Are spikes any good in ZU? Cause it seems every spike setter in ZU is weak to Stonjurnor.
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Resource Simple Questions & Simple Answers Thread
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Also how good is Slaking? Even though it has Truant, it still hits quite hard with Giga Impact.
these quick one-line questions are better suited for our simple questions, simple answers thread, but since we're here, i'll answer anyways! :B
spikes, and hazards as a whole, dominate zu currently, and have throughout the generation. hazard removal has been dire in lower tiers because the better the remover, the higher the tier they end up. additionally, many of our available pokemon are not fully-evolved and therefore reliant on eviolite. together, these create an environment that thrives on hazard setting and has little responses. we do have spikes setters that beat stonjourner though, with frogadier and quilladin being the most viable.
giga impact from slaking hits extremely hard, but truant really hampers its ability to be all that viable. if you have questions on how well a pokemon does in the metagame, you can check out our viability list. there are much better pokemon that fill similar roles as wallbreakers or as strong normal-types, so slaking is currently unranked here.
edit: moved to proper thread
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Oops, sorry about that. I'm quite new to the smogon forums so I did not know that. Thanks for letting me know.
Ok, understood. Thanks for the help. I'm also new to ZU as well since I am primarily a OU player.
Why are the metagame discussion and viability list threads locked?
we just had a massive tier shift and the metagame is going to look wildly different. we’re in the process of creating a new metagame discussion (np) thread and the viability list was locked until we can update it to reflect the new tier
How good is spidops on hazard stack teams and is hazard stack even good anymore?
Spidops now has competition from Ariados, they're probably about equally good as Web setters. Spidops has Spikes and Circle Throw as its niche, Ariados is faster and can actually hit stuff.
Hazard stack is slightly worse than before the drops imo. Misdreavus and Dusknoir seem to have completely eliminated Quaxwell from the meta, but now Tidy Up Furret exists, and we gained a new strong Defogger in Noctowl. Also Swalot loves to eat TSpikes and seems poised to be a balance staple.
Metagame discussion either happens in this thread: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/np-zu-stage-5-stan-rotom-fan-suspect-test.3731506/
or you can use the Discord server: https://discord.com/invite/tuDAG69. Other than that, you can visit the ZeroUsed chatroom on Pokemon Showdown!
It recently got banned from ZU, alongside Falinks, so it's technically 'ZUBL' (BL = Borderline).
Now that Lycanroc-M has been banned, will stonjourner become the dominating pokemon it was before or is it still bad?
Stonjourner is expected to be a good wallbreaker, but because of the influx of power creep, it's not going to be anywhere near as dominant as previous metas. Other strong physical attackers, while not sporting as much power, have better Speed tiers and additional utility to boot, like Leafeon, Sawsbuck, Cacturne, and Dugtrio. All of those Pokemon have better defensive typings, and (with the exception of Cacturne) have much better Speed tiers. All of them also have Swords Dance to boost its Attack and have additional utility outside of raw power (Leafeon has Knock Off, Wish, Yawn, Sawsbuck has Serene Grace and a variety of coverage to boost its potential, Dugtrio has Sucker Punch and Stealth Rock). Again, still a good pick, but Stonjourner has LOTS of competition to overcome to stand out.
Why would do some people use mareenie on stall or fat hazard stack teams
it barely inheritates any of its mothers bulk to the point that its bulk is borderline un meaning knock off completely removes it from the game and it has toxic and regenerator and maybe its solid typing but not much else really.
it seems people just use it for toxic since crocalor and clefairy outclass it as eviolite walls since they have defensive ability that make them stellar at what they do,
regenerator is obviously a top 3 defensive ability but as regenerator defensive pokemon,
its outclassed by slowpoke which isn’t that good and foongus is a (pretty mediocre) alternative if you need a specially defensive mon since it has spore too , is just it really just because it has unique access to toxic and toxic spikes?
it barely inheritates any of its mothers bulk to the point that its bulk is borderline un meaning knock off completely removes it from the game and it has toxic and regenerator and maybe its solid typing but not much else really.
it seems people just use it for toxic since crocalor and clefairy outclass it as eviolite walls since they have defensive ability that make them stellar at what they do,
regenerator is obviously a top 3 defensive ability but as regenerator defensive pokemon,
its outclassed by slowpoke which isn’t that good and foongus is a (pretty mediocre) alternative if you need a specially defensive mon since it has spore too , is just it really just because it has unique access to toxic and toxic spikes?
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Mareanie really isn’t used to a competitive degree anymore. It was better earlier in the generation before shifts created a massive power gap.
But Mareanie isn’t outclassed by Slowpoke. Mareanie’s defensive typing is way better than Slowpoke’s superior physical bulk, as is its superior special bulk (think about checking Nasty Plot Golduck). If Mareanie were to be used today, it probably wouldn’t be that great of a team, but there’s a chance that in the hands of a good player, it can function as a Regenerator wall + defensive pivot while being the team’s answer to Toxic Spikes, Golduck (given no super effective Tera + Tera Blast), Phione, and situationally some others. You’re right, it isn’t good, but if it’s used (and it really isnt), then it’s because it’s the “best” Regenerator wall for now. Till we get Klawf lol.
Can someone please explain to me the zu viability rankings and explain what the hell new means on them?
there was recently a tiering update that caused a ton of pokemon to drop down to ZU. since they've literally only been down here for ~4 days at this point its hard to properly assess their place in the tier
new just means that a mon does not currently have a place on the viability list because it recently dropped into the tier and has not been placed yet
klawf is one of the best mons in the format in my opinion. it can function has a physically defensive pivot with stealth rock, a stab move, knock off, and high horsepower thanks to its high base defense and attack, even when the latter is uninvested, and access to regenerator, or as a sweeper with swords dance
Nope, Sticky Web is a notable playstyle in ZU but it's not overbearing. Multiple Pokemon slot in Heavy-Duty Boots and our tier's defensive staples (Tinkatuff, Swalot) are capable enough that there is no plans to vote on them any time soon.
No. Just like 5Dots said, Sticky Web as a playstyle isn't even problematic atm. But even if it were, we'd target individual Pokemon before acting on the move as a whole.
Why didn't any of the new Indigo Disk/DLC2 Pokémon drop from OU to ZU? There were Pokémon dropping from OU to every other tier.
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