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What are the changes that have made Poliwhirl more handleable? Grass-types? its still faster than them and has Blizzard though, hmm
 
Hello NU community,

The NU council (myself, MrSoup, nicole7735, and Serpi) has unanimously voted to unban Poliwrath, Poliwhirl, and Golduck for the ladder and spotlight. We came to the conclusion that the massive changes to the tier justify giving these Pokemon another shot for the present, though we will actively be keeping an eye on them.

We will put out a survey for feedback after the ladder and spotlight to gather community input; we will use this to help inform decisions regarding quickbans and suspect tests going forward before future tournaments. Have fun and may god have mercy on our souls!

Tagging dhelmise and Marty; here are the combined changes with the UU VR:
NU to UU: Clefable, Golem, Electrode, Ninetales
NUBL to UU: Raichu
UU to NU: Aerodactyl, Venusaur, Victreebel
NUBL to NU: Golduck, Poliwrath, Poliwhirl
UU RAICHU OU in Gen 10 fs
 

Enigami

is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Pokemon Researcher
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Quick laying down some thoughts on the new NU metagame (as of February 8th, 2024) to help give some direction to newcomers to the modern NU. Firstly, Amnesia feels like a trap (outside of Poliwhirl). The tier is very offense oriented with the dominant physical attackers outspeeding all Amnesia users, and nearly every Water-type in the tier runs (or should be running) Seismic Toss which doesn't care how many boosts you have. Amnesia doesn't really do much beyond spending a turn not attacking and ultimately dying without getting a whole lot done. Maybe Poliwhirl could result in some problems in the future, but otherwise Amnesia seems to be perfectly healthy in the current meta.

Normals

Physical powerhouses
Raticate is the offensive king of the tier, especially with Aerodactyl dropping to give Charizard a headache. Raticate's combination of Speed, Super Fang, STAB Hyper Beam and BlizzBolt makes it just about impossible to switch into, with only Gastly being some measure of a check. Its only drawback is its lack of defensive value or utility, but its raw offense more than makes up for it. Sample set: Super Fang, Thunderbolt, Blizzard/Body Slam, Hyper Beam

Fearow suffers a bit from Aerodactyl dropping, but otherwise it's an offensive powerhouse that hits like a truck once any Rocks are gone. Sample set: Double-Edge, Drill Peck, Hyper Beam, Agility/Mirror Move

Wigglytuff is a step down from Clefable, but should otherwise be a serviceable "neutral matchup" Pokemon that trades into just about anything. Sample set: Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Thunderbolt/Seismic Toss, Thunder Wave


Porygon's always struggled in NU, but maybe it just hasn't been figured out yet. As long as it can paralyze and recover spam, it can do work, but all it takes is an untimely critical hit or paralysis to ruin its day. Sample Set: Hyper Beam, Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Recover

Normal Resists

Answers to Normal-type attacks + others
Aerodactyl has proven itself to be a very valuable Pokemon in the tier, between its unmatched Speed and unique ability to strongly check Charizard. Sky Attack is really hard to answer, with even resists losing half their health on a critical hit. If Charizard isn't running Seismic Toss, Aerodactyl can safely set up Substitute to follow up with a Sky Attack to punish with. Very solid revenge killer and Fire answer. Sample set: Double-Edge, Hyper Beam, Sky Attack, Substitute/Toxic/Rest

Kabutops gets a bit better with Aerodactyl in the tier, Nidoking falling off in usage and Electrode not being around anymore. Should be a solid Fire/Normal resist to keep the non-Charizard flyers and fires in check. Sample set: Surf, Slash, Swords Dance, Hyper Beam

Gastly has gained some new things to check with the additions of Aerodactyl, Venusaur and Victreebel to the tier, though it still suffers greatly from its terrible bulk and will crumble to physical coverage moves, such as Aerodactyl's Sky Attack. Sample Set: Psychic, Thunderbolt, Hypnosis, Night Shade/Explosion

Graveler unfortunately is diet Golem, doing a worse job checking Fire-types like Moltres and doing damage when it does get in. Still, with Aerodactyl in the tier, the threat of Fearow still looming and Magneton gaining notice, a Rock/Ground may very well find itself desired on teams in the future. Sample set: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Body Slam, Explosion

Waters

Defensive backbone of teams (except Poliwhirl the lead/sweeper)
Despite the drops, Blastoise likely is still going to be a top pick for your Water-type. Its physical bulk over Golduck and lack of weakness to Aerodactyl's Sky Attack and Fearow's Drill Peck make it the most reliable defensive option among them. Sample set: Surf, Blizzard, Seismic Toss, Counter

Poliwrath does suffer from its Fighting-type a little, as well as being one of the slowest viable Pokemon in the tier, but Hypnosis easily makes up for these issues and otherwise has similar defensive strengths to Blastoise. Solid option, especially to enable more risky plays with Venomoth without risking your ability to inflict sleep. Sample set: Surf, Blizzard/Counter, Seismic Toss, Hypnosis

Poliwhirl is the one drop that can get mileage out of Amnesia thanks to its high Speed. You can use it as a lead or late game sweeper, gambling on Hypnosis hitting a target and then boosting and attacking for what is typically a 2 for 1 trade. Sample set: Surf/Hydro Pump, Seismic Toss/Psychic, Amnesia, Hypnosis

Seadra isn't any different from before: try and take out any opposing waters, reveal Seadra in the late game, click Agility and attempt a sweep. Sample Set: Surf, Hydro Pump, Blizzard, Agility

Golduck, oddly enough, might be the "odd duck out" despite previous fears of it overpowering the tier. Due to its lesser bulk, Golduck suffers from a nasty case of being threatened with a Hyper Beam KO at half health by Raticate, a very relevant matchup, while not offering much over Poliwrath or Blastoise beyond its Speed stat. Even at 85 Speed, it's still a bit too slow to effectively get much value out of Amnesia with Seismic Toss and physical threats everywhere. However, if you want to shore up your Kabutops, Gastly or Venusaur matchups, or want the edge in a Water duel, Golduck is plenty serviceable as a "bulky water". Sample set: Surf, Blizzard, Seismic Toss, Counter


Kingler is not likely to be viable, the tier is far too fast and hostile to it for it to pull off any sweep effectively and its low Special stat makes it less effective as a check to Fire-types like Moltres compared to the other Waters.


Kind of a worst of both worlds, having Golduck's physical bulk and Kingler's Special bulk, but Thunder Wave entices me. Paralysis is utterly crippling for a lot of Pokemon in the tier and with Poliwrath around to exploit for Psychic-weakness, maybe Slowpoke could be somewhat of a contender along with Fire Spin teammates to help it get in on the right Pokemon? (/copium)

Fires

Hard hitting mixed attackers
Charizard gains a new answer in Aerodactyl, which walls its old sets easily and can even abuse that set with Substitutes. One simple adaptation is to use Seismic Toss over a move like Slash, which offers similar damage output with the added benefit of not letting Aero get away with setting up Substitute. While healthy, Charizard is still an effective cleaner and revenge killer even with Aerodactyl's presence in the tier. Sample set: Fire Blast, Fire Spin, Earthquake, Seismic Toss

Moltres is affected the least by the presence of Aerodactyl, packing enough power to break substitutes even with Aerodactyl's Fire Blast resistance. Strong bird with stronger Fire Blasts. Toxic + Fire Spin can be used to get around Kabutops or punish attempts from Poliwrath or Golduck to set up Amnesia. Sample set: Fire Blast, Hyper Beam, Double-Edge/Toxic, Fire Spin

Arcanine typically serves as a lead, threatening lead Venomoth with a crit OHKO from its STAB and Body Slam paralysis on everything else. Its high bulk also makes it somewhat of a check to Mr. Mime. Aerodactyl's presence in the tier might make Arcanine unviable, however, as Arcanine does not threaten Aerodactyl with much other than a burn, and can be exploited to safely set up Substitutes. Sample set: Fire Blast/Flamethrower, Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Agility

Rapidash can fill a role somewhat similar to Arcanine as a lead, or as a late game sweeper that outspeeds other threats like Charizard and Fearow. It typically isn't used often due to its low bulk, however, and Aerodactyl is a major new stumbling block for it. Sample set: Fire Blast/Flamethrower, Fire Spin Body Slam, Hyper Beam

Bugs & Grasses

Reliable sleepers of the tier (and Pinsir I guess)
Venomoth is easily the best sleeper in the tier. Its neutrality to attacks from Water-type Pokemon makes it relatively easy to get Venomoth in to put something to sleep and then do significant damage with its attacks and Stun Spore. Sample set: Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Psychic, Double-Edge

Exeggcute has just the right typing to be useful in the NU metagame, with Psychic, Electric, Ground and Grass resistances providing opportunities to switch in and spread status. However, besides Mr. Mime and Magneton, most of its potential switch-in opportunities require sleep clause to be active for it to switch in safely, and it is especially vulnerable to Fire and Ice attacks. Using it alongside Mr. Mime lets you use Exeggcute as your response to the opponent's Mr. Mime while keeping yours fresh. Sample set: Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Psychic, Explosion

Venusaur struggles with the abundant Razor Leaf resists in the tier and low Speed, but otherwise can perform similarly to Venomoth, switching in on Blastoise or Poliwrath and putting something to sleep then trying to get damage in. However, Venusaur lacks Venomoths valuable Psychic coverage and Stun Spore to hurt the opponent's switch after taking sleep, and has to make do with Body Slam instead. It also is weak to Ice coverage from Water-types unlike Venomoth. It can get an easy boost with Swords Dance after using Sleep Powder and do some damage with +2 Hyper Beam though. Sample Set: Sleep Powder, Razor Leaf, Swords Dance/Body Slam, Hyper Beam

Victreebel is slower than majority of the tier, lacking even Venusaur's ability to come in on and threaten Poliwrath and Blastoise before they can make a move, but it does come with Stun Spore to discourage switch-ins from Grass resists and Wrap to potentially abuse paralyzed opponents with. It's lack of speed is a massive hinderance though and might not be worth using because of it. Sample set: Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Razor Leaf, Hyper Beam


Pinsir has it even worse than Kingler, with Aerodactyl limiting Pinsir's ability to make progress while it is healthy enough. It is outsped by much of the tier and isn't likely to get a lot done even with a free turn to boost.

The Rest

Self explanatory
will fill in thoughts later


will fill in thoughts later

Overall, the state of NU with the drops and unbans seems to be in a decent place for the moment. If you want a sample NU team, just put the first Pokemon in each list above into a team together (with Mr. Mime, Venomoth or Charizard as your lead) and you should have a solid lineup.
 
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I have no clue if anyone in this thread is associated with those publishing usage stats, but it would be cool if we could get post tier shift usage stats added onto the usage stats page. The tier got a ROA spotlight for the first time in 2 years and the usage stats are already outdated. It's slightly annoying lol. Clefable, Golem, and Electrode are on there while mon like Aerodactyl, Venusaur, and Golduck are lower than they would be otherwise. Plus certain moveset stats don't account for the fact that some pokemon (like Charizard) saw their viable movesets be completely shifted once the tier shift happened.
 

Volk

Demonstrably alive.
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
So I somehow ended up playing RBY NU in ALTPL II starting in Week 3 and stayed there until the tournament was over. Now that this meta is officially retired, I thought it might be fun to put a post-mortem analysis together. I have a VR and some teams.

Final RBY NU VR 2023.png

I don't think I have anything revolutionary to say, so I'll keep it brief. I have no remorse about putting seven Pokemon in three different S Tiers. This is the best way to analyze the tier.

:Mr. Mime:
Mr. Mime isn't really broken or anything, but there is basically no reason not to use it. Its defensive profile isn't the most inspiring, but its Speed tier, coverage, and access to Thunder Wave make it pretty difficult to exploit. It's also the primary answer to itself, so there's that motivating you to use it too. Acceptable lead choice.

:Venomoth:
Venomoth is the best sleeper in the tier. Like Mr. Mime, access to a paralysis-inducing move and a good Speed tier keep it from being too exploitable. It's not the most offensively threatening thing, but Psychic can somehow bullshit its way through basically the entire tier with critical hits and Special drops. It's also surprisingly decent into Electrode.

:Clefable:
Clefable can beat basically the entire tier one-on-one once it has protection from Sleep Clause. Excellent utility with Thunder Wave and Sing as well. Only more droppable than Mr. Mime and Venomoth because the Speed tier can be a bit of a liability.
I've been forgoing Body Slam, which seems to be the wave, and I honestly don't really ever find myself missing it. Also, don't feel like you have to click Thunder Wave all the time, especially if you have a fast team. Damage is often more important then Paralysis in NU and Clefable's Hyper Beam is stupid strong.

:Raticate:
Raticate is somehow more of the NU Tauros than any of Kangaskhan, Dodrio, or Persian is the UU Tauros. Its combination of traits (namely Speed, Attack, typing, and Body Slam) make it the best physical attacker and revenge killer in the tier. Super Fang is neat, but only really needed for a few team structures. With good positioning and/or proper trading, this Pokemon can be exceptionally rewarding.

:Charizard:
I don't really like lead Charizard, but it is arguably the best lead. It matches up well into every Fire-type Pokemon and only really loses to slow stuff that has to contend with Venomoth. It's arguably even better when outside the lead slot, especially with its legitimately wide set variety. Swords Dance can and will completely steal games and combos well with Explosion users. Four attacks sets can sweep weakened teams, notably through Raticate. Counter can pick up a lot of damage. Fire Spin sucks but can do work occasionally. Charizard is an extremely dangerous Pokemon that I honestly think could use more respect and exploration. Fairly droppable, but way scarier than stuff like Blastoise if played well.

:Blastoise:
Kind of like Clefable, in a roundabout sense. It can't one-versus-one as many things nearly as well, but it stuffs Fires and Seadra while having an OHKO on Golem to prevent it from just booming on you for free. This Pokemon also legitimately only needs like two moves, so you can just go free range with whatever after Surf and Seismic Toss: Counter, Blizzard, Hyper Beam, Body Slam, Earthquake, Rest, Substitute apparently, etc. Does Hydro Pump get any rolls? Never checked.

:Electrode:
Broken Pokemon. Has some checks and needs to evade being paralyzed, but it just mops up teams. Best sweeper by a mile and single-handedly keeps Charizard from being a top three Pokemon. The only reason it's this low is because it's the only Pokemon thus far that can really get into trouble in a bad matchup, so, while it can go on many teams, it can't really be an automatic addition. Depending on how you rank Pokemon though, I can see an argument for Electrode being as high as #1 or #2.
You can run Thunder on this. Hyper Beam doesn't hit much. Substitute is also neat.

:Seadra:
Seadra can be dangerous, especially after setting up, but it's kind of hard, especially with how teams tend to look now. Blastoise is better because it does better into Blastoise. Seadra does especially well into bad teams while still being decent into good ones.

:Golem:
Walls Electrode. Earthquake and Rock Slide are hard to switch into most of the time and Explosion is good. The tier is fairly hostile to it, but it's the best Ground-type Pokemon if your team needs one and it can beat Fire-type Pokemon if it can avoid Burns. It also walls Fearow and can catch Raticate (or Clefable) Hyper Beam, which are neat traits.

:Moltres:
Lots of good Pokemon give Moltres trouble, but it pressures a lot of the really good ones. It's held back mainly by being not the easiest to fit on teams, but it can do work on the right builds or with a good matchup.

I would draw the NU cutoff here if that was relevant.

:Arcanine:
Fine into Mr. Mime and Clefable and alright into Electrode. I think Charizard tends to be worth more though and fitting both is not always the best move. While Charizard and Moltres have higher ceilings, there's an argument for Arcanine being more consistent or less costly in the builder. In other words, you'll seldom need Arcanine in a game but similarly seldom regret carrying it. It and maybe Ninetales are the only Pokemon with a serious argument to be above the cutoff that I didn't already place there.
I do understand that Arcanine, Charizard, and Moltres all function pretty differently, but that doesn't change the fact that running multiple causes you to not run other better Pokemon that are simply more threatening on a game-to-game basis. Also Seadra can become a threat with enough Fire-type Pokemon on your team.

:Ninetales:
Similar state as Arcanine. Confuse Ray can be brutal. I lean towards Arcanine being better, mainly due to its higher usage biasing me, but Ninetales could have enough things going for it instead, assuming someone bothered to check.

:Kabutops:
Kabutops isn't super easy to fit on like any team and loses to a ton of stuff, but it is a really solid counter-team option to meet some builds.

:Fearow:
Fearow is not as good as it feels like it should be. It wants Body Slam and the Flying typing is actually loathsome in this tier. Still really strong though, and it's faster than Raticate. Not terrible.

:Gastly:
Mostly used for counter-teaming. Beats Raticate lacking Super Fang and its Hypnosis and/or weak Explosion can combo into some things, like Seadra Agility or Charizard Swords Dance or just Raticate.

:Wigglytuff:
Teams don't really need two Clefable. Its poor Special makes it incapable of relying on Blizzard + Thunderbolt, unlike Clefable, so it is way more linear. Its Speed is also a massive liability, especially considering you are almost certainly running it with Clefable already. Decent Counter. Very mediocre overall.

:Kingler:
I have not yet identified the reason to use this Pokemon. I'm sorry.

:Exeggcute:
Awful in practical terms. Slow, weak, unreliable. Kind of beats Mr. Mime, I guess, and has some utility moves. There is so little room for this Pokemon on a normal team.

:Nidoking:
Just awful. Not unviable, I guess, but it actually dies to like every hit in the game barring Thunderbolt. It's not even that offensively potent, especially with such a mediocre Speed.

:Porygon:
Maybe decent, but hard to justify over faster and more reliable Pokemon. I have some faith, but it is somehow always critically hit.

:Primeape:
Good Speed tier.

:Magneton:
Dangerous, but outsped by everything it threatens.

:Rapidash:
Good Speed tier.

:Drowzee:
Psychic-types are usually decent and this one has utility moves.

:Abra:
Psychic-types are usually decent and this one has the magic Speed stat number.

I generally never share teams, but because this meta is over, I see no harm. This is an RBY Tier, so there's too nothing crazy here. Click the teams to see the paste.

Week 3 v. UnownDragon

Game 1
:Charizard: :Blastoise: :Mr. Mime: :Clefable: :Venomoth: :Raticate:
Not much to say about this team. It's six of the best Pokemon put together. It felt like a safe opener to go with. I based it off the team used by nicole7735 in this game. Charizard has Counter because I anticipated an opposing Charizard lead (which I met) and that my opponent wouldn't check for it or switch. I'm always torn on Raticate's fourth move, so Bubble Beam was more or less chosen on a whim. You'll see this a lot from me, especially if the team is even a little scared of Golem.

Game 2
:Electrode: :Blastoise: :Clefable: :Venomoth: :Mr. Mime: :Charizard:
I wanted to lead Electrode because I thought I could catch an early Golem switch with Venomoth. This team is also based off a nicole7735 team, specifically the one from this game. I chose Swords Dance Charizard over Raticate because (1) I wanted a better matchup into Fire-type Pokemon and (2) my opponent has a history of running Rest Pokemon and I wanted to exploit that.


Week 4 v. SEA

Game 1
:Charizard: :Blastoise: :Mr. Mime: :Clefable: :Venomoth: :Golem:
SEA had a history of Electrode, Fearow, and even Magneton, so using Golem seemed like an obvious choice, especially as I hadn't yet used it myself. I supported Golem with the "Big 5" (I know Raticate and Electrode are arguably better than some of these five, but their bulk and historical dominance lead me to use this term when describing this core). I think I drew from the team used by Sabelette in this game for inspiration. Wigglytuff in the lead slot does this team no favors though, especially given SEA's extensive use of Venomoth, so I traded it out for Charizard, which is largely a safer pick, especially with a Golem in the back.

Game 2
:Venomoth: :Charizard: :Mr. Mime: :Clefable: :Electrode: :Raticate:
I hadn't run Venomoth yet, so I thought I could get away with Venomoth Hyper Offense, if you can call this that. This team is an adaptation of the team Sabelette used here and the team nicole7735 used here. Essentially, these games served as a proof of concept that you could run Electrode and Raticate together and not be too frail to function. I chose Charizard over Arcanine and Blastoise simply because I like Charizard's matchup spread and Speed tier more on such an offensive build.

Game 3
:Clefable: :Blastoise: :Mr. Mime: :Venomoth: :Raticate: :Fearow:
Fearow went unrevealed. This team was largely my own brainchild, but I drew some inspiration from nicole7735 in this game. I actually built this team for UnownDragon, but never used it. I only built two new teams for this week, so I figured I could roll it over. SEA had literally zero Golem usage, so my main fear here would be Electrode (which I did end up facing). I think Super Fang Raticate and, to a lesser extent, lead Hyper Beam Clefable have some really solid synergy with Fearow. They can punch some major holes into the opponent's team early on, which Fearow can capitalize on. Super Fang + Hyper Beam may miss a lot of knock outs if Raticate is using the Hyper Beam, but not if Fearow is. Venomoth is used here just because I really didn't have that much faith in Sing working out.


Week 5 v. nicole7735

Game 1
:Venomoth: :Mr. Mime: :Blastoise: :Clefable: :Charizard: :Gastly:
My opponent had absurdly high Raticate usage (and admitted as such) and very rarely used Super Fang, so I knew I had to try Gastly at least once to exploit that. Gastly is a very needy Pokemon in terms of support, so I backed it up with the pretty bulky Big 5. I felt comfortable with Venomoth in the lead slot because I had Gastly as a secondary sleeper. I originally was going to run three attacks Gastly, but I sprung for Explosion over Night Shade because I realized I could potentially parlay the weak Explosion into a Swords Dance from Charizard if I ran that set as well.

Game 2
:Charizard: :Venomoth: :Mr. Mime: :Clefable: :Wigglytuff: :Raticate:
Before I realized how obviously strong Gastly would be, I had the idea of Counter Wigglytuff to get the jump on Raticate. It's a neat idea, but I ultimately do not like this team very much. Wigglytuff is just too cumbersome (slow) to work with here and ultimately not worth it. I quickly ran out of offensive presence and got rolled.

Game 3
:Venomoth: :Charizard: :Mr. Mime: :Clefable: :Electrode: :Raticate:
This is the same team I used in Game 2 against SEA. I only built two teams for nicole7735 (this game didn't matter so I didn't overprepare; sue me), so I figured I would run this team again because it felt strong in the week prior and my opponent wasn't much of a Golem user.


Semifinals v. Sabelette

Game 1
:Arcanine: :Blastoise: :Mr. Mime: :Clefable: :Venomoth: :Electrode:
My expectation for this game was facing Moltres + Seadra and no Charizard. While I have mixed feelings about Arcanine, it seemed to be the perfect lead into my opponent because she didn't use Charizard very much and used it even less in the lead slot. Meanwhile, Arcanine does well into Mr. Mime lead, which she used relatively often, and doesn't cede too much to Venomoth either. It also can help more against Electrode if it survives the lead interaction. Anyhow, I hit my scout almost exactly in this game and it worked out. I also dodged a Fire Spin, but that move is bait.

Game 2
:Charizard: :Blastoise: :Mr. Mime: :Clefable: :Venomoth: :Raticate:
Aside from my Game 1 read, I didn't have a ton of stuff I wanted to use into my opponent this week. I considered some other fun stuff like Seadra and even Kabutops, but her sheer variety of teams (and history of using Electrode) made it make more sense to me to just play safe teams that can handle everything at least reasonably well. This is the same team I used in Game 1 against UnownDragon, except I took Counter off of Charizard because I figured I wouldn't be facing an opposing lead Charizard. One other thing I strongly considered for this team, and wish I had done, was swapping Blizzard for Earthquake on Blastoise. I ultimately stuck with Blizzard because (1) it's what I always ran and change is scary and (2) there was a small chance I'd face Exeggcute. In reality though, Earthquake fits this team much better because it gives you more options against its two toughest matchups, Electrode and Gastly, the latter of which I ended up facing. Also maybe put Blizzard on Raticate, but I don't know.


Finals v. SEA

Game 1
:Charizard: :Blastoise: :Mr. Mime: :Clefable: :Venomoth: :Golem:
Unlike all the other sets here, I'm writing about this set way after it happened, so I might misremember some stuff. Anyhow, this game ended up being an exact repeat of my last Game 1 against SEA in terms of my and her team choices. I used the exact same team again because, even though I lost last time, I liked the matchup a lot and felt I only lost due to some bad luck. I played the runback and Golem did precisely what I wanted it to do: switch into Raticate's Hyper Beam and then KO it. After I played this interaction out, I got some pretty good luck for the rest of the game so my opponent couldn't do too much.

Game 2
:Charizard: :Blastoise: :Mr. Mime: :Clefable: :Venomoth: :Electrode:
I believe I built this team by just reusing my Game 1 team from last week, with the only change being Charizard taking Arcanine's place. The team felt good last time and had decent matchups, so running it felt fine. I got awful luck, probably about equal (if not greater) and opposite to Game 1, so this game was close to unplayable for me.

Game 3
:Venomoth: :Seadra: :Mr. Mime: :Clefable: :Electrode: :Raticate:
This team was originally planned for Sabelette, had we saw a Game 3. It's pretty similar to a lot of teams I've used before, except it featured Seadra over something like Charizard or Blastoise. This was my first run with Seadra all tournament. I was thinking I could maybe catch some Fire Spam, as people kept running that against me in this tournament, likely because of my low Seadra usage. I hit my matchup and played the opening pretty well. However, I completely misplayed a pretty straightforward endgame and threw the game entirely. I leave determining the correct endgame route as an exercise to the trainer. Thankfully my teammate Parpar won his game and allowed our team to win the tournament. Otherwise, this game would make me feel even worse. Also, I finally put Blizzard on Raticate.

Thank you to all my opponents, especially those from whom I "borrowed" teams. As trite as it sounds, ALTPL II was a fun and competitive tournament, and it was because of all you. Plus, you all seem to be pretty cool people and were quite accommodating for scheduling.

Thank you to the Mistresses Misdreavus for providing feedback on my teams as I built them. This especially goes out to my RBY compatriots YBW, Torchic, and Cao Jie. A similar thank you to my managers Glue and HSOWA for not only drafting me, but giving me a shot in both GSC NU and RBY NU, despite me not really being known for either of these tiers. And for completion, I'll shoutout the rest of the team and supporters below. You are all cool people.

:Misdreavus:
Remaining Players & Bench:
Banbadoro — special thanks for picking up after me in GSC NU
Chiles Habaneros
Eledyr
goldmason — special thanks for being particularly supportive despite not really playing RBY
LpZ
Mada
Parpar — special thanks for clutching the last game after I choked
Real FV13 — special thanks for helping me attempt GSC NU
temp

:flutter mane:
Supporters:
EllingtonReborn
River (I don't know if you have a Smogon Account sorry)
MrSoup — I likely would have accepted your offer for help with GSC NU had I stayed in the tier

While I don't know if RBY NU is exactly my favorite when it comes to RBY Tiers, I had more enjoyment with this than I thought I would. I know this is a low bar, but RBY NU, at least this meta, is functional most of the time. I think Ubers, OU, and UU have more room for skill expression, but NU still has its fair share of interesting Pokemon, cores, and team styles. While I am a fan of PU, I think NU is kind of the last frontier before the game is mainly a slugfest. While I faded in and out of supporting this tier over the years, I'm ultimately happy with how far it has come and look forward to seeing it progress. I still remember the days of Rest Arcanine spam. Let's see what comes next.

The end of an era. Cheers folks.
 

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