the most competitive environment we have.
Outright Ban​	Tera forces an element of unpredictability that is uncompetitve and unhealthy for the metagame. The unpredictability of which Pokemon will Tera and to what type hinders a player's ability to form a longterm gameplan. No other option fully addresses every unhealthy element of Tera and only serve to kick the can down the road.
Limit to one designated Tera user per team​	Having a "Tera captain" allows both players to reasonably form a gameplan from team preview. Some degree of the creative set building Tera allows is preserved. Rewards players with game knowledge of common Tera types to figure out what their opponent is using.
Reveal Tera type at Team Preview​	Also allows for players to form a gameplan from the start while still allowing for more flexibility in game on when to use Tera. Also also retains that element of creativity Tera brings to team building. Already used by the VGC format in the form of open team sheets and has been reasonably well-received.
Only same-type Teras allowed​	Only 2 people voted for Action + STAB Tera but from what I could find neither posted their reasoning why and I don't want to make up reasons for them.

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Result: No Action
Final Tally

A record 349 voters participated of which 59% chose some form of Action, which was just barely below the threshold needed so No Action took place, concluding the largest and closest vote in Smogon history at the time. While ultimately not coming into effect, Tera Preview comfortably won the ranked choice vote with an Outright Ban in second. As of writing, a second Tera suspect test is planned to take place some time after the release of DLC 2.

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On December 29th, Cinderace was released!​

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

January

As the community waits with bated breath for the results of the Tera suspect test, the tiers have shifted once again and brought with them a few surprises.

New Month, New OU
Usage Stats for 12/22

https://twitter.com/SmogonU/status/1609912524429828098

Rises & Drops

Rises:
Azumarill (#29, 6.233%)
Previously (#56, 2.094%)
Azumarill started to gain more traction due to its excellent typing allowing it to check and threaten the likes of Chi-Yu and Chien-Pao. Azumarill is also, as ever, an extremely threatening sweeper with the sheer power of its Aqua Jet and Play Rough after a Belly Drum.

Hatterene (#15, 15.040%)
Previously (#52, 2.455%)
In a metagame where hazards are so difficult to reliably remove, Magic Bounce becomes invaluable. Hatterene has become a pretty splashable support mon with the aforementioned hazard control alongside moves like Healing Wish and Nuzzle, which is notable for being the only really reliable way to status Gholdengo. Hatterene can also use this pseudo status immunity to turn into a dangerous Stored Power sweeper with Draining Kiss and its decent coverage.

Pawmot (#35, 5.466%)
Previously (#72, 1.032%)
With Revival Blessing being fully implemented into Showdown, the playerbase was finally able to start experimenting with Pawmot. Most of Pawmot's usage came from Mimikyu Stardust's RMT where it was used alongside the most powerful offensive Pokemon in the metagame in order to get them back into the fight and keep up the pressure. Outside of reviving, Pawmot wasn't actually entirely useless with a pretty strong Mach Punch and Close Combat combined with yet another low distribution, high BP Physical Electric move.

Rotom-Wash (#17, 14.735%)
Previously (#43, 4.022%)
Yep, it's still a Rotom. Lost Pain Split and Defog with the release of Gen 9 but is still a great pivot and status spreader either with its bulky Protect set or a offensive Scarf Trick set.


Drops:
Baxcalibur (#39, 4.096%)
Previously (#21, 8.126%)
The big surprise of the tier shifts was easily how the 145 Atk, burn immune, Dragon/Ice Pseudo Legendary fell to UU after only a month. At the time, Baxcalibur was generally to be harder to justify over the other offensive Dragons and Ices in the tier like Dragapult, Dragonite, and Chien-Pao.

Charizard (#85, 0.336%)
New
Had a small role as a wallbreaker on Sun teams with Solar Power + Specs but Charizard is nothing more than niche.

Ditto (#51, 1.483%)
Previously (#28, 6.464%)
Nature is healing, Ditto is no longer OU by usage. Still retains its unique niche with Scarf + Imposter Revenge Killer.

Lokix (#50, 1.495%)
Previously (#20, 8.561%)
While Tinted Lens priority is a valuable tool, Lokix's mediocre Attack and Speed stats hold it back from making a significant impression in OU.

Maushold (#48, 1.661%)
Previously (#38, 5.326%)
Despite having good speed, a 300 BP move, and a Dragon Dance that clears hazards, Maushold's otherwise horrible stats and mono-Normal typing prevent it from being anything more than niche in OU.

Orthworm (#54, 1.452%)
Previously (#37, 5.356%)
Orthworm is generally outclassed by Cyclizar as a Shed Tail setter due to its lack of recovery and poor utility outside of hazards. However, it still has good physical bulk, a uniquely good defensive typing, and its low speed can allow it to bring preserve its ally's Substitute after a Shed Tail assuming it survives a hit with >50% HP.

Tyranitar (#43, 2.140%)
Previously was the GOAT
Gen 9 did Tyranitar no favors. With the ban of Houndstone/Last Respects there were no viable sand abusers left in the game and there were so many new threats added with Tyranitar struggling to deal with Great Tusk, Iron Valinant, Ting-Lu, Annihilape, etc. Also, for the first time in years, a new defensive Rock type was viable in OU with Garganacl's bulk, longevity, and reliable chip damage only adding to Ttar's woes.

Notes:​

• December saw a new crop of offensive threats rise up in usage to fill the void left by November's bans
  • Chi-Yu's absurd power and ability to delete its checks with Tera made it easily the premier breaker and sweeper of December
  • Dragonite sets utilized the power of Tera Normal Extreme Speed to threaten the ever faster metagame threats like Chien-Pao and Iron Valiant.
  • Iron Valiant's Swords Dance sets fell off in favor Mixed and Choice sets. Iron Valiant was now mainly used as a Special Attacker first with CC and Knock as coverage.
  • Dragapult quickly filled the niche of fast offensive Ghost left by Flutter Mane. The excitement of Dragapult finally having a more reliable physical Ghost STAB led to a sharp rise in the usage of Band sets compared to Gen 8. Specs and Boots sets remained popular as well with all three variants seeing similar usage.
  • Annihilape's usage rose from 5% to 20% with its bulky Rage Fist, Drain Punch, Taunt, and Bulk Up set becoming an absolute menace, particularly against slower, bulkier teams. Final Gambit suicide leads were also popular alongside the occasional Chesto set.
  • Volcarona saw a spike in usage with its physically bulky sets with Morning Sun allowing it threaten physical attackers with the a burn from Flame Body and snowball out of control with Quiver Dance as usual.
• Cyclizar, Orthworm, and Grimmsnarl all saw a drop in popularity. Roaring Moon, a frequent partner in crime, also saw a drop in usage with Screens and Shed Tail more often being paired with the likes of Dragonite and Annihilape over Moon.
• Clodsire saw a decline in usage coinciding with a large rise for Ting-Lu with to its superior all-round bulk, access to Whirlwind, and Ruination giving it a button to click against Corviknight. Dondozo also became the most popular Unaware Pokemon due to its incredible physical defense and Water typing allowing to check some of the scariest physical attackers in the tier.
• Great Tusk saw the Booster Energy sets that were popular in November fade away with both offensive and bulky sets most often using Leftovers and Assault Vest.
• Garganacl began to rise in unpopularity. Its Body Press set became relatively less popular with Rocks and Protect becoming more common. Salt Cure began being recognized as an incredible progress making with relatively little risk on the part of the Garg user.
• Around this time Boots Stall become the standard way to build stall teams thanks to juliusfunnel's popular RMT. Boots Stall essentially gives up on the idea of keeping hazards off and instead exclusively run Heavy-Duty Boots with one Pokemon designated to absorb Knock Off for the team, in this case a Tera Flying Alomomola.
• The Pokemon on the bubble was Pelipper with 4.491% usage, just ahead of Espathra with 4.230%. Cinderace managed a usage of 2.982% despite only being released one day before the tier shifts, due to this it was immune to any tiering changes.

Radar #3: Ah, Bach
1/6/23
Original Thread


With the Tera issue being settled for now, all eyes turned to rooting out the unhealthiest elements of the tier that developed in the 40+ days since the last tiering radar. Cyclizar and Chien-Pao kept up their streak of appearing on every radar so far and were joined by the two other other repeat offenders - Gholdengo and Annihilape. Espathra is notable as it was still just UUBL at the time of its inclusion on the radar. In the end Chien-Pao, Dragonite, and Gholdengo received zero ban votes with Gargancal and Espathra receiving a few each which leads us to...

Gone Fishin': The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Bans of SV OU
1/8/23
Original Thread
​

Annihilape​	"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." By taking Kelly Clarkson's words to heart, Primeape was finally able to achieve its lifelong dream of competitive viability. Despite barely remaining OU in November, Annihilape quickly grew into a dominant force with the help of its new signature move. Rage Fist is a 50 BP Physical Ghost move that gains 50 BP every time Annihilape is hit with a move, stacking up to a maximum of 350 BP and, importantly, these stacks do not reset when switched out or KOed. Rage Fist combined with good bulk, Drain Punch, and Bulk Up allowed Annihilape to brutally punish any team that was unable to severely damage it with another offensive threat. Additionally, similar to Palafin, Annihilape was able to utilize Taunt to shut down slow, defensive Pokemon and set up for free becoming even harder to deal with. Annihilape was also a large beneficiary of Tera as it was able to keep its top tier STAB combination while becoming a superior defensive typing, most commonly Water. Annihilape was also able to act as a suicide lead with Final Gambit and Rocks, but this set had little impact on the 8/9 vote to ban Annihilape. Sets Annihilape @ Leftovers / Chesto Berry Ability: Defiant Tera Type: Water EVs: 252 HP / 24 SpD / 232 Spe Jolly Nature - Rage Fist - Drain Punch - Bulk Up - Taunt / Rest Annihilape @ Focus Sash / Choice Scarf Ability: Vital Spirit Tera Type: Steel EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Rage Fist - Final Gambit / Close Combat - Stealth Rock - Taunt Replays SV OU No Johns Release Tournament: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-664109 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1735031051-ehfq2ehvwijhkbj4ueazkgr5rp3tiz3pw the real best set
Chi-Yu​	The funny fish is a very simple mon to explain: it clicks its buttons and the other Pokemon faint. Chi-Yu's ability Beads of Ruin lowers opponents SpD stat by 25% giving it an effective 197 SpA stat. Chi-Yu has enough power to simply ignore its checks in the right circumstances, mostly famously with Overheat in the Sun. Chi-Yu's main drawbacks are its not amazing speed stat of 100 and having only a single coverage move in Psychic however due to Chi-Yu's power Scarf sets still hit very hard and that same power made it so coverage wasn't a necessity with most sets running two or even three Fire moves. Chi-Yu was easily the most blatantly unhealthy presence in the meta regardless of Tera's legality and was swiftly banned by a unanimous vote. Sets Chi-Yu @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf Ability: Beads of Ruin Tera Type: Fire / Dark EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Overheat - Flamethrower - Dark Pulse - Psychic / Fire Blast Chi-Yu @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Beads of Ruin Tera Type: Fire / Dark / Grass EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Overheat / Flame Charge / Tera Blast - Flamethrower - Dark Pulse - Nasty Plot Replays SV OU No Johns Release Tournament: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-666838 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1743171746-gu525ca4oavjgkh53yayutgi040trmupw
Cyclizar​	Similar to Houndstone, Cyclizar was mainly banned due to a particularly unhealthy move, in this case Shed Tail. Shed Tail is a status move that takes 50% of the user's health to create a substitute and then switches the user out to an ally (despite costing 50% of your health the substitute is still only has 25% of the user's health). While interactions like this have existed in the past, such as Zapdos baton passing a sub in ADV, they've never been possible in a single turn and have never been bundled with a Pokemon that was so finely tuned for this exact purpose. With Regenerator and base 121 speed, Cyclizar is able to repeatedly set up Shed Tails throughout the course of a game as opposed to the other user of the move, Orthworm, who is generally only able to set up two at most in a single game. Cyclizar also comes equipped with a wonderful support movepool including Rapid Spin and Knock Off allowing Cyclizar to be a valuable team member even when its unable to use Shed Tail. It was for these reasons that Cyclizar was banned instead of Shed Tail; Orthworm was seen to not be broken with Shed Tail due to its limited number of uses with the move and its inferior utility options as a Pokemon. Cyclizar was banned with a 7/9 vote. Sets Cyclizar @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Regenerator Tera Type: Fairy / Fire EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe - Shed Tail - Rapid Spin - Knock Off - Draco Meteor / Overheat / Taunt / U-Turn Replays SV OU No Johns Release Tournament: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-664097 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1742913328-f5at4f4b2ubm0j106yjwi7iw3oeaczwpw

Smogon Premier League XIV
1/15/23 - 4/7/23

Commencement Thread



The first major tournament of the Generation 9 was the fourteenth installment of the Smogon Premier League. For those who don't know, SPL is a team tournament where each week, ten teams of 12 matchup in every generation of OU. Each player will play a best of one match (best of three in RBY) in their chosen or assigned generation and the team with the most individual wins is the victor of that week. After a regular season of 9 weeks, the top 4 teams face off in the playoffs to determine an ultimate champion. In this thread I will not be going in-depth on all metagame developments and storylines from the tournament as they happened, but I do recommend watching back the tournament replays if you are curious how SV OU looked and played over the first third of 2023.

- - - - -

Official Smogon Tournament XIX
1/23/23 - 4/16/23

Round 1-A Thread

And just a week later, the second major tournament of Scarlet and Violet started. As you can probably guess from the name, the OST is the longest-running tournament on Smogon with the first edition run in 2004 which was won by cholena. The Official Smogon Tournament is an individual tournament where all 1500+ entrants compete in one large single-elimination bracket in best-of-three sets in SV OU until one champion is decided.


----

VR Update #1: Top Three
1/24/23
Update Post

With Tera's legality confirmed and the bans of Annihilape, Chi-Yu, and Cyclizar out of the way, the viability rankings were updated to reflect to new state of the meta. In this section I will go over a few of the more notable changes.

New VR

S Rank
Chien-Pao - up from A+
Gholdengo
Great Tusk - up from S-

S- Rank
Garganacl - up from A

A+ Rank
Dragapult - down from S-
Dragonite
Iron Valiant
Kingambit

A Rank
Cinderace - new
Corviknight
Dondozo
Espathra - down from A+
Hatterene - up from A-
Roaring Moon - down from A+
Rotom-Wash - up from A-
Skeledirge - up from A-
Ting-Lu - down from A+
Toxapex - up from B
Volcarona - up from A-

A- Rank
Amoonguss
Clodsire
Garchomp
Glimmora - down from A

B+ Rank
Breloom
Iron Moth - down from A-
Iron Treads - down from A
Meowscarada - up from B
Scizor
Slowking

B Rank
Azumarill
Baxcalibur - down from B+
Ceruledge - up from C
Grimmsnarl - down from A
Iron Hands - down from B+
Quaquaval - down from B+
Tauros-Paldea-Blaze Breed - up from B-
Torkoal - down from B+

B- Rank
Hydreigon - up from C
Orthworm
Pawmot - down from B
Pelipper
Slither Wing
Tauros-Paldea-Aqua Breed - new

C+ Rank
Floatzel - up from C
Hawlucha - down from B-
Sandy Shocks - up from D
Slowbro - up from C

C Rank
Alomomola
Barraskewda - down from C+
Blissey - down from B
Charizard
Gallade
Gyarados - down from B-
Hippowdon - down from B-
Iron Jugulis - down from B-
Kilowattrel - up from D
Magnezone
Masquerain - down from C+
Quagsire - up from D
Rotom-Heat - up from D
Scovillain - down from C+
Scream Tail
Toedscruel - new
Tyranitar - down from B

D Rank
Arcanine - down from C
Avalugg - down from C
Bellibolt - new
Chansey - down from C
Cloyster - down from C
Ditto - down from B
Flamigo - new
Gastrodon - down from C
Gengar
Haxorus
Indeedee
Iron Thorns - down from C+
Klefki
Lokix - down from C
Maushold
Mimikyu - down from C
Pincurchin - down from C+
Polteageist - down from C
Rabsca
Salamence
Sylveon - down from C
Talonflame - down from C
Tinkaton - new
Umbreon

Unranked
Brute Bonnet - down from D
Cetitan - down from D
Glaceon

Banned
Annihilape - was A+
Chi-Yu - was S-
Cyclizar - was A+
​

A+ to S - With the removal of the other offensive Treasure of Ruin, Chien-Pao stands alone as the premier threat in SV OU. With its unique ability, Sword of Ruin, Chien-Pao is one of the hardest hitting physical attackers in the entire game with a speed tier only bested by Dragapult, who is cleanly OHKO'd by Sucker Punch. Chien-Pao was easily one of the most influential Pokemon in the tier and deserving of a top 3 ranking.

S- to S - While not a large jump in terms of the rankings, Great Tusk at this point was essentially the face of SV OU. Great Tusk's combination of excellent bulk, power, set variety, and position as arguably the only reliable hazard remover could oftentimes make Tusk feel indispensible in the builder. Over the first week of SPL, Great Tusk had a 75% usage rate and would stay around this level for the entire tournament.

A to S- - The salt giant quickly rose to become one of the best walls in the game in large part due to its unique ability and move. Purifying Salt makes Garganacl completely immune to status effects and along with a handy resistance to Ghost made Garg one of the hardest Pokemon to bring down over time, especially as Garg was one of the biggest beneficiaries and most consistent users of Tera allowing it to become a superior defensive type, most commonly Water. Salt Cure gave Garganacl a consistent progress making tool that allowed for Garg to slot in well on balance structures. Salt Cure's near constant pressure kept Garg from being setup fodder and gave it positive matchups against other walls like Clodsire and Toxapex. Salt Cure's damage output on the Steels and Waters of the tier spurred the use of the new Covert Cloak item essentially just to flip this one matchup.

B to A - Despite losing Scald, Knock Off, and half of its Recover PP, Toxapex still managed to remain a good defensive mon with its crazy defensive stats, Regenerator, and solid utility options. Toxapex's access to Haze, Toxic Spikes, and a now more scarce Toxic allowed Pex to check some of the scariest sweepers and threaten the defensive walls in the tier. While not the menace it was in previous generations, Toxapex still saw very healthy usage during week one of SPL, being the fourth most common Pokemon.

A to B - With the ban of Cyclizar, Grimmsnarl's most common structure, Shed Tail + Screens HO, took a hit as it struggled to work as effectively with Orthworm as the Shed Tail passer. Screens teams, and by extension Grimmsnarl, became far more niche as compared to the earliest days of SV as evidenced by Grimmsnarl's absence from SPL. Nevertheless, with the addition of Parting Shot to its toolkit, Grimmsnarl was still viewed as the best Screens setter in the tier and was far from useless in OU.

new to A - The latest addition to Scarlet and Violet, Cinderace returned from its vacation in Ubers with a nerfed ability but was no less effective as an offensive pivot. While Cinderace's attack and speed stats are both good, what really sets it apart from the pack is its movepool which is jam-packed with high BP moves such as Pyro Ball, High Jump Kick, Gunk Shot, and even Sucker Punch. Yet the most intriguing part of Cinderace's toolkit is Court Change, a move that swaps all hazards and screens to the opposite side of the battlefield allowing for Cinderace to not only steal Screens away from the opponent but also act as a new, much needed form of hazard control that Gholdengo is unable to block.

- - - - -

On January 26th, Greninja was released! However the only available abilities were Torrent and Protean with an altered Battle Bond being unavailable until the release of Pokemon HOME compatibility.​

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

February
Usage Stats for 1/23

https://twitter.com/SmogonU/status/1620837004698161161

Rises & Drops

Rises:
Espathra (#25, 8.922%)
Previously (#38, 4.230%)
Despite being considered one of the strongest Pokemon in the tier, Espathra only just now rose to OU. Espathra uses its fun and interactive combination of Speed Boost, Calm Mind, and Stored Power to snowball out of control. Espathra typically Teras Fairy or Fighting to mitigate its weakness to Dark types.

Orthworm (#32, 5.370%)
Previously (#54, 1.452%)
Orthworm returns to OU as the only legal Shed Tail user in the tier, riding Espathra's coattails to the top being paired alongside the ostrich over 80% of the time. While Orthworm is a solid hazard setter and physical wall, though its defensive capabilities are held back by its lack of reliable recovery and the need to stay above 50% HP in order to fulfill its primary function.

Pelipper (#30, 6.778%)
Previously (#37, 4.491%)
Pelipper becomes OU for the first time this generation after losing the utility of Scald and Defog in the generation switch. Over the last month Choice Specs saw a rise in usage leveraging Pelipper's dual STAB combination's effectiveness in Rain to squeeze an extra wallbreaker into rain teams. However, Pelipper does have some new friends such as Floatzel now buffed with Wave Crash and Iron Jugulis filling in for Zapdos as the resident Hurricane spammer.


Drops:
Iron Hands (#39, 4.017%)
Previously (#36, 5.121%)
After back-to-back months of being the last Pokemon to clear the 4.52% threshold, Iron Hands finally falls to terrorize UU. Nothing much had changed for Iron Hands, it remained a a very strong, very bulky physical attacker that suffered from low speed and a lack of recovery and utility. Iron Hands was still a solid pick but remained difficult to build around.

Pawmot (#41, 3.675%)
Previously (#35, 5.466%)
Pawmot's effectiveness improves alongside the strength of its teammates and the ban of common partners Annihilape and Chi-Yu hurt it. However, Pawmot still paired wonderfully with Kingambit as it allowed for it to hit max Supreme Overlord stacks with teammates still alive. Pawmot also found itself appearing more often on Rain structures.

Torkoal (#40, 3.683%)
Previously (#30, 6.160%)
Torkoal's relevance took a hit with the loss of Chi-Yu, the scariest wallbreaker under the Sun. Nevertheless, Sun remained a solid option with archetype staples Great Tusk, Roaring Moon, and Hatterene remaining as effective as ever alongside Ceruledge and Brute Bonnet who were recently popularized by Vert's Sun Sample Team.

Notes:​

• SV OU sees it first Pokemon to break the 50% threshold as usage becomes more centralized around the top 3.​
  • Great Tusk's hazard control and number of effective sets can make feel difficult to build without while also a bit restrictive to build against with its pool of commonly used defensive checks limited to the likes of Rotom and Corviknight.​
  • Gholdengo continues to exert pressure on the metagame as whole in spite of the rise in usage from the likes Volcarona and Cinderace. An increase in the usage of Garganacl has been matched by in increase in the use of Covert Cloak.​
  • Chien-Pao fills the void left by Chi-Yu as the most dangerous wallbreaker in the tier and a rise in usage from checks such as Rotom-Wash, Garganacl, Azumarill, and the Tauros forms follows suit.​
• Roaring Moon took a hit with the ban of Chi-Yu as Sun teams as a whole got worse. Chien-Pao fulling the void is also worse for Roaring Moon as it is generally outclassed as a Dark type attacker being both weaker, slower, and having a less useful secondary STAB.
• Garganacl becomes the most used defensive mon in the metagame with its mixed bulk, recovery, and constant pressure through Salt Cure. Iron Defense/Body Press sets have become less common in favor of Rocks + Protect taking advantage of Garg's love of chip damage and leftovers.
• Scizor's Bullet Punch is no longer being used as often to check offensive threats, as a whole the metagame has gotten more defensive with all three Unaware Pokemon seeing healthy usage in response to popularity of setup sweeper like Dragonite, Volcarona, and Kingambit.
• Offensive Volcarona became more common over January. Instead of the physically defensive Tera Grass Giga Drain that were the standard before, there was more and more experimentation with Volcarona's offensive coverage moves and Tera types like Ground making it a more unpredictable threat.
• Psyspam teams featuring Indeedee, Armarouge, Hatterene, and Polteageist became popular. These teams exploit Psychic Terrain's damage boost to Expanding Force and Stored Power as well as the immunity to priority to keep revenge killers from taking advantage of the defense drops of Weak Armor and Shell Smash. Replay
• Garchomp has so far experienced very stable usage after its acquisition of Spikes this generation buffed its defensive sets. However, over the last month the standard TankChomp set was overtaken in popularity by the mixed ChainChomp set due to its ability to break through common defensive cores featuring Great Tusk and Toxapex while still retaining the ability to set hazards and keep up the pressure.
• Two more UU mons gaining traction over the last month were Hydreigon and Slowking. Hydreigon's wonderful array of coverage allowed for it to become a customizable and dangerous special breaker or sweeper. Slowking on the other hand began being appreciated more as a specially defensive pivot with Chilly Reception being almost as good as Teleport in Gen 8 and it typing allowing to check a variety of threats while also using Future Sight to threaten the many Fighting and Poison types in the tier.
• The Pokemon on the bubble was Armarouge with a 4.115% usage rate. Greninja managed a 6.880% usage rate despite only being available for less than a week.

- - - - -

https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/5960112
Suspect Test #2: Chien-Pao
1/29/23 - 2/11/23
Original Thread

In late January, the second suspect test was announced with all eyes on the Sword of Ruin, Chien-Pao. In the most recent survey, Chien-Pao was clearly seen as the most problematic Pokemon by the community at large. Just like the last suspect test I will try to lay out the arguments on both sides.
​

Chien-Pao​

The physical attacking Treasure of Ruin has been a consistent powerhouse ever since the game's release. Chien-Pao's ability, Sword of Ruin, lowers opponent's Def by 25% making a merely good attack stat of 120 a whole lot more dangerous. While not as hard hitting as Chi-Yu, Chien-Pao makes up for this with its 135 base speed, faster than every relevant OU Pokemon bar Dragapult and access to priority for both of its STABs. Chien-Pao's movepool is not particularly expansive, essentially only consisting of STABs, Sacred Sword, and Swords Dance but it is certainly enough to work with Dark/Ice/Fighting only being resisted by Azumarill. Though again compared to Chi-Yu, Chien-Pao lacks any high BP moves à la Overheat and Fire Blast. Sets Chien-Pao @ Choice Band Ability: Sword of Ruin Tera Type: Dark EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Crunch - Icicle Crash / Ice Spinner - Sacred Sword - Sucker Punch / Ice Shard Chien-Pao @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Sword of Ruin Tera Type: Dark EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Crunch - Icicle Crash / Ice Spinner - Sacred Sword - Swords Dance / Sucker Punch / Ice Shard Replays SPL XIV: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-671819 OST XIX: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-674009

Side	Arguments
Ban​	Chien-Pao's combination of speed and strength cannot be replicated and overshadows otherwise strong offensive Pokemon like Baxcalibur and Roaring Moon. Chien-Pao's limited pool of defensive checks and counters restrict teambuilding into specific structures; its pool of offensive checks is even smaller due to the strength Chien-Pao's boosted priority moves.
No Ban​	Chien-Pao is not broken without Tera giving it an Adaptability boost, Tera's legality is causing otherwise strong Pokemon to be unhealthy Chien-Pao is limited by its weakness to all forms of hazards and how it needs to use your team's Tera in order to have enough power to consistently sweep. There are multiple proven checks to Chien-Pao including Garganacl, Dondozo, and the Tauros forms among others. The current metagame has only existed for about a month and hasn't had enough time to naturally develop, it is too early to be doing suspect tests.

- - - - -

Result: Ban
Final Tally

In the end, Chien-Pao was banned with a 69% majority, but that wasn't all for that particular day...

----

Ostrich Sized: The Eighth Ban of SV OU
2/11/23
Original Thread

Well isn't this a surprise? Only a matter of hours after the Chien-Pao suspect test concluded, a new tiering radar post came out announcing the OU council would voting on Espathra and with a pretty cut-and-dried unanimous vote was kicked out of OU. Only a couple of weeks prior, Espathra was seen as something unhealthy but not the main concern, but after the ban of Chien-Pao seemed likely, Espathra instantly became public enemy number one. In fact, the ostrich received the highest amount support for a ban in SV OU up until that point in the most recent survey.
​

Espathra​

When a mono-Psychic Pokemon with a 481 BST is an Uber, you know something has gone wrong. Espathra's entire gimmick is using Speed Boost and Calm Mind to roll over teams with STAB Stored Power. Espathra's coverage is poor but it really only needs Dazzling Gleam or Fighting Tera Blast to hit Dark types as once Espathra gets going, Stored Power blasts right through resists. Espathra isn't perfect however, its defenses are absolutely pitiful, it almost always is going to want to be Tera'd, and it isn't particularly strong early on. Nonetheless, when supported by Orthworm or Indeedee, Espathra becomes the ultimate matchup fish, able to sweep teams in an instant. Sets Espathra @ Leftovers / Psychic Seed Ability: Speed Boost Tera Type: Fairy / Fighting EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe Bold Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Stored Power - Dazzling Gleam / Tera Blast - Calm Mind - Protect / Substitute / Roost Replays SPL XIV: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-669605 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-671958

- - - - -

Smogon Charity Bowl IV
2/19/23
Original Thread

On February 6th a earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale hit Turkey and Syria leaving thousands dead and more injured. In an effort to raise funds for the relief effort, Smogon held its fourth Charity Bowl. The tournament itself was a best-of-one, single elimination bracket that took place over one day. Ox The Fox emerged victorious and a total of $2760.89 was raised. The whole event was streamed and casted by members of the OU council and you can find the VOD here.

- - - - -


On February 27th, Patch 1.2 was released for Scarlet and Violet along with three new Pokemon: Walking Wake, Iron Leaves, and Zoroark-Hisui.

- - - - -​

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

March
Usage Stats for 2/23

https://twitter.com/SmogonU/status/1630968639712002071

Rises & Drops

Rises:
Armarouge (#36, 4.781%)
Previously (#38, 4.115%)
Psychic Terrain HO remained popular throughout February, an archetype Armarouge thrived in. This is mainly due to it being the only Pokemon with access to Expanding Force, a Special Psychic move that gets boosted to become 156 BP under Psychic Terrain. Combined with Focus Sash and Weak Armor, Armarouge was able to set up in an instant and blast though teams or simply force trades with Destiny Bond.

Baxcalibur (#15, 13.216%)
Previously (#44, 3.377%)
With Chien-Pao's ban, Baxcalibur moved up to OU with a vengeance. The latest pseudo-legendary sports a sky high 145 attack stat, an immunity to burn, and a good STAB combination complimented wonderfully by Earthquake. While, Baxcalibur severely lacks the speed of Chien-Pao, it can mitigate this weakness somewhat with Ice Shard and access to Dragon Dance. The most common sets were a banded wallbreaker and Dragon Dance sweeper utilizing Loaded Dice to make Icicle Spear a minimum 100 BP move.

Hydreigon (#34, 5.045%)
Previously (#43, 3.390%)
Hydreigon continues its tradition of being a strong but ultimately somewhat niche special attacker in OU. The current most popular sets are Nasty Plot + 3 attacks and NP + Sub + STABs both utilizing Hydreigon's unique defensive profile to set up and blast through opposing teams. Hydreigon benefits from Tera shedding its Fairy weakness with Tera Steel with Levitate becoming even more valuable with the new typing.

Torkoal (#27, 6.557%)
Previously (#40, 3.638%)
While Walking Wake was released at the end of the month and certainly gave Sun a huge boost, the archetype was already growing in popularity throughout the month. While variations of Vert's sun sample team remained a common sight, there was also increased usage of some new faces in Sandy Shocks and Iron Moth.

Drops:
Grimmsnarl (#47, 2.758%)
Previously (#35, 4.948%)
Grimmsnarl lost yet another broken threat to support with the ban of Espathra. Beyond that however, nothing has really changed with Grimmsnarl, it has used the same moveset since the game came out and it is still the premier screener in the tier, its just that screens are not used very often in the current meta.

Scizor (#41, 3.557%)
Previously (#36, 4.651%)
While Scizor does threaten Iron Valiant, Hatterene, and Baxcalibur there are just too many losing matchups in the metagame and too few Bullet Punch targets to justify using Scizor on most structures. Especially in the face of the rise of a new bulky, priority abusing Steel type in Kingambit.

Notes:​

• For the third month in a row, the third most used mon is the new most influential offensive Pokemon in the tier. This time it is Kingambit, perhaps the most finely tuned late game sweeper in history of the game.
• The ban of Chien-Pao not only removes an offensive check to Dragapult, but also means Modest/Adamant nature Pult now outspeeds the entire unboosted metagame. The rise Kingambit has also prompted more use of Substitute to protect against Sucker Punch.
• Meowscarada saw a big jump in popularity over the last month due to its now second best speed in the tier and its set variety. While its Choice Band Protean set remains a strong pick, the set that has been seeing more use recently is the dedicated lead set with Spikes, Taunt, and Leaf Storm. Meowscarada's speed makes setting up at least one layer of Spikes very easy as well as preventing opposing leads from doing the same with Taunt. Leaf Storm is used over Flower Trick to better threaten Great Tusk and physically defensive Rotom as well as to circumvent Glimmora's Toxic Debris.
• Garganacl saw a rather large drop in usage as teams prepared to deal with it, with Covert Cloak and random Substitutes continuing to rise in usage. Over the last month, Curse sets with Earthquake become more and more popular.
• Both Roaring Moon and Baxcalibur are now free from the shadow of Chien-Pao able to roam freely as absurdly strong breakers. Roaring Moon additionally benefits from the revitalization of Sun with the release of Walking Wake. Baxcalibur, on the other hand, appreciates the increase the quantity of Slowking's bad jokes.
• Skeledirge sets started to become more physically defensive and began investing more in speed, specifically to get around the 176-180 and 200 marks, in order to outspeed and burn Kingambit. Substitute become more common to help deal with status in general but more specifically Garganacl's Salt Cure.
• Booster Energy Iron Moth began being used more often either as with four attacks or Agility. Iron Moth also had the side benefit of being a Toxic Spikes remover that already works well on HO teams.
• Greninja, much like its Protean sibling Meowscarada, began being used more as a dedicated lead. Gren differentiates itself from the cat with it stronger matchups with other leads like Glimmora and Garchomp, the latter due to its access to Ice Beam, as well as outspeeding and OHKOing Court Change Cinderace.
• Eject Button began seeing more use as a pivoting tool for defensive Pokemon to keep up momentum, most commonly Hatterene and Amoonguss. Both have abilities that allow them to more freely switch around, Hatterene by preventing opportunistic hazards and status moves and Amoonguss by simply being able to heal off the damage it takes.
• After the ban of Espathra was banned there was an expectation that Orthworm would fall off a bit after being almost exclusively paired with the ostrich before its ban. In a bit of surprise, Orthworm's usage actually rose this month, Shed Tail's ability to enable free setup opportunities allowed it to secure a solid role in offense despite being a more lackluster setter than Cyclizar.
• Walking Wake was immediately viewed as one of the most dangerous mons in the tier, achieving a 2.877% usage in about a day and a half.
• The Pokemon on the bubble was Polteageist with a 4.268% usage rate, just behind its Psyspam partner, Armarouge.

----

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/OG3kGg
Suspect Test #3: Walking Wake
3/5/23 - 3/18/23
Original Thread

For the first time ever, an offensive Water-type is not just usable in Sun but a defining part of the archetype. Walking Wake was instantly controversial with immediate calls for its ban and one week after its release the council voted on the legality of Walking Wake in OU. Wake was not quickbanned after a 4/9 vote in favor, however it was unanimously agreed to be the next suspect test.
​

Walking Wake​

Walking Wake immediately made a splash with the reveal of its signature move, Hydro Steam, a 80 BP Special Water move that's receives a 50% damage boost in Sun. This combined with Protosynthesis and choice Specs giving a further 80% damage boost, makes Walking Wake a truly terrifying Pokemon under the Sun. Wake isn't exactly a glass cannon either with decent natural bulk and a solid defensive typing. Choiced sets were the most common, especially in the first week, but both Agility and Substitute sets were also effective with or without the Sun and in the Rain as well, though far less commonly. Unfortunately, Wake had little in the way of an expansive movepool, only having two coverage moves in Flamethrower and Hurricane plus a handful of status moves like Sub and Agility. Luckily, STABs + Flamethrower is an excellent combination and Wake is definitely capable of wrecking teams with any of its sets. Sets Walking Wake @ Choice Specs Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: Water / Dragon EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe or 12 HP / 244 SpA / 252 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Hydro Steam - Flamethrower - Draco Meteor - Dragon Pulse Walking Wake @ Leftovers / Booster Energy / Life Orb Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: Water EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Hydro Steam - Flamethrower - Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse - Substitute / Agility Replays OST XIX: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-679230 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-679931

Side	Arguments
Ban​	Walking Wake's sheer power under the in addition to all the other tools Sun has received this generation has warped the entire metagame around the weather. Every team either is Sun and/or has to be able to beat Sun in this metagame. While Walking Wake does indeed have defensive checks and switch-ins, these are limited in number restricting building against Wake while making preparing for Wake's check simpler. Specs sets when SpA boosted by the sun or when Tera'd are able to break through it checks anyways. Offensive counterplay and revenge killing opportunities is limited due to Wake's naturally decent bulk + typing.
No Ban​	Walking Wake has multiple defensive checks that are already viable in the metagame such as Slowking, Toxapex, Clodsire, Scream Tail, and Tera'd Garganacl. Outside of Sun, Wake is underwhelming. Particularly, non-Specs sets lack enough power to be truly threatening. Wake oftentimes needs to use its team's Tera to even fulfill its role as a wallbreaker and, again, can be underwhelming without every single damage boost applied. On the topic of Tera, there is always consistent counterplay available against Wake with defensive Tera, particularly versus Choiced sets. Walking Wake has only existed for a week, the meta needs more time to adapt before a decision can be made on whether it is broken or not.

- - - - -

Result: No Ban
Final Tally

In the end, Walking Wake was not banned with only around 45% of the votes being in support of a ban. Over time opinions on Walking Wake cooled for the most part and it wasn't brought up as a broken threat that often for the rest of the pre-Home metagame. Also, following the conclusion of the suspect test, Walking Wake ended up having a pretty pitiful showing throughout the remainder of SPL, poor guy.

- - - - -

Smogon Tour Season 35
3/10/23 - 6/25/23
Original Thread

The Smogon Tour is a series of tournaments featuring the latest three OU formats, in this case SM, SS, and SV. The tournament operates in a cycle of three weeks: each week, four tournaments are played in one generation, so in one cycle there are twelve tournaments. This three week cycle is completed three times, so in total there are 36 regular season tournaments, hoo boy. Players earn points based on their performances in these tournaments and after all tournaments have concluded, the 16 highest scoring participants will compete in the playoffs. The playoffs is a best-of-three single elimination bracket that finally crowns the ultimate champion.

- - - - -


On March 17th Decidueye was released!

------

VR Update #2: New Sheriff in Town
3/23/23
Update Post

After the dust had settled on the Wake suspect, a VR update came out. Like last time I will write a bit more on some of the more notable changes.

New VR

From this VR forward, D rank became C- rank

S Rank
Great Tusk
Kingambit - up from A+

S- Rank
Dragapult - up from A+
Volcarona - up from A

A+ Rank
Dragonite
Garganacl - down from S-
Gholdengo - down from S
Iron Valiant

A Rank
Baxcalibur - up from B
Cinderace
Roaring Moon
Rotom-Wash
Ting-Lu
Toxapex
Walking Wake - new

A- Rank
Amoonguss
Clodsire
Corviknight - down from A
Garchomp
Glimmora
Greninja - new
Hatterene - down from A
Hydreigon - up from B-
Iron Moth - up from B+
Meowscarada - up from B+
Orthworm - up from B-
Skeledirge - down from A
Slowking - up from B+
Torkoal - up from B
Zoroark-Hisui - new

B+ Rank
Azumarill - up from B
Ceruledge - up from B
Dondozo - down from A
Scizor

B Rank
Breloom - down from B+
Brute Bonnet - new
Pawmot - up from B-
Pelipper - up from B-
Sandy Shocks - up from C+
Scream Tail - up from C

B- Rank
Alomomola - up from C
Armarouge - new
Floatzel - up from C+
Indeedee - up from C-
Iron Jugulis - up from C
Iron Treads - down from B+
Polteageist - up from C-
Quaquaval - down from B
Toedscruel - up from C

C+ Rank
Grimmsnarl - down from B
Hawlucha
Iron Hands - down from B
Iron Leaves - new
Slither Wing - down from B-

C Rank
Abomasnow - new
Barraskewda
Blissey
Charizard
Gallade
Gastrodon - up from C-
Iron Thorns - up from C-
Kilowattrel
Magnezone
Pincurchin - up from C-
Scovillain
Slowbro - down from C+
Talonflame - up from C-
Tauros-Paldea-Blaze Breed - down from B
Tinkaton - up from C-
Tyranitar

C- Rank
Cloyster
Ditto
Flamigo
Gyarados - down from C
Hippowdon - down from C
Lokix
Masquerain
Maushold
Mimikyu
Quagsire - down from C
Rotom-Heat - down from C
Sylveon
Tauros-Paldea-Aqua Breed - down from B-
Wo-Chien - new

Unranked:
Arcanine - down from C-
Avalugg - down from C-
Bellibolt - down from C-
Chansey - down from C-
Decidueye
Gengar - down from C-
Haxorus - down from C-
Klefki - down from C-
Rabsca - down from C-
Salamence - down from C-
Umbreon - down from C-

Banned:
Chien-Pao - was S
Espathra - was A

​

​

A+ to S - Despite having a bit of a nightmare matchup with the most used Pokemon in the tier, Kingambit has risen to become the second best mon in the metagame. Its typing and good natural bulk allow Gambit to defensively check Gholdengo and Dragapult among others. However what has made Kingambit so controversial is it ability, Supreme Overlord, which grants a 10% damage boost for each fainted team member, up to 50%. This combined with a high attack of 135, Swords Dance, access to Sucker Punch, and its abuse of defensive Tera makes Gambit a comeback machine and the best sweeper in the entire game.

A to S- - Volcarona took some time to get going, initally finding success with defensive sets in early SV but what makes Volcarona so strong now is the power and unpredictability of its offensive sets. Volcarona is a fantastic user of Tera, having a number of viable types that essentailly allow Volc to pick and choose its checks in the builder. And ultimately, that's what's makes Volcarona so strong, its more difficult than ever right now to figure out what tools it has before it's too late and Volc has already ran away with the game.

B to A - Baxcalibur has very quickly rose into being one the very best wallbreakers and sweepers in the tier. Recently, its once common Choice Band set has been getting overshadowed by its Dragon Dance set, paticularly with Loaded Dice Icicle Spear. Mega Mamoswine's incredible attack stat and good movepool make it very difficult to switch into especially after a boost.

C-/UR to B- - Psychic Terrain HO has proven itself to be a legimate and powerful archetype in the current meta. The basic idea is to use Focus Sash Armarouge and Polteageist to guarantee a free turn to set up a Calm Mind or Shell Smash while also proccing Weak Armor for a +2 speed boost. Psychic Terrain boosts teh already powerful Expanding Force and Stored Power by 30% while also protecting against revenge killers by nullifying priority. The core of Psyspam is Indeedee, Armarouge, Polteageist, and Hatterene with common teammates including Volcarona, Hawlucha, and Great Tusk.

S to A+ - Gholdengo is not a fan of the new offensive metagame that developed over February and March. A lot of Pokemon seeing increased usage like Kingambit, Volcarona, and Iron Moth all threaten Gholdengo and in return Ghold is unable to fit everything it wants in one set. Its middling speed leaves it vulnerable and Ghold struggles to both threaten defensive mons and check offensive mons as well as it could in the past.

New Pokemon

new to A- - Despite Protean being nerfed, losing Battle Bond for now, and Ash Greninja forever, Greninja remains a strong choice. With Specs, the Protean nerf is effectively ignored with Gren receiving a STAB boost on top of the Specs boost turning it into a very powerful wallbreaker. Gren is also an good lead with its good speed, Taunt, and both varieties of Spikes. Unfortunately, Gen 9 did introduce a certain silly kitty that speed creeps it by a single point.

new to A - See above for more, but Wake is still an excellent breaker in the Sun after the conclusion of its suspect test with more people experimenting with it in weatherless HO teams.

new to A- - Sporting arguably the best typing possible, Zoroak-H is very fast and powerful wallbreaker with enough immunities to actually make Illusion work sometimes. Zoroark is able to force unlike any Pokemon or like every Pokemon, able to cause and punish bad plays from your opponent. Unfortunately Zoroark is not a fan of Kingambit being the force that it is nor does it enjoy Great Tusk spamming Knock Off on switches.

new to C+ - While Iron Leaves has great attack, solid speed, and good bulk but its typing is just such a detriment to it. Its 4x weakness to U-turn is a big momentum sink and its STAB combination leaves Leaves struggling to deal with Gholdengo and Kingambit. On top of this Electric Terrain support is simply not good right now even with the new crop of abusers, Iron Leaves just doesn't have much to offer OU despite its postivies.

new to nope - Throughly mediorce stats and a poor defensive typing prevent Decidueye having any sort of niche that it isn't completely outclassed in.

- - - - -


On March 31st Samurott was released!​

​

​

​

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

April
Usage Stats for 3/23

https://twitter.com/SmogonU/status/1642172466981392385

Rises & Drops

Rises:
Slowking (#32, 6.410%)
Previously (#46, 2.849%)
Slowking was the only Regenerator mon to retain a pivoting move in the transition to Gen 9 allowing it to perform the FuturePort combo made infamous in Gen 8. Future Sight is able to pressure other defensive mons like Toxapex, Clodsire, and Amoonguss and in combination with Chilly Reception, Slowking can reactively switch out to teammate to punish the opponent if they attempt to soak the move with a Dark type.


Drops:
Decidueye (#78, 0.503%)
Decidueye just isn't good in OU.

Iron Leaves (#46, 2.157%)
Despite seeing use on some HO teams and Electric Terrain teams, Iron Leaves failed to find a strong foothold in OU and often found itself being outclassed by other more reliable options.

Pelipper (#41, 3.044%)
Previously (#31, 5.826%)
Rain simply just did not have a lot of tools to work with in Pre-Home OU, Pelipper's loss of utility as well as the absence of staples like Ferrothorn and Zapdos made Rain less reliable than before albeit still potentially very strong.

Quaquaval (#38, 3.770%)
Previously (#35, 5.018%)
Quqquaval has the potential to be a very dangerous sweeper with its signature move Aqua Step boosting its speed combined with Moxie allowing it to snowball. However, its poor starting speed, mediocre bulk, and good not great attack leave it vulnerable before its boosted. Add on to that poor matchups with the many bulky waters in the tier such as Toxapex, Azumarill, and Dondozo makes Quaquaval difficult to get the most out of.

Notes:​

• Gholdengo's usage fell by about 14% between months. The metagame has become more offensive and more unfriendly to Ghold. Nevertheless, due its impact on hazards, Gholdengo remains a common sight. Also Covert Cloak has become far less common with the fall off of Garganacl.​
• The Kingambit speed creep wars have reached their logical conclusion as 252 Speed EVs has become the new standard. Also Low Kick is starting to see more use to counter opposing Kingambit.​
• Rotom-Wash had a massive fall in usage, it struggles with Meowscarada and the absurd amount of Dragons in the metagame, especially with Shed Tail making status spreading much harder than before. Also this is the first full month without Chien-Pao, a mon Rotom used to be a common check to.​
• Speaking of Dragons, there are now four that are top ten in usage.​
  • Dragapult's Infiltrator ability is better than ever versus Shed Tail, allowing it to threaten opposing sweepers with a Specs Draco Meteor or Will-O-Wisp.​
  • Dragonite has been seeing more set experimentation, notably Encore is being used more often to shut down opponents and give opportunities for free Dragon Dances. Also there has been more variety with coverage with Dragon Claw and Fire Punch often being combined with Tera and forgoing Extreme Speed entirely.​
  • Roaring Moon is becoming more centralized around the Tera Flying Acrobatics Booster Energy set. U-Turn is being used less often as Roaring Moon is being increasingly used as a stationary sweeper alongside Orthworm with a third attack or Taunt filling out the final moveslot more often now.​
  • Baxcalibur is now established as one of the premier breakers in the tier with its burn immunity and Loaded Dice Icicle Spear threatening to break through a significant part of the metagame, even behind a substitute. Bax rounds out its coverage with two other high BP moves in Earthquake and Glaive Rush to make it one of the hardest Pokemon to switch into in the entire game.​
• Orthworm saw another significant jump in usage. Offense is very popular in the current meta and nothing enables offense quite like Shed Tail does.​
• Garchomp is not a big fan of the rise of all the other Dragons. It struggles to differentiate itself as it is outclassed as both Physical and Special attacker by the other options and competes with Dragapult as a mixed attacker.​
• Azumarill had a bit of a comeback due its incredible power and sweeping prowess as well as its typing and natural bulk allowing it to check the Dragons of the tier.​
• Cinderace grew more popular due to it being a good offensive pivot and one of the few forms of hazard control in the game. Defensive Cinderace sets started being developed in March, these sets have a greater focus on spreading burns and managing hazards while preserving momentum.​
• Ting-Lu fell in usage alongside partner in crime Gholdengo. Hazards are harder to keep up without Ghold and Ting-Lu's dependence on Leftovers for recovery and vulnerability to status makes it easier to exploit in the long run.​
• The Pokemon on the bubble was Scream Tail (#37, 4.049%). Scream Tail saw increased usage due to it excellent bulk, Wish, and fast Encore made it a very good support Pokemon with it strong matchups versus Great Tusk, Iron Valiant, and Sun teams.​

- - - - -

Smogon Premier League XIV Finals
4/9/23
Original Thread

After a long season, SPL XIV saw a championship rematch between the Stark Sharks and reigning champions, Team Raiders. In yet another repeat of last year, the match ended in a draw forcing a tie breaker of three additional matches to determine the final champion.

SV OU: Gtcha vs mind gaming
SM OU: Skypenguin vs SoulWind
ORAS OU: McMeghan vs jonfilch

Result

Team Raiders win two SPLs in a row!

- - - - -


On April 14th, Typhlosion was released!

- - - - -

Official Smogon Tournament XIX Finals
4/16/23
Original Thread

After thousands of battles, the finals of the OST was set. Stellar Flares and Vert, two players who had yet to win a trophy tournament, competed in a best of three set in SV OU for the golden trophy.

Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3

Result

Vert won his first trophy tournament and the first individual tournament of Generation 9!

- - - - -

----

You Shall Not Pass: The Ninth Ban of SV OU
4/18/23
Original Thread
​

Shed Tail​

Shed Tail is a status move that takes 50% of the user's health in order to set up a Substitute and pass it to an ally. Back in Janurary, Cyclizar was banned due to its combination of traits allowing to repeatedly set up Shed Tail and provide other forms of utility when unable to do so. It was believed that with Cyclizar banned, Shed Tail would be kept in check by limiting it to Orthworm while still keeping the move in the game. However, Shed Tail continued to be a very strong and arguably broken move due to its proficiceny in enabling offensive structures. From March to April, Orthworm's usage almost doubled and its presence in tournaments followed suit. In response, a new tiering survey was released and Shed Tail received the most support for a ban so far in Gen 9. A council vote was held and with a 10/11 vote Shed Tail was banned from OU. Sets Cyclizar @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Regenerator Tera Type: Fairy / Fire EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe - Shed Tail - Rapid Spin - Knock Off - Draco Meteor / Overheat / Taunt / U-Turn Orthworm @ Sitrus Berry Ability: Earth Eater Tera Type: Ghost / Water EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD Relaxed Nature - Shed Tail - Stealth Rock / Spikes - Body Press - Iron Head / Heavy Slam Replays SPL XIV: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-681797 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-680084

In addition, Cyclizar became the first Pokemon to be unbanned in Generation 9!

- - - - -


On April 28th, Inteleon was released!

- - - - -

Word Cup of Pokemon 2023
4/30/23 - 8/20/23
Rosters Thread

The World Cup of Pokemon is a tourament in a format that is probably familiar to most of you. In the World Cup Teams consist of two managers, eight players, and four subs representing a nation, continent, or region. But before the tournament can start, there is a qualifying bracket. 17 teams compete in a Round Robin tourament where the winning country automatically qualifies and the teams seeded two through five compete in a bracket to determine the last two qualifiers. This year Bangladesh, Belgium, and the United Kingdom got in through qualifying. After the quali tournament, Group Stage begins, each of the 16 groups consist of of four players of different nations. Each players plays against all the other once and at the end the eight teams with the best overall record move onto the playoffs. The playoffs have teams face off against each other in a best of eight until one nation is finally crowned World Cup Champions.

- - - - -​

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

May
Usage Stats for 4/23

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usage-based-tier-update-for-may-2023.3720694/post-9603010

Drops

Drops:
Armarouge (#37, 3.615%)
Previously (#35, 4.761%)
Psyspam as a whole dropped off over the month of April with core members of Armarouge, Polteageist, and Indeedee all seeing significant drops in usage. Armarouge still saw some usage on non-Psychic Terrain teams but this wasn't enough to maintain OU usage.

Cyclizar (#61, 1.249%)
Cyclizar, recently freed from Ubers, fell to UU after struggling to establish a consistent niche in OU. While it has multiple excellent tools, it can be difficult to justify its use over other more established support pivots and hazard removers.

Greninja (#35, 4.151%)
Previously (#34, 4.836%)
Greninja has been dropping in usage over the past couple of months mainly due to it facing competition in its niches as a special wallbreaker and dedicated lead, losing out to Walking Wake and Meowscarada on multiple teams.

Samurott (#103, 0.166%)
Samurott has no niche at all.

Typhlosion (#64, 1.145%)
Typhlosion managed to eke out a tiny niche as a Sun wallbreaker with its access to Eruption and decent speed.

Notes:​

• Hyper Offense staple Iron Moth breaks into the top 10. Recently, fewer people have been running support moves on their Moths such as Morning Sun or T Spikes favoring all out offense with Booster Energy 4 Attacks and sometimes Agility being the norm.​
• This month saw a rise in usage among a few defensive mons as offense lost a little bit of steam while the ban of Shed Tail.​
  • Assault Vest Pex started appearing a couple months ago and in April it became by far the most popular set. Earlier in the generation it was not uncommon for Pex to run four status moves but now it forgoes them entirely in taking advantage of Regenerator and Assault Vest to retain its excellent walling capabilities while staying more active and removing its vulnerability to Taunt. Toxapex was still able to spread status and rack up chip damage with Sludge Bomb and Infestation which in combination with Acid Spray allows Pex to trap and remove opposing defensive mons.​
  • Ting-Lu saw a rise in usage and for essentially the first time all generation saw more widespread set experimentation. Notably, Rest began seeing usage as while it does have the same old downsides it always it does, it does help with Ting-Lu's biggest weaknesses, its lack of recovery and its vulnerability to status conditions. With Rest, Ting-Lu is less reliant on Leftovers on started being run with Heavy Duty Boots or Red Card making it a more consistent defensive switch in.​
  • Unlike the two Pokemon previously mentioned, Amoonguss hasn't seen a lot in the way of recent innovations. Its access to Spore, Regenerator, good supporting movepool, and number of viable item choices makes it a consistent and splashable defensive mon on bulky and balance structures.​
  • Dondozo has retaken its place as the most used Unaware mon in the tier with a significant percentage of the top Pokemon in the tier operating as physical setup sweepers. Recently Dondozo has been dropping Leftovers in favor of other items such as Covert Cloak, Rocky Helmet, and most notably Heavy Duty Boots which allow Dondozo to switch in to attacks more often without being forced to Rest off hazard chip. Additionally, a combination of Earthquake + Avalanche has become popular due to its excellent coverage and high BP moves.​
  • Clodsire, on the other hand, saw a drop in usage. Water Absorb specifically saw less usage as most of the dangerous Water-type attackers like Walking Wake, Azumarill, and Greninja all became less common.​
• Hydreigon's wallbreaking prowess and unique defensive profile caused it to continue its rise in OU, fully establishing itself as a real OU mon with its Sub Nasty Plot sets.​
• The rising popularity of Shed Tail before its ban is showcased by Orthworm still managing to appear on about 10% of teams in April despite having its niche deleted halfway through the month.​
• Sun as a whole cooled off over the month of April. The archetype remains largely the same with the core of Torkoal, Hatterene, Walking Wake, Roaring Moon, and Great Tusk plus one more staying more or less standard. However, the team style was just generally seen as not being exceptionally viable like it was feared to be at the start of March.​
• The Pokemon on the bubble this month was Greninja (#35, 4.151%) with Pelipper and Armarouge behind it.​

- - - - -

Homeward Bound: VR Update #3
5/6/23
Update Post

And here we are, the final VR update of the Pre-Home metagame. There aren't many big shifts, there's only been one ban since the last VR and the metagame has continued to develop along the same lines since then without much in the way of major disruptions. There weren't many significant changes that I haven't already covered the jist of previously so I will keep this section short.

​

New VR

S Rank
Great Tusk
Kingambit

A+ Rank
Baxcalibur - up from A
Dragapult - down from S-
Garganacl
Iron Valiant
Roaring Moon - up from A
Volcarona - down from S-

A Rank
Cinderace
Dragonite - down from A+
Gholdengo - down from A+
Hatterene - up from A-
Meowscarada - up from A-
Rotom-Wash
Ting-Lu
Toxapex

A- Rank
Amoonguss
Corviknight
Dondozo - up from B+
Glimmora
Hydreigon
Iron Moth
Scream Tail - up from B
Skeledirge
Walking Wake - down from A
Zoroark-Hisui

B+ Rank
Azumarill
Ceruledge
Clodsire - down from A-
Garchomp - down from A-
Greninja - down from A-
Slowking - down from A-
Torkoal - down from A-

B Rank
Breloom
Pawmot
Pelipper
Sandy Shocks
Scizor - down from B+

B- Rank
Alomomola
Armarouge
Brute Bonnet - down from B
Floatzel
Indeedee
Iron Hands - up from C+
Polteageist

C+ Rank
Cyzlizar - new
Iron Jugulis - down from B-
Quaquaval - down from B-
Slither Wing
Talonflame - up from C
Toedscruel - down from B-

C Rank
Barraskewda
Blissey
Charizard
Gastrodon
Golduck - new
Grimmsnarl - down from C+
Hawlucha - down from C+
Haxorus - new
Iron Leaves - down from C+
Iron Thorns
Iron Treads - down from B-
Magnezone
Pincurchin
Slowbro
Tinkaton

C- Rank
Abomasnow - down from C
Cloyster
Ditto
Flamigo
Gallade - down from C
Gyarados
Hippowdon
Lokix
Masquerain - down from C
Maushold
Mimikyu
Quagsire
Scovillain - down from C
Sylveon
Tauros-Paldea-Aqua Breed
Tauros-Paldea-Blaze Breed - down from C
Tyranitar - down from C
Wo-Chien

Unranked:
Kilowattrel - down from C
Orthworm - down from A-
Rotom-Heat - down from C-

​

​

​

B to A- - Scream Tail is the only truly viable Wish passer in the tier due its excellent defensive stat spread of 115/99/115 and its frankly absurd Speed stat of 111. While it has little in the way of resistances, the ones it does have are key in allowing it to check Great Tusk, Iron Valiant, and many of the tier's Dragons like Walking Wake and Hydreigon. Scream Tail heavily dissuades opposing Pokemon from attempting to set up in front of it and punishes opportunistic hazards or recovers with the second fastest Encore in the tier. And lastly, it is no coincidence the Scream's Tail's rise mirrors a dip in usage and viability from Gholdengo who is otherwise a nightmare matchup.

Ubers to C+ - Cyclizar returned from Ubers after the Shed Tail ban and did manage to find a small niche in OverUsed despite immediately dropping UU in the tier shifts. Cyclizar's combination of Regenerator, U-Turn, and strong support movepool made it a useful role compression option on teams that could fit it.

B- to C - I haven't mentioned Iron Treads much in this thread, but you have probably noticed it dropping in usage and viability with every update. Iron Treads is fast, physically bulky, Rapid Spinner with Rocks, Knock Off, and Volt Switch. Unfortunately Treads is directly competing for a team slot with the most used Pokemon and face of SV OU, Great Tusk. On top of that Iron Treads has a terrible matchup with Great Tusk and its advantages in speed and resistances simply do not do enough to make most players even consider Treads in the teambuilder. Recently Iron Treads has started being used as a suicide lead using Steel Beam to provide momentum in the same way as Explosion after setting up Rocks.

A- to UR - Orthworm unsurprisingly vanished from OU the day Shed Tail was banned. Orthworm's physical bulk and hazard setting ability was completely eclipsed in OverUsed and the worm began its descent in search of a new tier to call home.

- - - - -


On May 12th Chesnaught was released!

- - - - -
Pre-Pokemon Home Tiering
5/22/23 - 5/28/23
Original Thread

With the release of Pokemon HOME compatibility on the horizon, the OU council voted on which Pokemon will start in OU and which will start in Ubers, also every Pokemon banned previously was voted on again to see if they would be added again. If a Pokemon was being added with HOME it would need to get at least 7 ban votes out 10 in order to start in Ubers. If a Pokemon was Ubers in the Pre-HOME metagame than it would 7 out of 10 votes to return to OU.

OU
Basculegion-F *
Basculegion-M *
Chien-Pao
Houndstone *
Magearna
Regieleki
Zamazenta
Zamazenta-Crowned

Ubers
Annihilape
Chi-Yu
Espathra
Flutter Mane
Iron Bundle
Landorus-Incarnate
Palafin
Spectrier
Urshifu-Single Strike

* - Last Respects was banned so Houndstone and the Basculegion forms were made legal in OU

- - - - -

Chapter 2 of SV OU: Pokemon HOME
5/30/23
New Discussion Thread

On May 30th, Pokemon HOME compatibility for Scarlet and Violet released and with it brought a brand new metagame to OU. A total of 59 fully evolved Pokemon were added to the tier, which includes all the Hisuian Pokemon from Legends: Arceus. Also, two Pokemon were unbanned with Chien-Pao and Houndstone returning to OU.

Pokemon Transferable from HOME

Hisuian Pokemon:
Arcanine-Hisui
Avalugg-Hisui
Basculegion-F
Basculegion-M
Braviary-Hisui
Decidueye-Hisui
Electrode-Hisui
Enamorus-Therian
Enamorus-Incarnate
Kleavor
Lilligant-Hisui
Overqwil
Samurott-Hisui
Sneasler
Typhlosion-Hisui
Ursaluna
Wyrdeer


Returning Pokemon:
Articuno
Articuno-Galar
Azelf
Calyrex
Carbink
Cresselia
Delphox
Diancie
Dugtrio-Alola
Glastrier
Heatran
Hoopa
Hoopa-Unbound
Landorus-Therian
Magearna
Meloetta
Mesprit
Mew
Moltres
Moltres-Galar
Muk-Alola
Persian-Alola
Raichu-Alola
Regidrago
Regieleki
Rillaboom
Slowbro-Galar
Slowking-Galar
Tauros
Thundurus-Incarnate
Thundurus-Therian
Tornadus-Incarnate
Tornadus-Therian
Urshifu-Rapid Strike
Uxie
Volcanion
Zamazenta
Zamazenta-Crowned
Zapdos
Zapdos-Galar
Zarude


Unbanned Pokemon:
Chien-Pao
Houndstone

One very important note is that moves did not transfer over, Pokemon could only use moves from obtained by level up or from TMs in Scarlet and Violet. So for example Landorus-T is not able to use Defog or Knock Off in SV as the only way it could learn them was from a tutor in USUM and thus did not carry over in the transfer to Gen 9.

----

That Was Quick: The Tenth Ban of SV OU
5/31/23
Original Thread

Fittingly, the fastest Pokemon was banned quicker than any other in OverUsed history, being unanimously booted to Ubers in only a single day.
​

Regieleki​

In Generation 8, Regieleki was held back by its poor movepool as it was almost entirely devoid of anything that wasn't Electric or Normal type. In Generation 9, Eleki was unfortunately nerfed, its ability, Transistor, now only boosted Electric moves by 30% as opposed to 50% back in SS. This act of cruelty turned a soul once filled with boundless energy and joy into naught but a monster, a cold-hearted monster. In its fury, Regieleki lashed out at all those around it, exacting retribution upon all of Paldea. Blindingly quick, deceptively powerful, all the creatures of the earth whom had previously mocked and derided Eleki now ran, terror-stricken by the giant's icy vengeance. There was only one course of action, Regieleki was sealed away amongst the land of legends where its power could be contained. And so it was done. Sets Regieleki @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Life Orb / Choice Specs Ability: Transistor Tera Type: Ice EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature - Thunderbolt - Tera Blast - Volt Switch - Rapid Spin

- - - - -​

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

June
Usage Stats for 5/23

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usage-based-tier-update-for-june-2023.3722313/post-9642608

Rises & Drops

Rises:
Pelipper (#36, 4.728%)
(Previously #36, 3.749%)
Pelipper received a lot of new friends with HOME. Zapdos, Basculegion, and Urshifu all made Rain instantly more viable and reliable just barely pushing Pelipper back into OU. Also the presence of better special wallbreakers caused Specs Pelipper sets to die almost entirely die out in favor of Damp Rock.


Drops:
Chesnaught (#54, 2.114%)
Chesnaught is an interesting pick as a physical tank and Spikes setter, but it simply isn't an OU-level Pokemon in Gen 9.

Inteleon (#64, 1.506%)
Inteleon received some use on Rain teams with it high speed and SpA. With a Scope Lens, Sniper Shot, and Sniper, Inteleon could get some cheesy wins but definitely not a consistent mon.

Orthworm (#91, 0.685%)
Previously (#20, 9.822%)
Unsurprisingly, Orthworm completely fell off the face of the Earth after the Shed Tail ban.

Zoroark-Hisui (#39, 3.625%)
Previously (#33, 5.113%)
The metagame has adapted to Zoroark's shenanigans and the release of the HOME Pokemon has made its life a lot harder. Zoroark struggles to compete in a more high-powered and well-prepared metagame.

Notes:​

• Relatively little changed in the month of May, most Pokemon were using pretty much the same sets and seeing about the same usage.
• Roaring Moon did indeed take a dive however. Its usage suffered in the face of the Shed Tail ban as well as the continuing popularity of the many other Dragons in OU.
• Rotom-Wash sets tended to be more specially defensive rather than physically defensive throughout the month, in order to provide better matchups with the moths and Walking Wake. Offensive Choiced sets also grew in popularity, Fairy Tera Blast becoming used as coverage.
• Walking Wake began shedding Choice Specs more often in favor of Booster Energy. Agility became more common as a fourth move though a second Dragon STAB was still the most common.
• Cinderace's defensive set continued to become more popular as a fast pivot that could both check physical attackers and provide some form of hazard control with Court Change.
• Water and Fairy continues to be an excellent typing as Azumarill experienced another rise in usage due its positive matchups with Iron Valiant and those pesky Dragons lingering at the top of the usage charts.
• Iron Treads managed to hold on to its OU status once again, this time it can arguably be attributed just to Regieleki's presence at the very end of the month in which Treads emerged as one of a handful of checks that could still provide utility throughout a game.
• Magearna, Regieleki, Landorus-T, and Chien-Pao all managed to be OU by usage after the HOME release. Magearna especially had a whopping 9% usage rate despite only being usable for two days.
• The Pokemon on the bubble was Urshifu-R (#38, 3.893%) and Zoroark-Hisui was the non-HOME bubble mon (#39, 3.625%)

- - - - -

There and Back Again: The Eleventh Ban of SV OU
6/4/23
Original Thread

After Regieleki's ban a new tiering radar post was made discussing the numerous other broken and potentially broken elements of the tier. After a vote by the OU council, Magearna was unanimously banned from OU once again.
​

Magearna​

Magearna has been one of the most versatile and dangerous offensive Pokemon since its introduction in Sun and Moon. Magearna boasts great defensive stats and one of the best defensive typings in the game, but what really makes Magearna an OU menace is its expansive movepool providing all the coverage one could want, but the cherry on top was Magearna's signature move, Fleur Cannon, essentially a Fairy Draco Meteor. This already good movepool was enhanced in Generation 9 with the addition of Spikes and especially Stored Power, which when combined with Shift Gear, Calm Mind, and Soul-Heart made Magearna an unbelievable sweeper. That's not all as Magearna's poor speed could actually be a benefit as Magearna was both an fantastic setter and abuser of Trick Room. Magearna's overall excellence combined with new additions like Ursaluna and Cresselia made Trick Room actually viable in OU, though only for about a week. Sets Magearna @ Leftovers / Weakness Policy Ability: Soul-Heart Tera Type: Water EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD Bold Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Stored Power - Draining Kiss - Calm Mind - Shift Gear Magearna @ Eject Pack Ability: Soul-Heart Tera Type: Water EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA Relaxed Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Fleur Cannon - Thunderbolt / Volt Switch - Ice Beam / Spikes - Trick Room

- - - - -

Beware of Dog: The Twelfth and Thirteenth Bans of SV OU
6/7/23
Original Thread

The Post-HOME was still chaotic after the initial bans and after a large show of support from the community in the most recent survey, Chien-Pao and Zamazenta-Crowned were unanimously banned.
​

Chien-Pao, again​

While there were some hopes that a more powerful metagame would help keep Chien-Pao in check, particularly the newly legal Zamazenta-Hero is extremely threatening towards it. However, this ended up being not even close to the case, the Sword of Ruin was back to its old tricks and simply just too fast and too strong to be a healthy presence in the tier.

Zamazenta-Crowned​

Zamazenta-C is the most disappointing cover legendary since Kyurem-Black. In the past, both were held back by their surprisingly bad movepools, Kyurem-B was a physical attacker with three physical moves and Zamazenta-C was a physical wall with no recovery, set up, or utility. On paper, Generation 9 looked like it could be a disaster for Zamazenta as it was nerfed for the sins of its sibling, it lost 10 bast Attack and 5 in each defense. On top of that its ability, Dauntless Shield, now activated once per battle as opposed to every time it switched in. However, Zamazenta did finally gain the move everyone thought it should've had from the start, Body Press. With its incredible defense of 140, ability, and Iron Defense, Zamazenta was able to snowball into a fast and very bulky sweeper. So while, Zamazenta is a disappointing cover legendary, it does indeed still have enough of those cover legendary stats to stay out of OU. Sets Zamazenta-Crowned @ Rusted Shield Ability: Dauntless Shield Tera Type: Fighting EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Def / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Body Press - Iron Head - Crunch - Iron Defense

- - - - -

Dancing On My Own: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Bans of SV OU
6/11/23
Original Thread

The following weekend, the rest of the tiering radar slate was voteed on by the council. Once again two Pokemon were banned, one was unanimous and the other being one of, if not the, most controversial ban in Scarlet and Violet.
​

Urshifu-Rapid Strike​

Urshifu-R posseses a great attack stat alonsgide a good STAB combination and an incredible signature move in Surging Strikes that breaks through defense boosts, Sub and Sashes.Throughout Sword and Shield, Urshifu was a defining part of competitive Pokemon. Then, in Scarlet and Violet, Urshifu-Rapid Strike got buffed. The addition of Swords Dance made Urishfu a potent sweeper and the new item Punching Glove made it immune to contact effects like Static and Rough Skin while also giveing Surging Strikes a 10% boost though did come with the downside of nullifying Urshifu's own ability so punching moves could no longer go trhough Protect. Urshifu's offenesive pressure was immense and its pool of viable checks and counters were limited leading to it joining the other Urshifu form in Ubers. Sets Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Punching Glove / Protective Pads Ability: Unseen Fist Tera Type: Water / Fighting EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Surging Strikes - Close Combat - Aqua Jet - Swords Dance Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf Ability: Unseen Fist Tera Type: Water EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Surging Strikes - Close Combat - Aqua Jet / Ice Spinner - U-turn

Volcarona​

Volcarona has always been of the more controversial Pokemon in the tier and in metagames past. Since its introduction, Volcarona has served as one the best win conditions in the game due to its ability to spiral out of control with Quiver Dance. In Gen 9, Volc was back up to its old tricks once again and as the metagame developed the community as a whole started to appreciate the moth's ability to truly abuse Terastallization. In the past, Volcarona had been held back by its massive Rock weakness and its struggle to fit all the super effective coverage it wanted. Now in Scarlet and Violet, Volcarona was able to circumvent these issues with Boots making it immune to Rocks and Tera Blast giving it STAB coverage on whatever it desired, most often Ground but many types types saw use. These new tools greatly increased Volc's set variety and subsequentially made Volcarona arguably harder to counter than before and led to it being banned with a 7/9 vote. Sets Volcarona @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Flame Body Tera Type: Ground EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Quiver Dance - Fiery Dance - Bug Buzz / Psychic - Tera Blast Volcarona @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Flame Body Tera Type: Grass EVs: 248 HP / 108 Def / 152 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Quiver Dance - Fiery Dance - Giga Drain / Morning Sun - Morning Sun Replays OST XIX: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-684807 SPL XIV: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-678296

So yes, the Volcarona ban was highly controversial and caused a lot of discussion about the divide in opinion between the OU council and other top players in the community. In brief, many felt that to quickban Volcarona was an overreaction and a mistake. Quickbans were designed to remove the most instantly unhealthy Pokemon like Flutter Mane and Regieleki, but Volcarona's case did not match this. Volcarona never had quite enough support for any action throughout the Pre-HOME metagame and the first council vote after HOME's release had zero support for a Volcarona ban among the council and very little amongst the wider community. Yet, it was only two days later that Volcarona jumped up to 7 out of 9 votes and was banned. The feeling was that the council went around the community to ban a Pokemon that was better off being suspect tested. Though there was interest in a Volcarona suspect, nothing ended up coming of this and over time the Volc debate cooled down, though there is still an expectation that Volcarona will be looked at at some point in the future.

- - - - -

Suspect Test #4: Zamazenta-Hero
6/11/23 - 6/27/23
Original Thread

Zamazenta received 5 ban votes on the most recent slate which isn't enough for a ban but did make it clear that action was warranted and wanted.
​

Zamazenta​

After years of speculation that it would be balanced. Zamazenta-H was indeed dropped to OU in the HOME update. Like the Crowned form, Hero lost 10 attack and had its ability nerfed but did finally receive Body Press, though with less raw power compared to Crowned. However, Hero was by no means overshadowed by its other form due to its incredible 138 speed and access to an item slot allowing to be a more versatile offensive threat. Zama usually fills that item slot with a Choice Band to become scary wallbreaker or with Leftovers to give its Body Press sets some extra longevity. Speaking of which, while Zamazenta's bulk is not on par with Crowned its 92/115/115 bulk is still excellent, especially for such a fast offensive threat. However, Zamazenta does have some flaws, 120 attack isn't exactly eye-popping and it has little in the way of set up beyond Iron Defense leaving it relatively unthreatening before those boosts come online. Also like many other bulky Pokemon without recovery, Zamazenta is vulnerable to Spikes and Status and is able to be worn down before it can put on the pressure. Sets Zamazenta @ Leftovers / Lum Berry Ability: Dauntless Shield Tera Type: Steel / Fighting / Electric EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Def / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Body Press - Crunch - Iron Defense - Substitute / Heavy Slam Zamazenta @ Choice Band Ability: Dauntless Shield Tera Type: Fighting / Dark EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Close Combat - Crunch - Heavy Slam - Stone Edge Replays WCOP 2023: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-698763 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-697621

Side	Arguments
Ban​	Zamazenta's Choice Band and Body Press have little overlap in their counterplay making teambuilding difficult when preparing for it.​ Zamazenta's variety of viable Tera types allow it to pick and choose its counters limit counterplay from your opponent until its type is revealed.​
No Ban​	Zamazenta has many already viable and splashable check including Zapdos, Glowking, Toxapex, Enamorus, and special Iron Valiant.​ Zama is also worn down by hazards and vulnerable to status, both of which are more common than ever with the introduction of Samurott-H and Zapdos.​ Zamazenta's postitive matchup versus opposing offense structures is a benefit to a metagame that is currently dominated by the archetype​

Result: No Ban
Final Tally

In the end, only 45% of players voted Ban on Zamazenta leading to it staying legal in OU. One note about this suspect test is that is received significantly less interaction compared to the tests both before and after it. There seemed to be a common thread among Do Not Ban voters in that they came into the test thinking Zama would be an easy ban but ended up finding it relatively underwhelming over the course of laddering for reqs.

- - - - -

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/smogon-tour-season-35-playoffs-won-by-michaelderbeste2.3721426/post-9664338
Smogon Tour Season 35 Finals
6/25/23
Original Thread

After all 36 tournaments were played the top 16 performers were placed in a single elimination, best of three bracket in the three most recent generations of OU. The final matchup consisted of two players who had yet to win an individual trophy #2 seed Luthier and #9 seed MichaelderBeste2.

Game #1 (SM) / Game #2 (SV) / Game #3 (SS)

Result

MichaelderBeste2 wins in two games to take the pink trophy! View attachment 570305

- - - - -​

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

July
Usage Stats for 6/23

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usage-based-tier-update-for-july-2023.3723830/post-9687708

Rises & Drops

Rises:
Sandy Shocks (#41, 4.765%)
Previously (#49, 2.516%)
Sandy Shocks' sudden rise in usage can be traced back to LudwigFrog's popular HO RMT. In short, Sandy Shocks uses a Booster Energy speed boost to rip opposing teams apart with its STABs and Ice Tera Blast. However what makes Shocks a unique choice is its access to hazards and its position as the only Ground type special attacker in the game allowing it to check Volt Switch spam.

Drops:

Regular Drops

Breloom (#67, 1.533%)
Previously (#34, 4.798%)
Breloom is a Pokemon I have not mentioned much in this thread despite the fact that it was OU by usage for the entire Pre-HOME metagame. Breloom's offensive tools allow it to threaten Kingambit, Meowscarada, and Rotom-W and Spore is always good. Breloom most often acted as a Focus Sash lead to guarantee a Spore, however Breloom's poor speed and bulk have caught up to it and made it particularly difficult to build with in the immediate Post-HOME metagame.

Ceruledge (#50, 3.246%)
Previously (#30, 5.998%)
Ceruledge was another Pokemon that held on to OU status for a long time but was pushed out with the new metagame. In the past Ceruledge utilized a Bulk Up set with Flash Fire, but these sets almost disappeared in the Post-HOME metagame with Focus Sash Weak Armor sets seeing more use instead mainly due to its presence on Pinecoishot's Sample Team. Ceruledge generally found itself struggling with new additions like Samurott-H and Landrous-T fit and faced much stiffer competition on the same teams it used to fit in on.

Hydreigon (#60, 2.017%)
Previously (#28, 6.273%)
Hydreigon is still a good breaker, especially against fat, but finds itself competing with a host of new threats for team slots as well as finding itself pressured by the likes of Enamorus, Zamazenta, and Sneasler.

Meowscarada (#42, 4.196%)
Previously (#9, 15.627%)
Meowscarada saw the most drastic fall in usage of any Pokemon. Like the others on this list, Meowscarada was often dropped in favor of the newly released Pokemon, but one development that Meowscarada truly hated was the return of Zapdos and Landorus both of which both offensively and defensively checked the cat.

Skeledirge (#43, 4.109%)
Previously (#27, 7.112%)
The HOME update brought a lot of new Pokemon that Skeledirge struggled to deal with which in turn disincentivized it wide spread use. Samurott-H, Ursaluna, Hoopa-U, Volcanion, and especially Heatran.

Slowking (#52, 2.912%)
Previously (#32, 5.440%)
With the popularity of Glowking, it makes sense that Slowking would take a hit in usage. While it wasn't any worse, its niche as a specially defensive tank with a pivoting move was no longer unique and Slowking ended up becoming an alternative pick as opposed to the go-to.

Torkoal (#48, 3.513%)
Previously (#31, 5.516%)
Toekoal received some new friends with Lilligant-H and Arcanine-H being paticularly dangerous physical attackers in the Sun. Unfortunately some new checks were also released such as Glowking and Volcanion making Walking Wake trickier to use.

HOME drops

Arcanine-Hisui (#49, 3.391%)
Despite a merely good attack stat of 115, Hisuian Arcanine was an solid wallbreaker to due it STAB combo of Head Smash and Flare Blitz alongside the always great Extreme Speed.

Articuno-Galar (#66, 1.545%)
Articuno used its good all round stats combined with Calm Mind and Agility to become a powerful Stored Power sweeper, its lack of coverage and poor defensive typing was made up for with Tera Fighting Tera Blast.

Azelf (#87, 0.818%)
Azelf is a fast and powerful attacker with a wide movepool of coverage and utility moves available allowing its to also act as a suicide lead.

Basculegion-F (#54, 2.637%)
Basculegion-F was a very threatening wallbreaker in the rain utilizing Swift Swim or Adaptability to blast through teams with its Specs and Rain-boosted STAB Hydro Pump.

Basculegion-M (#53, 2.640%)
While not being able to live out its dream as an Uber with the ban of Last Respects, Basculegion-M is an extremely powerful wallbreaker in the Rain with its terrifying Wave Crash being one of the most defining parts of the archetype.

Braviary-Hisui (#64, 1.648%)
Braviary-H is an interesting special attacker with two good abilities in Tinted Lens and Sheer Force allowing it to make up for its relatively unimpressive power as well as its signature move, Esper Wing, allowing it to boost its poor starting speed.

Cresselia (#44, 4.047%)
Cresselia is an incredibly bulky Pokemon that is able to utilize Tera and Levitate to turn into a nigh unkillable menace. From there, Cress can set up Calm Minds for a Stored Power sweep or support its team with Lunar Dance and Trick Room.

Decidueye-Hisui (#81, 0.959%)
Decidueye-H is a bulky attacker with access to a strong movepool including both Defog and Roost along with the ability to threaten Gholdengo with Knock Off or with Triple Arrows, which is frankly one of the most ridiculous moves in the entire game, especially when combined with Scrappy.

Diancie (#109, 0.319%)
Diancie's 150 base defenses, unique typing, and wide movepool allow it act as a support mon with Stealth Rock and Encore or it can also try its hand at Stored Power sweeping with Calm Mind, Iron Defense, and Diamond Storm.

Electrode-Hisui (#90, 0.782%)
Electrode-H is indeed very fast, the fastest in all of OU, allowing it to freely Volt Switch around while threatening Ground types with its high BP STAB Grass moves.

Enamorus-Therian (#47, 3.559%)
Enamorus-T is a very bulky and very strong special attacker able to slowly snowball with Calm Mind and occasionally Iron Defense into an absolute tank while staying healthy with Draining Kiss.

Glastrier (#98, 0.506%)
Glastrier is able to make full use of its excellent stat spread as a niche pick on Trick Room teams, becoming a sort of pseudo-Mamoswine with its Ice and Ground coverage to break through teams.

Goodra Hisui (#68, 1.483%)
Goodra-H possesses an excellent defensive typing, incredible special bulk, and all the coverage moves it could want, though it wouldn't mind some recovery.

Kleavor (#59, 2.079%)
Kleavor is able to use its signature move, Stone Axe, to actively set up Rocks as a lead or as a pivot with its great attack stat and STAB U-Turn.

Lilligant-Hisui (#45, 3.740%)
Lilligant-H is lucky benefactor of physical Quiver Dance, Victory Dance, allowing it to become incredibly dangerous under the Sun with Chlorophyll and STAB Solar Blade. Lilligant can also run Wide Lens sets with Hustle for an free Atk boost and a more accurate Sleep Powder.

Meloetta (#101, 0.431%)
Okay, I'm sorry, Meloetta has nice stats, but I have no idea why anyone used it in OU.

Mew (#65, 1.561%)
Mew is obviously the most customizable Pokemon in the game though its most common sets are its lead set with Rocks and Taunt and the Demon Mew set with Calm Mind, Iron Defense, and Stored Power.

Moltres (#70, 1.438%)
With Boots, Moltres is a very effective defensive pivot, able to threaten physical attackers with Flame Body and hit back hard with its 125 SpA. Moltres effectively fills Talonflame's niche but with far superior bulk and power at the cost of speed and Defog.

Moltres-Galar (#51, 3.207%)
Moltres-G is able to utilize its Double Dance set like in Gen 8 but now with the added coverage from Tera (usually Fairy) to become an explosive special sweeper.

Muk-Alola (#85, 0.910%)
Muk-A's awesome defensive typing and good special bulk allow it to sit in the face of some of the most powerful special attacker in OU and spam Poison Touch Knock Off on whatever happens to come in next.

Overqwil (#78, 1.034%)
Overqwil also has the excellent Poison/Dark typing along with two good abilities in Intimidate and Swift Swim. Overqwil adds an interesting wrinkle to Rain teams due to its STAB combination but does suffer in power compared to its Water-type counterparts.

Regidrago (#73, 1.364%)
Regidrago was somehow not nerfed in the transisition to Gen 9 and keeps its 50% boost to Dragon type attacks while also receiving a real coverage move in Earth Power giving it something else to think about before clicking Dragon Energy.

Rillaboom (#56, 2.466%)
Despite losing Grassy Glide, Rillaboom was still a strong support Pokemon with Knock Off, U-Turn, and of course Grassy Surge enabling powerful teammates in Sneasler and Heatran.

Slowbro Galar (#82, 0.943%)
fastest in da west.

Thundurus-Incarnate (#102, 0.400%)
Prankster Thunder Wave is cool, not as cool as it once was though. Tera Ice gives it STAB BoltBeam and can be decently threatening with its good attacking stats and Nasty Plot.

Thundurus-Therian (#58, 2.170%)
Like its other form, Thundurus-T benefits from the coverage Tera brings but is able to push it even further with its excellent 145 SpA making it one of the most instantly threatening wallbreakers and pivots in the tier.

Typhlosion-Hisui (#86, 0.898%)
Typhlosion-H takes over as the Eruption spammer of the game but now with the added benefit of a strong secondary STAB.

Uxie (#94, 0.538%)
Uxie's great bulk and utility movepool allow it to find a niche as a Screen setter with a variety of other tools such as Encore, Stealth Rock, Knock Off, and Trick Room.

Zapdos-Galar (#79, 1.016%)
With a good attack stat of 125 and a spammable STAB combo with U-Turn, Zapdos-G make a good Choice Scarf or Band user.

Drops below UU

RU (>0.301%)
Avalugg-Hisui
Delphox
Houndstone
Zarude

NU (>0.151%)
Hoopa
Mesprit
Raichu-Alola
Tornauds-Incarnate
Wyrdeer

PU (>0.075%)
Articuno
Calyrex
Carbink
Dugtrio-Alola
Persian-Alola
Tauros

Notes:​

• Dragapult jumped in popularity mainly due to its effectiveness as a Screens setter. Pult's speed made getting Screen up almost guaranteed while Curse allowed for good damage and more importantly free switches to keep up the offensive pressure.​
• Bulky Kingambit sets became more popular again allowing its strong defensive profile to be used more freely throughout a match as the general power-level increased after the release of HOME.​
• The most used newcomer was Samurott-H despite its solid typing and mediocre stat spread. Samurott-H completely flips one of major downsides of setting Spikes on its head, Samurott loses no momentum and doesn't let up the pressure by setting them. This is all because of its signature move, Ceaseless Edge, setting up a Spike every time it lands with the added bonus of being 97.5 BP with Sharpness. This, of course, is backed by a strong movepool including Sharpness-boosted Razor Shell, Aqua Jet, Knock Off, Taunt, and Sucker Punch.​
• Iron Valiant's new most popular set was its Tera Dark Swords Dance set featuring Knock Off, Close Combat, and Encore to gain an excellent STAB combination and to threaten out defensive Pokemon by locking them into setup or recovery moves with Encore.​
• Enamorus immediately made an impression with its great attacking stats and wide movepool allowing for it to excel with both Calm Mind and Choice sets with it good coverage and utility in the form of Healing Wish. Contrary allowed Enamorus to actaully benefit from hax from the likes of Moonblast and Psychic while Cute Charm made its so girls were objectively better physical attackers than boys.​
• Glowking returned to its spot as one of the premier defensive Pokemon in the metagame due to its good bulk, typing, and Regenerator in combination with it finally receiving a pivoting move in the form of Chilly Reception. Glowking usually ran one of two sets, either the Assault Vest set that was standard in SS or a pivot set with Chilly Reception, Slack Off, and occasionally a status inducing moves. Almost every set ran Sludge Bomb as a solid STAB with a good chance to poison and Future Sight to pair with Chilly Reception to support its offensive teammates when they get pivoted in.​
• Zapdos also returned to do basically what it did in SS also which is be a strong offensive or defensive pivot with its great typing and stats. Most of all however, Zapdos punishes rampant U-Turn spam and checks phyiscal attackers with the threat of Static immediately sapping momentum from many a sweeper. Zapdos most ran three attacks and Roost due to it not receiving Defog in Gen 9, also Zapdos was less effective in Rain as Weather Ball was also unavailable.​
• With Unburden, Sneasler could run an Air Balloon or be paired alongside Rillaboom to instantly outspeed the entire metagame bar Barraskewda in the rain. With Swords Dance Sneasler could easily sweep entire teams à la Hawlucha in the past but now with 38 more base attack. Sneasler could also act as an effective offensive pivot with Poison Touch U-Turn and Fake Out allowing for progress to be made just by switching out. However, Sneasler's most controversial aspect was the haxiest move ever released, Dire Claw which had 50% chance to either paralyze, poison, or sleep an opponent (16.6% chance for each).​
• In response to the increase in hazards thanks to Samurott-H, a few Pokemon began running boots far more often than in the past, this trend would increase throughout the rest of the year with hazards becoming more and more common. Notable examples include Baxcalibur, Dondozo, and Toxapex with its Assault Vest dropping off quickly with the release of HOME.​
• The recently not banned Zamazenta found itself mainly using Body Press sets with Leftovers or Lum Berry as a cleaner, though Choice Bands sets do see some play.​
• Lando is back but is unfortunately more constrained than ever having lost Defog, Toxic, and Knock Off in the generation switch. Nevertheless, Landorus-T is still a strong offensive or defensive pivot with its great typing, amazing attack, and solid bulk bolstered by Intimidate.​
• Despite the many viable Ground types, Heatran saw healthy usage using pretty much the same sets it always has but now with the option to Tera Grass to finally rid itself of it Ground weakness and still get value out of Flash Fire.​
• Despite early concerns that it was broken, Ursaluna has settled into a role as an extremely powerful wallbreaker but is held back from completely demolishing by its negative longevity and poor speed outside of Trick Room which fell off in viability following Magearna's ban.​
• Amoonguss sets began using Red Card significantly more often as a way to both have an emergency switch into boosted Pokemon and as a way to brute force a Spore on to the opposing team in the early game.​
• Walking Wake began being used on Sun less often with Booster Energy sets featuring two attacks with Agility and Sub becoming more popular on HO structures.​
• While Glimmora's standard set hasn't really changed since the release of the game, the presence of Samurott-H as another common lead has made Energy Ball the most popular fourth move.​
• Hatterene became the one of the go to Trick Room setters alongside Cresselia while the archetype was popular in the early part of the month. This also caused Eject Button to become a less common as Focus Sash was preferred to guarantee Trick Room and as Stored Power became a bit more popular again.​
• Volcanion was an effective bulky wallbreaker able to run Taunt or even Fire Spin to threaten defensive mons though its best move was still Steam Eruption with its now unique scalding power. Volcanion's bulk, typing, and ability allowed it to check Pokemon like Cinderace and Azumarill as well as Walking Wake and Samurott-H with Tera Fairy.​
• Hoopa-Unbound's ridiculous attacking stats allow it to viably run all three Choice items or even an Assualt Vest to bolster its already good special defenses. There was also an Eject Pack set that allowed Hoopa to pivot after a Hyperspace Fury, unfortunately this interaction did not cause Magician to activate and steal the opponent's item before switching out. Nevertheless, Hoopa-U was extremely powerful but suffered from a useless defensive typing, poor STAB combo, and mediocre speed.​
• While Roaring Moon was still considered to be quite viable, its usage harshly fell again in June with Samurott-H being a more generally useful offensive Dark type and Sneasler stealing it Tera Flying Acrobatics gimmick.​
• Iron Moth plummeted in usage following the introduction of Glowking and Heatran who just so happen to completely wall it if it doesn't Tera Ground Tera Blast, a move that just so happened to triple in usage on Iron Moth over the month of June.​
• Garchomp struggled to hold a niche with there being more popular Dragon-type attackers, more popular Ground-type attackers, and more popular Spikes setters in the tier at this time.​
• Rain was a solid archetype with the reintroduction of the Electric/Flying types in Zapdos and Thundurus-T as well as the Basculegion forms taking to the archtype like a fish takes to water. Also, Urshifu was predictably excellent in Rain for the time it was legal.​
• Scream Tail's niche as a defensive Fairy type became less of a benefit with Glowking becoming so prevalent in the metagame. Also, its cleric capabilities were a bit less valuable with Healing Wish becoming more common on Enamrous, Hatterene, and Cresselia.​
• Quick Claw saw actual usage on Delibird Heart's popular MONOCLAW RMT. Quick Claw is an item that allows the user to move first in their priority bracket 20% of the time. The jist of the team is that it is a very bulky and slow HO team with Screens support. The teams longevity allows for more Quick Claw procs, though the team is solid enough on its own to reliably win with only one or two procs in a battle. The mascot of this team was Galarian Slowbro with its ability Quick Draw stacking with Quick Claw meaning Glowbro has a 44% chance to move first on any given turn. The popularity, effectiveness, and absurdity of the team prompted a discussion on whether Quick Claw should be banned like King's Rock was in the past, though no action did ever end up coming from this.​
• The Pokemon on the bubble was Meowscarda (#42, 4.196%) which was top ten in usage just last month.​

- - - - -

VR Update #4:
7/2/23
Original Thread

Most of what I'd write for notes in this section has already been stated above so in order to be lazy efficient, I will skip it.

New VR

S Rank
Dragapult - up from A+
Great Tusk
Iron Valiant - up from A+
Kingambit

A+ Rank
Baxcalibur
Enamorus-Incarnate - new
Garganacl
Gholdengo - up from A
Slowking-Galar - new
Ting-Lu - up from A
Zapdos - new

A Rank
Amoonguss - up from A-
Dragonite
Samurott Hisui - new
Sneasler - new
Zamazenta-Hero - new

A- Rank
Cinderace - down from A
Dondozo
Heatran - new
Landorus-Therian - new
Roaring Moon - down from A+
Toxapex - down from A
Ursaluna - new
Volcanion - new
Walking Wake

B+ Rank
Azumarill
Corviknight - down from A-
Cresselia - new
Enamorus-Therian - new
Hatterene - down from A-
Hoopa-Unbound - new
Rotom-Wash - down from A
Slowking
Skeledirge - down from A-

B Rank
Basculegion-F - new
Basculegion-M - new
Garchomp - down from B+
Glimmora - down from A-
Hydreigon - down from A-
Iron Moth - down from A-
Lilligant-Hisui - new
Moltres-Galar - new
Pelipper
Tornadus-Therian - new

B- Rank
Arcanine-Hisui - new
Greninja - down from B+
Iron Treads - up from C
Meowscarada - down from A
Mew - new
Muk-Alola - new
Rillaboom - new
Sandy Shocks - down from B
Scream Tail - down from A-
Torkoal - down from B+

C+ Rank
Articuno-Galar - new
Clodsire - down from B+
Ceruledge - down from B+
Grimmsnarl - up from C
Hawlucha - up from C
Iron Hands - down from B-
Moltres - new
Scizor - down from B

C Rank
Alomomola - down from B-
Blissey
Braviary-Hisui - new
Ditto - up from D
Indeedee - down from B-
Kleavor - new
Magnezone
Maushold - up from D
Pawmot - down from B
Polteageist - down from B-
Quaquaval - down from C+
Regidrago - new
Slowbro
Talonflame - down from C+
Thundurus-Therian - new
Zapdos-Galar - new

D Rank
Azelf - new
Armarouge - down from B-
Breloom - down from B
Cloyster
Electrode-Hisui - new
Floatzel - down from B-
Gastrodon - down from C
Glastrier - new
Goodra Hisui - new
Pincurchin - down from C
Masquerain
Slither Wing - down from C+
Tinkaton - down from C
Toedscruel - down from C+
Tyranitar
Uxie - new
Zoroark-Hisui - down from A-

Unranked
Abomasnow - down from D
Barraskewda - down from C
Brute Bonnet - down from B-
Charizard - down from C
Cyclizar - down from C+
Flamigo - down from D
Gallade - down from D
Golduck - down from C
Gyarados - down from D
Haxorus - down from C
Hippowdon - down from D
Iron Jugulis - down from C+
Iron Leaves - down from C
Iron Thorns - down from C
Mimikyu - down from D
Quagsire - down from D
Scovillain - down from D
Sylveon - down from D
Tauros-Paldea-Aqua - down from D
Tauros-Paldea-Blaze - down from D
Wo-Chien - down from D

Banned
Chien-Pao
Magearna
Regieleki
Urshifu-Rapid Strike
Volcarona - was A+
Zamazenta-Crowned
​

- - - - -

Official Ladder Tournament X
7/24/23 - 10/28/23
Original Thread

The Official Ladder Tournament consists of four cycles of 8 days where at the end of each cycle the top 8 players signed up for the tournament on the SV OU ladder will qualify for the playoffs. The 32 qualifiers then move onto to the best of three Swiss bracket where every player plays until they have either won or lost three games. The remaining player compete until one is crowned champion.

- - - - -

https://www.deviantart.com/akagesensei/art/Kingambit-shogun-943939722
Suspect Test #5: Kingambit
7/26/23 - 8/11/23
Original Thread

Since at least March, Kingambit has been seen as a top 2 Pokemon at a minimum. However, there has always been discussion on whether or not it was actually a healthy presence in the metagame. In the most recent tiering survey Gambit received the most support for action by a decent margin so on July 26th the fifth suspect test of SV OU started.
​

Kingambit​

Kingambit is perhaps the most finely tuned late game cleaner in the history of competitive Pokemon. Kingambit is defined by its ability, Supreme Overlord, which grants a 10% damage boost for each fallen ally stacking up to 5 times. This attack boost combined with Gambit's already great 135 attack and with Swords Dance it just gets out of hand. Kingambit famously has very little move variety as it really only ever runs five different moves, though its item, EV spread, and Tera type can vary a bit. Speaking of which, Kingambit is an excellent abuser of defensive Tera with Flying and Fairy flipping its weaknesses while Fire makes Gambit immune to burn and Dark of course makes it all the more threatening. However, Kingambit isn't all offense however as its Dark/Steel typing and good bulk allow it to act as a check to Gholdengo, Dragapult, and now Glowking. Kingambit does still have flaws however, its speed is still poor, it is vulnerable to Spikes and status moves like Wisp and Encore, and without Tera it is easily beaten by Great Tusk and Iron Valiant who resist its Sucker Punch. Still, Kingambit is an incredible Pokemon and easily one of the titans of SV OU. Sets Kingambit @ Leftovers / Lum Berry / Black Glasses Ability: Supreme Overlord Tera Type: Flying / Fairy / Dark EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe OR 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe Adamant Nature - Kowtow Cleave - Sucker Punch - Iron Head / Low Kick - Swords Dance Replays WCOP 2023: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-706593 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-701724

Side	Arguments
Ban​	Kingambit's natural bulk and power combined with its multiple viable Tera types make it very difficult to play around and revenge kill. Even resists can be blasted away by a boosted Sucker Punch and the 50/50 mindgames are unhealthy for tier. Kingambit is simply too strong of a comeback mechanic that does not properly punish poor teambuilding or play as it can single handedly pull games out of the gutter. Kingambit is undoubtedly centralizing in the teambuilder, and while a check like Great Tusk is easy to fit on to a team, it is already tasked with so much over the course of a game it can be difficult to preserve Tusk enough to actually check Gambit.
No Ban​	There are plenty of already viable checks to Kingambit including Great Tusk, Zamazenta, Landorus-T, and Dondozo. Gambit can also be played around with status conditions, Encore, Trick, and chip damage from Rocky Helmet and hazards. Kingambit acts as a check towards other powerful Pokemon at the top of tier, namely Gholdengo and Dragapult. Gambit is one of only a few viable Ghost resists in the tier. Kingambit can often have to rely on Sucker Punch mindgames to secure a KO which is never consistent.

Result: No Ban

In a close race, ban votes secured a majority but not the 60% needed to for Kingambit to banned to Ubers. In the end, 55% of participants voted to ban Kingambit.

- - - - -​

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

August
Usage Stats for 7/23

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usage-based-tier-update-for-august-2023.3725479/post-9724964

Rises & Drops

Rises:
Cresselia (#31, 5.822%)
Previously (#44, 4.047%)
Cresselia combined with Tera Poison and Levitate becomes incredibly difficult to bring down. Its excellent bulk and access to recovery allow it check Great Tusk, Enarmorus, and Zamazenta or to just build up Calm Mind boosts for a Stored Power sweep.

Greninja (#23, 7.891%)
Previously (#69, 1.449%)
Greninja finally received Battle Bond back as an ability though in an altered form. Now instead of transforming into Ash-Greninja, knocking out an opponent grants a one time boost to your Atk, SpA, and Spe. While not quite as flashy as it was in USUM, this boost still makes Greninja an incredible sweeper both in Rain and on weatherless teams.

Meowscarada (#34, 5.476%)
Previously (#42, 4.196%)
Meowscarada had a slight recovery in terms of usage, its main strength is the variety of viable sets it can run thanks to its speed and wide movepool. Meow is considered one of the best leads in the metagame with Spikes and the fastest Taunt in OU though it no longer runs Leaf Storm as often. Its Band and Boots pivot sets remain strong as well due to that aforementioned speed and access to STAB Knock Off and Flower Trick.

Moltres (#37, 5.351%)
Previously (#70, 1.438%)
Moltres saw a big rise in usage over July due to its effectiveness as a defensive pivot due to its good natural bulk and Flame Body allowing to switch in and punish contact moves. Its Fire/Flying typing gives it key resistances to Fighting, Fairy, and Fire allowing Moltres to check Great Tusk, Iron Valiant, and Dragonite among others.


Drops:
Iron Treads (#40, 4.224%)
Previously (#31, 6.045%)
Iron Treads finally falls to UU after months of teetering on the edge. Iron Treads' niche in OU has always been that of an offensive spinner, using its speed advantage over Tusk to find a niche on offense teams and Rain teams. But at the end of the day Great Tusk simply outcompetes it on most structures.

Volcanion (#42, 3.440%)
Previously (#30, 6.048%)
Volcanion is a bulky wallbreaker with an incredibly spammable move in Steam Eruption along with some utility options like Taunt and Fire Spin. Volcanion was used to check Urshifu and Walking Wake with Tera Fairy in the early HOME metagame but has since become more tricky to slot onto a team due to its mediocre speed and its detrimental weaknesses to Ground, Electric, and Rock.

Notes:​

• Kingambit's usage shot up by 16%, though nothing really changed with how it was played or what. It just became harder to justify not running it on any given team due its incredible strengths.​
• Dragapult's Light Clay set fell in popularity in large part due to its poor matchup with the most popular lead in the metagame, Samurott-H.​
• Baxcalibur returned to the top ten with a couple of new looks. Ice Body sets soared in popularity largely thanks to the so called "German Six" team structure developed by Team Germany during the World Cup. Ice Body sets were always paired with a Slowking who used Chilly Reception to pivot in the Bax who was now very difficult to kill with its boosted defense and temporarily Gliscor-esque recovery. Also Loaded Dice sets fell out of favor with the main Ice STABs now being Icicle Crash on DD sets and Ice Shard on SD sets.​
• Glowking continued as the most important specially defensive pivot in the metagame and began more often running a Colbur Berry more often due to how big of a target it was for Knock Off and Kingambit.​
• Zapdos sets began experimenting with their fourth moveslot more often with Heat Wave becoming less common with Thunder Wave and Tera Blast seeing more use. U-Turn also became more popular due to it being unblockable pivoting move and was often paired alongside Discharge as the Electric STAB of choice. The recent buff of Greninja also meant Rain was more effective now which also benefitted offensive Zapdos sets.​
• Choiced sets became the new go to for Enamorus as well as Healing Wish becoming even more appriciated for its ability to give teams a second chance at a win. The mixed Contrary sets with Superpower failed to live up to what some had hoped and quickly fell off in popularity.​
• Defensive Cinderace became incredibly popular in July due to how reliably it could burn some of the biggest threats in the metagame like Kingambit, Great Tusk, and Iron Valiant. Also the increased availability of Spikes made Court Change that much more reliable.​
• Sneasler began being paired with Rillaboom more often as a more consistent way to trigger Unburden, along with the defensive benefits from the Grassy Seed and Ground nerf. Urburden sets also dropped Arcobatics more often in favor of Shadow Claw or Night Slash to better compliment Sneasler's STABs. Pivot sets began using Protective Pads more often to protect against common switch-ins such as Zapdos, Moltres, and Landorus-T.​
• Despite Spikes being more common than ever, Corviknight is running Defog less and less often due to how difficult it is to use with Gholdengo around and how easily Samurott-H and Ting-Lu are able to set Spikes back up again afterwards. Running two attacks with Iron Defense and Roost is now a more common sight, forgoing Defog and U-Turn altogether and just staying a physical wall.​
• The sheer number of dangerous physical attackers in the tier lead to both Dondozo and Rotom-Wash seeing rises in usage as two of the best physical checks due to their increbile bulk and status spreading capabilities respectively.
• The Pokemon on the bubble was Iron Treads (#40, 4.224%)

- - - - -

VR Update #5
8/14/23
Update Post​

New VR

S Rank
Great Tusk
Kingambit

S- Rank
Gholdengo - up from A+
Iron Valiant - down from S

A+ Rank
Baxcalibur
Dragapult - down from S
Enamorus-Incarnate
Slowking-Galar
Ting-Lu
Zapdos

A Rank
Amoonguss
Cinderace - up from A-
Dragonite
Garganacl - down from A+
Greninja - up from B-
Samurott Hisui
Sneasler
Walking Wake - up from A-
Zamazenta-Hero

A- Rank
Dondozo
Hatterene - up from B+
Heatran
Iron Moth - up from B
Landorus-Therian
Moltres - up from C+
Rotom-Wash - up from B+
Toxapex

B+ Rank
Azumarill
Corviknight
Cresselia
Enamorus-Therian
Glimmora - up from B
Hoopa-Unbound
Roaring Moon - down from A-
Skeledirge
Ursaluna - down from A-
Volcanion - down from A-

B Rank
Basculegion-M
Clodsire - up from C+
Garchomp
Hydreigon
Lilligant-Hisui
Moltres-Galar
Pelipper
Rillaboom - up from B-
Scizor - up from C+
Scream Tail - up from B-
Slowking - down from B+
Torkoal - up from B-

B- Rank

Basculegion-F - down from B
Breloom - up from D
Hawlucha - up from C+
Iron Hands - up from C+
Iron Treads
Meowscarada
Muk-Alola
Sandy Shocks
Thundurus-Therian - up from C
Tornadus-Therian - down from B

C+ Rank
Alomomola - up from C
Arcanine-Hisui - down from B-
Blissey - up from C
Brute Bonnet - new
Grimmsnarl
Iron Jugulis - new
Maushold - up from C
Mew - down from B-
Polteageist - up from C

C Rank
Abomasnow - new
Armarouge - up from D
Articuno-Galar - down from C+
Ceruledge - down from C+
Ditto
Floatzel - up from D
Frosmoth - new
Indeedee
Kleavor
Magnezone
Pawmot
Quaquaval
Talonflame

D Rank
Azelf
Braviary-Hisui - down from C
Cloyster
Froslass - new
Gastrodon
Glastrier
Goodra Hisui
Pincurchin
Masquerain
Regidrago - down from C
Slither Wing
Slowbro - down from C
Tinkaton
Toedscruel
Uxie
Zapdos-Galar - down from C
Zoroark Hisui

Unranked
Electrode-Hisui - down from C
Tyranitar - down from C

​

B- to A - The introduction of Battle Bond was a massive boon to Greninja who had recently found itself being outcompeted as a lead and as a wallbreaker by the likes of Meowscarada. Now, however, Gren is one of the most effective cleaners in the metagame, threatening to completely run away with a game after a KO. Greninja pairs extremely well with Spikes support and often find itself on offense and Rain teams in order to more reliably put Gren in positions to activate and properly utilize Battle Bond.

B to A- - Iron Moth has remerged as a staple on Hyper Offense structures once again due to its incredible damage output, wide coverage, and Quark Drive only furthering its damage potential with either a SpA or Speed booost. Interestingly, due to the amount of leftover EVs from speccing into a Speed Quark Drive set, Iron Moth can actually have some defensive utility against Iron Valiant and Sneasler as well as being one of the few Toxic Spike absorbers available to offense teams and Sun teams.

C+ to A- - Moltres became very popular due to its ability to punish U-Turn and cripple physical attackers with Flame Body. Combined with good bulk and a good typing, Moltres is able to check some of the best Pokemon in the tier like Kingambit, Great Tusk, and Dragonite.

D to B- - Breloom has benefitted massively from the rise of Samurott-H and Greninja. Not only does Breloom resists their STABs, but Loom is able to easily revenge kill Greninja with Mach Punch and stuff lead Samurott with Bullet Seed. Also, as always, having the fastest Spore in the game and threatening to OHKO Kingambit, arguably the best Pokemon in the tier, are also nice traits to have.

S to A+ - Dragapult is just not having a good time with near omniprescence of its number one check Kingambit along with the continuing popularity of Booster Energy Iron Valiant, Scarf Enamorus, and Ting-Lu.

- - - - -

World Cup of Pokemon 2023 Finals
8/20/23
Original Thread

For the fourth year in a row, there would be a brand new World Cup of Pokemon champion, but who would it be? Team Europe last appeared in the World Cup finals in 2020 versus Italy with only two players from that team playing this year, Mana and Eeveeto. Europe went to a tiebreaker in each round of the bracket but has managed to secure their spot in the Finals. Spain, on the other hand, last appeared in the Finals in 2015 versus US East with SoulWind, Malekith, and reiku playing in both Finals. Spain has had relatively smooth sailing in the bracket, beating both their opponents with games to spare, but now it comes down to this. In highly dramatic fashion, the Finals went 4-4 forcing a three game tiebreaker to win it all.

Game 1: Lily vs Malekith
Game 2: McMeghan vs Trosko
Game 3: Highv0ltag3 vs Garay oak

Result

Team Spain wins their first Pokemon World Cup!

- - - - -​

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

September
Usage Stats for 8/23

[/SIZE]

Rises & Drops

Rises:
Torkoal (#30, 6.342%)
Previously (#47, 2.895%)
New and old Sun mons started being explored more and more leading to sharp rise in usage and viability for the archetype. Walking Wake and Great Tusk are still basically necessary but Brute Bonnet, Iron Moth, Lilligant-H, and Sandy Shocks have all become more appreciated. Also, Roaring Moon is now a bit of a rarity on Sun team, something that would've been unthinkable in the early Pre-HOME metagame.


Drops:
Hoopa-Unbound (#39, 3.061%)
Previously (#39, 4.546%)
Hoopa is absurdly powerful but unfortunately it requires a fair amount of support in order to get going due to its poor speed, bad typing, and vulnerability to priority. Hoopa-U also struggles to break through some of the popular defensive mons in the meta right now like Ting-Lu, Zapdos, and Moltres.

Roaring Moon (#38, 4.464%)
Previously (#36, 5.364%)
Roaring Moon struggles to get going without being the dedicated Tera user of a team which really hurts it considering its already overshadowed as both a Dark-type and a Dragon-type sweeper with Kingambit and Baxcalibur ruling the tier.

Ursaluna (#42, 3.567%)
Previously (#29, 5.936%)
Like the other two drops, Ursaluna is an monstrously strong breaker but is held back by some major flaws. In Ursaluna's case, its just too slow to be consistent especially considering it struggles to get good value out of its bulk. Ursaluna is almost always taking a hit to give a hit and combined with hazards and burn chip, Luna just doesn't have the staying power one might hope it'd have.

Notes:​

• For the first time since November, a Pokemon other than Great Tusk had the most usage. Kingambit has begun using Tera Blast with either Fairy or Flying more often in order to deal with opposing Fighting types, namely Great Tusk.​
• Dragapult's decline in popularity continues in step with Kingambit and Ting-Lu's rise. Choiced sets more often than not require a decent degree of team support or prediction in order to succeed.​
• Iron Moth's Speed Booster Energy set has now eclipsed its SpA set as both HO and Sun become more popular. With the speed boost, Iron Moth is able to threaten other speed boosted mons like Enamorus and Gholdengo and matches up well with even faster Pokemon like Iron Valiant and Meowscarada.​
• Spikes were now just a fact of life in OU with Samurott and Ting-Lu everywhere and Gholdengo preventing Defog and Rapid Spin. As a result, Boots became a lot more prevalent on Pokemon with flexible item slots like Amoonguss, Zamazenta, Samurott-H, and Meowscarada.​
• All-Out Attacker sets have become more popular on Zamazenta utilizing four attacks, usually CC, Crunch, Stone Edge, and a Steel move though they occasionally run Howl as well.​
• In the current metagame, Heatran struggles to find a solid niche. It struggles to actually check much in the current metagame and most teams naturally carry at least one Pokemon that threatens Heatran back. Being so dependent on defensive Tera to be effective is a bit of a death sentence in the current meta when there are multiple other Pokemon who have proven themselves to be more reliable Tera abusers.​
• The Pokemon on the bubble was Roaring Moon (#38, 4.464%).​

- - - - -

Not Goin' Home Anymore: VR Update #6
9/12/23
Update Post

With the first DLC of Scarlet and Violet on the horizon, the final Viability Rankings of the Post-HOME metagame was released as the community eagerly awaited the return of Scald and some other stuff.

New VR

S Rank
Great Tusk
Kingambit

S- Rank
Gholdengo

A+ Rank
Baxcalibur
Dragapult
Iron Valiant - down from S-
Samurott-Hisui - up from A
Slowking-Galar
Ting-Lu
Zapdos

A Rank
Amoonguss
Cinderace
Dragonite
Enamorus-Incarnate - down from A+
Garganacl
Greninja
Landorus-Therian - up from A-
Moltres - up from A-
Walking Wake
Zamazenta

A- Rank
Dondozo
Iron Moth
Meowscarada - up from B+
Sneasler - down from A

B+ Rank
Clodsire - up from B
Corviknight
Hatterene - down from A-
Hoopa-Unbound
Rotom-Wash - down from A-
Skeledirge
Torkoal - up from B
Toxapex - down from A-

B Rank
Azumarill - down from B+
Basculegion-M
Brute Bonnet - up from C+
Cresselia - down from B+
Enamorus-Therian - down from B+
Glimmora - down from B+
Garchomp
Heatran - down from A-
Hydreigon
Lilligant-Hisui
Moltres-Galar
Pelipper
Rillaboom
Roaring Moon - down from B+
Sandy Shocks
Scream Tail
Slowking
Volcanion - down from B+

B- Rank
Alomomola - up from C+
Blissey - up from C+
Breloom
Maushold - up from C+
Muk-Alola
Scizor - down from B
Thundurus-Therian
Tornadus-Therian

C+ Rank
Arcanine-Hisui
Armarouge - up from C
Basculegion-F - down from B-
Ceruledge - up from C
Cyclizar - new
Floatzel - up from C
Grimmsnarl
Hawlucha - down from B-
Indeedee - up from C
Iron Hands - down from B-
Iron Jugulis
Iron Treads - down from B-
Polteageist
Tinkaton - up from D

C Rank
Abomasnow
Articuno-Galar
Frosmoth
Pincurchin - up from D
Talonflame
Wo-Chien - new

D Rank
Braviary-Hisui
Cloyster
Decidueye-Hisui - new
Ditto - down from C
Drifblim - new
Gastrodon
Grafaiai - new
Magnezone - down from C
Masquerain
Mew - down from C+
Mimikyu
Pawmot - down from C
Quaquaval - down from C
Regidrago
Slither Wing
Slowbro
Toedscruel
Zapdos-Galar
Zoroark-Hisui

​

Unranked
Azelf - down from D
Froslass - down from D
Glastrier - down from D
Kleavor - down from D
Uxie - down from D
​

- - - - -

Chapter 3: The Teal Mask
9/13/23
New Discussion Thread

On September 13th, players ventured to the land of Kitakami where they learn the tale of the heroic Loyal Three and the mysterious ogre they scarified themselves to defeat. In terms of Smogon singles, the first DLC of Scarlet and Violet brought multiple new and returning Pokemon to the game as well as the return of some key TMs like Scald and Knock Off.

New and Returning Pokemon

New Pokemon:
Dipplin
Fezandipiti
Munkidori
Ogerpon
Ogerpon-Cornerstone
Ogerpon-Hearthflame
Ogerpon-Wellspring
Okidogi
Sinistcha
Ursaluna-Bloodmoon

Returning Pokemon:
Ambipom
Arbok
Ariados
Chandelure
Chimecho
Clefable
Conkeldurr
Cramorant
Crawdaunt
Darkrai
Dusknoir
Empoleon
Furret
Gliscor
Golem
Golem-Alola
Illumise
Infernape
Jirachi
Kommo-o
Leavanny
Ludicolo
Magcargo
Mamoswine
Manaphy
Mandibuzz
Mienshao
Milotic
Morpeko
Mightyena
Ninetales
Ninetales-Alola
Noctowl
Politoed
Poliwrath
Probopass
Ribombee
Sandslash
Sandslash-Alola
Shaymin
Shiftry
Snorlax
Swanna
Trevenant
Torterra
Victreebel
Vikavolt
Volbeat
Weezing
Weezing-Galar
Yanmega

------

Snow Joke: The Sixteenth Ban of SV OU
9/16/23
Original Thread

As expected, a new release means new unhealthy Pokemon. This time, however, the first ban was a pre-existing Pokemon given that was just pushed over the edge with the addition of a new move.
​

Baxcalibur​

Sporting an excellent 145 Attack, a good STAB combination and an immunity to burn Baxclaibur was all set to be a terrifying physical attacker. Its movepool was not lacking either as Bax had its choice of either Dragon Dance or Swords Dance, multiple incredible STAB moves including priority, and the only coverage move it'd ever want in Earthquake. Baxcalibur was a dominant force in the post-HOME metagame, with multiple top players expressing concern over its impact on the metagame. When the Teal Mask released, Baxcalibur received Scale Shot as a TM which synergized wonderfully with Bax's preexisting Loaded Dice set with Icicle Spear. DLC1 also saw the addition of Alolan-Ninetales which was able to support Bax with Snow and Aurora Veil making the dragon very hard to bring down. With all of this considered, Baxcalibur received one of the highest scores seen on any tiering survey and was unanimously banned from SV OU. Sets Baxcalibur @ Loaded Dice Ability: Thermal Exchange Tera Type: Fairy / Steel / Ground EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Icicle Spear - Scale Shot - Earthquake - Dragon Dance / Swords Dance Baxcalibur @ Leftovers Ability: Ice Body Tera Type: Ground / Fairy EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Icicle Crash - Earthquake - Substitute - Dragon Dance Replays WCOP 2023: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-703463 OLT X: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-714645

-----

Oger Achiever: The Seventeeth Ban of SV OU
9/24/23
Original Thread

Following Baxcalibur's ban, a second tiering survey went out and it was Ogerpon-Hearthflame who became the new target of the community's ire.
​

Ogerpon-Hearthflame​

When she was first leaked, Ogerpon stood out as an interesting Pokemon, her stats were good and had a mysterious gimmick tied to. However, the excitement waned after it was revealed that the different forms forced you to give up your Tera selection and your item slot, which was generally seen as a bit too much to give up for a Pokemon to be effective. Though as Ogerpon's mechanics were discovered, the playerbase finally came to learn what kind of monster hid beneath that mask. All of Ogerpon's Masks grant a 1.2x damage boost to all attacks as well as grant Ogerpon a new ability when Terastalized, in the case of Hearthflame it was a free Attack boost every time Ogerpon switched into battle. As it turned out, Ogerpon-Hearthflame was one of the scariest breakers in the entire tier with its effectively 154 base Attack, free boosts on demand, and a genuinely amazing movepool. Ogerpon was equipped with a 100 BP high crit rate STAB move in Ivy Cudgel, all the best Grass moves, good coverage including Knock Off, Play Rough, and Superpower as well as an array of status moves including Swords Dance, Spikes, Encore, Taunt, and Synthesis. However, Ogerpon still did have weaknesses, she is extremely vulnerable to hazards and while 110 speed is good, it's still slow enough to be able to revenge killed by a number of already great Pokemon like Dragapult and Sneasler. Still, Ogerpon is absurdly strong when Tera'd and this power is what ultimately got it banned after a 7/9 vote. Sets Ogerpon-Hearthflame (F) @ Hearthflame Mask Ability: Mold Breaker Tera Type: Fire EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Ivy Cudgel - Power Whip / Trailblaze / Horn Leech - Knock Off / Play Rough / Substitute - Swords Dance

- - - - -

Smogon Champions League III
9/24/23 -
Original Thread

The Smogon Champions League is a team tournament where ten teams compete every week with ten players from each team facing off in the following formats: 3x OU, Ubers, DOU, UU, RU, NU, PU, LC. Whichever teams wins the most games, wins the matchup for that week. The regular season is a Round Robin tournament where every teams faces each other once and the top four teams at the end of the regular season move onto the playoffs. The playoffs continue the same format but is now a single elimination bracket, the final team standing wins the green trophy.

- - - - -

Smogon Charity Bowl V
9/24/23
Original Thread

In early September, Storm Daniel hit the coast of Libya causing catastrophic flooding, around the same time an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale hit Morocco. In effort to raise money for the relief effort, the fifth Smogon Charity Bowl was hosted. The tournament was ultimately won by Sylveon used calm mind and a total of $1027 was for charity. You can find the stream VOD here.

- - - - -

https://www.instagram.com/p/CygI1yMJuOm/?img_index=1
Suspect Test #6: Ursaluna-Bloodmoon
9/27/23 - 10/7/23
Original Thread

Despite scoring less on the most recent survey than Manaphy, Ursaluna-Bloodmoon was made the subject of the next suspect. You might expect this to be controversial and in some ways it was, but the result was clear from the start.
​

Ursaluna-Bloodmoon​

Ursaluna-Bloodmoon has pretty much everything that made the original Ursaluna good and in exchange fixes most of its flaws as well. The main thing holding Ursaluna back was its lack of longevity despite its bulk, right off the bat, Bloodmoon fixes this issue by not forcing itself to be burned to make progress and by having reliable recovery with Moonlight. Another flaw of Ursaluna is its poor speed, which Bloodmoon does share but can work around the issue thanks to its access to Vacuum Wave. But neither of those factors are the most eye-popping part of Bloodmoon's kit, that honor belongs to Blood Moon, its signature move, a 140 BP Special move that cannot be used twice in a row but can hit Ghosts thanks to Luna's ability, Mind's Eye. Combined with Earth Power, Bloodmoon is only resisted by Corviknight and is able to boost its offenses and cover up its poor Special Defense with Calm Mind. Bloodmoon's most infamous set utilized Tera Poison to give it an immunity to Toxic as well as becoming essentially only weak to Earth Power when paired with Rillaboom's Grassy Terrain allowing Luna to become absurdly hard to kill with defense boosts from a Grassy Seed and Calm Mind plus the recovery from Moonlight and Grassy Terrain. Sets Ursaluna-Bloodmoon @ Leftovers / Grassy Seed Ability: Mind's Eye Tera Type: Poison EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD Modest Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Blood Moon - Earth Power - Calm Mind - Moonlight Ursaluna-Bloodmoon @ Leftovers Ability: Mind's Eye Tera Type: Fighting EVs: 188 HP / 252 SpA / 68 Spe Modest Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Blood Moon - Earth Power - Vacuum Wave - Calm Mind Replays OLT X: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-722571 SCL III: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-719665

Side	Arguments
Ban​	Bloodmoon's checks are sparse and tends to be very specific, often running mediocre sets just to check Luna. Teambuilding is trending towards both extremes in HO and Stall in response. Luna's typing, bulk, and recovery combined with its instantly threatening power and almost unresisted coverage is so above curve in every aspect it overshadows most of the tier.
No Ban​	Multiple checks exists in the form of Cresselia, Unaware Clefable, SpD Corviknight, and Sub Gliscor. Bloodmoon's low speed makes it susceptible revenge killing as well as to Encore and Trick There hasn't been enough time since of the release of DLC for the metagame to settle.

Result: Ban
Final Tally

Ursaluna-Bloodmoon was banned in historic fashion with a 93.42% majority. Never had a chance.

- - - - -​

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

October
Usage Stats for 9/23

Rises & Drops

Rises:
Blissey (#32, 5.301%)
Previously (#40, 3.973%)
The Teal Mask introduced some good new fat partners for Blissey with Gliscor, Clefable, and Mandibuzz all returning. At the same time offense became stronger with the addition of Manaphy, Ninetales-A, and Ribombee leading to an increase the relative popularity of Stall and semi-Stall teams and finally pushing Blissey over the OU threshold.

Rillaboom (#22, 8.091%)
Previously (#46, 2.755%)
Rillaboom finally received Grassy Glide with the release of the DLC, however the move's BP was reduced from 70 to 55 or an effective 91 BP to 71 BP on Grassy Terrain. Nevertheless, a 71 BP STAB priority move is still amazing and Grassy Surge's ability to support teammates like Sneasler, Ursaluna-Bloodmoon, and Kingambit made Rillaboom triumphantly return to the ranks of OverUsed.

Roaring Moon (#13, 12.418%)
Previously (#38, 4.464%)
Roaring Moon slowly fell off throughout the Post-HOME metagame but with the recent addition of Knock Off, Moon has shot straight back up to become one the most threatening breakers and sweepers as well as the best offensive user of Knock Off in the entire tier.


Drops:

Regular Drops

Amoonguss (#48, 3.301%)
Previously (#20, 9.309%)
Recent metagame developments have been a bit unfriendly to Amoonguss with the introduciton and increased use of Pokemon like Ogerpon-H, Gliscor, Roaring Moon, and Iron Moth. However, its defensive profile still lets it check the likes of Ogerpon-W, Zamazenta, and Clefable.

Azumarill (#58, 2.349%)
Previously (#35, 5.311%)
Azumarill struggles to find a consistent role with its defensive sets facing competiton from other defensive Fairies and Waters while its offensive set is stuffed by Ogerpon-W and is easily revenged killed by the many faster threats that resist its Aqua Jet.

Clodsire (#43, 3.921%)
Previously (#32, 5.912%)
On top of its previous issues, Clodsire at the moment is having a hard time dealing with the new additions of Gliscor and Clefable with both essentially just sitting on it unless Clod runs Poison Jab for the latter.

Cresselia (#53, 3.086%)
Previously (#34, 5.628%)
Cresselia is still a great Stored Power sweeper, but that niche is just a bit worse now with Unaware Clefable running around along with old checks like Kingambit remaining popular.

Garchomp (#39, 4.232%)
Previously (#37, 4.622%)
With the introduction of Gliscor, Garchomp is now thoroughly outclassed as a Spike setter and while it did receive Scale Shot with the DLC it continues to struggle to compete with other offensive Dragons and Grounds.

Garganacl (#54, 3.053%)
Previously (#24, 8.062%)
After being one of the defining Pokemon of the Pre-HOME metagame, Garganacl's nightmare came to OU, Magic Guard Clefable, who Garg is walled by if it doesn't bring Curse. Beyond that, though Garganacl is still pretty much the same, its a great wall and provides mostly reliable chip damage with Salt Cure and Rocks but it can be harder to justify using your Tera on it compared to earlier metagames.

Heatran (#38, 4.469%)
Previously (#29, 6.346%)
Another Ground-type seeing high usage is always a bit rough for Heatran and this month there were two with Ursaluna and Gliscor becoming top tier threats. Despite this, a buffed Rillaboom and increased Iron Moth usage are both very good things for Heatran viability.

Meowscarada (#49, 3.294%)
Previously (#26, 6.909%)
Another Pokemon whose had their life made more difficult by the introduction of the most prominent DLC mons like Gliscor and Ogerpon-H as well as increased usage of Iron Moth and Cinderace. Also the additon of base Ogerpon has added a direct competitor to Meowscarada coming equipped with moves like Swords Dance and Encore.

Moltres (#47, 3.343%)
Previously (#27, 6.722%)
Moltres is still great at spreading burns but once again the addition of new threats like Manaphy and Ogerpon-Wellspring + Cornerstone as well as an increase in Knock Off distribution, especially from burn-immune Pokemon like Gliscor and Clefable.

Pelipper (#44, 3.803%)
Previously (#36, 5.219%)
Despite the drop in usage, Rain actually received some great tools in the DLC with the long-awaited return of the rain god Manaphy, the addition of Ogerpon-W, and Barraskewda getting Flip Turn back, making its Choice Band set much easier to use.

Rotom-Wash (#52, 3.148%)
Previously (#33, 5.880%)
Turns out adding four new viable Grass types and buffing a fifth makes Rotom-W a bit less consistent overall. Still a Rotom though.

Sandy Shocks (#59, 2.279%)
Previously (#23, 8.942%)
Another Pokemon who hates better Grass types is Sandy Shocks. Despite offense becoming more popular, Sandy Shocks is struggling to fit in the same archetype due to its dependence on Tera in order to not be walled by Gliscor and the aforementioned Grass types.

DLC Drops

Chandelure (#88, 0.869%)
Chandelure is extremely powerful and has a good STAB combination but unfortunately is just too slow to compete in OU, especially with Iron Moth around.

Conkeldurr (#86, 1.008%)
Conkeldurr is similar to Ursaluna in that is a montrously strong physical attacker that is held back by its poor speed and complete lack of staying power. However, a 140 Atk STAB Mach Punch is still very useful in a tier where Kingambit and Roaring Moon are top threats.

Crawdaunt (#64, 1.899%)
Unfortunately for Crawdaunt, Adaptability boosts are now available to every Pokemon in the game. Also OU is currently not lacking in powerful Dark and Water type attackers that don't have the same speed issues Crawdaunt does. Still deletes thing though.

Dipplin (#97, 0.542%)
I'm surprised this didn't drop further.

Fezandipiti (#65, 1.789%)
Fezandipiti has the tools to be an interesting defensive pivot with Toxic Chain but unfortunately its awkward stat distribution holds it back from OU viability.

Infernape (#90, 0.761%)
While not blowing anyone away, Infernape's speed and wide movepool give enough of a niche to maybe be usable in OU.

Jirachi (#67, 1.599%)
Despite having a good movepool and decent stats, the patron saint of bullshit is often just too difficult to justify when teambuilding.

Kommo-o (#45, 3.536%)
With on demand omni-boosts and Tera Normal Boomburst, Kommo-o is a potentially devastating sweeper but does require a fair bit of support to suceed.

Mamoswine (#76, 1.367%)
Mamoswine's excellent STAB combination and power is still great especially with STAB priority. It's also still a good Rocks setter with Focus Sash and Oblivious but unfortunately Mamoswine's low speed and poor defensive typing still hold it back from ever reaching the heights Bax did.

Mandibuzz (#57, 2.779%)
Mandibuzz remains an effective tank in OU with its great bulk, reliable recovery, and good supporting moves like Knock Off, Toxic, U-Turn, and Iron Defense.

Milotic (#109, 0.340%)
Milotic just barely had enough usage to not fall directly to RU, in spite of this Milotic is actually able to carve out a niche in OU due to its combination of typing, bulk, recovery, and support moves like Scald and Haze.

Munkidori (#55, 3.006%)
Munkidori is an interesting Pokemon due its high SpA, its Toxic Chain ability, and moves like Future Sight and U-Turn. Unfortunately, Toxic Chain does not activate if Munkidori is not on the field when Future Sight hits but Munki still has some potential as an offensive pivot.

Ninetales (#78, 1.268%)
Ninetales has some intersting tools as an offensive sun setter with access to Healing Wish and Encore, but its still generally outclassed by Torkoal.

Okidogi (#61, 2.081%)
Like the other Toxic Chain mons, Okidogi has some potential as a status spreader, in this case as a bulky physical attacker with a surprisingly strong movepool.

:shifty: Shiftry (#101, 0.466%)
Shiftry got a new ability in Wind Rider, that's cool.

Sinistcha (#75, 1.373%
Sinistcha has a decent defensive profile backed up by the rare Strength Sap and the insane Matcha Gotcha which is an 80 BP, 90 Acc Grass Special move that has a 20% chance to burn and heals 50% of the damage dealt. This combination of traits allows for Sinistcha to carve out a niche for itself as a check to many physical attackers in OU.

Torterra (#62, 2.009%)
Torterra received some suprisingly large buffs in the form of Shell Smash and Headlong Rush allowing the tortoise to be a powerful albeit niche sweeper in OU.

Weezing-Galar (#50, 3.258%)
Holy crap it can Defog on Gholdengo it's amazing. Weezing-Galar's Neutralizing Gas has enough use cases to find itself a niche in OU whether that be forcing poison damage on Gliscor, preventing Regenerator healing, and allowing Gholdengo, Garganacl, and Hatterene to be statused.

Drops below UU

RU (>0.301%)
Ambipom
Mienshao
Sandslash Alola
Vikavolt
Yanmega

NU (>0.151%)
Golem
Golem-Alola
Leavanny
Ludicolo
Politoed
Shaymin
Snorlax
Victreebel

PU (>0.075%)
Arbok
Ariados
Chimecho
Cramorant
Dusknoir
Furret
Illumise
Magcargo
Mightyena
Morpeko
Noctowl
Phione
Poliwrath
Probopass
Sandslash
Swanna
Trevenant
Volbeat
Weezing

Notes​

• Great Tusk took a hit to its viability with the release of the Teal Mask. It was basically forced to run Ice Spinner in order to deal with Gliscor while also being threatened by Clefable, Ogerpon-W, and Manaphy. In addition, an increase in the quantity of Spikes and Rillabooms made Great Tusk less effective as a defensive check due to the amount of chip it takes as well as a worse offensive check due to its primary STAB being weakened.​
• Iron Valiant's Swords Dance set fell in popularity with the Calm Mind and Mixed sets featuring Moonblast and Psyshock becoming the most common.​
• Ogerpon-Wellspring was immediately established as one of the best Pokemon in the tier with an excellent movepool, high damage output, and good defensive profile, especially with the SpD boost from Tera. Ogerpon-W was typically used a Swords Dance breaker/sweeper similar to Hearthflame, able to utilize its wide movepool with options like Knock Off and Encore.​
• Speed Booster Iron Moth was one of the very best offensive mons in the metagame with its incredible SpA stat and wide coverage letting act as an excellent cleaner, breaker, or sweeper. The standard set is still Sub, STABs, and a coverage move usually Dazzling Gleam, Energy Ball, or Psychic. On this set the primary function of Sub is to play around Kingambit's Sucker Punch to prevent revenge kills.​
• Despite not seeing extraordinarily high usage, Gliscor was generally seen as the best Pokemon in the tier. In Gen 9, Gliscor decided to join the war on hazards, on the side of hazards, becoming the best Spike setter in the game using Knock Off to remove opposing Boots and Toxic to threaten out Great Tusk and Cinderace who struggled to threaten it out. Gliscor remained as unkillable as ever despite losing Roost, Poison Heal and Protect gave it incredible longevity while also making immune to other status conditions and a willing Knock Off absorber for its team. Gliscor's unwavering presence warped the tier around like few other Pokemon at this time.​
• The popularity of offense structures is visible in Glimmora's uptick in usage, Glimmora's sets remained the same but the addition of Ogerpon-W and buff of Roaring Moon made the archetype even more powerful and popular in the DLC1. metagame.​
• Clefable returned to OU a little worse for wear but still great. Clef lost Soft-Boiled meaning its only recovery options were Wish and Moonlight, the latter of which is less consistent than Soft-Boiled due to the prominence of Snow in the early DLC1 metagame. Beyond that, Clefable was still the same, with Magic Guard or Unaware it was an excellent defensive Pokemon, remaining one of the best Stealth Rock setters, status spreaders, and Knock Off users in the tier.​
• Manaphy is unsurpringly one of the scariest offensive Pokemon in the tier but Gen 9 added an additional wrinkle to its kit beyond the typical Tail Glow + three attacks sets. Take Heart is essentially Calm Mind and Refresh in one move and Manaphy can combine this with Acid Armor to become a very tanky Stored Power sweeper.​
• Alolan Ninetales brought Screens back in a big way in the early DLC1 metagame with the Day 1 ladder infamously being filled with Baxcalibur + Ninetales offense teams. What seperates Ninetales from other screen setters like Grimmsnarl is that Aurora Veil only takes one turn to set which is extremely valuable in a team style that is so inherently time-sensitive. Also Ninetales has additonal utility with its very fast Encore and Hypnosis providing utility throughout a match.​
• After being one of the best Pokemon in Gen 8 PU, Ribombee returned in Gen 9 to become OU by usage. Sticky Webs offense has always had some small niche in the past, but the combination of Ribombee's excellent speed and Gholdengo's prowess as a spinblocker allowing the Webs to stick around long enough to get consistent value out of them.​
• Ting-Lu struggled in the DLC1 metagame with the addition of many new Water and Grass type attackers as well as Gliscor as both a competitor and check, exploiting Lu's weak to hazards and status.​
• Empoleon returned to OU for the first time in over a decade as a specially defensive pivot thanks to the addition of Flip Turn as well as preserving key parts of its kit in Knock Off and Roost. Also, Defiant was changed to Competitive meaning Empoleon was able to provide some deterence to Defog and Sticky Webs.​
• Lando's movepool cuts started to really hurt with the release of the Teal Mask. Now relegated to mostly just offensive sets, Landorus-T unfortunately found itself really struggling against Gliscor, Ogerpon-W, and Rillaboom but at the very least was still the only viable Intimdate Pokemon which helped it continue to operate as a solid pivot.​
• While Ogerpon-Cornerstone was able to run Swords Dance sets like the Ogerpon forms, its access to Sturdy let it act as an effective lead with Spikes, Taunt, and the plethora of other tools in Ogerpon's movepool.​
• The Pokemon on the bubble was Heatran (#38, 4.469%).​

- - - - -

VR Update #7

​

New VR

S Rank
Gliscor - new

S- Rank
Gholdengo
Kingambit - down from S

A+ Rank
Dragapult
Great Tusk - down from S
Iron Valiant
Ogerpon-Wellspring - new
Roaring Moon - up from B
Zamazenta - up from A

A Rank
Cinderace
Clefable - new
Dragonite
Iron Moth - up from A-
Manaphy - new
Ninetales-Alola - new
Rillaboom - up from B
Samurott-Hisui - down from A+
Sneasler - up from A-
Ting-Lu - down from A+
Zapdos - down from A+

A- Rank
Amoonguss - down from A
Enamorus-Incarnate - down from A
Glimmora - up from B
Hatterene - up from B+
Ribombee - new
Slowking-Galar - down from A+
Walking Wake - down from A

B+ Rank
Alomomola - up from B-
Ceruledge - up from C+
Corviknight
Dondozo - down from A-
Garganacl - down from A
Greninja - down from A
Heatran - up from B
Landorus-Therian - down from A
Ogerpon - new
Ogerpon-Cornerstone - new
Skeledirge
Torkoal
Tornadus-Therian - up from B-

B Rank
Garchomp
Hoopa-Unbound - down from B+
Meowscarada - down from A-
Moltres - down from A
Rotom-Wash - down from B+
Slowking
Toxapex - down from B+
Ursaluna - down from B+
Weavile - new

B- Rank
Cresselia - down from B
Empoleon - new
Mandibuzz - new
Maushold
Milotic - new
Pelipper - down from B
Sandy Shocks - down from B
Scizor
Scream Tail - down from B
Volcanion - down from B

C+ Rank
Azumarill - down from B
Basculegion-M - down from B
Blissey - down from B-
Brute Bonnet - down from B
Clodsire - down from B+
Hawlucha
Hydreigon - down from B
Iron Hands
Kommo-o - new
Lilligant-Hisui - down from B
Mamoswine - new
Moltres-Galar - down from B

C Rank
Armarouge - down from C+
Basculegion-F - down from C+
Breloom - down from B-
Crawdaunt - new
Enamorus-Therian - down from B
Indeedee - down from C+
Iron Treads - down from C+
Muk-Alola - down from B-
Polteageist - down from C+
Thundurus-Therian - down from B-
Weezing-Galar - new

D Rank
Barraskewda - new
Conkeldurr - new
Cyclizar - down from C+
Floatzel - down from C+
Infernape - new
Magnezone
Munkidori - new
Ninetales - new
Okidogi - new
Pawmot
Politoed - new
Sinistcha - new
Silther Wing
Thundurus-Incarnate - new
Torterra - new
Tyranitar - new
Zapdos-Galar

Banned
Baxcalibur - was A+
Ogerpon-Hearthflame
Ursaluna-Bloodmoon
​

​

​

- - - - -

https://www.deviantart.com/onililyn/art/Roaring-Moon-939575514
Suspect Test #7: Roaring Moon
10/17/23 - 10/28/23
Original Thread

Only one month removed from dropping UU, Roaring Moon was deemed to the be the one of the most concerning presences in the tier by the playerbase and became the subject of the seventh suspect test.


​

Roaring Moon​

It might be a bit hard to believe that this thing was at one point a B rank UUBL mon when you look at its 139 Attack, 119 Speed, and good bulk, but regardless following the addition of Knock Off, Roaring Moon became one of the best offensive mons in the tier. Since the beginning of SV OU, Moon has been utilizing Booster Energy in combination with Tera Flying Acrobatics to perfectly complement Knock Off and Earthquake's coverage. Throw in Dragon Dance and the the 1.3x Attack boost from Protosynthesis and Roaring Moon can quickly turn unstoppable. However, Roaring Moon also has a good selection of supporting moves like Roost and Taunt to further its ability as a sweeper and wallbreaker respectively. Roaring Moon is also able to utilize a Choice Band set, typically in the Sun where it was a staple for the entire Pre-HOME metagame. All in all, Roaring Moon's power and boosted speed limits offensive counterplay to essentially just priority while its excellent coverage leaves a meager pool of defensive checks. Sets Roaring Moon @ Booster Energy Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: Flying EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Knock Off - Acrobatics - Earthquake / Taunt / Roost - Dragon Dance Roaring Moon @ Choice Band Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: Steel / Dark EVs: 32 HP / 220 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Knock Off - Outrage - Iron Head / Earthquake - U-turn Replays SCL III: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-726955 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-725567

​

Side	Arguments
Ban​	Roaring Moon's ability to capitalize on even small errors is too great, its speed and power is cuch that only one DD can end a game outright. Roaring Moon has the tools to beat pretty much any of its checks through the use of Taunt or coverage moves. While Roaring Moon may not be the sole broken Pokemon of the tier, it is very much part of a larger problem and an unhealthy metagame
Do Not Ban​	Counterplay does exist as Roaring Moon is vulnerable to priority, neutered by status, and will always be chipped by hazards whenever it comes in. Roaring Moon is still a limited Pokemon, its unable to run both the coverage it needs to beat mons like Kingambit and the utility it needs to beat mons like Gliscor on the same set. Roaring Moon needs to spend one turn setting up with its Booster Energy intact, it only has one chance per match to be truly threatening.

Result: Ban
Final Tally

In the end, 70% of voters chose to ban Roaring Moon from OU, making it the third form of Salamence to go to Ubers.


- - - - -

Official Ladder Tournament X
10/28/23
Original Thread

When it was all said and done, it came down to two, Vert and lax. Vert was already established as arguably the best SV OU player after winning OST XIX in April and came into these Finals with the opportunity to win two individual trophies in one year. On the other hand, lax had not yet captured an individual trophy after suffering a heartbreaking loss in the 2019 Grand Slam Finals.

Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3

Result

lax won in three games to take home the OLT X trophy!

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

November
Usage Stats for 10/23

Rises & Drops

Rises:
Alomomola (#36, 4.585%)
Previously (#40, 4.193%)
Alomomola was a staple of stall in the Pre-HOME metagame but has recently found its place on more balance structures after receiving Scald and especially Flip Turn with the release of the Teal Mask. Flip Turn in combination with an incredible HP stat, low speed, and Regenerator transformed Alo into one of the best defensive pivots and Wish passers in the tier.

Ceruledge (#35, 4.593%)
Previously (#41, 4.179%)
Another beneficiary of the new TMs, Ceruledge finally received Poltergeist and quickly became a common sight on offense teams with its Swords Dance Weak Armor set able to set up in an instant.

Heatran (#29, 6.791%)
Previously (#38, 4.469%)
Heatran returned to OU once again due to its excellent defensive profile allowing it to check Iron Moth, Gholdengo, Dragapult, Clefable, and more. The whole Ground type issue is able to be alleviated by an Air Balloon or the rising popularity of Rillaboom.


Drops:
Empoleon (#38, 4.161%)
Previously (#33, 5.040%)
Unfortunately, Empoleon's time in OU was short, though it still remains a solid defensive pivot and phazer due to its solid bulk and unique typing.

Torkoal (#41, 4.054%)
Previously (#27, 7.267%)
The Teal Mask metagame was initally very friendly to Torkoal with the release of Ogerpon-H and the buff to Roaring Moon. However with both being banned Sun's power level has dropped a bit and its usage followed suit.

Notes:​

• Roaring Moon's usage was on track to double over the course of October before being banned on the 28th. While there was obviously debate over whether or not it was truly broken, it was undeniably one of the strongest offensive Pokemon in the tier.​
• Rillaboom became one of the most used Pokemon in the tier due to Grassy Surge offensive and defensive utility. Offensively it of course gave Rillaboom one of the best possible priority moves in Grassy Glide while also making Wood Hammer stronger than a Giga Impact, but the biggest benefit of Grassy Terrain is how it enables Unburden Sneasler to become one of the very best Pokemon in the tier with it absurd combination of speed and power. On the defensive side Grassy Terrain's nerf to Earthquake and chip healing really helps out Pokemon like Heatran and Iron Moth stay alive versus the likes of Great Tusk and Gliscor.​
• By this time Sneasler was one of the most dangerous Pokemon in the tier even though it had only received minimal buffs to itself with the release of the Teal Mask. Sneasler received Lash Out as a TM which was its highest BP move to hit Psychic and Ghost types which otherwise resist it STABs, but what benefitted Sneasler the most was buffs to other Pokemon like Rillaboom and checks like Zapdos, Moltres, and Skeledirge seeing less usage.​
• Glowking shot right back up in usage in October retaking its place as one of the best defensive pivots in the game. However, it was still forced to adapt to the meta with Ice Beam seeing a huge rise in usage the last two months in order to threaten Gliscor. Glowking and its twin are actually some of the few defensive Pokemon that have access to Ice moves without Tera or other means like Weather Ball on Zapdos.​
• Ting-Lu began being paired alongside Gliscor in order to enable Gliscor to free up moveslots to run moves like Knock Off, Swords Dance, or U-Turn while still retaining a good a Spiker.
• Ninetales-A is an enabler of hyper offense and its usage fell with the bans of its offensive companions like Roaring Moon, Ogerpon-H, and especially Ursaluna-B were banned.
• After only four different bans, Weavile was once again the best Ice type attacker in the tier. While not yet OU by usage, Weavile benefited greatly from the reintroduction of the Knock Off TM and was quickly rising in popularity due its great speed and STAB combo.
• Milotic usage quadrupled in the month of October thanks to its strong contributions on xavgb's Boots Spam team. Milotic's bulk and access to Recover and Haze let it check some of the strongest special attackers in the tier like Iron Moth and Manaphy.
• The Pokemon on the bubble was Empoleon (#38, 4.161%)

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https://www.deviantart.com/x-hawk369/art/SFM-POKEMON-Gliscor-794042509
Suspect Test #8: Gliscor
11/1/23 - 11/11/23
Original Thread

Following the conclusion of the Roaring Moon suspect test a new tiering survey was released in which Gliscor received the most support for tiering action. This was not without controversy with many players wishing to see other Pokemon suspected first, most commonly Gholdengo.
​

Gliscor​

Gliscor returned to OU for the first time in four years and at a quick glance you might assume it was strictly worse due to the loss of Roost and Defog, however this was not the case whatsoever and Gliscor was instantly one of the most important Pokemon in the tier. Gliscor had very little to worry about in terms of recovery due to Poison Heal plus Protect providing excellent longevity as well as the removal of Hidden Power and just a general decrease in the amount of Ice moves in OU made genuinely threatening Gliscor a much more difficult task. Of course, if the worst came to the worst, Gliscor was able to Tera Water though it is difficult to give up the wonderful Ground/Flying typing that provided it with excellent immunities, paticularly to the Spike-infested metagame it helped contribute to. With the release of the Teal Mask Gliscor received Spikes for the first time and was instantly the best Spiker in the tier thanks to its access to Knock Off to help remove opposing boots (which Gliscor itself is a great switch-in to) and Toxic which when combined with its great longevity let it threaten the most common hazard removers in Great Tusk and Cinderace and almost always keep at least one Spike up. Of course, Gliscor is still excellent without Spikes and its ability to always support its in some way makes it an incredibly easy Pokemon to slot into any bulky or balance team. Sets Gliscor @ Toxic Orb Ability: Poison Heal Tera Type: Water EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD Impish Nature - Earthquake / Knock Off / Facade - Protect - Toxic - Spikes / U-Turn / Swords Dance Replays SCL III: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-726785 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-727306

Side	Arguments
Ban​	Gliscor's proficiency at setting Spikes and immunity to to them (along with most forms of passive damage) makes the metagame as a whole less healthy with how much it is warped around Spikes and Boots. Gliscor is still excellent outside of setting Spikes whether that being supporting its team with Knock Off, Toxic, and U-Turn or breaking apart bulkier teams with Swords Dance. What makes Gliscor banworthy is not it being genuinely unkillable or unwallable, its the fact the its makes the tier as a wholle worse to build in and worse to play in.
Do Not Ban​	Gliscor is only broken when paired alongside Gholdengo who is the one enabling the hazard stacking epidemic of the current metagame. There is plenty of viable counterplay to Gliscor including Take Heart Manaphy, Corviknight, and Hatterene. Even though most of the Ice types got banned, offensive counterplay very much exists includes the many viable offensive Water types in the tier such as Waterpon, Walking Wake, and Greninja.

Result: Ban
Final Tally

After a pretty close vote, Gliscor was banned with a 66% majority, successfully making it to Ubers 17 years after its initial release.

- - - - -

Today
11/18/23

Welp it's today. It has now been 365 days since the release of Scarlet and Violet and we've witnessed one of the wildest metagames in Pokemon history. As it stands right now for future developments, a new tiering survey was launched two days ago and it looks likely there will be some form of action on either Gholdengo or Sneasler. We are currently about a month out from the release of DLC 2 with its mysterious new Tera mechanic which I'm personally curious about and wonder how much of an impact it will have on the long-awaited second Tera test. Well, I guess that's all I have for now.​

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

Conclusion

Well that was long. I don't know if anyone will actually read this, but I do hope that some day in the future this thread will help someone, whether that be piquing someone's curiosity or making someone feel nostalgic a couple years from now. Not sure what else to say so I'll thank some people.

Thanks to SetsuSetsuna and rest the OU forum mod team for answering my questions and showing your support.

Thank you to M Dragon for inspiring me with your excellent post ADV Teams Through The Ages.

Thank you to Coronis for keeping the F1 Thread alive.

I don't really know anyone on this site tbh. I also just read through almost all the posts on every Suspect Test thread and I don't know if I want to, so yea, y'all something.

- - -

I love Pokemon and wanted to do something big to express my passion for this lifelong hobby and simply just to give me a goal to work towards. I guess that's done now. I'm not sure what words to use for this next part but please know that I mean it.

Thank You for reading.

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Teleport to Top​

 

[bigasschungusboi]

This is fucking awesome mad props bro

 

[RoiDadadou]

A very nice storytelling and formatting. Great job, really appreciate the dedication, and hope to see you again in one year for another debrief of the future best Generation

 

[Cobalt Pink]

Fantastic summary all around. It was really fun to look through and remember all the stuff. Mad respect for the effort you put in

 

[ShizuOsaka]

This generation has seen the most ban out of all the single formats so far.
I think one of the biggest problem, the main elephant in the room right now is Tera. Tera makes checking a mon such a difficult task, because you have to play a tip-toe game about whether that mon will turn into a type that can invalidate your entire team. The effect of Tera is also permanent, so it can completely foil every plan of yours with a click. That makes checking a lot of set-up sweepers this gen like Volcarona or Rwoawing Mwoon much much harder, because Tera limits a lot of ways you can deal with them.
Moreover, the lack of good defensive mons that are just good and splashable in BO and the overflow of set-up sweepers turn this gen into the generation of Heavy Offense. I kind of miss the likes like Ferrothorn or Buzzwhole, which were pretty solid in the last gen and can be fit into bulky teams in general.
Last but not least, we also see very limited pool of hazard removers. People talk about Gholdengo single-handedly makes hazard removal hard, but let's be real: You still won't get too far with the only consistent hazard remover of this gen is a spinner. Corviknight is way too passive and can be very exploitable, while the defoggers like Mandibuzz and G-Weezing are niche at best. Given how every mon and their dog gets both Rock and Spikes, there are tons of way to come back and set hazard again even after being defogged.
Overall, while there are some good things, the generation so far has been quite a mess. I'm looking forward to seeing whether the DLC2 can improve the situation.
P/s: Takasaki Yu is such a good girl, and how do I make a short of "signature" for every post without having to keep posting the image?

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

P/s: Takasaki Yu is such a good girl, and how do I make a short of "signature" for every post without having to keep posting the image?View attachment 572454

Hello, if you click on your profile picture at the top of the screen and click Signature, you can edit it there.

 

[Docter_Peng99]

Its been 1 year of SV OU Already I started after the Chien pao ban I think and was around when gambit was being suspected Its been a few months since that and now Volc and Glisc have been banned. I am aware it was mostly tera but then again since tera can be used both defensively and offensively it creates a more chaotic metagame but still one year and and a whopping total of 22 bans so far as sneasler has also been banned as i write this. This number of bans is insane and with so many unbalanced pokemon one must wonder what is going on at gamefreak to allow such things to happen. Whoops I rambled on for too long.

 

[Mugenman88]

It's been quite the journey and all I've been doing is posting in Victim of the Week for the most part.
Also the Tera suspect was wild, the discussion thread for that was probably the most toxic thread in Smogon's history. Iirc 2 people got banned entirely because of their postings in that thread and I'm really hoping if/when the next Tera suspect rolls around that'll be a little more... contained. I can only imagine the headaches the mods had dealing with that ridiculousness.

Still, props to the OU council and any other mods that are helping out for dealing with this wild ride of a generation, this has been likely the most controversial generation I've ever borne witness to, and I've been here and lurking around since mid gen 5.

 

[Wolf-X]

Great post!! Really enjoyed the read, I stopped playing for some months so its nice knowing what happened, so fun reading the volcarona controversy, and the madmen unbanning chienpao lmao.

I would add the latest Sneasler ban.

Very interesting how despite how crearly prevalent and centralizing Gholdengo and Gambit are they remain unbanned. Gholdengo not even suspected!

 

[Ox the Fox]

Really enjoyed the read! Thanks for typing this up

 

[ShizuOsaka]

Now place your vote y'all: which one will be the victim of the banlist first: Gambit, Ghold or Tera?

 

[spook]

This like the natural history museum for sv ou