Thoughts! I haven't done calcs or anything so keep that in mind.
This thing shouldn't be bad but I can't see it truly having the purely defensive role that was intended for it. It definitely would answer the more common Latios sets going around but it hates being burned or Dracod by Dragapult and doesn't really look like it has any other intended targets to handle defensively. Still, as an offensive check to those it could be very nice, especially with the utility of STAB Tinted Lens First Impression in this meta.
I kind of had a feeling this sub would win. I had a difficult time thinking of where I should try and balance it, might end up warping the meta a bit but I thought it was worth it because the meta's pretty centralized as is right now and if anything this mon could influence a lot of meta shifts. Toxic will probably be mandatory for threatening Iron Hands but otherwise this checks that, Kingambit, and Ceruledge pretty nicely and doesn't force you to rely on Iron Hands as much for its defensive utility. Maybe this could open the door to more different specially offensive things being run to break this or different rockers like Aggron, Dugtrio, or Klawf seeing use since they have more favorable matchups into this.
With how physically bulky this meta is and with special sets having access to Flamethrower, Ice Beam and Shadow Ball, I can't see physical sets being as good as special sets despite how enticing Dragon Dance may be. Unless I'm missing something, if you run Draco Meteor / Surf / Shadow Ball with Specs then you have no switchins in the base meta except for full Sp. Def Jellicent. You also have Ice Beam to nail Eldegoss who would otherwise have been a great counter. I don't think Specs will be hard to run on this seeing as the Speed tier is really nice and both of your individual STABs lack resists on their own. Otherwise, I think it's pretty cool that Wisp and Hex were removed to distinctly leave that kind of thing for Dragapult, seeing as those were its most prominent sets and it's quite literally got other niches the mon itself can normally fill. Definitely a very strong sub though and I find it hard to imagine this won't be super good in the final meta, possibly making it harder to justify running Volcanion for example.
I really don't have too much to say about this one. It does indeed look like a very sturdy answer to the mons listed with the exception of Latios, the weakest of those, who you will need to chip this down for. I think that's perfectly fine for this. Also naturally boosts Skuntank and Muk who are kind of on thin ice with staying relevant in a meta like this seeing as they're a lot weaker than everything else. Very nice addition, adds a lot without pushing the meta's power level any higher at all although this might prove to make it harder to run as the power level keeps going up.
I already made an offhand mention that I really like this sub but I'll elaborate. Typhlosion and Victreebel both had a very obvious niche, and I'm honestly kind of disappointed in myself that the thought of a Sun setter didn't even cross my mind. All of our abusers are very powerful but very brittle, and I think Spirit Break is an alright midground between straight up pivoting and just forcing them to fend for themselves. The fact that the meta is as hazard-focused as it is could ultimately just mean this thing only gets Sun twice per game but I don't think this is even too far off from standard. What's more, this should also help us answer Dragaplunge, with Fushimmer itself having solid special bulk and providing both a Dragon immunity that "isn't weak to Water" and basically giving teammates a Water resist. Really glad this sub won in particular.
I don't feel as positively towards this sub as I do with the others so far. It's not bad by any means but it's not how I would've changed this Pokemon. The Speed tier this covers is super crowded already seeing as a vast majority of teams had two mons with the exact same Speed stat as this, and I feel as though a better typing than Ground could have been chosen since it doesn't give Eelektross as much defensive utility as I would hope. That mainly stems from it not boosting it against any meta-relevant targets or playing off of the resists Electric and Levitate provide especially well. That being said, this does make Eelektross a good bit scarier offensively and the general bulk increase is appreciated as well, so I can't be upset that this won.
This does basically exactly what I asked for in a Dugtrio sub by not really boosting its offensive presence that much, but making it easier to bring out instead. Should be a solid way to offensively abuse Muk and Skuntank while also checking Latios and Munkidori and providing hazards. Very sturdy answer to Sun too which is nice. As a blanket check to special offense though it's kind of an unfortunate case where this can't answer Wisp Dragapult at all, which is its most common set by far, and Dragaplunge has a button that just deletes this thing. At the absolute minimum I think the role compression this has should be nice for some teams, and a viable Dugtrio like this also gives some things like Orthworm more reason to exist.
I think these changes do a fine job at giving Bouffalant the appeal it needs to do better here. Strong Ground STAB is nice into non-Orthworm Steels and Iron Hands and the tiny bump to the Speed tier is a huge deal for something that was already this tough to wall. Just to put into perspective, imagine you knock something out with Iron Hands or Kingambit only for this thing to pop in and probably kill something for it, or just click Bulk Up and make things even worse. I kind of don't like something this strong existing to punish Muk and Skuntank but otherwise it looks good to me.
Kind of similar to my thoughts to Bouffalant now actually. Having another super strong breaker that's faster than the base 50s is really nice, and removing Knock Off was a great call for boosting Slowbro and Jellicent. I don't think Flip Turn will see much use if this sub is at all successful though seeing as Slowbro and Jellicent both actively punish its use through their abilities. We have no shortage of ways to revenge kill this either through things like Latios and Slurpuff and I think that's totally fine for a Pokemon like this. If anything it might be a bit difficult to justify over Bouffalant seeing as its typing removes a lot of the defensive utility its bulk would otherwise give it but I still think it's worth giving this a shot, I can't see it being awful.
It's funny because I was going to make a Klawf sub of my own but decided against it when I saw this. Probably is just a flat out better idea than whatever I would've done and I'm glad it made it here even if it's not the biggest surprise out there. Klawf had a lot of problems in the base meta, mostly its typing being awful and Regenerator being the only thing to make it stand out, but a simple typing change removes both of those issues. This is a legitimate softer check to things like Iron Hands and Kingambit in addition to some of the newer other Grounds, not to mention Regenerator and Stealth Rock always being good traits to have. Pure Ground is a very good choice here to keep it from being too passive and although I was a bit disappointed at first that both this and Iron Blimp won, I do think Knock Off and the threat of Stealth Rock going up multiple times a game keep it from being too strong of an answer. Really looking forward to seeing this one.
EDIT: The day is dim and cloudy. Rain falls quietly for as far as the eye can see. DuoM2 exits his car wearing a full black suit, tears gently falling down his face. Seriously though I didn't see that a different Klawf sub had won after some tiebreaking thing was corrected. Very sad. Anyways I don't think this sub succeeds in what it was trying to do, but could ultimately have merit regardless. You could technically look at this as a Latios and Ceruledge check, but if memory serves correctly every Latios and Ceruledge I've seen has run Fighting coverage. Where I think this thing's job lies is as a Stealth Rock user that does not lose to Iron Blimp and also checks Dragapult. This one's kind of on thin ice though. I can't see this holding up in future metas, although depending on how you look at it this may not even be an issue.
Overall, I'm very happy with this slate, although it's difficult to say if that's just from this being an interesting meta to have subs like this work around. Slowbro, Jellicent, Orthworm, and the Sun gang are probable winners here, while I could see the Poisons, Volcanion, Haxorus, Barraskewda, and Uxie being big losers. Maybe I'm just difficult to disappoint in this environment seeing as I don't mind some of the stronger subs being stronger at the possibility of them influencing change but at the very least they all do have feasible counterplay that doesn't look too hard to implement. If anything I am disappointed that our two new Grounds are attached to dual typings that I think lead to them doing very little from a defensive standpoint. I'm pretty exicted to see how the new meta will turn out though.
Attack Order, Bug Buzz, Defend Order, First Impression, Infestation, Roost
Flash Cannon, Iron Head, Metal Burst, Metal Claw, Steel Beam
- Weirdmon. Pretty mid defensive profile and an unfortunate Rocks weakness, while being shored up by pretty good bulk, still make it kind of awkward to fit on teams. Would not be surprised if this doesn't see much play (or more likely if bulky SD becomes its best set).
- Very strong mon, easy Hands answer to slap on teams, pretty much the de facto bulky Flying in current meta unless you really want a Dark resist. RIP to the hazard meta (nothing sets them on this besides big Duggy).
- Probably too strong. DD sets are lowkey broken as no Water resist wants to eat Dragon Darts (and vice versa), and even if it's not broken it's pretty much guaranteed to outclass Barraskewda. Expect this to be a staple on Screens.
- Nice balanced fat Fairy, which combines with Fushimmer below to greatly diversify Dragon answers in the meta. Unfortunately seems very passive if it's not hitting super effectively, so this might need a buff down the line.
- Sun is actually so heat in this meta. Super looking forward to running this, though the mon itself is just a Bitter Blade bot.
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