Resource ZU Old Gens Hub - ADV Unfrozen & Quickbans #311

[BP]

what constitutes a sizable player base and if not all mons drop at the same time what mons could be dropped induvidaly

My apologies for being unclear in this aspect. I should've used more concrete examples. As of right now ADV ZU is being carried by the interest from the ROA community choice ladder, ROA tour, and video by Jimothy Cool. Outside of these events ADV ZU is held up by a small handful of other ZU contributors and players. With a big shift it would mean completely reworking the metagame. Council has talked about this in length and due to the low power level we're torn between freeing everything at once and procedurally banning things as the metagame establishes or freeing things in waves that have seen prior testing. Though as of right now we're leaning towards the latter. I'd like to be clear that the ADV ZU council is not anti-unfreeze. People rely on us to create a healthy, stable, and fun metagame. We do not have the manpower or the time to currently do so all at once. If we did, the unfreeze more then likely would've happened by now. ADV PU is currently reworking their VR which has not been updated since around last spring which was before PU's controversial Baton Pass ban. As of right now we're waiting on that as well as the results of the survey.

 

[watermess]

I spent a considerable amount of time playing adv zu recently and would be interested in making a post about what I found playing this tier on ladder getting up to number 3 on ladder in around a week, mostly I found bulkier teams to be the most effective way to take on ladder, I also think nosepass is criminally underrated in this tier and should be considered an A- tier Pokémon at the minimum, when you consider it's insane defensive profile. A few other mons I was very impressed by - bayleef, which I'm convinced it's best set is not yet even being used by most players, and sunflora, which Is probably the best electric resist in the tier taking some 30% from super effective coverage is very impressive especially when you are still threatening real damage and sweeping potential in return. I would also go as far to say that lileep and dustox are quite overrated defensive components being very reliant on status to defend against threats always makes you susceptible to targeted offensive strategies, and sweepers that have and are supported by longevity and quality backbone, not to mention that it's a dedicated defensive core that is completely blown out of the water as a defensive core by standard physical seaking, you can't possibly convince me that the sturdiest defensive core in the format is one that crumbles to the best attacker in the format? Out of all of the successful ladder topping stalls I built over the last few weeks I seldom found myself wanting to add those Pokémon, their self proclaimed consistency is fraudulent, perhaps dustox is not so bad, as shield dust makes it surprisingly good at spamming recovery, but really the two are overrated!

I should add id be happy to help or discuss tiering with the council if they are interested, having worked on small tiers before when natdex was in it's infancy, and contributing to adv OU vrs over the more recent years, i think adv pu is really enjoyable and ut would be great to be able to make it more accessible, widely known of, and played!

 

[BP]

The ADV ZU survey closed on Sunday, December 10th and we have gathered the results. Unfortunately, I do not have access to screenshots at the moment but I will edit them as I receive them.

Delcatty Results

Out of 23 votes, 60.9% (14 voters) support action being taken, with 86.7% (12 voters) support for a suspect.

Baton Pass Results

Out of 23 votes, 65.2% (15 voters) support action on BP, with 60% (9 voters) support for a complex ban and 18.8% (3 voters) support for a quickban (no BP whatsoever). Of those who voted for a complex ban, the overwhelming majority was in favor of only allowing dry pass (no passing stat boosts or Substitute).

Because of a majority in both Delcatty and Baton Pass, we will be holding a vote. Those who qualify to vote are council members, those who played 3 or more weeks of ADV ZU in Olympiad, those who placed top 8 in ADV ZU CUP, and the finalists in the ongoing ADV ZU Ladder Tournament. Additionally, there will be two suspect tournaments held in the ZU room to qualify for a vote.

Suspect Tours are as follows:

Friday December 15th 6PM GMT Won by plznostep
Saturday December 16th 8PM GMT Won by Drud

The winner of each tournament will receive one (1) vote on a potential Delcatty Ban as well a vote on a Baton Pass slate.

Suspect Rules

Note: A player can only have a maximum of one vote. If the winner of a previous tournament wins a subsequent tournament, a vote will instead be awarded to the runner-up of that tournament. For example, if Player A wins Tournament #1 and Tournament #2, and Player B loses to Player A in the finals of Tournament #2, one vote will be given to Player A for winning Tournament #1, and one vote will be given to Player B for coming in second place in Tournament #2. If two previous winners play in the finals, then the vote will go to one of the semifinalists. If only one of the eliminated semifinalists had not won a previous tour, the vote would default to them. If both eliminated semifinalists had not won a previous tour, the vote will be rewarded to whoever wins a best-of-one (BO1) head-to-head between them. If all four semifinalists had already won one of the tours, the tour will be redone at a later date and time to be announced within 24 hours of said tour’s originally scheduled time.

It should be noted that council members as well as those who've already qualified will be permitted to participate in these tours, but will be considered ‘previous winners’ and cannot earn any additional votes. This means that both Delcatty and Baton Pass will be voted on by 5 council members (OranBerryBlissey, Beatsblack, Wooper, Gangsta Spongebob, and BP), two Olympiad players (JonAmon 25 and JabbaTheGriffin), the top 8 of ADV ZU CUP not including banned users, inactive users, and those who already have qualified (Sificon, 5dots, Monai, Skrimps, and Medeia), the finalists in the ADV ZU Ladder Tournament (czim and zause), and the 2 winners of the scheduled suspect tours, for a total of 16 overall voters.

9 votes or more will be needed in order to establish a majority and to make a final decision.

 

[wooper]

tags for the above users! if you feel like we missed you, let me know!

tags

OranBerryBlissey10
BeatsBlack
wooper
Gangsta Spongebob
BP
JonAmon 25
JabbaTheGriffin
Sificon
5Dots
Monai
skrimps
Medeia

 

[Gangsta Spongebob]

RBY ZU Shifts​

With RBY PU updating their vr, ZU has undergone a few shifts.

Rises:

Magmar ZU -> PU

Scyther ZU -> PU

Vileplume ZU -> PU

Arcanine ZUBL -> PU

Drops:

Abra PU -> ZU

If you've been keeping up with RBY PU these developments are hardly surprising. PU's metagame has developed to where the four rises have found themselves in a much stronger position. In fact Arcanine is now considered S rank, a far cry from the days when it floundered in C. Meanwhile, Abra has massively fallen off as most of the time its great Special and Speed just aren't enough to make up for its pitiful bulk. Machamp, Omanyte, and Pinsir were also possible drops, though each of them managed to cling onto B-.

It has also been decided that Sandslash will be unbanned. Sandslash was banned a few months ago because it was far too powerful as a bulky wallbreaker with Swords Dance, though now the metagame has shifted to where it can't set up as easily, as evidenced by test games of this meta. Its place in the metagame isn't totally secure as ZU is developing, though I have high hopes it'll be fine.

The resources on here and the dex have been updated, and if you're interested in playing the meta a new RBY ZU tournament has just opened.

 

[Zpice]

My ADV ZU First Impressions:
Greetings to those who are viewing this post. Roughly six weeks ago, ADV ZU had gotten it's spotlight in Pokemon Showdown by it's introduction to the tier and ladder thanks to RoA Voting, and I must say this has been some of the most fun I've had from a metagame in a while. Today, I would like to share interests to my thoughts throughout the ADV ZU Tour and just in general about the tier.

Now regarding previous ADV experience, I've mainly been a Lower Tiers player (shoutouts SubZero Used) for about six-eight months prior to all this, and I've wanted in some way to develop into the higher tiers. ADV ZU was going to be that stepping stone as I had felt I gained enough skill within ADV SU to start competing in forum tours, and a tour came at the right time. Otherwise, in terms of general showdown experience this is the first year I've properly taken Pokemon Showdown seriously, so this was a way to test myself in competitive play!

Yapping aside, let's get onto some teams

Game 1 vs Kenny (WK1)

A fair few people might've seen this team during ladder or in room tours previously, but this was the original team I had used to get into ADV ZU. This was inspired by BP's Wailmer + Cubone Sample Team with some changes to fit my team style.
One of the things that might seem interesting is the unorthodox set within Lead Wailmer. Substitute is a move I typically tend to use a lot in terms of leads as it allows for scouting/a free barrier support for whatever I could do, and whilst this does sacrifice the pure damage output a Water Spout does, I feel the sacrifice was needed in place of the additional capabilities Wailmer has. Earthquake is significant in this case to hit (which typically counters Wailmer, and I had seen a fair few times during the time I've played with this team), and other numerous electric types that Wailmer typically finds a problem against like Voltorb, Elekid and lesser to an extent Magnemite. Boom is also nice.
Farfetch'd also offers itself as a really intriguing win condition that I had found knowledge to via. SubZero Used, and with very few means of counter-play (Shuppet is bad LOL), it works as a way of deleting Pokemon through Flail+SD+Salac. Another thing Farfetch'd offers is STAB Quick Attack, and whilst Pokemon like Pidgeotto and Tailow offer it, the unique properties of Farfetch'd makes me more comfortable to using this ducky boy during these room tours on notable occasions.
[This team was also used in G3 (W) vs Diegoyuhhi in Week 2]

Game 3 vs Bless (WK3)

Speaking of Wailmer, I don't think I've seen enough of Wailmer as of late within this current meta, which was something really significant in this team-building pattern. One of the most common leads I've noticed was . The access to STAB Double Edge, Focus Punch, Baton Pass and the item Choice Band (not all ran at once) helps to make this Pokemon a really deadly Pokemon to switch into. One of the ways I noticed which beat Aipom however is Lead ! Thick Club gives it Double Damage which was incredibly important in being a WallBreaker within the tier whilst Rock Head + Double Edge is pure damage to the likes of Koffing, Baltoy and other potent Levitate/Flying Type Switch-ins. Now, Lead Specifically at Max HP investment allows it to live CB Double Edge from Aipom as well as tanking two hits vs HP Grass Koffing. Both of these allow it to being a potent lead at times, and a pretty fun one to use as well, allowing it to beat electric type leads and other strong general leads.
Delcatty recently cropped up as a very strong defensive Pokemon through Wish, strong defensive stats and Heal Bell, something no other Pokemon has together. As a result, Delcatty-Lileep has been a relatively common core I've been using as they create synergies with each other. However, they still have some problems such as , so special attackers such as Seaking (which runs Mixed to chunk Delcatty and Exeggcute) and Elekid (great speed control option, has access to priority via. Quick Attack. This team will probably be developed further as time progresses but I really like this team I had created.

Game 2 vs Pokology (Finals)

A team I feel still needs optimisation but performed well for me, Nosepass is another regular option I've used to beat standard Aipom Leads as it has access to Thunder Wave, Earthquake and Explosion to be a potent Pokemon. Lum Berry is used vs Status Spreading Leads and physical Pokemon can find problems facing this team overall (except Cubone). is there as a possible big damage mon in terms of Petaya Berry + Agility, and Flash Fire offers as a consistent way to switch into Will-O-Wisp from Koffing (something this team faces small problems again). Elekid and Aipom are great speed control options. Further on Aipom, SubPunch is a set I wanted to experiment with often but never really found the team I could use it in, thankfully this team fits for a fast SubPunch user, and due to Aipom's potency it forces a lot of switches, allow it to take advantage of it's Substitutes.
Koffing and Delcatty are often Pokemon I use on teams due to their flexibility and how they can strengthen teams on their own. Now whilst neither are in particularly broken (more referring to Delcatty), both are strong Pokemon and are worth looking into finding ways to deal with them to create such a team. Other significant Pokemon that are worth considering over are: Aipom, Castform, Dustox, Elekid, Farfetch'd, Grimer, Lileep, Mankey, Nidorino, Rhyhorn, Seaking and Spoink. Not all of these Pokemon are strong S+ threats (such as Grimer, Mankey and Spoink) but many of these tend to be the bane of people's existences because they can destroy teams if you come unprepared.

I have a lot more teams and a lot more things I'd love to present and explain myself, but I think I'll call it a day here. Once again I appreciate everyone for the opportunity to play this tier, and I'd like to give further credits to missangelic and TomatoZause for helping me out get into this tier as easily as it has been. I would not have performed as well as I had already did if it wasn't for those two.

Anyways, I've written too much (1.1k words lmao), so I hope to see you guys in another post soon. Stay blessed!

 

[wooper]

The ADV ZU survey closed on Sunday, December 10th and we have gathered the results. Unfortunately, I do not have access to screenshots at the moment but I will edit them as I receive them.

Delcatty Results

Out of 23 votes, 60.9% (14 voters) support action being taken, with 86.7% (12 voters) support for a suspect.

Baton Pass Results

Out of 23 votes, 65.2% (15 voters) support action on BP, with 60% (9 voters) support for a complex ban and 18.8% (3 voters) support for a quickban (no BP whatsoever). Of those who voted for a complex ban, the overwhelming majority was in favor of only allowing dry pass (no passing stat boosts or Substitute).

Because of a majority in both Delcatty and Baton Pass, we will be holding a vote. Those who qualify to vote are council members, those who played 3 or more weeks of ADV ZU in Olympiad, those who placed top 8 in ADV ZU CUP, and the finalists in the ongoing ADV ZU Ladder Tournament. Additionally, there will be two suspect tournaments held in the ZU room to qualify for a vote.

Suspect Tours are as follows:

Friday December 15th 6PM GMT Won by plznostep
Saturday December 16th 8PM GMT Won by Drud

The winner of each tournament will receive one (1) vote on a potential Delcatty Ban as well a vote on a Baton Pass slate.

Suspect Rules

Note: A player can only have a maximum of one vote. If the winner of a previous tournament wins a subsequent tournament, a vote will instead be awarded to the runner-up of that tournament. For example, if Player A wins Tournament #1 and Tournament #2, and Player B loses to Player A in the finals of Tournament #2, one vote will be given to Player A for winning Tournament #1, and one vote will be given to Player B for coming in second place in Tournament #2. If two previous winners play in the finals, then the vote will go to one of the semifinalists. If only one of the eliminated semifinalists had not won a previous tour, the vote would default to them. If both eliminated semifinalists had not won a previous tour, the vote will be rewarded to whoever wins a best-of-one (BO1) head-to-head between them. If all four semifinalists had already won one of the tours, the tour will be redone at a later date and time to be announced within 24 hours of said tour’s originally scheduled time.

It should be noted that council members as well as those who've already qualified will be permitted to participate in these tours, but will be considered ‘previous winners’ and cannot earn any additional votes. This means that both Delcatty and Baton Pass will be voted on by 5 council members (OranBerryBlissey, Beatsblack, Wooper, Gangsta Spongebob, and BP), two Olympiad players (JonAmon 25 and JabbaTheGriffin), the top 8 of ADV ZU CUP not including banned users, inactive users, and those who already have qualified (Sificon, 5dots, Monai, Skrimps, and Medeia), the finalists in the ADV ZU Ladder Tournament (czim and zause), and the 2 winners of the scheduled suspect tours, for a total of 16 overall voters.

9 votes or more will be needed in order to establish a majority and to make a final decision.

the results of the suspect test are in! while two folks havent yet voted, we have enough to move forward

delcatty

9 votes ban to 5 votes do not ban

baton pass

10 votes drypass only to 3 votes subpass allowed (red and green are the same option, there was a typo in the green) to 1 vote for a complete ban

with that, delcatty is now banned from adv zu and our baton pass restriction will remain the same with dry pass only! tagging Marty and Kris for implementation in the builder. see individual votes below!

voting slate

it's important to note that our baton pass ruling is different than what was just established in pu a few days earlier. no further updates on adv as of yet, but stay tuned!

 

[czim]

ADV ZU LADDER TOUR TEAM DUMP​

With the tour over, I'm here to drop the teams I built for the 2 later rounds, trying to counterteam owntempo and zause (or just build some cool stuff). I don't expect all those teams to last because of the Delcatty ban but maybe it works with another specially defensive mon in its slot? Idk time will tell. Anyway here it goes.

G1 vs owntempo - Semifinals - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3zu-2007056165?p2


After Mr. Bossman hit me with lead castform 3 consecutive times, I decided to give it a go.
Castform is a very versatile pokemon and i made this spread/moveset to make it handle the lead metagame somewhat well. Castform is fast and strong so it deals with slower leads like Wailmer, Growlithe/Cyndaquil, Snorunt. Protect is there to scout potentially threatening moves from CB aipom and rack leftovers recovery when needed. You can see in the replay I had a good lead matchup into Wailmer, which didnt expect a faster Castform moving before its Water Spout. Thunder Wave is also there to support Cubone, giving it more windows to sub
Cubone is a vital member of this team, and it takes advantage of walls that Castform cant really beat, like Dustox, Nosepass and Delcatty. Bonemerang is used to help vs Sub Punch Aipom, which is very annoying for the team, and other substitute users like Rhyhorn that can be problematic.
These 3 are fairly standard sets, so not much to add, its a bulky core and speed control.
Bulky Seaking with restalk is something I wanted to try, since it makes it a pretty decent status absorber because of its natural bulk, and I needed a water type here so it just kinda went in. I didnt need Chinchou here because i had Dustox+Lileep


G2 vs owntempo - Semifinals - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3zu-2007056165


Gonna say this isnt the most innovative team ever, the only cool mons are pretty much Sub Punch Aipom and the Elekid, the rest is pretty standard.
Lead sub punch Aipom is very cool as long as theres not a koffing (and tbh even koffing cant take many returns). CB Aipom forces a lot of switches as a lead so this set takes advatange of that to sub punch and pressure common normal switch ins. You can see how it worked vs the Nosepass and took advatange of owntempo's Dustox
not much going on here, just a standard core to help on the defensive side while having Delcatty to heal bell the other 3 when needed
This is something I wanted to try with a more different approach at the coverage, with boltbeam(punch) and psychic for Dustox, putting some pressure on some of kids usual checks while making its matchup vs others like Chinchou worse. I didnt even get to use Elekid in the game and because of that it'd probably be my g3 team vs zause, but that ended up not happening.


G1 vs zause - Finals - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3zu-2018522167-pdhaft8j6orrzsuizp84xon67zv7g6ypw


I wanted to build a normal spam team and ended up with Aipom+Teddi. Since i lead 2 normals on the last round I didnt want to lead either of them so I decided to try Lead Staryu which is something I think is a bit underrated, the mon has nice coverage, speed and recovery and should be used offensive more (and spikes are kinda rare anyways so the spin set is meh). This team kinda struggles with Rhyhorn though but you can maneuver with Staryu/Lileep and aggressive play
Star's spread is meant to creep Delibird and just put the rest on bulk. Zause went a more offensive route in the 2nd game with it with Hydro Pump and tbh that's probably better than what I used. Most interesting thing here is probably Thunder Wave, which I used to make Teddiursa's life much easier for setting up
Coolest thing on the team by far. Teddiursa is underrated and can be very hard to stop after it gets going. The spread is to avoid a koffing sludge bomb at +1 from breaking sub, so you can freely setup on its face (which worked on the game). EQ is very good coverage and something Aipom could only dream to have.
The 2nd part of the core, meant to finish breaking after teddi has done its thing, also Aipom is arguably the best mon in the meta so why not use it as the 2nd normal here.
normal sets, defensive core + speed control.


G2 vs zause - Finals - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3zu-2018530258-fvbjntgov32m3a9e6ihbjeeyq8q6yb6pw


This one is probably the wildest team I built for the tour, with the idea of Spoink being a sort of an anti-lead with Thick Fat, and I wanted to use Dustox Psychic+Toxic combo but with a more offensive mon that took advatange of that very hard to switch into move combo. This team ended up being very weak to Magnemite (which I should've lost to), but that could probably be fixed with Chinchou over Seaking. Maybe it could be refined with some changes, but the idea didn't seem bad to me at first glance and in testing.

Spoink is nice, decent special attack, decent speed, resists fire, ice, fighting, psychic so it has some opportunities coming in on stuff. This obviously struggles with Heal Bell support though, so this is where Shuppet comes in to help. Protect is nice for leads too to scout if needed.
The Delcatty counter, last move could be Wisp or Psychic but I ended up going for Psychic to break Koffing and make Shup harder to switch into, since Wisp didnt do much for me in testing. Rest of the set is pretty standard though with Sub and Sball/Hp fight
speed control and quick attack if i got hit with some endure flail/reversal bs, which would probably mess this team without shuppet
Much needed here, providing wishes for Spoink and Shuppet, while also curing status from Restalk Seaking.
Rounding the defensive core, not much to explain. The Seaking spread is in case people run fast Rhyhorn/Cubone so you can outspeed.


Bonus team - Team I spammed to get reqs (with like 10 games on ladder lol) and in earlier rounds (notably 3 times vs Bossaru lmao)


This team is somewhat old, but has always been very consistent for me (and it'd also be considered for a g3 vs zause). Grimer+Lileep is a very hard core to break without a ground type, and bulky staryu checks those really well, with the exception of Cubone, which is the biggest threat for this team. It also somewhat operates with normal-spam, with Castform/Aipom helping each other make progress. Growlithe is also an old sub petaya set (ik lead uses lum more these days). This team also struggles a bit with status, relying on Staryu and Grimer to absorb them.

Anyways, this is it for this team dump, hope you enjoy these teams even if some of them might be worthless with the Delcatty ban.

Back to retirement

 

[Lillith Plays]

I made a VR template for the newly unfrozen ADV ZU meta:
https://tiermaker.com/create/adv-zu-post-freeze-vr-maker-1479902

Here are some speed tiers. They aren't very in depth but this should be somewhat helpful at least.

speed tiers

Edit: the speed tiers weren't showing up correctly so I combined some of the tiers together and removed most of the SU mons. Hopefully it'll work now.

 

[Gangsta Spongebob]

ADV ZU has gone through numerous major changes as of recently!

First of all, everyone give a warm welcome to at Monai to Council!

Secondly, with PU updating their VR, ADV ZU has been shaken up massively:

Rises:

Chinchou ZU -> PU

Drops:

Anorith PU -> ZU

Ariados PU -> ZU

Beedrill PU -> ZU

Clamperl PU -> ZU

Doduo PU -> ZU

Drowzee PU -> ZU

Flaaffy PU -> ZU

Graveler PU -> ZU

Lombre PU -> ZU

Magby PU -> ZU

Meditite PU -> ZU

Noctowl PU -> ZU

Ponyta PU -> ZU

Porygon PU? -> ZU

Smoochum PU -> ZU

Tentacool PU -> ZU

Volbeat PU -> ZU

Wartortle PU -> ZU

Weepinbell PU -> ZU

With ZU becoming much stronger, the Council has also decided to free every proper preexisting ZUBL Pokemon:

Unbans:

Delcatty ZUBL -> ZU

Gloom ZUBL -> ZU

Quilava ZUBL -> ZU

Thing is, for those out of the loop, we've been playing this metagame for a while. We've had access to the new VR already, it's just been a matter of waiting until PU formally updated their Viability Rankings. After numerous test games, the ADV ZU Council has decided to ban the following Pokemon:

Bans:

Corsola PU -> ZUBL

Lairon PU -> ZUBL

Poliwhirl PU -> ZUBL

Shedinja PU -> ZUBL

Votes

First up, Corsola has been banned due to its centralization as a bulky Calm Mind sweeper. It is extremely bulky by ZU standards, with moves such as Duduo's banded Hidden Power Ground and Aipom's Banded Brick Break struggling to break through it, while a quad-super effective Hidden Power Grass from Pokemon like Quilava and Flaffy don't even do deal do that much damage after a Calm Mind or two. This is combined with the fact that Corsola has little trouble in the power department. Most of the Pokemon that can threaten it with super effective attacks are often 2-3HKOed by its unboosted moves.

Some Calcs

252 Atk Choice Band Doduo Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Corsola: 139-164 (44.2 - 52.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Corsola: 132-156 (42 - 49.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Quilava Hidden Power Grass vs. +2 252 HP / 4 SpD Corsola: 129-152 (41 - 48.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Flaaffy Hidden Power Grass vs. +1 252 HP / 4 SpD Corsola: 129-152 (41 - 48.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Corsola Surf vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Doduo: 160-189 (75.8 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 SpA Corsola Surf vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Aipom: 117-138 (46.4 - 54.7%) -- 62.1% chance to 2HKO

0 SpA Corsola Surf vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Quilava: 205-242 (79.7 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+1 0 SpA Corsola Surf vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Flaaffy: 107-126 (31.1 - 36.6%) -- 67% chance to 3HKO

What ultimately puts Corsola over the edge is its absurd longevity. 32 PP Recover already provides immense staying power, and an ability in Natural Cure is the cherry on top. Not only do you struggle to actually remove it once it starts setting up, but Corsola has no trouble simply switching in and out and begin setting up again, especially due to how bad Spikes are.

There are arguments against banning Corsola, as while it can be instantly threatening against many teams, it lacks the power to 6-0 opponents on its own. Plus, some extremely powerful wallbreakers such as Choice Band Graveler and Clamperl can take it out somewhat reliably. However, its longevity forces teams to use a very small pool of Pokemon to deal with it, most of whom can't easily switch in, which is why it gets the ban hammer.



Next up is Lairon, probably the least controversial ban here. This thing's stats are just way too high. Comparing it to a pre-unfreeze top-tier, Rhyhorn, Lairon is both stronger, with its Steel-type STAB able to outright 2HKO defensive staples like Koffing, bulkier with its absurd physical defense, and even faster, making it harder to Speed creep. Some of these calcs illustrate how absurd it is.

Some Calcs

252+ Atk Choice Band Lairon Rock Slide vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Koffing: 118-139 (41.6 - 49.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Lairon Iron Tail vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Koffing: 156-184 (55.1 - 65%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Lairon Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Bayleef: 130-154 (40.1 - 47.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Lairon Iron Tail vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Bayleef: 174-205 (53.7 - 63.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Lairon Rock Slide vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Wartortle: 130-154 (40.4 - 47.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Lairon Iron Tail vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Lileep: 357-420 (106.2 - 125%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Lairon Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gloom: 142-168 (43.8 - 51.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Lairon Iron Tail vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gloom: 189-223 (58.3 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lairon: 248-292 (95 - 111.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO (Not even a guarantee OHKO)

252+ Atk Choice Band Lairon Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aipom: 255-300 (101.5 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Lairon isn't perfect, as its still-low Speed and special bulk make it vulnerable to special attackers, with many such as Quilava able to OHKO it outright. And it does have exploitable weaknesses that can lead it to being sniped and KOed. However, despite the fact the ZU has been massively powercrept, Lairon is just way too punishing to defensive cores while having too strong of a matchup against physically offensive threats to be allowed in here.



Poliwhirl essentially does what Poliwag did in GSC ZU. Sleep the opponent (with Hypnosis this time), set up Belly Drum, and sweep. With an excellent base 90 Speed, once it gets going it's extremely hard to stop.

Thing is, it is indeed very inconsistent. Relying on Hypnosis and poor bulk means Poliwhirl can very easily miss and loose too much HP to set up. It isn't that strong either, with physical walls like Lileep equipped with the bulk to take at least one +6 Attack. However, it forces both cheesy gamestates and forces teams to run multiple physical walls or Quick Attack users to reliably take it down. Plus, it can also run a Substitute set or even a specially attacking set to take advantage of the very rigid plays it forces. Poliwhirl isn't the most consistently broken thing ever, but it's extremely unhealthy, which is why it has been banned.



Shedinja will no doubt be the most controversial ban here, and for good reason. 12 immunities seem nice until you see Shedinja's stats, notably its single point of HP. Shedinja is infamously terrible outside of some very fringe success in Ubers. However, ZU has the perfect storm of factors to make it deeply unhealthy.

First of all, traditionally Shedinja is a non-issue because of Spikes. Issue is, Spikes are terrible here. We've got numerous new Rapid Spinners, no new Spikers, and the only Spinblockers we have is Shedinja itself and the massively powercrept Shuppet. Spikes are simply bad on the vast majority of teams, so pressuring them to run Pineco, Shuppet, or Cacnea isn't healthy. Another thing is that 90 Attack is actually extremely good by ZU standards, so Shedinja is actually quite threatening, limiting the pool of Pokemon that can switch into it when it inevitably forces something out.

However, there is some dissent. Like, it's Shedinja guys, it's annoying but it's extremely vulnerable to status and just loses to half the tier. It can also accidentally make Porygon borderline unkillable. I personally voted for a suspect, as I believe it needs to be tested more. However, the ban side is valid, given the timeline of tournaments. Olympiad is coming soon, and many of the pro-ban side argue that it's better to ban likely very unhealthy Pokemon instead of giving it the opportunity to fester and potentially ruin tournaments. Either way, we will absolutely revisit Shedinja in the future, once we have a better understanding of the new ZU.



We also voted on Gloom among the pool of Pokemon recently freed. Arguments for its ban cite its massive bulk combined with its access to Swords Dance and reliable recovery, making it a tough-to-break bulky sweeper. Its immunity to Toxic is another excellent trait to have. It also finds use on sun teams, being a very threatening sweeper among a cast of extremely powerful teammates.

However, ultimately Gloom is too flawed to be banworthy at the moment. Its bulk, while great, isn't enough for it to take on attackers like Quilava and Ponyta. Meanwhile, it's extremely vulnerable to burn, especially from the still solid Koffing. Finally, while Sun has potential, at the moment it's way too unoptimized to pose any problem. Gloom has potential to be broken, but so far it's not enough of an issue to justify a ban.

My Thoughts

Finally, I'd like to give my personal thoughts on the drops, and how they'll reshape the meta. This is not representative of the general thoughts of Council, just my own independently:



Swords Dance, a Rock typing, and a usable 75 base Speed make this a potentially potent Sword Dance user. It also has interesting utility in Rapid Spin and Knock Off, though it can't run both at the same time. So far I've struggled to make it work due to its frailty, but I have hope Anorith will be a solid pick in the future.



I'd say Ariados is largely outclassed by Beedrill as a pure Bug/Poison-type attacker, but higher attacking stats and access to Psychic will likely give it some niche. I don't have super high hopes for it, but Ariados definitely has some traits to make it worth using.



Beedrill will likely be a very solid Swords Dance user with its STAB Sludge Bomb and decent Speed. Access to Brick Break also lets it slam Rock-types for big damage. It unfortunately gets cooked alive by Quilava and Ponyta, which can easily cut its sweep short, but Beedrill might be the last thing defensive teams want to face.



With Deep Sea Tooth Clamperl can reach a Special Attack stat higher than that of Mewtwo, which'll probably make it the scariest wallbreaker in the tier. Even something as absurdly bulky as Noctowl can be threatened by it. For now Clamperl is held back by its terrible Speed, which tends to force it to not invest in its bulk, though I can see Clamperl becoming a massive issue and possibly even banworthy in the future. Using Deep Sea Scale to boost Clamperl's special bulk is also an option, though I doubt it's worth skipping out on the sheer power Tooth provides.



Delcatty will likely do similar roles that it did before its ban, but an overall much stronger metagame and more powerful Pokemon able to do its niches will make it considerably worse.



Really cool-looking physical wallbreaker. It doesn't totally outclass Aipom since it's slower, but its higher Attack, secondary STAB in Drill Peck, and access to Quick Attack could lead to Doduo becoming the quintessential physical wallbreaker of ZU.



Haven't seen people use this or talk about Drowzee much, but it'll probably be a usable special tank carried by its access to Thunder Wave.



Graveler is actually slightly physically frailer than Rhyhorn, but it doesn't matter since Graveler is an upgrade in basically every other way. It hits harder, has slightly higher special bulk, is faster so it's harder to Speed creep, and it has access to the all-important Boom. Despite its numerous typing-related issues, Graveler will likely become THE Normal-resist of the tier, especially with Lairon and Corsola's bans.



Flaffy is an interesting mon, possessing good bulk and the amazing Heal Bell. People have been using it a ton, though I predict it'll fall off as people begin punishing its use more and more.



I haven't seen a single person talk about this mon ever, so I have no idea what it'll do. Its stats are pretty eh, though it could find some use on rain teams.



This is a certified GSC ZU moment. Magby's good Special Attack, high Speed, and good movepool will likely make it a strong special attacker, but one that is held back its frailty and ZU's plethora of excellent special walls and tanks.



Returning after it rose to PU like 3 years ago, Meditite hits absurdly hard thanks to its ability. However, its easily overwhelmed by the tier's plethora of faster attackers, and Meditite's meager coverage can let some walls like Koffing actually take it on.



Noctowl is absurdly specially bulky, with its weakness to BoltBeam often not mattering at all when they fail to 3HKO. This Pokemon is essentially Delcatty on crack, capable of taking on absurdly powerful foes like Clamperl. However, Noctowl is hardly a one-Pokemon army, as it suffers from a lack of reliable recovery, a mediocre offensive presence, and only alright physical bulk. Noctowl has clear flaws, but it will likely cement itself as one of ZU's staples.



Porygon has often been compared to pre-drops Castform, though it's arguably more versatile and has Recover. So far Porygon has been nothing short of amazing, primarily taking pure defensive roles though these are likely the tip off its immense potential. Its influence has gotten to the point where Ponyta often runs the useless Run Away in order to not give Porygon Flash Fire through Trace. Also, while Shedinja has ways around Porygon, accidentally making Pory almost invincible by tracing Wonder Guard is some of the funniest shit imaginable.



Once again freed, Quilava has emerged as a brutally powerful special wallbreaker in ZU. However, this time it does have strong counterplay in foes like Noctowl, Porygon, and Flash Fire Ponyta, the latter also doubling as strong competition. There were fears that Quilava would be too much, but so far it has settled in as an excellent but balanced force.



Another GSC jumpscare, Smoochum's elusive Psychic and Ice STABs will likely make it a solid special attacker, though it's held back by its extreme frailty and mediocre Speed for an offensive Pokemon.



An interesting pick with its high special bulk and interesting utility, though mostly outclassed as a bulky Water and Rapid Spinner by Wartortle.



I've seen people theorymon this mon more than actually use it, but it does look like it has a lot of potential with its really good Speed, pivoting potential, and access to either a spammable physical bug STAB or boosting potential with Tail Glow.



Wartortle's good bulk has likely made it ZU's quintessential bulky Water, staving off numerous threats like Graveler and Quilava.



Weepinbell seems largely outclassed by Gloom due its better bulk, but higher attacking stats likely give it an niche on very offensive builds, notably Sun teams.

Overall, the tier is almost unrecognizable from its previous incarnation, and I'm excited to see how things'll end up. Tagging Kris to implement this on Showdown.

 

[innovamania]

I'm not an adv zu main but I would love to bring everyone's attention to a pokemon that is severely underrated in my opinion, being Magby. Magby actually has a few things that give it a reason to use it over other fire types. First one is it's amazing coverage, having thunder punch means you can afford to run HP water on it which lets you actually hit other fire types unlike ponyta who has to rely on double edge and quilava who has to give up hitting waters to hit fires by running hp water. The second is access to cross chop which actually lets magby beat 2 of the most common special walls in the tier delcatty and porygon something the other fires struggle with.
4 Atk Magby Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Delcatty: 163-192 (47.3 - 55.8%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 Atk Magby Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Porygon: 153-180 (45.8 - 53.8%) -- 46.9% chance to 2HKO

I think focus punch is also worth considering as magby is meant to punish switches and focus punch does that better then cross chop and also makes it beat these mons even more. Overall Magby still has the same issues it always has being frail as fuck but I think more teams and archetypes should really consider this pokemon rather then just slapping on ponyta and quilava

Set:
Magby @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Fire Blast
- Thunder Punch
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Cross Chop / Focus Punch

I would also love to hear other people and the council's opinion on porygon. I know it's early on but porygon seems like a mon with very few downsides to actually running it and I know i'm not the only one who thinks it might be an issue down the line. Again I know it's super early and I'm not an ADV ZU main so I would love to hear more opinions on porygon since i think it's the most controversial atm imo.

Overall I'm liking the new meta and am excited to see how this develops during and leading up to Olympiad. thanks for reading

 

[innovamania]

This is just a small post to inform the zu community about some updates to the GSC ZU resources ahead of olympiad. First thing is a new addition to the VR with After it's amount of usage and success in various gsc zu tours we have decided it was worthy of adding to the vr but felt redoing the entire vr wasn't needed so it has been added to A-. The other update is to the sample movesets in order to include some updates to various mons (mainly croconaw) as well as to add a sample moveset for meowth.

 

[BP]

I'm going to cover some Pokemon that I really enjoy using. I'll cover their "optimal' sets but these sets may change as the meta progresses. Usually, I'm pretty on par with metagame updates, but I've been slacking lol.

Mixed

Ponyta @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Return
- Fire Blast
- Quick Attack
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

Ponyta is one of the best Pokemon in the metagame thanks to its excellent Speed coupled with its STAB and Attack. Ponyta's greatest asset is its Speed tier. Elekid is pretty rare thanks to Flaaffy, Porygon, and to a lesser extent Noctowl, abusing it. This means that Ponyta cements itself as an excellent form of Speed control as it is able to outpace Aipom which still find itself a top meta threat. Originally I was running a Charcoal variant with Flash Fire, but this is just bait for Porygon. With this set, you can lure in Porygon and often 2HKO it if there's prior damage or it's been afflicted with Toxic. This set does leave it lacking against Graveler, but Graveler never wants to risk getting chipped by Fire Blast due to its chance to Burn. Moreover, you don't have to give up the defensive utility that Flash Fire provides while running this set as Return is just fine. Return into two Hidden Power Fighting always KO's Porygon meaning its a lot harder for Porygon to switch in successfully. I believe that Ponyta is the best Pokemon in the meta right now alongside Porygon.

Cleaner & Mixed

Ariados @ Leftovers
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 84 HP / 252 Atk / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Sludge Bomb
- Signal Beam

Ariados @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 104 HP / 184 Atk / 220 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Psychic
- Night Shade / Signal Beam / Return / Baton Pass

There is so much to say about Ariados. It looks like a worse Beedrill on paper but in practice its an excellent mid to late-game threat. It's superb base Attack in-conjunction with its mediocre bulk and coverage options means its able to heavily threaten defensive foes like Koffing, Noctowl, Porygon, and Flaaffy. Beedrill falls short in this regard as it needs a Swords Dance boost to pose a threat. Ariados' cleaner set is able to completely ignore the threat of late-game Quilava and Ponyta once a single Agility has been set. It's a perfect cleaner when its up against more offensive teams that rely on Flaaffy or Wartortle as a defensive backbone. It's completely walled by Koffing, however so it requires Koffing to be removed before it can reliably clean. Mixed Ariados does not have this issue. It's able to 2HKO Koffing with Psychic and threaten a plethora of other defensive foes with STAB-boosted Sludge Bomb. If you enjoy using Beedrill I would highly recommend trying out Ariados.

Mixed

Seaking @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 20 SpD / 60 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Megahorn
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Protect / Ice Beam

Seaking has changed extremely little since the unfreeze. It still loves to run a mixed set as this allows it to dunk on Fire-types, Grass-types, and Noctowl. Currently Seaking has seen a lot of potential as a lead thanks to being able to OHKO Quilava and Ponyta with Hydro Pump. It also able to chip opposing Seaking with Megahorn increasing the likely hood that you can KO with your own Fire-type. Hidden Power Rock 2HKO's Noctowl which is forces it to use Rest early allowing for a much easier time removing it later. Protect is used to provide Seaking with some form of recovery, but Ice Beam can be used to chunk opposing Gloom which otherwise just sets up on Seaking. I don't really have much to say about Seaking other then its a much better answer to Quilava and Ponya then Wartortle is.

STALL BREAKER

Gloom @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Synthesis
- Swords Dance
- Stun Spore / Sleep Powder / Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Grass / Leech Seed
- Sludge Bomb

With two new Fire-types and a plethora of execellent Water-types Gloom finds itself as an incredibly easy Pokemon to support. Its excellent into a large number of builds thanks to its immunity to its defensive typing coupled with Swords Dance and excellent STAB. It's bulk is nothing to scoff at either and while it falls short against Choice Band Gravler its able to remedy this by being 2HKOed by Doduo and Aipom allowing it to threaten them with Sludge Bomb. Gloom is an incredibly usefull Pokemon on a large number of team structures, not just FWG. Its role compression is insane and this what makes Gloom so spectactular.

Free Team

Lead Sheep + Gloom Spider

 

[BP]

​

It's been brought to our attention that by using Ariados you can abuse a mechanic that was not coded into the ADV ZU challenge format. This mechanic is known as Trap Passing and in ZU it revolves around the move Spider Web and Baton Pass. This is entirely our fault for overlooking this at the time as Trap passing has been banned in OU for quite sometime. This has now been implemented into the challenge format and is thus no longer an issue.

 

[Monai]

​

Another year of BW ZU, another year of updates! The conclusion of the survey didn't support any tiering action at all, which is a great sign for the tier's health. WIthout further ado, here is our updated VR:

2024 VR

VR Explanation

S

S rank Pokemon are the best of the best and are usable in any team or structure. They define the metagame and no other Pokemon available can do what they do. They require no support to utilize and are capable of supporting teams extremely well. You are doing your opponent a favor by not using these Pokemon.


--------

A+

A+ ranked Pokemon are staples in the current metagame but their offensive/defensive presence is less notable than S rank Pokemon, yet one should consider them without hesitation when building. They are all capable in their own right, easy to use, and proficient in providing great support while requiring little to no support.

A

A Rank Pokemon are a less capable than A+ because they are either more limited in overall capabilities and roles or have exploitable flaws, but the team utility/function they provide can't be matched. They are all very capable offensively/defensively. A rank Pokemon may require support to work.

A-

A- rank Pokemon have glaring flaws but maintain unique capabilities that enable them to be large threats in the current meta, creating powerful offensive/defensive pairings. Pokemon in this rank will require support to be utilized properly.


--------

B+

B+ rank have a more specific function in the metagame that they are capable of fulfilling quite well. While they boast great capabilities, they require more support to work than A- rank Pokemon. These Pokemon are limited to specific roles/archetypes and/or require a lot of support to be utilized properly.

B

B rank Pokemon are far more limited in how they can be utilized, either fulfilling very specific roles, and requiring a lot of support to work well. Their success in their role is less of guarantee as well.

B-

B- rank Pokemon have obvious flaws with limited capabilities and are outclassed by higher ranked Pokemon. They fulfill very specific roles and are not easily put into a team. They are very hard to use and requires a LOT of team support.


--------

C

C rank Pokemon are viable, but you are probably better off trying another Pokémon than using these. They have unique niches and are usable on teams tailored to support them. C rank Pokemon can find success against certain match ups, but their success is not a guarantee.

S Rank
1. Clefairy
2. Persian
3. Solrock

S- Rank
4. Grumpig
5. Emolga
6. Muk

A+ Rank
7. Leafeon
8. Meganium
9. Simisear
10. Lairon
11. Arbok
12. Wormadam-T
13. Mienfoo

A Rank
14. Walrein
15. Mr. Mime
16. Frillish
17. Staryu
18. Kingler
19. Raichu
20. Glaceon

A- Rank
21. Shelgon
22. Whiscash
23. Pawniard
24. Pelipper
25. Hippopotas

B+ Rank
26. Slaking
27. Pikachu
28. Vullaby
29. Ivysaur
30. Wormadam-S

B Rank
31. Vibrava
32. Lopunny
33. Munchlax
34. Exploud
35. Luxray
36. Hypno
37. Graveler
38. Bibarel
39. Beartic

B- Rank
40. Gloom
41. Lampent
42. Mothim
43. Budew
44. Gastly
45. Octillery
46. Flareon
47. Leavanny
48. Magmar

C Rank
Corsola
Cranidos
Drilbur
Eelektrik
Granbull
Heatmor
Kecleon
Koffing
Magcargo
Magnemite
Phione
Pignite
Pineco
Porygon
Raticate
Sandshrew
Shelmet
Unfezant
Vanilluxe

This VR was compiled through all qualified voters' viability rankings, and you can see how they voted here.

Monai's Takeaways

I'm gonna try and breakdown notable changes. While the S-rank is somewhat interchangeable, Clefairy's rise to #1 reflects the prominence of balance teams, which Clefairy is staple member of. While Persian finds its place on many balances as a revenge killer and wallbreaker swiss-army-knife, Persian is most effective trading down vs opposing offense. The top 15 has shifted around slightly, but the only major change is Meganium's fall from grace. While #8 is still incredible, it seems to now be considered interchangeable with the more offensive Leafeon. Glaceon has risen a signficant number of placements, and this is no surprise in the context of the rise of balance, which Glaceon can consistently rip apart. Pikachu has also fallen quite a bit. Once considered on par with its evolution, PIkachu has fallen to B+ while Raichu has risen up to A tier. Raichu's great set versatility and very high Speed makes it much more flexible and harder to handle than Pikachu, which was considered much better in the context of a much more offensive metagame with its powerful Extreme Speed. Finally, I will be assessing the new Pokemon on the Viability Rankings. Vibrava has seen use as a U-turn pivot that compresses a check to Muk, Simisear, and Arbok, while also potentially swapping into Choice Specs Raichu and gaining momentum. However, Vibrava is quite weak and is extremely susceptible to status, meaning it functions best as a very short term check to these top-tier Pokemon, although it must also watch out for potentially being set up on by Curse Muk and Coil Arbok. While Beartic is not new, it has solidified its niche as the best Swift Swim user in the tier, providing incredible power and speed alongside Pelipper. However, rain remains a niche HO style. Hypno has seen very recent use as a mix of a stallbreaker and a cleric, combining Taunt and Wish to continuously pass to beefy wallbreakers like Glaceon, Muk, and Walrein. Seismic Toss differentiates it from Chimecho who has an otherwise better ability, allowing it to output very consistent damage on the broadly low HP metagame of BW ZU. However, Hypno can exacerbate a team's weakness to status, which Clefairy can take or even heal for its team. Finally, Budew has emerged as the best user of Spikes. A combination of Natural Cure, a good matchup into Staryu, and the ability to spread status has given Budew a very narrow yet respectable niche.

Finally, the council has unanimously elected to ban King's Rock, Razor Fang, and Quick Claw. These items existed for no reason but to cheese opponents with high-risk high-reward situations, so we would like to nip these items in the bud before Shellder users get any ideas.

Tagging Marty and dhelmise to implement these changes

 

[BP]

BP's Guide to Building Balance
​

I've come to realize that building in the new ADV meta might be extremely hard for some users who thought they knew all there is to know about ADV ZU. That's where this post comes in. I will be highlighting how I approach building Balance in different ways. This post is by no means the only way you can look at building given that it's just my opinion.

Balance
Why it's hard to make it work
Currently, I find that there are only two separate kinds of balance builds, ones with Graveler and ones without. The reason this is the case is because Aipom goes wild in this metagame against Balance. The number one priority is stuffing Aipom when you're building balance. I'll give an offensive profile on Aipom and how to cover it in the builder below.

Aipom is by far the best wallbreaker in the meta by a long shot. There's no other breaker that can do what Aipom does. However, despite this what separates Aipom from being broken is how easy it is to capitalize on it. If it's attacking your normal resist it's easy to pivot out into something like Gloom or Koffing that forces damage or status on a potential switch-in. This makes it ok for your stuff to be BBd or FPd since its not locking into Double-Edge or Return. This is only assuming you're running a Balance with Graveler or even Lileep and Onix in the lineup. Aipom is much harder to check on teams without them. However, even if you have a normal resist you are unable to check Aipom long-term. This is why Balance almost always requires some sort of cleaner (Beedrill, Anorith, Ariados, etc.) to work. Aipom does have solid Defensive and Offensive checks which make it easier to play around. Defensive you have Gloom Wartortle and, of course, Graveler. The latter is one of the most popular and viable normal resists in the meta. Offensively you have stuff like the cleaners mentioned above and Seaking and Ponyta. Seaking is a shakier check because the standard Leftovers mixed set takes roughly 90% from Double-Edge making it much harder to effectively check it.

Graveler Balance

Sets

Graveler @ Leftovers
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Toxic / Protect
- Protect / Explosion
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Graveler @ Leftovers
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Toxic / Protect
- Protect / Explosion
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

I don't typically build a lot of Graveler Balance because it's boring and I like to play more aggressively. However, Graveler balance is by far the most optimal balance build you can aim for. Its Specially defensive set works along the same lines as Lure Rhyhorn in the last meta. It lives HP Grass / HP water from Quilava, Magnemite, and Flaaffy and removes them with Earthquake. This frees up your dedicated specially defensive mon and allows it more opportunities to do what it wants. Wartortle, physically defensive and specially defensive, loves Graveler for this reason as it allows it more opportunities to use Surf / Seismic Toss to chip whatever it wants to come in on without worrying about a potential Flaaffy / Magnemite switch-in. Physically Defensive Graveler is specifically for checking Aipom as Brick Break does 40% Max and Focus Punch does 80% Max. Graveler's overall issue is that it can be removed by other faster Graveler and is hard countered by Koffing if it lacks Explosion or Protect. Mixed Seaking acts as another big antagonist for it as it can freely click Hydro Pump.

Good Teammates for Graveler Balance

• Specially Defensive Graveler
  • Defensive Pairings
    • 
  • Offensive Pairings
    • 

• Physically Defensive Graveler
  • Defensive Pairings
    • 
  • Offensive Pairings
    • 

Non-Graveler Balance

Sets

Ponyta @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire / Run Away
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Fire Blast
- Quick Attack
- Double-Edge
- Hidden Power [Water] / Toxic

Koffing @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split / Explosion / Memento

Wartortle @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Refresh / Seismic Toss / Toxic / Ice Beam / Hidden Power Grass
- Rapid Spin
- Protect

OR

Wartortle @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Refresh / Ice Beam / Seismic Toss / Toxic / Hidden Power Grass
- Rapid Spin
- Protect

Balance teams that lack Graveler are a lot less diverse and require a much more aggressive playstyle to make use of. The reason for this is that you struggle to check Aipom defensively and instead, you need to rely more heavily on pressuring it and checking it offensively. Ponyta is just required on these kinds of balance builds because it's able to role compress as the Porygon check and the Aipom check. This is extremely useful on paper but in practice, Ponyta struggles to do both of those things within the same game due to Porygon's defensive flexibility and the residual chip from Double Edge. This means Ponyta requires a heavier defensive backbone to make progress. Koffing is an excellent example of this because it's able to consistently and effectively check Graveler which no other Pokemon (aside from Bayleef) can do. Koffing can even force status or chip on Aipom if it comes for free on it. If Aipom is locked into Return, Koffing can opt to Pain Split and regain its composure as Return is a guaranteed 3HKO. Wartortle also functions quite alongside these two as both physically defensive and specially defensive hold a lot of merit. Wartortle's main draw is Rapid Spin because without removal your balance team gets dumpstered by Pineco which can reliably abuse the defensive Pokemon on balance builds like Porygon, Koffing, and Noctowl. Physically defensive Wartortle can check pokemon that Koffing struggles with like Beedrill, Anorith, Ariados, and Ponyta. Moreover, it's a solid secondary soft check to Aipom if it's not locked into Double-Edge. Specially defensive Wartortle's main draw is checking Quilava and Ponyta while pressuring both Gloom and Weepinbell if it decides to run Ice Beam. The biggest and most glaring issue with Wartortle is it lets Flaaffy in for free which is awful considering the core.


Balance Leads

Sets

Aipom @ Choice Band
Ability: Run Away
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Brick Break
- Return
- Focus Punch

Seaking @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 80 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Megahorn
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Protect

OR

Seaking @ Choice Band
Ability: Water Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 80 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Megahorn
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Double-Edge

Quilava @ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute
- Toxic

Cubone @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 SpD
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Double-Edge

Balance requires offensive hard-hitting leads to keep up the pressure it wants to succeed. Leading Aipom is one of the best ways to ensure this happens. Lead Aipom feels a lot like Lead Wailmer in the last meta because if that lead matchup is in your favor the opponent is faced with a 50/50 on what to switch to. Something is either getting smoked by Double-Edge or Focus Punch which helps to open up things later on for Ponyta or your cleaner. Seaking on the other hand can opt to run mixed or Choice Band. Mixed tends to pair well with Aipom if you opt to keep Aipom hidden for Mid-game wallbreaking. Choice Band is fantastic into literally everything else as its coverage means it has almost 0 safe switch-ins unless you manage to predict what Seaking is locking into. Quilava is fantastic because it's one of the best special wallbreakers in the metagame. It fits extremely well on Graveler balance builds as it's able to retain its effectiveness and remain a threat well into the mid-game and late-game. Cubone, while a more niche pick, can OHKO Aipom and Quilava at the cost of its usefulness long-term. Cubone's matchup into Seaking is less than stellar but it avoids the OHKO from Hydro Pump and can heavily damage Seaking in return.

Cleaners

Sets

Beedrill @ Salac Berry
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 112 Def / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Bug] / Brick Break

Anorith @ Salac Berry
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 104 SpD / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break
- Substitute

Ariados @ Leftovers
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 84 HP / 252 Atk / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Hidden Power [Flying] / Hidden Power [Ground]
- Sludge Bomb
- Signal Beam

Believe it or not, the three new bug-types aren't dogshit and hold the spot as some of the most frightening cleaners in the entire metagame. Beedrill can reliably set up on opposing Koffing granting it a handful of opportunities against opposing balance and bulky offense builds. This makes it one of the best cleaners in the meta as its only real fear is Quick Attack from Ponyta and Graveler. Anorith is another fantastic choice that usually functions best in the late game or as a mid-game breaker. Its biggest issue is Graveler and physically defensive Wartortle which makes Flaaffy and Koffing excellent teammates. Ariados is a lot more shaky than the previous two but it still holds a lot of merit if used correctly. Ariados relies on being hidden until Koffing and Graveler have been removed. Once these two are gone and a suitable opportunity for Agility has been found Ariados can run through teams in the late-game with its exceptional base 90 Attack and access to Swarm which makes Signal Beam almost entirely unwallable.

 

[wooper]

first adv zu vr update following our massive tier shift at the turn of the new year! we are moving from our initial viability list (top, high, mid, and low) to rankings (s, a, b, and c)

shifts

top --> A+
top --> A+

high --> S
high --> A
high --> B+
high --> B+
high --> B-
high --> A+
high --> A
high --> S
high --> A
high --> A
high --> S
high --> A

mid --> A-
mid --> B+
mid --> B-
mid --> C+
mid --> B
mid --> A-
mid --> C
mid --> A
mid --> B
mid --> C+
mid --> A-
mid --> B-
mid --> B
mid --> B+
mid --> B+
mid --> B
mid --> B

low --> C
low --> C
low --> B
low --> B-
low --> B
low --> C+
low --> C+
low --> C
low --> UR
low --> C+
low --> C
low --> B-
low --> UR
low --> B
low --> C+
low --> UR
low --> B-
low --> B-
low --> C
low --> B+
low --> C+
low --> C+
low --> UR
low --> B
low --> B-
low --> C+

UR --> C

explanations

S
23 new drops, 3 unbanned mons, 4 new bans later, and aipom is still the defining mon of the metagame. despite only having an average base 70 attack stat, its choice band-boosted double-edge is ohkoing or 2hkoing anything that isnt a rock-type. everything else gets bopped by brick break, or focus punch if youve got the guts to click it. it sits at an excellent speed tier, and its set versatility can be dangerous for foes expecting a run-of-the-mill band set, with options like substitute, toxic, thunder wave, and taunt. it necessitates adequate counterplay on any good team, often requires multiple users to take down, and forces builders to slot protect on a lot of those pokemon. aipom is a metagame staple as a fantastic wallbreaker, progress maker, momentum grabber, a nuisance to handle, a centralizing factor, and a force to be reckoned with
while its speed and its prominent 4x weaknesses to both grass- and water-types hold it back, graveler has solidified itself as the metagame's premier normal-resist, while still sporting an impressive base 95 attack. explosion is nothing to scoff at, even if uninvested!
like aipom, seaking is not a new mon to adv zu, but this is the first time it's found itself among the s-ranks. it can be any number of sets--most typically a mixed attacker or a deadly self-setting rain sweeper--with any combination of moves--surf vs hydro pump for stab, and coverage in megahorn, double edge or return, ice beam, hidden power rock/flying/ground/grass, protect, substitute, toxic, rest, and so on. its variations make it difficult to answer consistently, it is a strong hitter, and abuses the many graveler, ponyta, and quilava running around

A+
flaaffy has dethroned elekid as the premier electric-type of the tier, and for good reason. its higher base special attack, serviceable bulk, and rare access to heal bell--while still retaining the coverage options of fire punch and ice punch, make it an excellent choice right now
ponyta's addition now serves as the tier's most common speed benchmark with elekid seeing less usage. fire blast still hits decently hard despite its low base 65 special attack, but its physical coverage in double edge and hidden power ground or fighting coming off of its base 85 attack make it stand out a bit more than its competition in quilava and magby
pory's access to recover, boltbeam coverage, and both thunder wave and toxic make it a difficult wall to break down long-term, especially when trying to figure out its moves and its ev spread--both physically or specially defensive have their merits

A
sub sd, sometimes with salac, is strong and a good cleaner with a surprisingly nice speed tier, high base attack, and perfect coverage in rock stab and brick break
bulky support mon with leech seed, sleep powder, reliable recovery, or a defensive wincon with sd, sludge bomb, and hp ground or grass stab, or a chlorophyll sweeper with solarbeam and hp fire
defensive staple in the tier that can live a band aipom double-edge and also blanks graveler and threatens it with a will-o-wisp or 4x super effective hidden power. explosion and memento are great momentum-grabbing support options
initially treated as just a specially defensive wall, it's been putting in work with an adamant nature as a strong tank, despite its laughable base 50 attack stat. dont sleep on noctowl ! it's an insomnia pun
sporting a higher base special attack and bulk than ponyta, quilava is an excellent pick in the current meta thanks to its wide set versatility between subtox, restochesto, hp grass vs water, sunny day sets, the option to slot overheat or quick attack, running lefties vs salac vs lum, and more
another great defensive mon in the tier. nice for absorbing wisp or toxic and healing it off with refresh, can spin away spikes, and prevents itself from being too passive with seismic toss. surf still hits hard uninvested and is very useful with the fire- and rock-types running around. can go physically or specially defensive all the same, just depends on what you need for your team

A-
similar to anorith in being a sub sd bug-type with the same base speed, less attack though for an absolutely nuclear hp bug when in swarm range if you can get to +2, and even better if youre packing salac for the +1 speed as well, making you a great cleaner even in spite of koffing walling you
another normal-type wallbreaker similar to aipom, but stronger, has a secondary stab option, and an extremely useful quick attack now that pinch berries are much more relevant than they were in the previous meta
pure power.

 

[BaitWiz]

want to mention a couple SM mons and do a nom along the way

Kadabra: A- to A

Sash Kadabra is by far and away the best revenge killer in the tier after Scarf Electivire, and unlike Electivire it can't be played around easily by switching due to its incredibly high natural offenses paired with high power coverage. The only real weakness that Kadabra has is that it has to be brought in off of double switches, sacrifices, and slow pivot moves; but if you can do that, it's incredibly threatening to basically every Pokemon in the tier that isn't a dedicated special wall. It's also rather difficult to build around, but with the right team it can thrive. Life Orb Kadabra is significantly more high risk and loses some revenge killing potential, but in exchange its power becomes mind boggling for the tier, OHKOing several offensive Pokemon after some chip and even being able to bruteforce past walls with Calm Mind.
Simply put, Kadabra's a step above the rest of the Pokemon in A- and I feel that this should be reflected in the VR.


Bronzor

I feel uncomfortable actually nomming Bronzor down, as I think it is genuinely quite solid; while the steel plate is an amazing special wall and can even threaten massive damage to Wishiwashi (who I'll briefly mention in a bit here), it can frequently end up being a liability for its team as well due to its weakness to Knock Off, unreliable damage with Psywave, and passivity after using Rest. Bronzor can also find itself bruteforced through after it's lost its Eviolite due to the marked decrease in bulk, especially on whichever side it isn't invested in. Not going to nom it down, but I do want to at least mention it in case anyone else had thoughts one way or another.


Wishiwashi

I mainly mention Wishiwashi here because for some reason the sample set is still offensive Wishiwashi. While offensive Wishiwashi is a perfectly fine set, many more Wishiwashis are defensive these days and I feel like the sample set should reflect this. Think this would be a good starting point:

Wishiwashi

Wishiwashi @ Leftovers
Ability: Schooling
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Scald
- U-turn
---------------------
Optional Move(s):
- Hidden Power [Electric] / Hidden Power [Grass] (lets it hit opposing water types harder)
Optional Item(s):
- N/A (idk man)
Optional Ability:
- N/A
Optional EV/IV(s):
- 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD (Relaxed)

i like sm again yay

 

[OranBerryBlissey10]

oras post cuz my olympiad run sadly ended

A to A- : Bronzor is overrated and its usage reflects this. While its defensive profile is excellent, is has some key flaws. Most notably, it can't really beat Duosion despite the type advantage, and is also really weak vs Persian since it just gets knocked and u-turned on. Apart from these not being traits one really wants in a steel type (of which oras already has frightfully few) Bronzor is also pretty passive, relying on rest for recovery. It wants to run resttalk but then it can't effectively set rocks, and while I kinda like it as it can get botted matchups vs people that forget it exists, Bronzor doesn't belong in A.

A to A-/B+ : Vibrava is so damn atrocious, I'll probably never get tired of verbally abusing it. On paper the role compression it provides looks amazing, but it falls short so often in practice. It needs U-turn to function which keeps it passive, and if it doesn't get overwhelmed by a Pignite or Gigalith carrying Toxic it just loses straight up to things it's on the team for like Electabuzz, Bronzor or Whirlipede. Here's an ideal scenario for Vibrava: giga clicks rocks on switchin => vib defogs away on spower => vib uturns on the switch to serv chipping it => specs magmar is in and rocks are off
Here's how it goes in practice: giga clicks rocks on switchin => vib defogs away on toxic => vib eq's doing 37% (rofl that's literal midroll) as giga spowers => vib roosts as rocks go up => vib eq's cuz giga's lefties are getting it almost to full, as serv switches in => rocks are up and vib is toxic'd while serv has free reign (watch the serv dodge a 100% acc move later too if u defog in front of it)
By far the most egregious part however, is its complete inability to effectively check Electric types. Even uncommon ones like Pikachu or Chinchou at least knock/burn it if they don't have ice coverage to begin with. Here's the relevant Electabuzz calcs:
0 Atk Vibrava Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Electabuzz: 170-204 (62.7 - 75.2%)
252 SpA Electabuzz Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Vibrava: 248-292 (81.5 - 96%)
I'll spare everyone from the Earth Power calc which doesn't even 2hko and should not be run. If Vibrava ever gets knocked or significantly chipped Electabuzz won't even need to predict to beat it, but even at optimal circumstances a single hp ice is all it takes (which isn't even a bad click vs grasses that often switch in anyway). For week 5 of olympiad, I tried building a team that centers around Vibrava's strengths (mostly bc it was unexpected); Magmar has type synergy and profits from the pivoting/removal while Ivysaur usually making teams too weak to Ground types is less of a problem with a levitater while also having type synergy. Anecdotal evidence isn't worth much but I still find it worth mentioning the one and only game I lost was the game I used it (coincidentally, my opponent that game did not). Vibrava's winrate throughout olympiad is an indicator of the role crunch it embodies and it should be lower on the vr.

A- to A+ : Persian does the exact same thing it does in other oldgens and its lower rank is nothing more than a relic from Purugly meta. Despite being slightly weaker than the latter and not possessing solid fighting coverage, Persian is faster and can run its own lure sets (Nasty Plot, also gets Iron Tail etc). It's a very consistent and useful team choice in general, much better than other popular mons and its rank should reflect that.

B+ to A- : Whirlipede is the best hazard stacker in oras zu; apart from having obscene physical bulk for the tier, its ability and support movepool allow it to keep up pressure alongside the fact that removal is often passive/easy to wear down. For example, all of Vibrava, Sandshrew and Dustox can barely damage it, while the former two are very prone to Infestation/Toxic trapping. Its weakness to rocks and lack of recovery itself are hinderances, but it's more than worth it to build with Whirlipede and it's not some fringe pick.

C+ to B : Sandshrew is surprisingly good, and it's not hard to see why. Mono-ground is a pretty useful typing and it's a spinner with a great matchup vs the most common rockers. Sandshrew can be thought of as a more proactive alternative to Hippopotas, without recovery but with knock and spin. Investing in spdef allows it to live 2 hp ice's from Electabuzz and as danny was quick to point out to me in tests, usally one big hit (like a specs Magmar Overheat). Sandshrew works in practice, and even when it doesn't get the optimal Gigalith/Lairon matchup it ends up being useful.

While for practically every week of olympiad I considered multiple teams/versions, for simplicity's sake only the final team will be posted. I tried to take building habits into account but mostly to vary my own as I've been known to fall back on comfort picks; a strategy that had visible payoffs even at team preview and worked for the most part.

week 1 vs Ho3n: -----
Despite getting the exact sort of matchup I expected (grass+vib), I get outplayed early-game and miss a crucial sleep powder. Said disadvantage continues into midgame as it becomes apparent my only Ivysaur check can't even slow pivot out. It being knocked however, and Vibrava being at death's door makes me plan a Whiscash sweep. A faulty prediction from my end based on temporary amnesia considering Shield Dust makes me throw out said sweeper and consider the game lost. Realizing my only potential wincon is Persian going down to allow pikabelle to clean up, I have to get the t32 play right. Double-Edge doesn't kill Dustox, and recoil + U-turn would eliminate it. Ho3n could account for this possibility and knock expecting the latter, and I can answer this with Roost, preventing Dustox from being picked off. I go for the choke, assuming that roost into knock probably ends with some unwinnable ivy endgame, which in turn pays off as Ho3n apparently miscalced allowing for a pretty hype ending as a cosplay Pikachu picks up 3 KO's (and no, while a flying pressing Pikachu is funny, the other cosplay moves aren't as useful).

week 2 vs sleid: -----
The first move is clicked t5 which is mildly amusing. After it clicks Rest I realize resttalk Seaking is relatively hard to break and a good bring vs me, so I try to give Servine opportunities as it's the only mon on my team that convincingly beats it. Fortunately, sleid's team is not prepared at all to handle hp fire serv (despite this being the most common set or the storm miss). He then tries beating Swalot with Seaking, a trade which I am more than happy with, despite Swalot being very useful, as it's the only thing seriously hindering me. After that it's just scarf krok cleanup duty, and even skrimps nicknames could not shield Vibadvra from another loss. This team in particular was actually made in w1 and since I had a lot of faith in it I planned to use it in a week where I didn't have much prep time vs someone without an outspoken scout. Definitely a sample-esque team and I'm glad it performed well.

week 3 vs Quinn: -----
Now for the polar opposite, we have a very risky team. Despite going through 4 versions, none of them had a fire resist but I felt confident in whirli spikes for this week (ended up facing 6 grounded mons + no removal). After outplaying both Magmar and non-choiced luxe in tests (daniel's ice cream lacked 20/20 vision) I decide to go ahead with it. Quinn may not be very known here, but at that point he was 4-0 in our uwc team so I knew to not underestimate him (despite being unable to bring Ho-Oh lvl 100 Mienfoo). Steamroller Whirlipede immediately shows its value as I get up a spike and ko 2 mons, after which Quinn must have assumed I was spdef Meganium and gunk shots it. Despite the huge advantage I realize that a fat gour could be very difficult to deal with, especially with whirli so crippled. Luckily, a fully spdef Sandshrew lives a Life Orb Seed Bomb and Toxic's it in return, although it being lo probably meant it was easier to deal with anyway. After that I just make sure not to take unnecessary risks concerning Swalot and the tos nicks take home a win. The team Quinn brought looked weird to me at first but it wasn't that different from my own, and was once again clearly attempting to prey on my usual brings.

week 4 vs Jett -----
Purugly lite makes an appearance, along with two whole fire resists since I know my building habits are going to be taken under heavy consideration. Even just looking at Jett's two first mons this becomes clear: Magcargo is good into speed control Persian and Marshtomp is there for the Electabuzz, about whom I've been very vocal in council chat before as being #1 (I am outnumbered). I lead meow for two reasons, one is that I see no defoggers on his team anyway, the second is that it matches up well vs Swalot and Magcargo which I see as possible Persian counterleads. After a slick demonstration on why Servine's last move should be knock or glare, and some mild predicts I already have an insane early-game advantage thanks to meow (whose 4th move cm was really just meant as a filler). Jett perplexes me as he sends out his big threat t6 vs smth that can outspeed and ohko it, and realizing that tera does not exist in oras I have no reason not to just take the kill. At this point the game is over, and apart from some insane swalot set nothing is really poised for a comeback, especially as I get hazards up (I regret not ice punching t13 tho). Felt pretty good about this one since I brought a solid team and didn't play poorly, also showing that cat spikes is still good but not nearly as oppressive when the speed control and the defog punisher aren't one and the same. Magcargo could have done serious damage regardless but it always had to be lacking one of hp grass/ep/recover so it would probably have been manageable, especially since only Persian gave it free setup.

week 5 vs 5dots: -----
For this week I had 3 teams prepped, one very similar to the final version, and one similar to the week 2 team. Both of the other versions had Electabuzz and the one thing they all had in common was Vibrava (I was dead set on flipping the script). I ended up using this version bc my team was high on Magmar and bc scarf Electabuzz was so awful in tests. Bringing no volt immune vs me of all people feels weird despite the fact that 5dots clearly had my building in mind as he brought TR with 3 fat normal resists, all of which would have been fine on their own. Early game I keep trying to predict a boom 5dots ends up not even having. I make bad calls t7 and t12 bc I can totally see him staying in there and an unlucky burn on Bronzor prevents me from resting in a game where it looked super useful. I let my setup sweeper take unnecessary damage (atp I can only assume he was ep over boom as a Lairon countermeasure) and from there I just bleed out slowly without a Psychic resist. In the end I played poorly and made a judgement call teamwise that didn't end up paying off, but I'd like to think that I still had a solid chance if Bronzor didn't get Fire Blast burned. Props to 5dots for the creative bring (and boosting the Natu wr while also shitting on the Vibrava wr), and I think the team is still solid in general (but man how I wish I had a shrew over vib during that game lol).

I didn't originally mean to put thoughts on the games in there but it ended up being a natural fit, I enjoyed playing, testing and talking oras and hope people give it the love it deserves. I was also planning vr updates for other gens but my massive Shiinotic essay isn't finished yet...

 

[5gen]

Figured I'd dump my teams from Olympiad and leave some commentary. S/o Malicious Manectrics, we had a great group and it was always entertaining and fun. It's a shame our season ended early because we had the tools to win it all.



Week 1: I wanted to use Pain Split Froslass as a way to beat Articuno, Cryo, and Miltank long-term. The structure of the team is pretty basic and offensive Tangela and NP Persian-A are there to provide some offense. I played this game pretty safe, otherwise it could've ended much earlier.

Week 2: I wanted to use trapper Alt this week because it looked nice into Tuthur. I also considered offensive Cuno and couldn't make a build I really liked. In retrospect, I think this approach was off because Tuthur knows enough to consider Altaria could be Perish Trap, as evidenced in the game. The team ran into a somewhat rough matchup in Mareanie and I misplayed a few key turns, hence the loss. The Gear Grind miss sealed it, but I also didn't have to risk it at that point.

Week 3: Wanted to use Sun this week because it's a consistent and strong style, and something I don't really use. I was outplayed here and had a chance at the end had I spammed Acid Armor. However, I didn't and was crit anyway.

Week 4: If I recall correctly, we thought that an offensive Dark-type with Cuno as a pivot looked good into the scout. The team originally had Roselia over Qwilfish, then zause suggested SD Qwil, which was a clutch call. The game had a bit of a weird ending where I thought I lost, then I came out with the dub.

Week 5: Cycled through a lot of ideas this week and ended up with NP Ninetales. Honestly, this game was pretty disappointing on my end because by not risking the Stone Edge vs Silv-Dark, I took a losing route. I also fumbled the end game by not going into Ninetales and instead sacking Silvally-Electric. Credit to Blaze and Fish because the prep and in-game play came through big.

Semis: I had a feeling they would bring Pawniard because of how Toto has said SD Silv-Dark would 6-0 my teams. I also wanted to prepare for Articuno because I know Toto likes it. I ended up going with a Kanga volt turn because I felt like this particular Kanga set would work well vs Cuno and Palo teams. The team is somewhat basic and relies on wearng things down and setting hazards so Kanga can force progress. My approach in-game wasn't good honestly. I should have stayed in with Froslass vs Stunfisk-G to force chip and let that go to sleep. That way, Sawk can do things this game. I also should have went Kanga on Pawn instead of Silv-Poison because I'd rather have the health on that to check Throh. All in all, I'm quite disappointed in how I played this game considering the circumstances.

Reflecting on my season, I find that my approach in half the weeks could've been a lot better. Overall, my play was poor too in my eyes which is pretty disappointing because I feel like I left a lot on the table. Moreover, I feel that SS ZU has loads of room for creativity and innovation, so I'm looking forward to Triathlon where I can go off the deep end.

MANECTRICS TILL THE DAY I DIE

 

[BeeOrSomething]

GSC ZU Olympiad Team Dump + VR

Team Dump
Week 1 - vs Somalia (L)

Double Boom Double SD
https://pokepast.es/201854b53a142934
Since I was going into my first game in this tier ever, I just wanted to start off with something simple but good, so I basically just threw together what seemed like four of the best and most important Pokemon after Croc and Magby onto a team. I put Thunder on Koffing over Haze since I had Onix for Togetic, HP Ground Tentacool since it seemed super broken (it is) and to help out with Croc and Magby, and Bayleef for checking Croc and providing another boosting threat. Since I have a Koffing, Croc could be Surf, but I put Ice Beam on it because Weepinbell was a really difficult matchup.

Week 2 - vs BigFatMantis (W)

Lead Doduo + Mint Rest Dratini + Nidorina
https://pokepast.es/f977615d1a4956e5
I wanted to start with Dratini since it seemed pretty threatening and was a big help against Magby. After this, I found out about Doduo, specifically Pink Bow, and was pretty excited about it since Polkadot/Pink Bow Double-Edge into Quick Attack finishes off every other lead and Meowth is scared to Hypnosis for fear of Mint Berry. Remaining on the checklist were Togetic and poisons, so I wanted Onix for both. Tentacool was still a huge danger though, so I put on Curse Nidorina last as my check.

Week 3 - vs Jester (W)

Spoon Smooch + Nidorino
https://pokepast.es/5b8c2caee1e14025
Going into this week, I wanted to try my hand at Smoochum since I didn't use it in week 1 or 2. I decided clicking Thief was a waste of a turn, so I used Twisted Spoon to mimic Croc not having Leftovers and because Leftovers seemed useless on Smoochum. Options for the last slot like Sing and Blizzard all seemed pretty trash since I didn't think I'd ever actually click them, so I threw on Dream Eater to trash Croc and because hey, the healing might be useful (it was very useful). I decided I wanted a grass to cover Onix Surf/Slide Croc and figured Magby + Smoochum would be enough to abuse Surf/Beam and Beam/Slide Croc, so I just went with Bayleef because it's the bulkiest one. I wanted a poison answer now, so I went with Nidorino because outspeeding Croc seemed really good. For the last, I just chose Togetic because Magby seemed like an issue and I had enough to cover Onix and Koffing.

Week 4 - temp (not me) vs SANKE CARP (W)

Weepinbell + Seel + Onix
https://pokepast.es//c667bd8158cbbcad
I was pretty disappointed I didn't get to play this game because I couldn't access my internet for a whole weekend, but luckily my goat temp subbed in and clutched up, s/o. Anyways, I wanted to use Weepinbell this week. I threw on Diglett after because it seemed good with Weepinbell, then Koffing as my Togetic check, but I axed Diglett for Onix since the team felt too frail. I also didn't really need Koffing now with Onix for Togetic, so I removed it. Following this, Zause recommended Seel for Smoochum and Croc, and it seemed perfect, so I threw it on. For my last Pokemon, I felt quite weak to the Nidos, Doduo, and Tent, and Nidorina felt like really the only option I had to cover these 3. I already had Seel, and the grasses still felt like issues, so I put Ice Beam on Croc over Rock Slide to keep Surf for Onix.

Week 5 - vs diegolh (L)

Curse Protect Roar Teddy + Mareep
https://pokepast.es/cd83e3e9ba91662a
I had some ideas involving Sandshrew and Ivysaur, and I had another idea involving Teddiursa. I also considered Natu. While building the Sandshrew Ivy team, I found out Teddiursa learned Roar. I also figured RestTalk wouldn't be great because no Curse is mildly passive, mono Quake is fucked by Togetic and also kinda weak, and mono Return has the same issues as Togetic but with less Special Defense. Roar seemed like a very cool option because it could eliminate Onix and Togetic from being checks to mono Teddy, and I threw on Protect last since Roar covered Onix, Koffing can't do anything without exploding, and I didn't want to use raw Rest when Teddy is so frail and I would have to sacrifice Leftovers. Protect also can block Explosion in addition to gathering Leftovers. After this, I felt water Koffing would be a pretty good idea since it could bait in Onix for close to an OHKO to free up Teddiursa. Bayleef went on pretty obligatorily after to deal with Croc and Onix. For the last, the team seemed super poor into the Nidos since Koffing and Bayleef are weak to them and Magby and Croc aren't superb, so I threw on Mareep. I also figured I didn't need the power of Thunder when Thunderbolt already hit so hard and Mareep has Thunder Wave for paralysis, so I just used Thunderbolt.

Semifinals - vs Somalia (W)

SD Light Screen Ivysaur + Doduo
https://pokepast.es/19550e7d9570b4f5
In the midst of week 5 while labbing Sandshrew, I was messing with Ivysaur and found out Sleep powder, Swords Dance, Light Screen, and Synthesis are all compatible on the same set (though obviously with only 1 of the latter two moves). I decided I didn't super need Synthesis since if Croc was Ice Beam I would need something else to cover it anyways and Ivy was bulky enough to handle repeated Rock Slides, so I threw on Light Screen to punish Magby, Smoochum, and Nido switches and to make it less punishing if I stayed in with Ivy and ate an Ice Beam from Croc. I was also really set on using Tentacool again since the last time I used it was week 1 and HP Ground Tentacool has basically no reliable answers lol. After this, I had some options including Onix, Nidorina, Doduo, Nidorino, Diglett. I locked in Onix since I needed help against Togetic, and a Thief + Rest Magby check, poison check, and additional Explosion is always nice. Lastly, I wanted something for Tentacool and ideally something that could also bait out and force chip on Onix for my Ivysaur too, so it was mostly between Nidorina and Doduo, though I also considered Diglett for revenge killing (including Tentacool) and to help with Magby. Ultimately, I just felt like Doduo was the most appealing choice offensively and Nidorina's roles mostly felt like extra security for things I already covered rather than something new.

s/o TomatoZause for helping the whole way through and BloodAce and MrSoup for helping once or twice in specific weeks.

Viability Rankings
Note: Take these with a grain of salt, I only got to play 5 games myself and built around 8 or 9 teams so a lot of Pokemon are left out and most placements aren't super set in stone

S Tier:

Croc

Croc is super fucking good. Definitely the best in the tier. It's fairly lackluster offensively sometimes but you can cover for its shortcomings plenty fine with your other 5 slots, and it's just so phenomenal defensively for just about everything to some degree. Croc moveset ranking: Surf/Slide > Beam/Slide > Surf/Beam, and then Surf/Electric and Slide/Grass after sure. AP is a neat idea on Croc but idt it's ever realistically worth it, the pp and power loss into Magby and Smoochum is terrible and Croc is too limited by 4mss to make full use of a boost.

Magby

Magby is the second deadliest raw offensive threat in the tier behind only Smoochum, and unlike Smoochum, it has an incredible Speed stat, outspeeding everything besides Diglett and Meowth. Magby is incredibly difficult to consistently switch into and it makes for an amazing lead as a bonus. I think all of its sets are fine and good but if I had to rank them, would probably do like Water/Thief > Thief/Rest > Water/Rest > the others like Barrier and Psychic.

A+ Tier:

Tent

Tentacool is amazing. It's a solid Croc check, only taking max like 32% or so from Rock Slide or HP Electric, and takes basically nothing from Surf and Ice Beam. Tentacool is super fast and at +2 is extremely difficult to answer. Tent is a bit soft physically but it's got great Special Defense that makes it difficult for Magby and Smoochum to be immediately threatening to it as a revenge killer if Tent isn't heaily chipped. Hidden Power Ground is incredibly busted, basically invalidating any of the non-grass poisons as a check unless it's Koffing or Grimer and you immediately Explode. Because HP Ground is such a threat, Barrier and Substitute are also very solid options that can even be used over Hydro Pump if you want, with Barrier blocking Doduo, Diglett, and Togetic from revenge killing as well as giving small odds to live a Koffing or Grimer boom, while Substitute can block Explosions and has odds to not be broken by Koffing Sludge Bomb. Just overall great Pokemon with solid defensive utility, incredibly high offensive potential, and flexible movesets.

Onix

Onix is phenomenal. It's so fast, it's the best Togetic answer, it checks all the pure poisons, Explosion is incredible, and it answers Thief + Rest Magby. It kinda just does everything you could want and Togetic is a super important piece to cover. Incredible Pokemon.

Bay

Bayleef is great. It's a great check to Croc, Onix, and some other stuff, and it's quite threatening with Swords Dance. Sets with Light Screen are also neat, whether with or without SD. Just generally very easy to use on a team and it fulfills some crucial roles.

Smooch

As alluded to earlier, Smoochum is the most dangerous Pokemon in the whole tier. Psychic 2- or 3HKOes basically everything. The only reason I don't put it higher is because there's a lot of Pokemon that outspeed it that otherwise it would be able to threat, mainly Tent, Onix, Doduo, and Diglett. It's also a little difficult to fit if you want to focus more on building a well-rounded team defensively. Still a monster though.

Togetic

Togetic is pretty good. It's one of the only Magby checks in the tier, and it's a solid answer to the grasses and Tent too. However, I'm not as fond of it as most might be. Honestly, I just think Onix and Koffing are too good and common, and they shut down Togetic pretty hard, so I don't think it's the easiest to use on teams. HP Water is in theory not bad, but then you're walled by Croc which is lol.

A Tier:

Nido-A

This might be a bit spicy, but I'm a massive fan of Nidorina. It's incredible to have in the builder, it checks basically everything. It's solid Croc backup, doesn't immediately fold to Magby, checks Koffing and Grimer, is one of the better Tent checks, checks grasses, and is itself an offensive threat with Curse and Ice Beam. Nidorino is great too but personally I think Nidorina taking like 10% less from every hit is just phenomenal to have. It's just a bit of a liability against Smoochum, Onix, and Diglett, even if can hit them all hard, Moonlight pp can feasibly run out, and Nidorino exists, so it doesn't go in A+ tier.

Nido-O

Nidorino is quite a bit less bulky than Nidorina but retains many of the same useful traits but with a much better Speed stat and higher Special Attack, so it's the better choice if you're prioritizing offense. An incredible pick overall, it's super dangerous and Morning Sun is a great tool to have. You could also use Lovely Kiss but I think not having Morning Sun is pretty bad considering how Nidorino plays.

Dod

Doduo is incredibly strong. It's crazy. Has a solid argument for most dangerous Pokemon in the tier, and probably the most dangerous pure physical attacker, even ahead of Tent. Double-Edge is so strong, Doduo outspeeds all the base 70s which are already blazing fast, making it a great revenge killer, and Drill Peck and Quick Attack are nice tools to have for coverage and finishing things off. In the last slot, you can use a few things like HP Water for Onix, Thief to steal Leftovers, or Rest with Mint Berry, though I think the latter two are usually not great and kind of turn wastes. There's also of course the Endure + Flail set, though I haven't messed around with it. Polkadot/Pink Bow is probably the best item, but No Item with Thief, Mint Berry for leading against Meowth or to use Rest, and Leftovers are all fine.

Koff

Koffing is quite solid. It's very similar to Onix in that it has boom and checks Togetic, but you trade Onix's amazing Speed for being much better into the grasses. Koffing notably is also much less secure into Magby and normals, is much more of a liability against Smoochum, lets in Onix freely (bar HP Water), and lets in the Nidos fairly freely (bar Explosion or Thunder para). I think it's quite a bit worse than Onix, but it's still a great Pokemon, and answering Bayleef is always important.

Diglett

I didn't get to use Diglett myself, though I did consider it several times. When I played test games, it was a pretty big danger. It's just very fast and quite strong, and having a Thief for Croc, Bayleef, or Togetic is pretty big. It's just very frail though, so you have to build and play fairly aggressively.

A- Tier:

Meowth

I'm gonna be honest, I never really experimented with using Meowth myself and didn't play vs it much in test games, so I'm mostly going off my game vs BFM, what MrSoup has said, and general speculation. Meowth just overall seems like a pretty solid lead to start the game with a Thief and a sleep, and it outspeeds Magby which is pretty big. My main issue is just that Meowth kinda has issues with Croconaw beyond using Thief and Mint Magby, and it doesn't do much defensively, so I was never super pressed to use it and it's not always a huge danger. Still a very respectable threat though.

Weep

Weepinbell is quite a strange Pokemon. It's super frail and Bayleef is right there, but if the opponent doesn't have Ice Beam on their Croc, it's incredibly dangerous and has to be given utmost respect. Pretty solid choice overall, Sleep Powder is super nice to have too.

Grimer

I'm gonna be honest, Grimer feels pretty mid in most cases, but it's pretty solid in a few specific cases. For one, Magby and Croc can't super easily take advantage of it like they can with Koffing, and it's much stronger physically and poses a serious threat with Curse and HP Water or Giga Drain. It's very likely better than Koffing when paired with Onix since you don't need Grimer to be checking Togetic, though I think if you don't have Onix or some other type of team that doesn't really care about Togetic, you should probably be using Koffing. It also has decent potential as a lead. Upon further use myself, I may raise it, but for now I'm ranking it here.

Teddy

Teddiursa is interesting. It's got pretty heavy competition with Togetic because of its lower bulk meaning it's weak to Croc and much worse into the grasses and Tent, but it has some super important traits like not having a weakness to Electric or Ice and learning Earthquake and Roar. Pretty cool Pokemon overall, but you definitely can't treat it like you would Togetic.

B+ Tier:

Seel

Seel is a pretty neat Pokemon, it's arguably the best check to Smoochum there is and is solid backup for Croc and Magby, but it's kind of hard to get it going offensively and you have to keep it pretty healthy.

Ivy

Ivysaur has a lot of cool traits, but generally it struggles a lot from 4mss and competition with Bayleef and Weepinbell, so it won't see use on a team too much.

Mareep

Mareep is pretty cool, it's super dangerous offensively. However, it also has a lot of trouble with grasses and grounds even with HP Ice, so you have to build and play intelligently. Mareep is also quite slow, so while it does have Thunder Wave, it has pretty serious trouble switching in and is overreliant on its one-time use Mint + Rest.

Dratini

There's a solid argument for Dratini to be higher. It's very similar to Mareep, being a BoltBeam spammer with Thunder Wave. Importantly, Dratini is one of the best Magby answers, and it's much better into grounds because Ice Beam is a lot stronger and it's not weak to Earthquake. However, Dratini is much worse off against Ice Beam Croc and Smoochum. Dratini is also kinda forced to use Thunder for the power it needs, while Mareep can chill with Thunderbolt.

B Tier:

Shrew

Sandshrew is pretty funny. I labbed it up as a Mint Berry lead with Swords Dance to beat the Meowth, Doduo, and Teddiursa leads I saw in BloodAce's scout while preparing for diegolh. It's also an interesting SD mon in the back that you can even use Thief on as a solid answer to Onix, Diglett, Koffing, and Grimer. However, Sandshrew is really screwed over by the existence of Croconaw and to a lesser extent Bayleef and Togetic, so you need paralysis or the ability to just remove them for Shrew to do stuff really.

Natu

Natu is a pretty interesting Pokemon for a dual psychic type of team or just that it hits base 70 instead of base 65 like Smoochum. Usually though, I found it not the most worth using since it's frail and a liability against Smoochum, and Smoochum itself exists as competition.

Other Stuff:

Other Stuff

All of these Pokemon are somewhat interesting and might have potential, especially Mankey and the Baton Passers, but overall they just have a lot of severe issues and usually aren't worth using.

I'd just like to thank TomatoZause and Drud for picking me up, I had a lot of fun in ZU Olympiad and on my first foray into GSC ZU. And of course, shoutout to every other Manectric, you guys fought hard and were a blast to be with.

 

[Jett]

The Yappening - ORAS ZU Edition
​

This post contains a lot of ranting. You have been warned. One other thing I should clear up is this is purely my opinion, and NOT representative of the council, who are lovely people and have a wide range of opinions on the state of the metagame from my conversations with them.

Time flies when you're having fun I guess? It's surprising that I've now been playing ORAS ZU on and off for a year now, and my love-hate relationship of this metagame has only continued during Olympiad. I usually enjoy building or at the very least won't mind it, and while there might be other external factors such as my personal biases, building ORAS ZU right now feels lowkey painful at times. While the phenomena of coinflipping games off of matchup is not unique to ORAS ZU, I think the state of ORAS ZU exacerbates things, because it's so difficult to cover everything. I rank certain mons highly like Scarf Simipour because aside from if you miss Hydro Pumps... then you always have an "out". Even so there are archetypes that exist that can cheese out wins in favourable matchups even if you don't end up playing that well. This was to be expected, you ban Purugly (and probably rightfully so) and you open up a lot more freedom sorta so it becomes harder to cover things, especially the more niche playstyles. Even tho Persian has stronger matchups into offense thanks to its slightly higher Speed and stronger Fake Out, it still leaves a lot to be desired. As a whole it's noticeably a lot worse in terms of power, coverage, and unlike Purugly doesn't make an archetype extremely difficult to play into (if you're wondering it was Spike stacking). So you end up having to compromise elsewhere on the team to make sure you have the tools to beat fatter stuff too. Also worth noting is that Purugly was ran all pretty much all teams previously unlike Persian, who there are players who swear by it, is certainly up there in usage still but is not going to reach the same heights as Purugly did.

Scraggy

I've been quite general so far so I'll provide some examples. Case number 1 is Scraggy, which I believe is utter bullshit. I don't think it's particularly broken per say but I do think out of all the mons on the higher end of the VR it is certainly ends up being one of the biggest matchup fish. Take my game for example against Sleid in week 5; had Marshtomp not crit my Scraggy on the very first turn of it setting up, I would have won the game from that spot. You could argue I positioned better sure but the fact of the matter is, certain teams structures are not that well equipped to deal wtih Scraggy. Especially because the counterplay will be vastly different depending if it's Dragon dance or if it's Bulk Up or even nuances between Drain Punch and HJK on the offensive sets. Again, Scraggy has been in the metagame for ages and you can generally tell that DD is going to be on offensive teans whereas it'll be Bulk Up otherwise but it certainly creates an unfun environment in builder whereby you either go with the proactive avenue or you slap on a Swalot and call it a day. Actually what probably has happened more than once is you swap your Stealth Rock setter to Carbink and pray they don't have Iron Head. If it were just Scraggy that caused problems this would be fine, but it's not. But I can't claim Scraggy doesn't have defensive merits given it's an extremely useful check to special attackers and Psychic-types, which brings us onto...

Meowstic-M

The face of screens, Meowstic. Of course it would be wrong for me to single out Scraggy on these teams because there are certainly many abusers on these teams; I think Huntail is also right up there in terms of usually needing screens or Memento support but is disgusting to account for compared to other Water-types, and the others are a step below but arguably because they're even harder of a matchup fish like Swoobat. Screens teams have been notorious in newer generations whereby Light Clay ends up being banned. I don't think we're necessarily at that level by any means but I also don't see the merit of keeping it around. It's the sort of thing where because the burden of proof falls on the wanting to ban as opposed to ban, it would never actually seriously get banned, but isn't particularly desirable to have as one of the arguably better archetypes in the metagame or at least good enough where it can fish matchups vs standard. I will admit I have a bias against cheese in general but this is certainly more obnoxious than Weather which is far riskier and less common. Meowstic isn't just a screens bot but serves as a swiss army knife when it comes to utikity. There's the funny but degen Yawn trapping combo to further help teamnates set up or you can just opt to spam broken Thunder Wave on everything. I genuinely felt bad for testing my screens team with my teammates because just the nature it beats you and some teams simply won't have enough ways to interact with it.

Duosion

Let's take a break from HO and move onto Duosion. Duo is either a Future Sight user or setup sweeper but even within these roles; it has a lot of freedom to utilise different sets. Standard Future Sight sets act as a pivot with Regen and can run a multitude of status options to further be a nuisance. Magic Guard sets can run the same moves but give up tempo for an immunity to Toxic but they can also choose to act as a trapping set which is extremely effective vs Bronzor, one of the main answers to Regen Duosion. Calm Mind sets can run Acid Armor or opt for alternate coverage. Everybody knows if you're going to switch in Krokorok against this thing you run several risks, the fact it may carry Protect to scout Pursuits or worse you might switch into Signal Beam. On the other hand, Duosion would love to carry Thunder Wave in particular because Paralysis is broken this gen and it's amazing into non-Krokorok teams. Lowkey, it's kinda fun in game but building with Duosion in mind again can be really tough at times. I believe it's the most warping and arguably best Pokemon in the game given that's it's just a super safe bring usually, and provides both a defensive backbone and offensive pressure. It should be an expectation for every team to have at least more than one way to deal with its plethora of options but I can guarantee that this is certainly not going to be the case with every team (and I'm probably guilt of this too since I'd say I reject 1/3 of my builds feel too weak because they'll just lose to Duosion). A clearer example would be how Double Dance Duosion can completely wreck the Double Water HO team I brought to ZUPL Finals, but fortunately I didn't run into it. Had the Lopunny been Trick AV instead of LO, this matchup would be much better but of course that neglects the fact I'd be worse into other things.

Bronzor

I promise at this point I don't just hate Psychic-types because it may seem like it, but anyone who has built ORAS ZU can confirm that they have indeed built a team before and forgotten to account to Bronzor and realise the moment they load up the battle they can't break it. That is obviously a teambuilding error and never should be used as a reason to ban a Pokemon, but actually there are definitely other reasons why this is a somewhat common occurrence because I refuse to believe people just completely suck at building. The pool of Knock Off users isn't shallow by any means but it's not deep either; and you can very much build otherwise good teams that often have shaky Bronzor matchups because you have one or zero Knock users. Its typing + Levitate is a bitch to deal with and makes it very distinct from every other common Stealth Rock setter that you use to also check Normal-types. You also can't just slap a Fire-type on a team for instance to deal with this because you'll lose the longevity war unless you're like me and really like RestTalk Pignite which unfortunately is worse into HO because you have to give up Sucker Punch. It's definitely the most passive out of all of them but never count out the fact that their Bronzor will always max roll their Psywaves. A better way to look at it might be you can collectively overwhelm it, but when you look at individual Pokemon it will mostly likely be an impenetrable wall with some cases where it will hard lose with few in between cases. Again, should be painfully obvious that Bronzor is nowhere near broken, it's super passive, very reliant on Eviolite, and has to rely on Rest for recovery meaning there are things that can exploit it; it's just annoying to build with it in mind. What I will say is that Bronzor is a net good for the metagame given that these trait equally hold the metagame from being even more chaotic which I haven't been able to say for some of the aforementioned Pokemon. If it isn't apparent enough too, I disagree with OBB's take to lower this Pokemon on the VR.

Vanilluxe

Vanilluxe is just an example of one of those Pokemon which can get great matchups because fitting a solid answer to its Specs set is difficult but also make sure you don't get cleaned up by an Autotomise or a Scarf set is equally so (although the latter also applies to Glalie; Scarf Freeze Dry things). Specs is pretty difficult to switch into and the main thing that holds Vanilluxe back is that it isn't particularly easy to use given you need to predict, but it has the potential to bop the metagame with the exception of Bronzor. You can pack a Fire-type or Steel-type but none of them take kindly to a Hidden Power Ground. Practically speaking, Stealth Rock are also a massive pain and does heavily limits its potential but it's just another Pokemon it feels like you have to go out of your way to deal with. If you run fat, Bronzor basically ends up being near mandatory on that team which is fine I suppose because Bronzor is amazing but it's never ideal to have this be the case. Offensive teams can outpace it but I find myself gravitating to AV Swalot a lot because it soft checks Vanilluxe and Scraggy just to name a couple mons but it really can get a trade with whatever you want in most matchups. So yes Vanilluxe thoroughly deserves to remain in A-, it isn't broken by any means but it's a bitch in builder. Also Vanilluxe holds a role which isn't really exclusive to the ORAS ZU metagame, you'll see this in other metagames too and well opinions on them really depends on how it connects to everything else.

Swoobat

I got bored so we're back to flaming Psychic-types. I mean at a certain point I wonder if its just Special Attackers in general just being difficult but I don't think so. While Vanilluxe is more a standalone clear superior Ice-type breaker usually compared to Glalie and Glaceon; Swoobat stands out from the more common Psychic-types because its the fastest one. The combination of Calm Mind and Simple is insanely good against fat since with Sub you don't lose to Toxic. Choice Specs is a more well rounded set in my opinion because it's a lot more threatening immediately and Trick + Unaware still comes in handy against bulky setup. It's worse than before because Persian is faster but it can still cheese teams, is sometimes used on Screens which I'm already expressed my disdain for, and not exactly the easiest Pokemon to account for. It's not as simple as using a Duosion answer for Swoobat, no pun intended. The only times I've ever considered bringing this is when I looked at a Scout and saw the insane matchups it had, it can be pretty useless sometimes.

Jumpluff

Maybe I've gone too far at this point. Jumpluff isn't really a threat until it is. It has really low Attack for a setup sweeper and honestly, the most consistent part about it is the Speed and utility. While utility Pluff is really good on HO teams, it's not really something you particularly prep for because you're prepping for the setup mons behind it. Instead the reason why I find Jumpluff a pain in builder is of the SD set despite what I initially said. My week 1 team gets owned by it lmao but I brought it anyways despite that fact. The typing offensively is just so weird to deal with. It's hindered by Stealth Rock and Scarfers/Persian but slower Pokemon not named Vital Spirit Electabuzz, RestTalk Swalot, and Bronzor will never be safe into this. You kinda live and die by the number of sleep turns you get sometimes. I've lost and won games from both sides as a result. I've considered stuff like Rindo Berry Gigalith on Jumpluff weak teams because Jumpluff's Flying-type means Pignite and Dustox don't work. To be clear, Jumpluff isn't a matchup fish; it's a good mon, the dynamics are just awkward.

Electabuzz

I was super hesitant to include this here, but even though everybody knows I think it's worth mentioning that Ground-types are pretty bad; Marshtomp isn't bad per say but its usage is inflated on offense because of the role compression vs Electabuzz and Fire-types. Vibrava if it gets Knocked or after some chip will drop to HP Ice, which is why I don't like Vibrava despite its role compression. Krokorok drops to Focus Blast unless you're very specific spread (which is actually a cool spread ngl). Hippo works as a reliable answer with recovery but it has Sand Stream so that means you fuck with your own Grass-types' longevity which are your next best switch-ins vs Electabuzz aside from Regen Duo. It's just super consistent and can just win games late because its faster than most things and will just pivot on everything. Good mon though, and it's only a small factor in the grand scheme of things.

With so many Pokemon I've brought out in the firing line (not to mention Weather which I think just isn't close to the consistency of other HO so I never mentioned it), you might think I want something to be done, but I don't actually or at least not with very much confidence. Even if I did, I'm not even sure what it'd be. Also with it nearly being a year since Purugly was banned, it'll be soon time to revisit that and to be honest the Purugly meta is probably worse than this if my memory serves me well. My post isn't intended to change anyone's mind on ORAS nor is it to tell people to not play it; in fact I hope the opposite happens and people prove me wrong. I'm genuinely curious how people are approaching this metagame nearly a year on from Purugly because I don't think what I've said is particularly unique to ORAS ZU if we look at all metagames, but it certainly works differently to the super top heavy nature of most other ZU metagames. Maybe it's a simply matter of me being not the best builder and an unoptimised metagame, but I don't believe this can explain everything. Something just feels off with the way teambuilding works. Also if you're still not convinced that I can actually spread positivity, well let's talk about Pokemon I've really enjoyed and think are great for the metagame from this Olympiad.

Simipour

I briefly mentioned it at the start but this Pokemon is my favourite Scarfer in the metagame but it is also a really good AoA and NP user too. Just Knocks all the answers early and wins late if its Scarf while revenge killing stuff since its even faster than other common Choice Scarfers. AoA is pretty tough to switch into, can also do the Knock thingy into just playing around with its great coverage options and being a super strong mixed attacker in a metagame with relatively meh mixed walls. NP is a lot less consistent tbh but its a super strong breaker into fat. I think the metagame is generally too fast for it to be worth it, but maybe it'll make a resurgence. Despite the variance in set, you aren't particularly gonna lose because you weren't expecting a certain Simipour set, nor is the power level as polarising as the Protean Frogadier which is much better into Grass-types or SS Huntail which is a lot more threatening than any NP set could be for example. You have to build with fast offensive Water-types in mind anyways and Simipour just is the most well rounded one of the all imo. I see it as the 4th best Pokemon after the big 3 of Duosion, Servine and Electabuzz, and like a few Pokemon on this list, didn't use it more than once because I've a known Simipour enthusiast.

Swalot

Ok so this mon is just really good and I think it's rise to the top has been really cool to see. Swalot used to be seen as a purely defensive Pokemon and now we've seen a lot of AV Max (or close to) Attack and Speed sets which either break with PuP or Explosion + coverage. It is an absolutely blessing for offensive teams because it can basically trade one for one against alot of Pokemon at worst, and with tempo is really difficult to switch into. It also helps TSpike which HO will typically lose against and put a dent in Duo which again HO can struggle against. Yet, the lack of recovery on offensive sets and its Speed still being mid means it's manageable despite its ability to put a lot of pressure on teams immediately. It never really feels like oh this Pokemon is bullshit; despite the fact it has so many diverse sets. Initially teams were ill equipped to handle it; in fact ho3n's old structures are helpless against the AV PuP set but nowadays teams are prepared to go blow for blow with it and it's not unheard of for the non-Swalot player to get a fine trade off. There's also the fact that Swalot cannot do anything into Bronzor regardless of set, but in general enough is out there to keep the dynamic of this Pokemon in a really good spot.

Pignite

I really like Pignite and the only reason why I didn't use it more this tournament is because I think people know I like this Pokemon. It's extremely flexible what you decide to go on this Pokemon. I like RestTalk most but I think Taunt, Toxic, Sucker Punch, Roar etc. are all valuable tools depending on what sort of team you're trying to use. It's actually pretty annoying to switch into this Pokemon's attacks so Vibrava gets a few bonus points for being one of those, but the aforementioned Swalot and Carbink can too. Thick Fat is just an added bonus making it a more reliable option into Vanilluxe (though HP Ground be scary) and other Fire-types. In conjunction with Future Sight, this Pokemon is really disgusting to switch into. On the flip side to its incredible breaking power, decent utility and ok bulk, Pignite is pretty slow and its STABs have massive drawbacks. These vulnerabilities do keep it pretty manageable, and I'm never really worried about losing to this Pokemon due to matchup, even if it can be a threat to switch into for offensive teams.

Persian

Wowee I agree with OBB on something when it comes to something not named Vibrava (and tbh there's actually a fair bit I do agree with him). Yes, I know I rambled about how it isn't Purugly so the metagame is in a much more awkward state but I've still been pleasantly surprised by it being not too shabby (maybe it was just my expectations being way outof line). Normal-resists actually being normal answers is a nice change and there were plenty of Persian teams during Olympiad and they had relatively good success. Well the exception of course is that you can can full commit to a specially offensive set with NP instead and that way you can threaten them a lot better but personally I don't think it's very worthwhile. Not sure if I'd go all the way with bumping it up to A+ by it is certainly deserving at A at the minimum, because just its standard set alone is really consistent for the most part. As a revenge killer I think I still value the better Scarfers like Simipour higher since they get more done in more scenarios, although maybe that's a weird way of looking at it.

Gourgeists

To be honest, I think both Gourgeists are probably under utilised, but I've only used the large variant so I'll mostly focus on that. I would like to give a brief shoutout to some of the cool utility sets that Small can do because of its better Speed such as Sub Leech Seed, but I do think Large is generally more consistent and easier to fit on teams for a typing that isnt exactly the easiest to fit onto teams in the first place. The main thing Gourgeist-L does is it offers an alternative to teams that need a Normal-type answer as well as being a disgustingly annoying physical wall also. Good into recent trends like Swalot and Lairon. Admittedly the reasons it's underused is because Grass-types are plentiful and the competition is very high, and this Pokemon won't fit onto hyper offensive teams given it can at times be a bit of a momentum sink, but for a while this Pokemon was completely forgotten about but it's incredibly good into physical spam which we've seen a fair bit of in this most recent tournament.

Lairon

This was a Pokemon I was pleasantly surprised with. Going into this tournament I was a lot lower on Lairon than most, I just never really saw a reason to run it over other Stealth Rock Pokemon. Not to mention it had 0% during the whole of ZUPL which is laughably bad. Not having the option to go Rocky Helmet to punish U-turn mons is something I thought would make certain matchups a lot less consistent. I think that can be true in some instances, but the upside of Head Smash is so massive that it's sort of worth it sometimes. It ended up being massive the weak I brought it was it broke through a physically defensive wall in Swalot, which posed the biggest threat to my team and ended up in me winning. I think the way you have to build with this thing when using SR is just different to other setters which I just didn't accommodate for but I know some people also think the set is a bit of a relic at this point. I do think it still has its merits especially because the Steel-typing does distinguish it self as a decent check into Psychic- and Ice-types. RP is also really scary on this thing.

Whirlipede

I can't lie this Pokemon is a pretty cool setter; it's the kind of HO I enjoy and isn't cheap despite its bag of tricks. Even with the innovations, the focus is always on the play because you know roughly it'll have Infestation and will try to pull of Endeavor and you can manipulate your way around that because Whirlipede lacks recovery and its damage comes from sacking itself. Both OBB and Fruits made good use of this mon during Olympiad and even though most teams now have a Poison-type making Toxic Spikes less valuable, it actually means you can drop that slot for other supportive moves/or creative options and actually boost its reliability in regards to getting up Spikes specifically.

These are only some of the Pokemon I enjoy using and the ones I either feel most strongly about or have the most relevance in recent time with how they have shifted in the metagame. There are definitely other Pokemon which I feel positively about and to be honest I really like a few of the Pokemon I listed as things that make building a pain such as Duosion, but that example is mostly because Future Sight is just so fun to play around with.

This post is too long so my next post will contain my personal VR of ORAS ZU up to wherever I can be bothered and explanations why I put certain mons where they are. Again, don't take my word as gospel and play or at least watch some games first before jumping to conclusions. I look forward to seeing posts and how this metagame develops.

 

[Monai]

First of all, I'd like to welcome SEA to the very prestigious BW ZU council. They've been a driving force in the tier ever since Breadwinners, and I've been planning to add them for some time.

gang gang

Secondly, my unfiltered and personal thoughts on some sets that I think are extremely strong and have become staples over Olympiad:

Guhfoo

Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 120 HP / 248 Def / 140 Spe
Impish Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Taunt

Actually just fucking lives everything, Mienfoo has never really need attack investment for its pivot sets to be threatening thanks to knock and huge hjk. You could reasonably go even slower with Tox over Taunt. Anchors seemingly every balance team and can live basically any attack besides stab psychic.

Gypno

Hypno @ Leftovers
Ability: Forewarn
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Taunt
- Wish
- Protect

A mon that SEA and Xrn came up with and I thought was excellent. Hypno can pass much bigger wishes much more consistency than Clefairy, while not being completely crippled by Knock. Toss is a bitch for anything offensive to swap into while Taunt and recovery lets it beat down fat shit. Lack of status lets things like SD synth Leaf or Muk in pretty easy though and status makes this shit actually a liability. I ran with curse Muk and aroma mega for that reason, but there are multiple builds we had in mind. I think the increasing prominence of knock not just on Clefairy but also on other crap like hypno Mienfoo and Pelipper has pretty rapidly centralized the tier around the move, which is both interesting and cancer at the same time.

Some pokemon that I'm sick of seeing because they suck ass I legitimately beg you guys to stop using them;

Librava

Vibrava @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Roost
- Toxic

In theory compresses an electric check, rock resist, pivot, and poison check, all in one slot, but fails to do literally and of these except beat Lairon. Muk teams have the tools to play around this Pokemon literally forever while fishing for poisons or burns while Arbok can legitimately 1v1 it. Every electric type beats it with hp ice and specs Raichu is alright but your opponent can still just predict it with hp ice guys like at least Meganium can live the fuckin hit. If you need a U-turning pivot that beats Lairon, Mienfoo is almost exclusively better. If you have a team that requires these traits and has such a bad Muk weakness you need to hit it as hard as possible in every slot I'd probably just rework the team rather than use Vibrava.

Lexploud

Exploud @ Leftovers
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 224 HP / 132 SpA / 152 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Work Up
- Focus Blast
- Hyper Voice

Maybe the worst Pokemon I've seen this Olympiad after Octillery, which makes it all the more impressive that Yovan managed to win with it. In theory cucks stoss users and weak attackers and sets up but has literally no switchin opportunities, and is still pretty weak. Taunt pig or Walrein or even Lampent basically do the job better and have real defensive utility. Don't do the band specs or gem sets either they're all pretty ass too

Use Muk more pls

 

[Jett]

This will likely be my last ORAS ZU post in a while so I'm just gonna just throw out my personal viability rankings of Pokemon up to B- and thoughts behind their placement. I will also be ranking every Pokemon within their subranks, which is where you'll see my personal preferences in building and playing style. Admittedly, I thought less about exact ranking especially by the I got to around the B rank. The rank as a whole I've tried to be a bit less biased with, so for example if we take S rank, I personally think Duosion is the best Pokemon in the metagame, closely followed by Servine and Electabuzz, but I would deem OBB saying Electabuzz is the best as an acceptable take because the margins between these three aren't big and they perform so differently with one another, and are all warping in their own way.

Personal Viability Rankings

S Rank
1.Duosion
2.Servine
3.Electabuzz

A+ Rank
4.Simipour
5.Simisage
6.Pignite
7.Politoed
8.Gigalith
9.Dustox
10Huntail

A Rank
11. Swalot
12. Persian
13.Jumpluff
14.Krokorok
15.Carbink
16.Klang
17. Scraggy
18.Lairon
19.Frogadier
20.Bronzor

A- Rank
21.Magmar
22.Vanilluxe
23.Sawsbuck
24.Gourgeist-L
25.Ivysaur
26.Meowstic-M
27.Furfrou
28.Marshtomp
29.Quilladin
30.Whiscash
31.Pikachu
32.Vibrava

B+ Rank
32.Swoobat
34.Gogoat
35.Dusclops
36.Lopunny
37.Whirlipede
38.Trubbish
39.Hippopotas
40.Meganium
41.Murkrow
42.Wigglytuff
43.Glalie
44.Golduck

B Rank
45.Mienfoo
46.Seaking
47.Gourgeist-S
48.Seviper
49.Volbeat
50.Zweilous
51.Lunatone
52.Pidgeot
53.Magcargo
54.Meowstic-F
55.Butterfree
56.Dragonair
57.Glaceon
58.Lampent

B- Rank
59.Girafarig
60.Chinchou
61.Chimecho
62.Raticate
63.Gastly
64.Mightyena
65.Solrock
66.Emolga
67.Fearow
68.Slaking
69.Kricketune
70.Dwebble
71.Beartic
72.Tentacool
73.Walrein
74.Ditto
75.Sandshrew (just to make OBB happy)

S Rank
Realistically you could use these on pretty much every team. The top 3 for me have remained the same, although their order has shuffled a little. I initially rated Servine the best Pokemon in the metagame right after ZUPL, but after building and playing some more, I think Duosion comes out on top just about. I also grouped Electabuzz here, because not only do I dislike S-, but I believe I was a bit too harsh on it, and in a fairer assessment, it deserves to be at least in the same subrank.

Incredible Pokemon that cover a lot of roles and influence building heavily. Very strong at making progress but also sticking around.

Fat Fuck, and I mean it in the most endearing way possible

When you think of metagame defining, Duosion does exactly that. Admittedly there is some bias here from my end, Future Sight is just so fun to use, but in a metagame where sturdy Dark-types are lacking and Steel-types don't have access to reliable recovery and are heavily dependent on keeping their Eviolite, it ends up being one of the most consistent strategies. Future Sight has so many incredible synergies which I'll probably mention as we go through the list of Pokemon because it's a two way thing; but this Pokemon can fit on almost any team. Despite the rise of HO in these past couple tournaments, I still think Duosion BO and Balance is the most consistent playstyle. Regenerator is broken, and lets it answer Electabuzz well unless its paired with a Pursuit Trapper, and even then you can scout with Protect. Most Dark-types are frail and get giga bopped by Signal Beam. Thunder Wave is also disgusting in this generation, and if your team is well equipped into Krokorok, it is well worth dropping Signal Beam for this. Magic Guard is also extremely useful with its function as a setup sweeper only further bolsters its resume. While I do think Double Dance is a hard matchup fish, regular CM sets are pretty consistent and MGuard sets are also nice when opponents heavily rely on Toxic to beat Duosion. Setup also is a great wincon on stall teams; I think there are other ways to build stall but having Duosion as the focal pointis an extremely safe option. Back to Future Sight, I believe it was 5gen who went further to create the Infestation set which ends up beating some of the answers to Regen Duo. To summarise, its one of the few good mixed walls which somehow also is a momentum generation bot that hits incredibly hard and offers great utility.

NFE Trauma

Servine's solid all-round stat distribution allows the player to have an illegal amount of customisation; like it genuinely feels like a Pokemon from the ADV era where you could run like 5 different spreads and the whole dynamic completely changes and it somehow performs every role well. Personally my favourite is something that speed creeps Ada Krokorok but then invests heavily into bulk otherwise because I find that to cover the most things generally; but it can be tailored to be a special wall, a Scarfer, or offensive stallbreaker. I think generally speaking, defensive is the way to go because Contrary Leaf Storm will overcome any concerns of passivity. Knock and Glare are just incredible utility; a lot of NFEs in the metagame obviously, but even stopping passive recovery from Dustox is massive, while Paralysis is broken this gen and this one hits Ground-types too although not sure why'd you switch a Ground-type in this thing; I guess hypothetically you switch it in a +1 Whiscash and don't want to miss Leaf Storm. Offensive sets have fallen off a bit post ZUPL 4 but they are no means bad; Poison-types are more common than ever now but you used to be able to build teams with the sole purpose to have Scarf Servine only ever click Leaf Storm to win which is a testament to how good this thing can be on both fronts. Despite not being the best offensive or defensive Grass-type, just being great at both had at one point led me considering this as the only Grass-type I'd use. Now I'm more so in the camp that if you ever want to use 2 Grass-types on a team, then Servine will most likely be one of them.

OBB's Son

Electabuzz is the best offensively minded Pokemon in the metagame, but Eviolite and stats are well rounded enough to where it's actually can switch into weaker and resisted attacks very comfortably. This actually allows it to make use of Static in some scenarios like against Fake Out Persian in a pinch. The Ground-types in this metagame actually make me a bit depressed; the fact I don't even rank one until the middle of A is kinda insane, and already paints why Electabuzz is going to be so impactful. Volt Switch immunities are just not very good, or are only good at being a Volt Switch blocker, there isn't really an in between. They all falter to Electabuzz's coverage of Focus Blast and Hidden Power Ice. Fortunately, the metagame has a wide range of Grass-types to choose from so with entry hazards up you are dealing with Electabuzz in a roundabout way. Another thing we can't overlook with Electabuzz is that Speed; only outsped by Persian, Swoobat, and Jumpluff and it matches up well into 2 of those if it has Vital Spirit for the latter. This means you'll often be looking towards a Choice Scarf user to better deal with this Pokemon because otherwise Electabuzz may just win the sack war. In some essence Electabuzz is just a more offensive version of the other two Pokemon as all three are Pokemon that at their core will grind away at your team over the course of a game, but in slightly different ways. As silly as it sounds, I put Electabuzz behind the other two because it does this slower against some teams because the ceiling of its damage potential is the lowest, and it doesn't have reliable recovery so it itself is vulnerable to this same minigame. This might just be a personal preference thing but I find they offer a little more extra than Electabuzz as a whole package.

A+ Rank
My opinion of which Pokemon deserve to be here also hasn't changed since 5 months ago. I'll be splitting this rank into three sections, because it works best given how I've ranked these Pokemon. Offensively minded Pokemon, which are the 4-7, defensive and utility focussed, which are 8 & 9, and Huntail which deserves its own section and happens to be the Pokemon I ranked at the bottom of A+.


All of these are just amazing progress makers, the first two use their speed, the latter two use their bulk to help with that. Generally very flexible Pokemon like the ones in S rank but they arent nearly as warping on building.

Monke

Of the two elemental monkeys in ORAS ZU, I think Simipour is the best. The continuous barrage of Hydro Pumps is just way more threatening than the burst of Leaf Storm which is why I rank it above Simisage because otherwise they function somewhat similarly. I think where Simipour shines the most is as a Scarfer. Knocks everything early, Ice Beam revenge kills Jumpluff and other weakened Grass-types, and Hydro Pump is so strong late, especially if you can get it into Torrent range. Without an umbrella, you are just not safe against this thing, or I guess Politoed but even Politoed still suffers from losing Leftovers, and has to be wary of HP Grass, although Simipour doesn't really want to lock itself into that. AoA is also super good, and NP has its merits but I think their weaknesses are a lot more defined as while Simipour is fast, it is still slower than Persian, Jumpluff, Electabuzz etc. and speed ties with Simisage, so its still quite vulnerable.

Monke: The Sequel

This is a Pokemon I've seldom used, but have always facing against. AoA is really scary, hits everything bar like Swalot and Trubbish super hard. Again similar pattern than Simipour where you Knock early and then spam attacks after. Scarfer works too, but it functions more so as a revenge killer than cleaner because a lot of the moves we use here lower our stats or are inaccurate. it's still a really valuable set because it checks the likes of a boosted Huntail and a boosted Klinklang and other Choice Scarf pokemon. I think this Pokemon also suffers from a worse typing and a greater 4MSS than Simipour which is why I gave Water monkey the edge. Although, there's a case to be made that the 4MSS arises because Simisage gets access to recovery in Synthesis, and that additionaly longevity can be really nice in certain matchups. Regardless of whether you're Team Water Monkey or Team Grass Monkey, both of them are deserving of top 5 spots and Simisage also gets the title of most threatening wallbreaker.

Pignite in Flight

It's STABs alone are so deadly despite the drawback of the moves it uses, which started off as the main reason I used this Pokemon. You can pivot around it and force it to wear itself down and weaken itself so switching is easier but there's not that many Pokemon that can successfully beat it long term and somehow Vibrava is one of them lmao. The first sets I used were Taunt Sucker Punch which lacked longevity but were super good at annoying both offensive and defensive teams. Later I started to use a lot of RestTalk because I was being lazy against Bronzor but it genuinely works so well into that Pokemon, but additionally, given the lack of any other form of recovery, Flare Blitz recoil, and Pignite actually being decently bulky, it only further improved its matchup into Grass-types and Klinklang at the cost of not being able to Sucker Punch offensive Water-types at about half health. Just because I'm in a RestTalk phase doesn't mean the other sets are bad by any means, and I think it comes down to preference heavily, and that's what I like about Pignite so much. Heavy Slam says goodbye to Carbink which is a Rock-type that doesn't hate switching into Fighting-type attacks for example. Roar just fucks with things like getting additional chip onto switch-ins when you have hazards up. This Pokemon is also disgusting when paired with Future Sight; it's gives an additional reason outside of Pursuit for defensive Psychic-types to run Protect. Pignite's main drawback outside of the reprecussions of its attacks are how slow it is so you'll always have an opportunity to retaliate against it.

Broken ORAS Burn

Water immunity is invaluable given how many offensive Waters we have, and ORAS burns are broken. In particular, Huntail is a Pokemon that really hates facing Politoed because of Water Absorb, and it has massive 4MSS so it more often than not cannot afford to run something that is great into Politoed or else it'll lose to every Grass-type for example, or all the Choice Scarf users. Politoed is an incredible both defensive and offensively; Scald burns and Ice Beam are not enjoyable for any Grass-types, and its plethora of other utility moves like Encore, Toxic, Whirlpool, Perish Song, only further reiterate its amazing matchup into fat teams. A set I used this tournament was Substitute which is super fun because it eases prediction and actually makes use of Politoed's decent Speed a lot more than regular sets. Politoed is the kinda Pokemon that is just super reliable and will always provide you with immense value such as weakening a key defensive piece of your opponent and trading with something.

These two are some of the best defensive Pokemon in the metagame that also offer really solid utility; they fit on almost every team as well.

Giga Dick Energy

Gigalith is the clear best Stealth Rock setter in the metagame because its so much more than just that. Unlike the other setters which are primarily only good on either defensive or offensively, Gigalith does both extremely well. Furthermore, Gigalith is so flexible in terms of its EVs and item of choice that it basically can fit on most teams, which is ironic since I didn't bring it in the most recent tour. Basically you can tailor it to be better into physical or special stuff if you want, you can have it hit super hard if you want. I really did want to bring Gigalith in several different weeks but because those teams needed the specialist traits of other Stealth Rock setters rather than the generalist Gigalith is. Still, you aren't gonna be taking this thing down in one hit even if it didn't have Sturdy but that just makes sets with Custap Explosion way more reliable which is why I've never seen much reason to use other boom Rock-types for HO style teams. Resist berries are super fun on this thing to nab surprise KOs on random offensive Water- and Grass-types, and there's always good reliable Leftovers and Rocky Helmet too ofc.

Insect puns bug me

The metagame's premier Defogger which doesn't even click it that often but does absorb T-Spikes and is an incredible slow pivot. Shield Dust is actually really useful in this metagame because its a defensive mon that doesn't cry against Politoed and you don't ever have to worry about hax from the likes of Electabuzz or Frogadier. I think usually it's best to use a specially defensive set but physically defensive is fine too if you really need it. I don't think its the best against physical attackers but it's better into Scraggy and some Grass-types so there's that. I think my favourite thing about Dustox is Whirlwind, which not only means you can't setup on it but on Future Sight teams you can gamba and isn't relying on luck to sometimes instantly win games epic. Overall, you can pretty easily put this on BO and Balance teams and you won't really be disappointed.

Huntail Tier: Personally it's somewhat clear from everything below it and a fair bit behind everything else in A+. No where near as flexible on what teams it can fit on but still is the most deadly setup sweeper since it will sometimes just win out.

Fish after getting ribbon

The scariest setup sweeper in the metagame and it's not even close. If you have the right coverage into the opposing team, it can basically solo win you the game. Surprisingly flexible due to Natural Gift giving physical sets a lot of options, although mixed and special work fine also. The catch, no pun intended, is the fact that setting up isn't the easiest thing on this thing. It's often paired with a dedicated support slot, either Screens or Memento, but it's well worth that trade off in most cases. It's not going to be the most common Water-type but I certainly feel as if it's the most polarising one. Surprisingly not that frail either so you can setup without support even though that's generally ill advised.

A Rank
This is where we finally get to see my opinions change a bit. This is in part due to an evolving metagame, but I also really tried to make myself at least try Pokemon that I didn't have a very high regard for. No real nice way to split these mons up and make a nice narrative out of it so I'll just split it in half. I will say that generally, I'm a much bigger fan of using the Pokemon in the top half of A rank than the bottom half, but I acknowledge why these Pokemon would all fit in this subrank.


These are all Pokemon, I already was fond of (Swalot and Carbink) or grew to appreciate particular sets of the Pokemon as a whole. They are all just pretty reliable for the most part.

Fat Fuck 2

I'm a massive Swalot enthusiast and it was hard for me to hold myself back from putting this in A+, but realistically speaking top of A rank is perfectly fine for it. I really like what AV PuP does for offense teams as it essentially trades with most Pokemon as its so bulky despite fully going in on offense and speed. PhysDef Rocky Helmet is still super solid also and Sticky Hold is just amazing for it because it just punishes physical spam even harder. It has a lot of freedom in what it can do and the biggest problems with Swalot are typically its Speed for offensive sets and lack of reliable recovery for defensive sets.

We have Purugly at home

Purugly at home aka Persian is actually pretty good. Aside from a stronger Fake Out and being slightly faster which helps in more nicher matchups or situations, it is a noticeable downgrade compared to Purugly. But honestly that's fine because Purugly was stupidly broken for facilitating Spikes to an absurd level and also beating the common Normal-type resist with Wake-Up Slap and Iron Tail. Persian is more than fine in most other matchups and are faily easy to wear down during the course of a game so it's far from doom and gloom for this cat. We've seen a lot of teams use it as speed control as opposed to a Scarfer and it has been fine at such a role. Similarly with HO at arguably an all time high, Persian will always have a pretty good matchup when it comes to disrupting setup sweepers.

Pluffington

Looks can be deceiving and Jumpluff is the epitome of that; as an SD sweeper and support Pokemon, it has found a great spot in the metagame. Admittedly jt's pretty weak without an SD boost and sometimes even with one, but its Speed, great synetgy in offensive typing, and Sleep Powder give it ample opportunity to do so as it really forces a lot of switches. Fast Sleep being extremely good here as well, what a surprise. Poison-types, Steel-types and Vital Spirit Pokemon as well as faster Pokemon and Scsrfers make it sound like a lot keeps it in check but defensively, things can go south quickly as none of these Pokemon have recovery outside of Rest and are therefore prone to being worn down. Utility sets typically use Sleep Powder and Memento to allow a partner to immediately switch in and setup for their sweep. What's great about Memento on Jumpluff is Servine, can take advantage of Memento but doesn't want to sitxh into Acrobatics.

Temporal Krokorok

A certain EV spread which allowed my SR Krokorok to live an Electabuzz Focus Blast even after Stealth Rock really opened my eyes as to how useful adding this Pokemon to my pool would be because before Olympiad, I didn't really rate Scarf highly and still don't really since majority of other scarfers are quicker, and thought CB was definitely scary but had some very defining weaknesses like the fact you'd typically run Ada for the much needed power and therefore were easy to creep by a lot of mon's standards making a Krok matchup all of a sudden much easier. Knock Off is always useful, but this one is backed by STAB which is pretty neat. However, the other key component that really sells Krokorok is Pursuit. Duosion is the best Pokemon in the metagame, you have Bronzor which is a bitch to a lot of Pokrmon in a one on one. Krokorok while having to be wary of some moves is really one of the best options for removing those Pokemon. It allows you to approach the Duosion matchup in a conpletely different manner since you're using one of the few immunities. There are things that are pretty hostile towards Krok like the numerous Grasses and Waters but it still manages to be an solid trapper and wallbreaker.

We also have Diancie at home?

Carbink is pretty solid but sometimes ends up being a mon that I have to use when I can't fit certain roles onto other Pokemon which means that its usage gets inflated compared to how good it actually is (at least I see this being a fault of ZU not having enough diversity of good mons to cover certain mons). These include being a greater answer into BU Scraggy, being solid into Pignite, and being faster than Lairon and bopping it with Earth Power. Sometimes your team might need some sort of setup and Carbink can fulfill that role too although I think CM at this point is a little outdated and will often take too much time before it gets going. Another reason I put Carbink above most other SR setters because I value being able to passively chip Normals and U-turners. My main gripe with Carbink is that the lack of power at times even when you use Modest max Special Attack.

These are also Pokemon I don't mind using but I think may have elements which make them more matchup or player dependent. They are still all very good at what they do and offer a bit more on top. Also because I got bored, I decided to name the spoilers for these 5 Pokemon with some songs.

Lithium - Nirvana

While Klang makes for a solid setup sweeper, I would argue the reason why it makes it onto many HO teams is because of the coveted Steel-typing it possesses which gives these teams a lot more wiggle room against Jumpluff and Rock-types. Offensive will use coverage like Wild Charge to by pass Pokemon that resist its STAB, which is far more consistent that defensive setup that uses SleepTalk and its invested bulk imo. If you go defensive, it is better to use Klang as a slow pivot that also is immune Toxic but spreads it itself. I will say that having used this Pokemon, even at +1 it can be underwhelming which is why I can't imagine using defensive setup given it'll be even weaker and also is still outsped by a lot of Pokemon after Shift Gear.

Brain Power - NOMA

Scraggy is often a Pokemon I and many others will find themselves lazily prepping for and then proceeding to get owned by it. Both Dragon Dance and Bulk Up sets are really strong setup sweepers, and in a metagame where both of the viable Fairy-types don't actually resist Fighting, Scraggy has an absolute field day. There are a few things that keep Scraggy from being completely insane, such as the fact it's very slow, you don't even necessarily need a scarfer to revenge kill it at +1. Bulk Up trades away any chance to be faster against most Pokemon and instead focusses entirely on special bulk with EVs, which actually makes it a really reliable answer into the plethora of Psychic-types, some of which carry annoying tools like Signal beam or Toxic, but Scraggy doesn't care about either. Shed Skin makes Rest actually a decent recovery option but also means it can't be impeded as simply using broken burn or paralysis, although Moxie is good too for offensive sets. Defensive sets aren't particularly the most powerful and it can still get overwhelmed after a Bulk Up or 2 especially if it doesn't manage to keep its Eviolite during the process.

We Will Rock You - Queen

Head Smash carries this mon incredibly hard to the point it gets up to A rank because of how hard it is to switch into. Offensively, this Pokemon is extremely good but I prefer my setters having more defensive utility most of the time. It's probably my least favourite SR user out of all of the ones that reside in S rank because it has the least defensive value, and having to run Eviolite means you can't run Rocky Helmet when chip can rack up super quickly on offensive threats. The typing is a double-edged sword; you have to be a lot more careful against a lot of attacks due to the quad weaknesses, and its kinda bad Special Defense. Still, the Steel-typing does give it some unique traits defensive, soft checks some Ice-types, and can punish stuff like Ivysaur and Jumpluff much better than other Rock-types. Rock Polish is where I think it really shines because it's actually a scary cleaner, but even at +2 it's still gonna have to look out for Choice Scarf users. I'm not as high on this as other players but I acknowledge that it at least deserves to be in A.

Axel F - Crazy Frog

Frogadier is a Pokemon I initially thought was unimpressive because it has stiff competition as an offensive water. Compared to Simipour, I thought it was just slightly better power in coverage due to Protean and can pivot, since with Poison-types everywhere, Toxic Spikes are hard to find value so maybe Taunt is better. And well that's sorta true, but I undervalued how good the STAB on coverage was at forcing Pokemon out, so that U-turn actually is great for VoltTurn teams specifically but even on other team archetypes it can put in good work. I much prefer Eviolite over Life Orb because the additional bulk allows you to make amazing use of defensive possibilities of Protean more as well as the utility options it has. These small things accumulate into a surprisingly flexible Water-type option and while I still stand by the fact that being a specialised option like faster Simipour, scarier huntail, or bulkier Politoed is better, it's a little harsh for me to put it A-.

Little "Bronze" Age - MGMT

Bronzor is different to other Stealth Rock mons because its entirely a defensive Pokemon, but Psywave and Toxic are annoying for many Pokemon to switch into. Its unique typing and Levitate also give it a ton of great matchups into various A tiers threats. When you can fit Stealth Rock elsewhere, this frees it up to run Protect or Sleep Talk to help its matchups in to Pursuit users and Future Sight combos or make up for some of that passivity. Speaking of passivity, it's certainly a noticeable drawback; you can be at the mercy of Psywave rolls since there are several setup sweepers like Duosion or Klang etc. which will just take advantage of it because they don't care about Toxic. There are times where this Pokemon does get overwhelmed, but on the flip side it's hard for some teams to even deal with this thing reliably especially if they're put on the back foot.

A- Rank
Now we're getting onto Pokemon that you can still make the focal point of your team but need a bit more support. For instance, say you're against someone who has basically never used Bronzor, then Vanilluxe's value as a potential bring goes up infinitely, but even so you need to support the fact that it's weak to SR, can get RK'ed easily if you dont have an Autotomize or a Weak Armor proc. I think there were quite a few changes here but I also never really explicitly said how I'd rank these Pokemon in the first place.


The first 3 are all Pokemon I actually really am a fan of, but I often end up using options in the higher tiers mostly because I'd get concerned with their speed in certain matchups; and let's be honest, Sawsbuck and Magmar are still pretty quick, and Vanilluxe isn't exactly a slouch either. The metagame is just filled with so many faster threats that it means these Pokemon are wallbreakers first, cleaners second which the metagame currently doesn't favour.

M.A.A.D City Magmars

Magmar, once the Pokemon that was the bane of my existence is still a pretty good Pokemon. It hits extremely hard with Specs and incredible coverage, where even using Specially Defensive Duosion as your pivot to scout gets a quite uncomfortable. I think while Magmar is fast, most teams usually have 1 or 2 Pokemon that are even faster, and given its vulnerability to hazards, being forced out and struggling to switch in really limits the opportunities it gets to show off such power. You might say, then why not run Choice Scarf, which is a fine set, and even one I used in Olympiad but I personally didn't like it much. Scarfers are meant to revenge kill things and I feel so restricted when using SR weak ones and Magmar's reliance on inaccurate moves only worse that fact. At least Scarf is still a very consistent cleaner. There are also Evio sets which I think can be neat, especially the ones that use Sub but I haven't seen those in a while.

I Scream

Vanilluxe is most known for being incredibly potent wallbreaker with Specs or LO. Ice Beam, Freeze Dry, and Hidden Power Ground basically covers everything except for Bronzor. Scarf is also a solid set as it can clean pretty effectively with Freeze Dry, although it'll most likely be slower than most other Choice Scarfers (with the main exception being Krokorok). I think a fair few teams end up being kinda weak to this mon (I expressed this fact in my previous post too) since it isn't that easy to fit Ice resists on teams; and special walls like Dustox and Duosion can get overwhelmed. One of my favourite teams pairs Vanilluxe with Hippopotas which may seem counter intuitive because your weak to Stealth Rock, lack recovery and now have to deal with Sand chip as well; and you fair well into Grass-types so you don't need to reduce Synthesis healing either. However, it greatly improves your matchup into Dustox and Fire-types because of Weather Ball.

Milwaukee Sawsbuck

Fortunately for Sawsbuck, it is closer to Giannis than Thanasis and finds itself towards the top of A-. I've always wanted to use this Pokemon but never have really found an opportunity to do so. On paper, it's extremely deadly; with SD it can either take out or significantly weaken all the typical Grass-type answers like Dustox, Gourgeist-L, and Swalot. Choice Scarf isn't as appealing to me personally but it's nice as a Grass-type that can revenge kill Rock Polish Lairon and offensive Klang and has strong Normal STAB to clean better than Simisage. I just think Scarf lacks a bit of speed and/or power compared to other Scarfers, and with SD Grass-types, I prefer Jumpluff's Speed although the additional power is nice from Sawsbuck. For immediate power, Simisage is the best Grass so it ends up being in a bit of an awkward spot imo; it's not a bad mon by any means but it really suffers from strong competition. I think from the perspective of a Normal-type that deals with Normal-resists, this is where it'll get a lot of its merits from which gives it a clear distinction from the faster Persian and Furfrou. It's good on Sun at least, so there's one place it'll outshine other Grasses.

We now arrive at middle of A-, which is a group of Pokemon which are very good at what they do and do stand out but I find myself only using them sparingly, because they aren't particularly flexible. I tried my best with this naming convention >.<.

.ↄ

Gourgeist-L is probably the best physical blanket check in the metagame with burn and incredible physical bulk in the first place. Normal-types wont be a problema problem, meaning you can run a non Rock-type Rocker and you can generally invest in mixed walls to be more specially orientated. The problem is it's pretty difficult to find it a place to fit on my teams. I'd generally rather use Grass-types which are less momentum sinky, even if it can halt progress for opposing teams too. Additionally, your Electabuzz switch in is typically your Grass-type and unless you invest in Special Defense, it won't be great for that. As a whole, the special side leaves a lot to be desired and the typing is pretty polarising with 5 weaknesses and 4 resistances. (At this point it should be clear why I'm a dirty Servine defaulter.)

:}

Main Pro: Toxic Immune Grass-type. Main Con: Doesn't resist Ground-type. It's a pretty hefty price to pay since you'll need a more concrete answer to Krokorok and Whiscash etc. but it does give it a distinct niche, otherwise it'd just be outclassed. I prefer using a spread with quite a fair bit of Special Attack because you can hit surprisingly hard, and it's not a terrible STAB combination, and Knock at least punishes Steel-types. More Special Attack also means that you're unironically better at checking other Grass-types, namely Servine and Gogoat, because they're super Bulky and you'd possibly end up in a strange Synthesis war.

:I

It's not secret I hate screens teams, and Meowstic is basically the face of them. Screens HO can overwhelm teams by with Meowstic at the forefront providing ample opportunity for multiple sweepers to setup safely. It elevates Pokemon like Scraggy and Huntail to another level who I already have expressed my disdain when facing them sometimes. My Hot Take is that banning something else + Light Clay would make this metagame far more enjoyable because you'd have less losing to matchup but I feel like Light Clay alone wouldn't have a big enough shakeup. The other tools it uses are more to my liking; Yawn Mean Look is a pretty neat combo for setting up threats to sweep, and Thunder Wave is really useful as a tool to combat against HO.

>:I

Really nice speed tier outspeeding the monkeys and a fairly strong physical attacker with very respectable bulk. Furfrou isn't a Pokemon I've particularly used because I think the other Normal-types are generally better, because Sawsbuck is stronger and Persian is fast and the general trend is that offensive Pokemon don't want to be generalists in this metagame imo. Being the fastest in particular gives you a massive advantage but it also boils down to a few other things too, which is why Persian gets used so much more, even if this can hit Carbink and Gigalith with Iron Tail. You do have Sucker Punch which can make it better into Scarfers than Persian, situationally, but also means you aren't completely doomed into the few Pokemon that are naturally faster than this.

:)

Marshtomp is the go to Stealth Rock setter on HO imo, and HO is incredibly powerful atm. It allows you to not worry about the Electabuzz matchup and since you're usually max Attack or close to it, you'll be hitting decently hard even against Grass-types with Ice Punch. Roar, Yawn, and Toxic are also pretty useful moves to carry because even when you're invested heavily offensively, you're still a Marshtomp at the end of the day so you can still be setup on by bulky attackers pretty comfortably. If it had reliable recovery, I think it could be used on a much wider range of teams but other SR setters are generally bulkier than it so it's a bit limited in that regard.

>:)

Quilladin's a Grass-type with a few quirks; Taunt + Spikes makes it a great choice for offensive squads; this gives it a distinct advantage over most other Spikes users which don't really have a means to deny Defog but is also able to deny other setters from getting up their own. Additionally, other Spikes users may be better than Quilladin on specifically HO for example if we take Whirlipede for an example, but the typing isn't as desirable. Bulletproof means any Poison-types that rely on Sludge Bomb will give it free opportunities to setup said hazards. Offensive sets can bop said Poison-types with Zen Headbutt too, while using Synthesis and defensive EVs makes this comparable to your average bulky Grass-type.

The last of the whole A rank section consists of three Pokemon that basically cover the spectrum of what I could feel towards any Pokemon. I love Whiscash, I'm pretty indifferent about Pikachu, and it's not secret I dislike Vibrava.

Fish before getting Ribbon

I really like Whiscash, and would willingly use it over several of the Pokemon higher than it. Water spam teams are really solid, and having to worry about Electabuzz a lot less is just super good. Dragon Dance is superior to any of the other sets like Specs and Defensive which I believe other Water-types outclass it at, and are mostly relics from older metas. The last move on DD sets is super interesting; while you still get outsped by Persian at +1, which certainly sucks, if you ever get to +2, Protect has a lot of value for Fake Out. Natural Gift is super funny on all these setup Water-types because it provides them with a strong Physical Ice/Flying move to actually beat bulky Grasses after a few boosts; though using this means you give up on Lefties or LO which have their own obvious benefits. I will say at +1, Whiscash can still be a little underwhelming and the metagame is plagued with Grass-types so you did need to chip those down a bit, remove Eviolites etc. and Choice Scarf users like Vanilluxe and Simipour will bop you.

Mouse

Pokemon's mascot finds itself just barely missing out on a spot in the top 30. Light Ball boosts Pikachu's offensive stats to pretty terrifying levels and giving it the reputation it has as a glass cannon. Extreme Speed is probably the main reason you'd use this as it makes it an exceptional revenge killer and cleaner, and a perfect fit for priority spam teams. Knock Off and Volt Switch are also very strong attacks that help assist with weaken switch-ins making it actually pretty decent into bulkier teams as well, with the latter also meaning Pikachu has a way out of receiving attacks which will most likely OHKO it. Most of the time you'll use Electabuzz as your Electric-type but I guess Pikachu isn't really a traditional Electric-type given you mostly click Extreme Speed.

Dragonfly

The more I thought about this Pokemon, the more I lowered it so while I did say in discord about how it was around 25th, it has dropped to outside the top 30. Vibrava is a Pokemon that's meant to be role compression, but sorta fails it at every front. It's not a good Volt Switch blocker because it is unable to switch into HP Ice from Electabuzz. It has Defog and slow U-turn which is fine but so does Dustox. So focussing on the matchups it has over Dustox, we have Pignite and Stealth Rock setters like Lairon and Gigalith, which isn't a very extensive list but these are Pokemon which are pretty difficult to switch into. It has Levitate too making it decent into Ground-types as well which allows you to run mons like Ivysaur more comfortably. Overall, it just ends up being this kinda mess of being very meh at a lot of things, + slow U-turn bot, and well there is definitely a lot of value in slow pivoting.

B+ Rank
These are basically the lowest Pokemon I'd really consider using on my teams, anything lower I'd really started to question why I would. They tend to have a strong niche but require support or only fit on a particular team style which usually isn't as favoured at the moment. Gonna split them into 4 even batches of 4 this time because why not.


The top of B+ consists of a bunch of Pokemon which are pretty unorthodox, and since I prefer to use standard stuff, they typically aren't Pokemon I usually would opt to use. Some people might see them as better than some of the mons I put in A- so I'll just continue the lazy naming theme I've been doing for a bit longer.

Bat

Swoobat is a big matchup fish mon, you only bring it if your opponent has question Psychic-resists or tends to bring fat stuff but it's good at breaking those teams. Calm Mind is cringe on screens but it definitely is scary into not Scraggy. This mon is sometimes just forgotten about, because the main Psychic-types are slower and more utility based, and it capitalises on that fact. Specs is a decent set too and makes for a pretty good cleaner with such high natural speed. I think even with Specs, it ends up a bit weak to break down walls consistently, which is where Trick comes in but Tricking away Specs also makes it a fair bit weaker afterwards so... it's kinda eh. I think the thing that made me move this thing down from A- is the Persian uptick and it being slower that Persian really sucks (unironically this was better in Purugly meta).

Goat

This Pokemon supposedly Bulk Ups and is a threat but I've yet to see it. It's just so slow both in a literal sense and in terms of becoming a threat I feel. There are a few things going for it compared to other Grass-types, really high HP with decent other defensive stats makes it good the only Grass-type that I'd call a mixed wall. This high HP also makes better use of recovery and this recovery being Milk Drink means unlike other Grass-types, it's still effective against Hippopotas and Rain teams. Horn Leech is also super nice since you heal while doing damage. Other Grass-types are typically more useful because they're more immediately threatening, or faster, or offer more utility; Gogoat just feels like a bit more of an on paper threat even though it does posses the coverage to destroy Grass-resists.

Ghost

Dusclops is super weird. Initially you look at this thing and think it surely is reserved for Stall right, wrong. Yes the super bulky set is good for Pressure Stall focussed teams which I myself have had the "pleasure" of playing too, but they look pretty sound, but I much prefer the PuP set. This uses its natural bulk to buy it time to boost up before unleashing its wide coverage to break past walls and priority Shadow Sneak to make up for its low Speed. Persian as a Purugly replacement has meant it's sort of in the same spot as before since its Eviolite dependent but still it's a solid Normal-type answer which isn't weak to Fighting. Additionally, if you do choose to use it as a traditional wall, it is one of the few that do take on both physical and special attacks well.

Rabbit

Aside from TWiTT, I'd say I'm probably the person with the most experience using this Pokemon and while at first I was sceptical, anything with Healing Wish seems to eventually sell me that it'll be at least decent, but Lopunny offers more than that. Either you go down a Trick Klutz route with a Assault Vest or Flame Orb etc. or opt for Life Orb and just try and hit as hard as possible with its wide coverage. That being said, it still isn't gonna break through walls on its own with its mid attack. Regardless, Healing Wish is the main selling point, and it's incredibly valuable for HO teams imo, as a means to obviously give a setup sweeper/breaker another chance to put in work, but as a means of getting them in safely. Lopunny being the 4th fastest mon in the unboosted metagame is also super nice, especially because that means it ties with Ebuzz.

This group of 4 are all bulky and offer pretty useful utility, but aren't going to fit on most teams. Especially given most the teams I end up using fall under bulky offense, these Pokemon tend to get outclassed on those teams, but I can definitely see them being higher if you have a preference for other styles.

Fast Trubbish

I think the gap between both Posion-type spikers isn't big at all. Whirlipede's Speed Boost makes it slightly better imo even if it worse defensively. Infestation and Endeavor is really neat for dealing with problem Pokemon and Defoggers and makes Whirlipede a lot more annoying to deal with. Outside of these gimmicks, it doesn't do a whole lot more so it does require a dedicated team to make use of its Spikes.

Sticky Hold Whirlipede

The main things Trubbish has over Whirlipede is the better typing and the fact you never have to worry about losing Eviolite. Otherwise, they do have the same goal in mind which is to set Spikes and sometimes even Toxic Spikes but with so many Poison-types around the latter has been less impactful recently. I think Trubbish is a bit more flexible in terms of what teams it can fit on because it's a lot less all in on getting them up and trading, but it's more or a less a Whirlipede sidegrade so whatever you think is better pretty much comes down to preference.

Hippopotas because idek who I can compare this too

Hippopotas is actually one of the most reliable Electabuzz answers which honestly, is why I'd consider using it. It makes your own Grass-types worse at dealing with Electabuzz though but it works both ways at least. Another thing that makes it stand out from other setters is its access to reliable recovery. Otherwise, it's just a generic bulky SR mon, with a few utility moves like Whirlwind or Toxic to help with passivity. I haven't really ever used it much because it's just awkward to work with despite the clear upsides it can provide. I did consider bringing this into OBB who loves to bring his son (Electabuzz) but settled for a different but respectable Electabuzz answer instead that week.

Bulkier Servine

On fat teams specifically, this Pokemon is very good. I don't really use those teams and well nobody really does. Dragon Tail means fewer Pokemon can use it as setup fodder which addresses some passivity issues. Aromatherapy is probably the main thing that makes it stand out and potentially gives it some viability on certain bulky offenses which can then use Rest on Pignite or Swalot, but also generally burns and paralysis are broken so it provides a bit of insurance vs that. Comparatively to other Grasses, that also does give Meganium a slight edge in the Politoed matchup. Grass-types are so oversaturated in this metagame so it is really hard to justify using this otherwise. SD is funny but I don't think it is very good.

More of the same here, decent Pokemon which have a niche but I just don't really value said niches that highly. With Glalie and Golduck, they also suffer a bit from competition from Pokemon in the A ranks.

Small Toto

Murkrow would be pretty scary but we fortunately have a bunch of good Flying resists. Still offensive Pokemon will get chunked even if they resists its attacks and faster Pokemon have to be wary of Sucker Punch. It isn't just a wallbreaker because it has Prankster Thunder Wave to mess with faster threats. Honestly, I've never really seen it been used to great effect aside from Ho3n so maybe it's not even deserving of this rank but it does have a very high ceiling.

Big Tuthur

I can't really figure out when I'm supposed to use this, but it can Wish Pass with its high HP so that's nice since a lot of Pokemon lack longevity. Stealth Rock with its typing offers some variance too, with Competitive punishing Defog attempts, although unless you're running offensive, you won't be hitting too hard still. And well it's so slow that it struggles to function offensively anyways, so I think defensive is probably the way to go. It's also a fairly okay check to Scraggy as well but it's just an awkward type and set of stats to work with imo.

Big Snorunt

It sets up Spikes, regardless if you're just a regular lead set or if you're running a Scarf variant and Spikes will always be broken in a metagame with poor hazard control options. Has Explosion as well which might have some merit in getting in a different Pokemon safely while also denying Defog, though it also has Taunt for that. I think Scarf is better because it outspeeds Vanilluxe albeit only just so that gives it an additional niche, and it is considerably weaker. Outside of role compression, it's sorta inferior to Vanilluxe.

Big Psyduck

I thought this Pokemon can only be used on weather but honestly it worked out pretty well as a slightly better offensive Politoed. 9/10 times you'll want to use Politoed but the Speed difference has its uses, because of Servine. It's obviously worse defensively but Cloud Nine also has a niche against opposing Weather. I also wanted to mess around with a VincDuck set because into non-Politoed, it feels pretty disgusting to play into, because burn in ORAS is so gross. I feel for a Pokemon that is mandatory on Rain, and then it can function fine not on rain, then it should be a subrank above that archetype.

B Rank Mid
We've officially hit mid. While some users like using the term mid to describe one battle per week in their ZU team tour predictions, I usually reserve that term for Pokemon instead. Every Pokemon here is gonna be mid because either the archetype they are a part of is mid, or they are outclassed by other Pokemon except for maybe one specific niche making them mid. Something mid, something something mid. Did I forget to mention they were mid?


These Pokemon are decent, they actually get some usage because they are able to do something that's pretty unique to only them. Also you gotta just trust me that this Gourgeist is the small one.

Kung Fu Panda

Mienfoo has some neat distinct tricks compared to the other Fighting-types which make up for its inferior stat and typing. For starters, Regenerator is broken. U-turn with Regenerator is just excellent synergy. Knock Off is an advantage it has over Pignite at least. It is one of the few other Pokemon not named Persian that can use Fake Out. It's also one of the better long term Scraggy answers to both sets if you run the right spread and moves. I think my favourite team with Mienfoo has to be Regen spam. Again, it's a Mienfoo so don't expect much on the offensive front for the main set, but even a Scarf variant, I don't think is that impressive, given Mienfoo isn't that quick in the first place, but HJK with base 85 Attack isn't the worst.

Finding Nemo

Last ORAS ZU slate, OBB wondered what Seaking has put me through and today I will be sharing my traumatic experience with this fish. First of all, whenever I use Electabuzz, there's like a 37% chance (totally accurate don't question the calculations behind it) I'll run into it and that matchup is one of the most miserable to play into. Secondly, whenever I used Seaking, the chance I run into Electabuzz is about 14% (again don't question it). Thirdly, my winrate when facing this Pokemon is like a single digit percentage and using it is also single digit percentage. So I must be doing something wrong with it, but it's undeniable really annoying. A very consistent answer to Electabuzz that will Scald Burn and Knock everything else making it a pretty decent progress maker as well. You can also run like some jank offensive sets with Megahorn to bop Grasses too I guess. It's also the fact that even in non-Electabuzz matchups, it's not deadweight because it's a decent bulky water into Fire-types and whatever bulky Waters usually do, but I personally can't make it work so whatever... I'll stick to my Politoed and run a different Ebuzz answer.

Coraline

Gourgeist-Small has a very interesting speed tier, meaning it can run some cool offensive sets. In particular, you can annoy mons with Leech Seed and Sub sets. I think fully offensive sets are gonna be too weak, and you'd much rather another Grass-type, while Gourgeist-L is better for full defensive, although for an offensive Pokemon it has very respectable physical bulk. Still this kinda utility set is annoying for both offensive and defensive Pokemon alike. It sucks into the two most common Fighting-types despite being a Ghost-type so it won't help offensive teams on that front either.

The Jungle Book

Seviper's main niche is as a Scarfer with Final Gambit. Seviper HO used to be a lot more hyped up especially around the ZUPL 4 era of ORAS ZU, but lately other offensive tools have seen more light. I still think it's a really cool option for teams that want to overload certain checks to pave the way for setup sweepers or other Scarfers to win. I think any other set is bad so don't use them.

A Bug's Life

The premier Prankster weather setter, and weather is mid; so this is mid. Slow U-turn is good too, and Encore shuts down anything that tries to use this as setup fodder. Roost and Thunder Wave for the fourth slot probably depending on what you need. Pretty standard stuff; funny that all the weather stuff was ranked in A before I joined, but other forms of HO are generally more consistent.

More of the same here, very specific Pokemon basically, that you'd have to go out of your way to use, but are decent. Some Gen Alpha kid (probably zause) must have taken over for this section's titles.

Dragon Deez Nuts

Never used this mon in my life but have faced it a few times and it has owned me before. Really difficult to switch into without Carbink and Dark-types in generally are just really valuable because Duosion runs the metagame and Bronzor is quite common nowadays. Hustle makes it a little unreliable, and it's kinda slow with an awkward defensive typing so you're kinda banking on getting that matchup where it puts in the work.

Mooning (flushed emoji)

Offensive Stealth Rock and Rock Polish user, it's kinda like a faster Special Lairon but less offensively threatening. Levitate is certainly nice as well although that doesn't really save it from most of the Earthquake users in this metagame. It does have the coverage to hit those who resist its STABs as well, which does make it trickier to switch into

Swallow Deez Nuts

It's a little bit of a relic but it serves as a fine Defogger. Keen Eye means you can safely Defog on Servine but tbh who is switching that into Pidgeot. U-turn is nice too but there's not much to really say about it, because I can see why you'd want to use it on certain teams, but the majority of the time I think I'd rather no Defogger and a better Pokemon to cover what it can defensively.

Slugma Balls

Decent Shell Smash user but it's a shame it's still so slow because its coverage is so cool, but its typing and Flame Body basically make it impossible for Persian to revenge kill it. The set with the tech is so cool for by passing would be checks, and it's a shame I never got to show if off because I'm bad. I think you need to heavily support it because being Rock weak and slow is far from ideal for setting up reliably. Defensive sets are also not really worth pursuing imo because other Stealth Rock setters are generally better and have better typing.

Can someone figure out the code to insert Meowstic-Female using code formatting, using an image makes it unaligned and out of place.

meow

Calm Mind Psychic-type which is mostly struggles to compete with Swoobat because it's slower but it deters Defog and has better coverage. If you don't compare it to Swoobat then it's Speed does seem very nice so there's that, but Swoobat boosts twice as fast which makes it hard to compete with.

free

Sleep Powder and Quiver Dance and sweep. Kinda gimmicky but deadly. Probably needs really good hazard control because I think having Sash is super nice for it. Will probably only ever see it on setup spam stuff.

nair

Dragonair isn't a first choice for screens teams or setup spam but it isn't a bad one. Extreme Speed is nice and it's not like teams really need a Dragon-type switch-in because this is the only Dragon-type. I think Offensive is better than bulky Rest Shed Skin.

glac

Mostly outclassed by Vanilluxe because it's quite a bit slower but you do have Shadow Ball for Bronzor and you're stronger so you have a better matchup into anything slower than Glaceon but a notable one is Dustox iirc.

lamp

Weird typing both offensive and defensively; I believe it's a matchup fish but OBB has proved this Pokemon can put in work. Both CM and Scarf can be annoying and for some reason I brought Magmar and ran into it... but Pignite is also not safe and I'm considered a Pig spammer so ig that's why. Bit too slow for my liking, but as a Scarfer it is immune to Fake Out, which is a nice bonus.

B- Rank
Our last destination for today's post is B- Rank because one I barely have enough characters to cover it and two I don't want to cover anything. I can see why some people might use these on a very specific team, but generally stick to Pokemon above this tier. They generally are outclassed by Pokemon above this rank even if they do have a few advantages over them. Some of the others have pretty bad stats that outweigh the perks they do bring onto a team. Most of these probably seem a lot nicer on paper, but in practice it'll become apparent that they are in fact quite underwhelming. I have less to talk about each one so I'm just going to lump them altogether and I hope they get along just fine. I'll be honest, at this point I gave not too much thought about placement; it was a lot about my feelings towards them and solely how likely am I to bring this. Maybe some of these deserve to be C+ instead but I liked the nice round number of 75 mons.

One large spoiler for everything because I'm lazy

NP with a good movepool has a nice niche but the other better offensive Psychic-types are faster. Sap Sipper is useful in a metagame with so many Grass-types.
I prefer Seaking over this thing because it's quite a bit weaker but it can pivot instead so that at least distinguishes it a bit as an Electabuzz and Magmar answer.
It has Healing Wish and I like HWish mons and it's distinct enough from the other one. Coverage is alright too but otherwise it's kinda very meh.
Kinda scary on paper but you get worn down pretty quickly and other normal-types being faster make it not a great option imo.
Unique typing, i wanna try some weird Disable set but it's ranked here for its choiced sets. Frail af though, and I feel Choice sets might still be too weak/slow compared to other choiced users.
Play Rough makes it a good Dark-type into Scraggy. Sucker Punch for faster stuff and Moxie makes it a decent cleaner sometimes. Otherwise outclassed by other Dark-types which offer more defensively and utility wise.
It sucks as a Normal-resist since its weak to U-turn but with a better Defense, it does makes better use of Levitate compared to Lunatone. Rocks and burns stuff too.
Emolga might be the most surprising addition to this B-. Its speed tier is super nice since it outspeeds the monkeys, can pivot, has Knock and Acro hits fairly hard too. Its typing is just a weird one for many teams to deal with too so you can catch players off guard. Sucks as an EBuzz answer but unironically you can chip it down if that's the opponent's best switch-in for this thing, and its existence might be enough to dissuade Volt Switch from being clicked from time to time which is nice. Rocks are annoying for it too.
Faster Pidgeot with Drill Run so it can make better use of Choice Items but no one is running a Choiced Flying-type in this metagame. Hazards weak and prediction reliant just isn't ideal even though on paper it does have nice tools.
Slaking hits extremely hard and can Pursuit Trap things, but doesn't like the rise of Protect mons tho like Duosion. Encore is pretty neat tech on it. Truant is obvious a big drawback and you really need a dedicated team for it to work. Other Normal-types are just much safer options and will be better most of the time.
Sticky Web and webs are pretty alright, doesn't do anything else though, unless you're planning to use Sing or Perish Song xdd.
Best lead with both Stealth Rock and Spikes. Doesn't really do anything else so reserved for that style of HO.
Slow af so needs Rain but Rain doesn't need him unfortunately for Beartic. Is a threat on that archetype though.
Spinner and Toxic Spikes setter. Knock Off and Scald also. Pure role compression but stats are quite bad, so I would never use it, but I have seen one decent team with it.
On paper looks scary but in practice it's too slow, just use Frogadier if you want a Water-type with Ice STAB imo. I guess it's bulkier and will hit harder but I've never used it nor have I seen anyone use it.
HO rules this metagame, surely it'll be decent in this meta. Ditto will always be a fringe pick tho.
I mean it spins and Knocks stuff and has good matchups against the common SR mons but it's also Sandshrew so ye this is about as nice as I can be to it.

This is by far my longest ever post. I'm basically at the character count cap, and some sections had boring names because I thought I might need to save on characters so hopefully some of it was of at use at least. For anyone who managed to get through all of it, thanks for reading.

 

[BaitWiz]

A Study of SM ZU

Hello everyone, and welcome to my first giant post in a while. Today I want to look at some of the top offensive and defensive threats within SM ZU, take a deep dive into a few mechanisms and interactions at play within SM ZU, and along the way provide an additional resource to help players who may be interested in the tier. This is a project that I have been working on in my head since the beginning of March and I'm glad to have finally completed it. Without further ado, let's get this started!

Offensive Forces within SM ZU

Those who are familiar with SM ZU know that it's a metagame that tends to lean towards offense; this is reflected in several of the top Pokemon in the tier either being outright offensive threats themselves, like Swanna and Simisage; premier revenge killers, like Electivire and Rotom-Fan; or Pokemon that can often play both defensive and offensive roles within their team, like Golem and Komala. Starting off, I'd like to take a deep dive into the top tier Pokemon that fit under two or more of the following categories; all-out attackers, set-up sweepers, and revenge killers. For each offensive threat, I aim to highlight its strengths, the Pokemon that counter (i.e. safely switch in and beat) both sets, the Pokemon that counter each set, and the pokemon that check (can beat off of a sacrifice or pivot) each set.

Electivire

Electivire's main role in the metagame is that of an offensive Choice Scarf user. Electivire excels in this role, forcing switches with the threat of its many coverage options and capitalizing on these switches with its own Volt Switch; furthermore, its excellent base 95 Speed means it outpaces the entire unboosted metagame with its Choice Scarf, meaning it's one of the best revenge killers in the tier as well. Alternatively, Electivire does a phenomenal job at breaking walls with the many coverage options available to it with an Expert Belt set. However, it lacks power on its coverage moves for its Choice Scarf set and lacks speed on its Expert Belt set. Lastly, Electivire is a Pokemon that often ends up checking itself; acting as a Volt Switch absorber for its team or threatening to revenge kill opposing Ice Punch or Wild Charge locked Electivire with Earthquake.

Universal Counters: Golem, Sandslash

Counters to Scarf Electivire: Torterra
Checks to Scarf Electivire: Silvally-Ground, Gourgeist-XL, Bronzor, Dusclops, Lickilicky

Counters to Expert Belt Electivire: N/A - in general, though, Expert Belt Electivire is easily chased out by and taken advantage of by faster threats once the set is revealed.
Checks to Expert Belt Electivire: Swanna, Simisage, Simisear, Kadabra, Rapidash. Basically all of these do require some degree of prior chip, though. Expert Belt Electivire is also checked by other physical attackers like the Silvally forms and Leafeon if it opts for a Lonely nature to further increase its power, who speedtie it otherwise.

Swanna

Swanna's role as an offensive Defogger is a straightforward one, targeting slower opponents weak to its STABs like Golem, Gourgeist-XL, Leafeon, and Silvally-Fighting and using the opportunities afforded by its offensive pressure to make progress for itself and its team. It often either utilizes a Life Orb to increase its damage further at the cost of its health, or Flyinium Z to give its Hurricane an extra power boost where necessary. As of recently it will sometimes run Leftovers; however, running Leftovers does mean it loses out considerably on power, as Swanna's meager offenses suffer without the boost. Alternatively, Swanna can become a menace with two other Z-Move related sets; the special attacking Z-Rain Dance set, which gives it a +1 Speed boost, or the physical attacking Z-Mirror Move set, which gives it a whopping +2 Attack boost. Z-Rain Dance often falls prey to the same defensive Pokemon that Defog Swanna struggles against, just to a lesser degree, but the Z-Mirror Move set's checks are almost purely offensive; if Swanna can OHKO faster revenge killers with Aqua Jet and you don't have a Sash Kadabra or strong priority, it often can be lights out.

Universal Counters: Swanna's only true counter is Mareanie, though Electric-type Pokemon across the board check Swanna offensively while maintaining momentum with Volt Switch; the main three are Raichu, Electivire, and Rotom-Fan. Fake Out users like Purugly can severely limit setup sets.

Counters to Specially Offensive Swanna: Lickilicky, Bronzor, Muk, Wishiwashi, and specially defensive Komala
Checks to Specially Offensive Swanna: Choice Scarf users like Electivire, Rotom-Fan, and Mr. Mime, and outright faster Pokemon like Simisage, Kadabra, and Furfrou.

Counters to Physically Offensive Swanna: Mareanie
Checks to Physically Offensive Swanna: Wishiwashi, Bronzor, Kecleon, Simisage, Simipour, Sash Kadabra, Purugly.

Simisage

Simisage wields two excellent sets within ZU; either an all out offensive set or a Nasty Plot set. Both sets use a powerful Grass STAB and the necessary coverage of HP Ice, but ultimately go about their goal of breaking in different ways. All out offensive Simisage utilizes Leaf Storm as its main STAB for maximum power, removes items like Eviolite from Bronzor and Dusclops with Knock Off, and rounds out its coverage with the ever reliable Superpower, allowing it to hit Normal-types hard without sacrificing its coverage, item, or specially offensive pressure. Nasty Plot Simisage instead aims to break with boosted Giga Drain/Energy Ball and uses Focus Blast as its fighting coverage, either alongside Fightinium Z to allow for more reliable breaking compared to the shaky accuracy of Focus Blast or a Life Orb to secure certain OHKO's after a boost. Life Orb Simisage often falls victim to its own recoil damage, while Nasty Plot Simisage has greater difficulty breaking past certain walls like Muk, Bronzor, and Dusclops.

Universal Counters: Muk, Rapidash, and Silvally-Poison, though the latter two get worn down over a game and eventually broken through. Rapidash especially must be wary of coverage, though it takes Knock Off and Grass STAB fairly easily.

Counters to All Out Offensive Simisage: See above
Checks to All Out Offensive Simisage: Electivire, Rotom-Fan, Kecleon, Pawniard, Grimer-A. Life Orb Simisage usually ends up getting beaten through a mixture of entry hazards, Life Orb recoil, and trading damage with the walls it's trying to break.

Counters to Nasty Plot Simisage: Dusclops, Bronzor
Checks to Nasty Plot Simisage: Electivire and Rotom-Fan do well here as well. Priority users can struggle to revenge kill due to the chip necessary against Giga Drain variants.

Combusken

With a deadly combination of Speed Boost and high BP STAB attacks, Combusken does phenomenally within ZU whether acting as a specially focused all out attacker or a physically focused Swords Dance breaker and sweeper. Combusken utilizes Z Moves or a Life Orb to push its somewhat middling offenses into overdrive, though Combusken often falls prey to itself over time; Specially Offensive sets either use Life Orb, and thus suffer from recoil, or Fightinium Z, and thus can lack power outside of the one time nuke of All-Out Pummeling. Meanwhile, physically offensive Combusken takes enormous recoil from its stab Flare Blitz, which it often must use to break past threats that resist or are immune to its Fighting STAB, and lacks any priority to combat faster threats at +1 or +2 Speed and opposing priority users like Swanna and Floatzel.

Universal Counters: Mareanie, Swanna, Altaria, Sash Kadabra

Counters to Specially Offensive Combusken: Wishiwashi, Dusclops
Checks to Specially Offensive Combusken: Scarf Electivire, Scarf Mr. Mime, Scarf Pinsir, Dugtrio, and Floatzel.

Counters to SD Combusken: See above.
Checks to SD Combusken: Same as Specially Offensive Combusken. Pokemon that resist or are immune to Sky Uppercut like Gourgeist-Super, Muk, Silvally-Poison, and Beheeyem force it to use Flare Blitz, limiting its lifespan further.

These four Pokemon are some of the best in the tier, and it's often wise to run at least one of them on a given team. That being said, taking a look at offensive threats within a tier necessitates a deeper look into defensive cores of SM ZU as well. With such powerful breakers, and somewhat limited counters, it's necessary to take a look at common defensive cores that have arisen to combat these offensive threats.

Defensive Cores within SM ZU

This is where things take a surprising turn for me; most defensive cores in SM aren't super consistent in terms of Pokemon choice, even on a player by player basis, and tend to vary wildly from game to game. However, as always, patterns emerge; most teams include a Normal resist/immunity, a Stealth Rock setter, some sort of specially defensive pivot or wall, and a volt blocker for Electivire.

Normal Resists/Immunities: , , , , ,
Stealth Rock: , , , , , ,
Specially Defensive Wall/Pivot: , , , , , ,
Volt Blocker: , , , ,

As can be seen quite clearly, one thing becomes blatantly obvious: Bronzor, Golem, and to a lesser extent Torterra and Sandslash serve as excellent role compression for their respective roles, freeing up valuable team slots for offensive Pokemon, more specialized checks, and utility roles. I'm not here to teach teambuilding 101 or anything, but with the remaining 3-4 slots after your initial defensive core, in an ideal world, you should be able to include at least checks for the four aforementioned threats; Electivire, Swanna, Simisage, and Combusken. One or two can be automatically checked off depending on what defensive core you're working with, but if you don't check off the remainder they can often run away with games if they show up; Scarf Electivire's ability to somewhat reliably limit these offensive threats, including itself, is one of the main reasons why the set sees so much usage within the tier, and the opportunity cost of not using Scarf Electivire is one that must be taken into account when building, more so than perhaps any other Pokemon in the tier.

The final interesting thing to note about defense in SM is that SM ZU doesn't really have mons that are able to reliably blanket check offensive threats long-term. The closest thing we have to a Pokemon that can blanket check several offensive Pokemon is Bronzor, which sees a lot of usage in the current set of sample teams and within the metagame as a whole, but Bronzor is heavily reliant on its Eviolite and is incredibly abusable once it's chipped into Rest range - both factors that make Bronzor not a reliable long-term check to top tier threats like Z-Mirror Move Swanna and Nasty Plot Simisage. Because of the lack of Pokemon that can reliably blanket check swathes of the metagame due to the combination of offensive powerhouses and Z-Moves allowing for circumventing checks, the reality of SM ZU is that it can often be difficult to account for most offensive threats in the builder, making for a metagame that can at times feel decided at team preview.

So What's Next for SM ZU?

To be honest, I'm not sure. As far as the top tier offensive threats go, I feel that Electivire is an overall healthy presence for the tier and its removal would be disastrous for the tier. Combusken is a Pokemon that can often feel overwhelming if things go its way, but at the moment it seems too limited to actually become problematic. Swanna and Simisage stand out to me as the main two potentially overbearing presences, but both also have clearly defined weaknesses. Furthermore, Swanna was suspected only a couple of years ago, with the majority of the playerbase at the time voting for its continued presence within the tier; unless sentiments have drastically changed in this regard, I think Swanna should remain. On a similar note, if sentiments have changed, then it's worth considering the widespread effects Swanna's removal would have on the tier - Combusken losing one of its more reliable offensive checks, Rock- and Ground-type Pokemon gaining more breathing room, and so on. As far as Simisage goes - I am quite curious on community opinions in regards to Simisage, as it's one of the most reliable breakers in the tier. Furthermore, it maintains an excellent Speed tier, outpacing some Pokemon already considered fast like max speed Silvally forms, Leafeon, and Swanna. However, its lack of longevity and overall frailty are clear weaknesses that are often abused by priority attackers and faster threats, often in conjunction with hazard support.

Regardless, though, I think one thing is abundantly clear; SM ZU is a metagame with tons of potential for innovation and growth, and I hope this post acts as a solid starting point for further discussion on the tier.