Alright so imma comment on more than one thing in this post but I mainly wanna focus on one nomination
Dudunsparce: UR -> C+ [I can see it being B- as well but for now, starting off here]
Dudunsparce is the new evolution of Dunsparce in SV and despite being a pure normal type, it has a lot going for it. To start out I wanna focus on its stats, 125 HP, 80 Def, and 75 SpD gives it an amazing amount of bulk. With Roost as recovery this mon has an amazing amount of sustainability, especially when you add tera to remove some of its weaknesses that come from being a normal type. Doesn't have bad attacking stats either especially with very strong attacking moves, specifically in its new tool Boomburst. The set I want to focus on is one that uses that new tool and everything noted above to create a very scary wincon.
Dudunsparce @ Leftovers
Ability: Rattled
Tera Type: Poison/Ghost
EVs: 148 HP / 252 Def / 48 SpA / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Boomburst
- Earth Power
Calm Mind Dudunsparce. This is a set i've been testing and using since UU Alpha and I gotta say this mon in my opinion is being overlooked and underrated greatly. 85 Special attack may not be super strong but that is made up by being able to boost with calm mind and boombursts extremely high 140 BP. Roost is for a source of recovery to help its survivability alongside lefties Earth Power is what i've found to be the best coverage on this set, being able to hit Gengar, Tinkaton, and Tyranitar are the main ones. Flamethrower could be valid as well to hit Brambleghast, and now Scizor for better damage while still hitting everything but Tyranitar and other rock types. The other part of this set is the choice of ability. You'd think Serene Grace would be the easy choice, but Rattled now lets an otherwise slow pokemon boost up its speed which increases the threat even more. You can't safely Knock Off or U-turn without giving a speed boost that can take advantage of fatter, slower teams in the meta.
Dudunsparce is one of the few Calm Minders in the current meta now that Armarogue rose to OU. The closest comparison for it would be the Oriocorio's, specifically pom pom as a bulky setup sweeper that takes advantage of that bulk to be able to make itself a threat. There are multiple pokemon that Dudunsparce can take advantage of to setup, especially with Tera on its side. Slither Wing becomes a sitting duck when Tera comes into the picture, along with most other fighting types besides Gallade. It's bulk also lets it pretty reliably check and use Talonflame for setup if it isnt taunt, Slowking, Donphan, Gastrodon, and i'm sure there are more I can't think of off the top of my head.
Dudunsparce's bulk and survivability makes it quite menacing against fatter playstyles and that includes stall. It can dismantle pretty easy common balance cores and there just isn't much that can deal with Dudunsparce's Boomburst and also deal with Earth Power. Below I'm going to show some replays displaying some of the traits I explained above.
I've also began testing some other sets that may be more expected like Glare, 3 attacks, and i'm sure there are more like it's access to rocks makes it pretty versatile with what it can do. It's an underrated threat that does pretty well in the current meta and i'd give it a shot. There is not much that can do everything it can do right now and it deserves a spot on the meta alongside Weavile, Espeon, Cloyster etc.
Lokix B -> B+
I pretty much agree with everything Lily said above and think the pressure it puts upon teams, especially HO, is way too much to ignore. Many of the replays I showed above can demonstrate the pressure Lokix can put upon all different styles of teams.
Weavile C+ -> B-
I think Weavile is pretty strong right now, Dark/Ice is still as annoying to switch into as it ever is even without Knock Off, and strong Ice STAB is rare to come by current and just makes it overall pretty reliable in my experience using it. I think its better than C+ at least. With partners like Magnezone, Sandy Shocks, Slither Wing, etc to help it come in safely I think it has a lot of positives going for it.
Either way thank you all for reading my post on Dudunsparce and why I think he's good in the current meta.
Dudunsparce: UR -> C+ [I can see it being B- as well but for now, starting off here]
Dudunsparce is the new evolution of Dunsparce in SV and despite being a pure normal type, it has a lot going for it. To start out I wanna focus on its stats, 125 HP, 80 Def, and 75 SpD gives it an amazing amount of bulk. With Roost as recovery this mon has an amazing amount of sustainability, especially when you add tera to remove some of its weaknesses that come from being a normal type. Doesn't have bad attacking stats either especially with very strong attacking moves, specifically in its new tool Boomburst. The set I want to focus on is one that uses that new tool and everything noted above to create a very scary wincon.
Dudunsparce @ Leftovers
Ability: Rattled
Tera Type: Poison/Ghost
EVs: 148 HP / 252 Def / 48 SpA / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Boomburst
- Earth Power
Calm Mind Dudunsparce. This is a set i've been testing and using since UU Alpha and I gotta say this mon in my opinion is being overlooked and underrated greatly. 85 Special attack may not be super strong but that is made up by being able to boost with calm mind and boombursts extremely high 140 BP. Roost is for a source of recovery to help its survivability alongside lefties Earth Power is what i've found to be the best coverage on this set, being able to hit Gengar, Tinkaton, and Tyranitar are the main ones. Flamethrower could be valid as well to hit Brambleghast, and now Scizor for better damage while still hitting everything but Tyranitar and other rock types. The other part of this set is the choice of ability. You'd think Serene Grace would be the easy choice, but Rattled now lets an otherwise slow pokemon boost up its speed which increases the threat even more. You can't safely Knock Off or U-turn without giving a speed boost that can take advantage of fatter, slower teams in the meta.
Dudunsparce is one of the few Calm Minders in the current meta now that Armarogue rose to OU. The closest comparison for it would be the Oriocorio's, specifically pom pom as a bulky setup sweeper that takes advantage of that bulk to be able to make itself a threat. There are multiple pokemon that Dudunsparce can take advantage of to setup, especially with Tera on its side. Slither Wing becomes a sitting duck when Tera comes into the picture, along with most other fighting types besides Gallade. It's bulk also lets it pretty reliably check and use Talonflame for setup if it isnt taunt, Slowking, Donphan, Gastrodon, and i'm sure there are more I can't think of off the top of my head.
Dudunsparce's bulk and survivability makes it quite menacing against fatter playstyles and that includes stall. It can dismantle pretty easy common balance cores and there just isn't much that can deal with Dudunsparce's Boomburst and also deal with Earth Power. Below I'm going to show some replays displaying some of the traits I explained above.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9uu-1808283688-qwc9zj405llwzbhbfo7cv27asxzz6r7pw
This is a replay from one of my UU masters games. It doesn't come in until the middle of a game but when it does against Espeon, it takes its bulk to easily set up and prepare itself to go against the rest of the opponents team, taking down Espeon easily, living the opponents Lucario's close combat to roost back up, before then beating Tyranitar and living a +1 EQ to finish off and leave the rest of the team to just have Mimikyu to handle.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9uu-1788635331-h7467b7qk9699atjju6nz1h941bnhmkpw
This was a replay against pif on ladder where while it wasn't the main star, it was able to come in and deal with T-tar, and threaten pif's team enough at +1 to let me position myself for an end game with Lokix.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9uu-1784568413-hsmx35x3s7liogj216dtj8lfay357evpw
I didn't win this particular replay but it shows the pressure Dudunsparce can put on fat cores and teams. If I was tera poison I would've been able to avoid and kill quagsire with boomburst. He also had the rarer Calm Mind Blissey which prevented me from making too much progress against his team but the pressure I was able to put gave me a good chance despite the odds.
This is a replay from one of my UU masters games. It doesn't come in until the middle of a game but when it does against Espeon, it takes its bulk to easily set up and prepare itself to go against the rest of the opponents team, taking down Espeon easily, living the opponents Lucario's close combat to roost back up, before then beating Tyranitar and living a +1 EQ to finish off and leave the rest of the team to just have Mimikyu to handle.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9uu-1788635331-h7467b7qk9699atjju6nz1h941bnhmkpw
This was a replay against pif on ladder where while it wasn't the main star, it was able to come in and deal with T-tar, and threaten pif's team enough at +1 to let me position myself for an end game with Lokix.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9uu-1784568413-hsmx35x3s7liogj216dtj8lfay357evpw
I didn't win this particular replay but it shows the pressure Dudunsparce can put on fat cores and teams. If I was tera poison I would've been able to avoid and kill quagsire with boomburst. He also had the rarer Calm Mind Blissey which prevented me from making too much progress against his team but the pressure I was able to put gave me a good chance despite the odds.
I've also began testing some other sets that may be more expected like Glare, 3 attacks, and i'm sure there are more like it's access to rocks makes it pretty versatile with what it can do. It's an underrated threat that does pretty well in the current meta and i'd give it a shot. There is not much that can do everything it can do right now and it deserves a spot on the meta alongside Weavile, Espeon, Cloyster etc.
Lokix B -> B+
I pretty much agree with everything Lily said above and think the pressure it puts upon teams, especially HO, is way too much to ignore. Many of the replays I showed above can demonstrate the pressure Lokix can put upon all different styles of teams.
Weavile C+ -> B-
I think Weavile is pretty strong right now, Dark/Ice is still as annoying to switch into as it ever is even without Knock Off, and strong Ice STAB is rare to come by current and just makes it overall pretty reliable in my experience using it. I think its better than C+ at least. With partners like Magnezone, Sandy Shocks, Slither Wing, etc to help it come in safely I think it has a lot of positives going for it.
Either way thank you all for reading my post on Dudunsparce and why I think he's good in the current meta.