Project The Top 10 Titans of the Gen7 ZU (Votes over)

[Tuthur]

The Top 10 Titans of the Gen7 ZU
Approved by Xayah

SM ZU has been a unique tier since the beginning of the generation. The introduction of Z-Moves, Pokémon from former NU and RU tiers, and new Pokémon such as Silvally and Komala allowed SM ZU to differentiate itself from ORAS PU. Through the generation, ZU has seen very important shifts such as PU grabbing Abomasnow, Tangela, Lycanroc, and Rotom-F; Torterra, Stoutland, Sandslash, and Altaria moving to NU; and even RU taking Ninetales. Powerful drops such as Komala, Swanna, and Shiftry drastically changed the tier as well. The big question that we will try to answer with this thread is, which of all these Pokemon were the 10 most influential throughout Gen 7?

From August 4th to August 21th, you will nominate Pokemon that will be voted on for the top 10 most influential Pokemon throughout Gen 7. After that, you will all evaluate all the nominations and individually rank the Pokemon from 1-10 by vote. Of course, all the nominations will count as long as they're reasonable and fit the criteria. Please keep in mind that we're not ranking Pokemon based on how good they are, but we're ranking Pokemon based on how influential they've been.

A general rule of thumb: The Pokemon should have been available at least for several monthes in order to accurately determine their influence. Pokemon like: Jynx, Vanilluxe, etc would be very hard to analyze since they were in the tier for a very small amount of time but Pokemon like Stoutland, Rotom-Frost or Passimian can be brought up.

Here's an example format of what your nomination can look like:

Post format

Nominating Pokemon
Enter sprite here.


What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
Explain how the Pokemon effected the metagame as whole, and how the metagame adapted around it. A brief description of which Pokemon it countered and which Pokemon it did well against would be good here as well.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Explain why this Pokemon was used on a team more often then most other Pokemon, and what was it particularly used for? What made it so good at this role?

What caused it to have a significant impact?
What exactly made this Pokemon have such a large impact on the metagame? Was it its stats, ability, useful resistances, amazing synergy, or the ability to sweep most of the metagame very easily? Did a certain Pokemon cause it to become that much better when it was partnered with it?

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in ZU?
What are the best checks/counters to this Pokemon? How does the metagame adapt to this Pokemon?

Make sure they look EXACTLY like this, or else I wont count them. Make sure they are also very informative, factual, accurate, and detailed.

Ressources:
Past VR: http://zutier.boards.net/thread/16/sm-zu-viability-rankings
Current VR: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sm-zu-viability-rankings.3643412/
Past NP threads: http://zutier.boards.net/thread/7/stage-today-ludi-raticate-banned
http://zutier.boards.net/thread/18/stage-throw-away-throh-suspect
http://zutier.boards.net/thread/20/stage-time-pretend-ultra-moon
http://zutier.boards.net/thread/24/np-sm-stage-stoutland-remains
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/zeroused-metagame-discussion.3629669/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sm-zu-np-stage-1-0-it’s-time.3646743/
Current NP thread: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...r-the-sun-exeggutor-unbanned-post-14.3651197/

Current Nominees (click for link to post):
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The top 10 Titans of the Gen7 ZU Metagame:
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

You're allowed to reserve nominations, but make sure to finish them in 48 hours, or they will be back up for grabs! Also, you can only reserve one nomination at a time. This is to make sure that your reservation gets done before you finish another.

 

[Xayah]

Nominating Rotom-Frost

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
Rotom-Frost was an insane force to be reckoned with for a long time. It rose to S rank in November 2017 and stayed there until it moved to PU in October 2018, making it our longest standing S rank of the generation. I know that many current players may not have been around while it was, but it completely warped the meta around it. The best examples of this are Seaking and Chinchou, which were sometimes seen purely to hard counter Rotom-Frost despite being ass otherwise, and more importantly, Grumpig. Grumpig was the best Ice resist we had due to solid special bulk and was in the A ranks purely because it beat Rotom-Frost, even if we didn't know how bad it was at the time. As soon as Rotom-Frost left, Grumpig plummeted in usage, and now the last time I've seen it was months ago.

To this day, when I think of ZU, I think of Rotom-Frost. It was suspected but not banned by a single vote, but I'm fairly certain everyone now agrees that if it had gotten banned and the most-hated meta (Frosttom + Lurantis) had not been possible, it would have been much better for our tier. While it certainly didn't influence what playstyles were used in the same manner that current top tiers like Shiftry do, the way those playstyles had to be built were so heavily forced by Rotom-Frost that there's no way it doesn't deserve a spot in this top 10.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Rotom-Frost had two main sets, Choice Scarf and Icium Z, and both were focused on being a pivot that put immense pressure on teams. The former abused its high Speed stat to constantly force 50/50s, especially when paired with Liepard to trap Grumpig, which were practically impossible to deal with. Icium Z, meanwhile, was a terrifying wallbreaker in addition to being a good pivot due to just how good Electric/Ice coverage is.

What caused it to have a significant impact?
Rotom-Frost had almost everything going for it: one of the best offensive typings in the game, an incredible stat spread, Volt Switch, Levitate, great synergy with Pokemon like Liepard and Lurantis, a place on more niche playstyles like Webs and Rain... Rotom-Frost had minimal flaws, with its rocks weakness being the biggest one. Its offensive typing caused constant 50/50s that were entirely unfun and its solid bulk meant it wasn't even super easy to revenge kill despite its Ice typing. While it wasn't the fastest, that just didn't really matter because it still outsped most wallbreakers and could easily pressure slower teams down completely. And if you did have a hard wall to it, it just crippled it with Trick or WoW. The mon was honestly just insane and should not have been in the tier as long as it did. The day it left was a day of celebration for many.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in ZU?
Good question. Personally, I was still trying to figure this out when it left. The best solution we had was run Grumpig + Torterra and hope to win every 50/50, running Seaking/Chinchou, or pray. Realistically, the hope was to not let it in too often and prevent it from doing its pivoting thing, and whatever you do, don't let Grumpig get trapped. Or hit by Gigavolt Havoc, which was gaining more traction. Just thinking back to building in Frosttom meta... it hurts. It really, really hurts.

 

[Tuthur]

Nominating Vigoroth

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
Vigoroth has been ZU since the beginning of the generation, however it only started to really shine once Type:Null got banned with the release of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Vigoroth due to its combination of excellent bulk and good speed is a very unique Pokemon that forces the usage of faster Pokémon than it with great wallbreaking capacities or stallbreaking capacities. Vigoroth has always been very good against more defensive/balanced teams due to its ability to set up on most defensive Pokémon such as Torterra, Altaria or Golem.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Vigoroth is used as a very bulky and fast defensive sweeper. Thanks to its access to Taunt and due to it outspeeding every defensive Pokémon and a lot of wallbreakers, Vigoroth can circumvent most way of dealing with other defensive sweepers such as Musharna or Muk. Taunt nullifies slower Taunt from Mawile, Toxic from Bronzor, Haze from Mareanie, Roar from Gabite, ... High Speed meant that slower wallbreakers such as Rampardos and Bouffalant can't deal with it after one Bulk Up. Vigoroth can also run Substitute to avoid being phazed by Poliwrath's Circle Throw and to prevent its Eviolite from being removed by Trick from Rotom-Frost or Mr Mime or by Knock Off from Shiftry or Pawniard. Vigoroth ran a stallbreaker set with Taunt and Toxic that was able to bother most balanced and stall teams.

What caused it to have a significant impact?
What made Vigoroth to be extremely good was the lack of Pokémon that can afford to beat Vigoroth after a Bulk Up and repeatedly take an unboosted hit from Vigoroth. Most Pokémon that can force Vigoroth out such as Simisage or Raichu are relatively frail and can't afford to come several time on the field. Also Vigoroth beats most common Normal-resists such as Mawile, Tangela and Golem forcing player to use specific Pokémon or sets just to beat it. Also a lot of answers to Vigoroth are weak to Pursuit and could easily be trapped by Liepard or Silvally-Dark, this includes Misdreavus and Grumpig which used to be the most common answers to Vigoroth. Vigoroth can be supported by Mareanie which helps against bulkier threats such as non Rest/Aromatherapy Lurantis, Power Up Punch Kecleon and Nasty Plot Beheeyem which makes counterplaies to it even harder.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in ZU?
The most common counterplay to Vigoroth used to be fast Taunt and fast Toxic users such as Misdreavus, Grumpig, Dugtrio-Alola and Silvally-Fighting. Another way of dealing with is also using faster users of Fighting moves such as Swords Dance Silvally-Fighting or Nasty Plot Mr. Mime, spamming Leaf Storm with Lurantis or Servine also overwhelms Vigoroth. The increase in usage of Mareanie also contributed a lot to beat Vigoroth since if lacking Taunt Vigoroth insta loses to it and if Toxic Spikes are up, Vigoroth can't set up. Now Substitute Vigoroth is very rare, which makes Knock Off / Trick / Switcheroo a good way to deal with Vigoroth. While the former doesn't completely invalidates Vigoroth, without its Eviolite Vigoroth is incredebly easier to beat, especially on the special side.

 

[Aaronboyer]

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
Before it became one of the premier Choice Scarf users in NU or was even thought about being remotely suspect-worthy in PU, Passimian became the absolute focal point of the ZU metagame during the beginning of Pokemon Sun and Moon. Anything that didn't resist Passimian's Choice Banded Close Combat was being 2HKO'd, and with the lack of viable Fairy-types at the time and Misdreavus being its primary check, it was clear this Pokemon was too broken and overcentralizing at the release of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon when it got access to Knock Off. Misdreavus,Clefiary and Tangela lost their Eviolites while Altaria and Rotom-Fan, who were already previously scared to death of Rock Slide, now lost their Leftovers due to Knock Off being more clickable. Colbur Berry Palossand and Mudsdale were just about the only true checks to Passimian, which is a testament to how much offensive prowess it boasted. Furthermore, Passimian was also one of the tier's best Choice Scarf users. This was complemented by the fact that it got access to U-turn, allowing it to pivot out of matchups deemed unfavorable. At the tail end of the suspect test, Assault Vest and Bulk Up + Z-Move sets were also starting to appear, and there is no doubt that Passimian would still be a broken element in the ZU metagame today if it were let back in. For as overcentralizing, broken, and diverse as Passimian was, it's no doubt it's one of the greatest titans of the Generation 7 ZU.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?
As a Choice Scarf user, Passimian acted as a revenge killer and speed control, and was ZU's most popular Choice Scarf user at the time. Choice Band sets were formidable as well at breaking apart defensive cores such as Cleftang (Clefairy + Tangela). These sets were backed up by its respectable bulk and key resistance to Stealth Rock, made it hard for Passimian to be revenged killed itself.

What caused it to have a significant impact?
Passimian strained people to use one or two of only a handful or reliable Pokémon that could check/counter it (which I’ll get to in a second...), and they varied whether or not it was Scarf or Band. Being the most common Choice Scarf user, Passimian also set the benchmark for other Choice Scarf users, allowing Mr. Mime, Chatot, and Togedemaru to shine a bit just by virtue of being faster. I would say a third or more of teams were running Passimian, and was more omnipresent than any other Pokémon ZU ever had or has seen since.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in ZU?

• Misdreavus
• Tangela
• Clefairy
• Palossand
• Mudsdale
• Faster Choice Scarf users

 

[WMAR]

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
Stoutland since the dawn of ZU has been the most influential and the biggest piece of the ZU Metagame, the only pokemon to receive 2 suspect tests, dodging the ban the first time to being ultimately banned the 2nd time due to different metas. Stoutland is the most splashable and most versatile offensive threat. 3 amazing abilities in Intimidate, Sand Rush and Scrappy, the most used being Scrappy. Stoutland forces teams to run Normal resistant pokemon and in every VR it was allowed, it was always S Rank alongside Rotom-F. Best "counters" were Mawile and Golem but ultimately it proved to be too much for the tier and was banned. But it really was influential and really important for teams to prep for and boosted viability to Sand teams since Stoutland was an integral part of those teams and why those teams worked.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Stoutlands main role, and its really effective as a Choice Banded wall breaker. For the ZU Tier, Stoutland has amazing coverage and spammable Normal STABs. Notably it ripped the core of Bronzor + Mareanie, pounded Golem and Mawile by abusing their lack of reliable recovery and was a huge vs Offense and Stall. Stoutland can be used on offense and Balance teams that appreciate the wall breaking ability and is a staple on Normal spam teams.

What caused it to have a significant impact?
The fact Stoutland has Scrappy made its Normal STAB so spammable even burned by using Facade. Stall teams fear to status this beast or they face a boosted Facade, which lead to Mawile and Tangela usage on Stall. Stoutland restricted teambuilding because Stoutland forces physically bulky pokemon and Normal resisted pokemon who aren't weak to its coverage.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in ZU?
The only way to deal with Stoutland is fast revenge killers and fat pokemon like Tangela and Mawile. Notable revenge killers at the time were Rotom-Frost and Rapidash, both carrying Choice Scarfs. Stoutland forces these pokemon to be inserted to teams as Stoutland was just the best and most splashable breaker in ZU. Ghost types were no counter as Scrappy exists and Normal resists are pray to Superpower.

 

[Sacrificed]

Reserving Lurantis(aka a short lived goddess that made huge impact)

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?
Unlike other titans of the ZeroUsed metagame Lurantis isn t really started great at all.At the beggining of the SM Lurantis seen as mostly niche mon and outclassed by Servine.Even though USUM blessed her with Superpower most players still continued to see as worse servine until some users(mainly Unin Caboche) find out non defog offensive sets such as Rest Talk,and aromathreapy were the real meat.Despite it is a slow mon,it was unique in a sense that it was hard to Revenge Kill,bring utility to a team and pressure the opponent nicely and lastly it was the only pokémon in the ZU meta actually which is able to get rid of its own counter without changing its set because it had combination of good bulk,grass typing(which helped to beat all rockers at this time around)a very awesome ability in the name of contrary with two spammable moves(SuperPower,Leafstorm) that gives nightmare to bulky builds.As the time goes on The mon which originally sit at the B- ranking quickly started to jump rankings.Players also began to realize her potential and used in Snake Draft.If that isn t enough Servine also lost favour due to being weak and mostly outclased by vallys as a defogger and funnily lurantis itself.Then we came to september a time where this mon spammed like crazy by mods,ladder players.It formed very strong cores with Rotom Frost and Stoutland that pain to deal with.Due to it being good against bulky builds meta started become very offensive and Poison and Flying types such as Roselia,oricorio,Rotom Fan,silvally and muk become more common but even some of them(roselia,muk) were not guarantee answer to boosted Lurantis.For this reason I think no other mon in the ZU history achieved much success.Being considered nearly niche to a nearly top tier mon(A+).

In what main roles was Pokemon used?
Just as ı mentioned in previous question,originally it was used mostly as a defogger which they were fine sets(they could beat all sr setters which was honestly very cool) actually but had a problem with 4th moveslot syndrome.In during mid Usum(which ı believe should be around august and september) players opted with pUre offensive sets with rest talk and aromathreapy.These sets were highly effective because of combination of her bulk with two moves that can break each defensive side and also being check to golem,leafeon and certain electivire(electivire in that era used mostly mixed offensive sets) sets so in a short it was mainly used as a set up sweeper that puts stress on bulky builds but it was also a mon that can do Defog,Aromathrepy,Toxic support if needed.It also had some very niche sets such as AV but they weren t really that much relevant.

What caused it to have a significant impact?
Tier Shifts and most importanlt players being dicover her non defog offensive sets made it huge impact such as during september shift(Notably the one with sandlash,granbull,probopass) as ı am saying again it was a mon that bringed both utility and offensive pressure at the same time which made it ideal choice for almost any build,it took advantage of bulky builds and also it being one of the mon hardest to revenge kill into thanks to these defense boosts.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in ZU?
What are the best checks/counters to this Pokemon? How does the metagame adapt to this Pokemon?

 

[Tuthur]

Due to the lack of submissions I'm including some Pokémon that weren't nommed:

If you believe I forgot an important Pokémon don't hesitate to pm me.
Don't forget these Pokémon have already been submitted:

And now we can start with vote for the 1st place.

Rotom-Frost

 

[czim]

Frost

 

[Tack]

Bro its obviously frost

 

[Xayah]

Idk if I’m allowed to vote for my own submission but Rotom-Frost

 

[WMAR]

Rotom Frost

 

[BP]

Rotom-Frost LOL

 

[Sacrificed]

Ofc Frost that evil fridge is the reason why zu sucked back in the day and then thank god global warming happened.

 

[Funbot28]

Rotom-Frost

 

[Dollainthewoods]

rotom frost

 

[Aaronboyer]

Rotom-Frost

 

[Rav3]

Frostom

 

[Jeong]

Rotom-F.

 

[Icemann]

rotom

 

[Tuthur]

I don't believe that letting this open any longer will change the outcome of the winner.
So Frostom takes the first place with unanimity.

So let's start with Vote #2 that should probably last longer than the previous one.
Stoutland

 

[Xayah]

Silvally-Water

Sure, Silv-Fighting has been more relevant as of late, but throughout meta shift after meta shift, Water has remained a very present form and next to Golem one of the overall most common mons of SM

 

[Tack]

I'm going to say Abom, sure it wasn't broken the entire time we've had it, but when it dropped it enabled what is probably the most busted playstyle in metagame history, aka frostom Hail by being a setter that was actually decently fat and hitting like a freight train, hell even once frost left it was still a highly dominant force in the meta until it was gone right after eggy suspect, hail wasn't as busted a playstyle but abom still essentially forced teams to find ways to answer it, as blizzard w/ specs or life orb was a nuke and SD grassinium was able to break most conventional checks to them

I'd have said Muk but its not in the list

 

[czim]

Toss up between stoutland and silv water imo, one for brokeness the other for consistency, but ill go with stoutland

 

[CrazyStevy]

Golem

 

[Funbot28]

Golem for sure, best SR user for the most part of the SM ZU metagame alongside more relevancy as of late with pop up of sets such as Custap and physically (and specially) defensive.