Uber Metagame Analysis November 2009

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Introduction

November was quite an interesting month for the Uber metagame – a lot has changed since May, the last published Uber Metagame Analysis was published in May. After the release of HeartGold and SoulSilver in September, the metagame took a shift towards abusing Groudon’s Drought ability to intensify the sunlight in the battlefield. HGSS brought Brave Bird to Ho-Oh, which increased its usage sharply, along with Forretress due to its ability to Rapid Spin. Kyogre fell slightly in usage as a consequence. The increase in Forretress also brought a demand in spinblocking, and Giratina-O rose sharply.

Kyogre - 44.97%

Top-five teammates:

Palkia (36.96%)

Mewtwo (36.71%)

Scizor (34.58%)

Rayquaza (29.58%)

Dialga (28.88%)

Kyogre enjoys being the King of Ubers still to this very day, threatening every Pokémon in the metagame with its Choice Specs and Calm Mind sets. November’s Kyogre focused more on its Calm Mind set, with the move itself being used 34.5% of the time and Leftovers being held 46.1% of the time. Kyogre is also #5 in terms of lead usage, striking fear into the hearts of Darkrai and Groudon everywhere as well as setting up rain early in the game , and spreading paralysis through Thunder Wave.

Palkia is Kyogre’s top teammate because it is a very large threat under rain. With STAB Surf and Aqua Tail boosted to astronomical levels, Palkia can easily 2HKO Wobbuffet as well as severely denting Mewtwo and Blissey (with Aqua Tail). Mewtwo appreciates the rain as it makes its Thunder 100% accurate, and with its excellent stat distribution it is a great partner to almost all Pokémon in the game. Scizor enjoys the rain as it weakens Fire-type moves, and in turn supports Kyogre by keeping Latias, Latios, and Choice Scarf Palkia in check, to an extent. Rayquaza can take on Grass-type moves aimed at Kyogre, while Kyogre can take on Ice-type moves aimed at Rayquaza. Furthermore, Rayquaza is capable of luring Groudon and killing it with Draco Meteor, allowing Kyogre to come back in with permanent rain. Dialga resists both of Kyogre’s weaknesses and is no slouch in the special defensive department either.

Groudon – 36.92%

Top-five teammates:

Forretress (38.98%)

Palkia (37.89%)

Ho-Oh (37.80%)

Mewtwo (32.02%)

Dialga (30.14%)

In November, Groudon took a defensive approach – Rock Polish was used 17.2% of the time and Swords Dance was used 20.7% of the time. Groudon is often used to bring Stealth Rock (used 54.9% of the time) and sunlight into the battlefield, and focused on Defense to increase its survivability and make it tougher to remove the sunlight from the game. A surprising 36.4% of the Groudon were Impish to reflect this.

As opposed to Kyogre, Groudon’s teammates are generally more stallish. Due to the increase of the Forretress / Ho-Oh / Groudon combination, as well as stall in general, it surprisingly became Groudon’s number one partner. Forretress resists Ice- and Grass-type attacks, two of Groudon’s weaknesses, and provides useful entry hazards support as well as Rapid Spinning opposing hazards away. Palkia may not directly benefit from Groudon’s sunlight, but it helps Groudon by taking Water Spouts from Kyogre. Palkia also backs up Groudon in taking down Rayquaza, as Groudon alone cannot be relied to take it down. Ho-Oh benefits greatly from sunlight, turning its STAB Sacred Fire into a lethal weapon against teams without Kyogre (and even then, it fears Brave Bird). It has a 4x resistance to Grass-type attacks and has excellent Special Defense to absorb neutral Ice Beam. Furthermore, sunlight support allows Ho-Oh to absorb Palkia’s Surf with relative ease, consistently stalling it out. On the offensive side of things, Mewtwo is fast and strikes hard on the special side, and defensive Mewtwo is often found in stall teams where Groudon is prominent. Dialga resists Groudon’s weakness to Grass-type moves and can take Ice Beam reasonably well, and can force threats such as Giratina-O out with its powerful Draco Meteor.

It is interesting to note that Kyogre is not one of in the Groudon's top five Groudon’s teammates. The two weather titans have isolated themselves as many teams focus on one specific weather in November.

Mewtwo – 36.37%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (45.40%)

Rayquaza (36.04%)

Groudon (32.51%)

Scizor (31.28%)

Latios (27.68%)

Mewtwo saw a massive spike in usage this month due to fitting so well in offensive teams. With its excellent stat distribution, with very high points in Speed and Special Attack, as well as a gigantic movepool to further complement it, it is no wonder that is so widely used. Mewtwo’s massive usage could’ve possibly contributed to Darkrai’s fall this month (along with the rise of Ho-Oh). In November, Mewtwo had a fair share of usage between its Taunt/Calm Mind and all out attack sets.

Kyogre is highly used with Mewtwo as it makes Thunder 100% accurate, and because Kyogre is highly used in general. Mewtwo supports Rayquaza by taking down Lugia with a combination of Taunt and Ice Beam, as well as striking hard and fast from the special side as opposed to Rayquaza’s focus on the physical side with moderate Speed. For that same reason, Mewtwo is often used with Groudon. It is also faster than the threatening Shaymin-S and can immediately dispatch the flying puppy with Ice Beam. Scizor resists all of Mewtwo’s weaknesses, and can punish the special wall Blissey with U-turn and Superpower, or set up on it with Swords Dance. Latios and Mewtwo are both fast, special attackers and can put a lot of pressure on opposing teams; Mewtwo can also lure Blissey and Selfdestruct, clearing a path for Latios to create havoc.

Palkia – 31.53%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (52.73%)

Groudon (44.37%)

Giratina-O (33.36%)

Forretress (31.74%)

Mewtwo (28.01%)

Palkia’s usage dropped a little bit, perhaps due to the increase of Latios and Latias competing for the “Kyogre check” spot on the team. Still largely used as a Choice Scarfer (56.7%), Palkia is quite often the glue to many teams, handling Choice Specs Kyogre, Darkrai, Dragon Danced Rayquaza, and more. Palkia remains as the most prominent Scarfer in the metagame. When While not being used as a Scarfer, however, Palkia is used as a wallbreaker – its high base 120 Attack and 150 Special Attack, combined with STAB (and maybe rain boosted) Aqua Tail, Outrage, and Spacial Rend can quickly unravel slower teams.

Kyogre is Palkia’s top partner for a good reason – rain boosts its Water -type STAB to skyscraper levels allowing it to OHKO Darkrai and 2HKO Wobbuffet with Surf(removed extra space). The rain boost allows Palkia to decimate Blissey with Aqua Tail on the mixed set as well. Palkia helps take on Groudon’s weakness to Water-type moves, and in turn Groudon’s Drought boosts Palkia’s Fire Blast and Flamethrower. Furthermore, Groudon can swap into Choice Specs Kyogre’s Thunder should Palkia swap into one due to misprediction. Giratina-O does not support Palkia much, but it’s one of the top partners of Palkia due to the high numbers of stall teams, and Palkia is quite common on stall. Likewise, Forretress is a top partner for Palkia. Forretress also resists Palkia’s only weakness to Dragon-type attacks, and Palkia resists Forretress’ only weakness to Fire-type attacks. In turn, Forretress provides entry hazards while Palkia helps check some Pokémon that attempt to stat up on Forretress such as Rayquaza, Darkrai, and Garchomp. Mewtwo is a common partner to Palkia due to both of their high uses in offensive teams – Mewtwo’s Speed stat may also relieve Palkia of having to hold a Choice Scarf to hold up against faster threats such as Darkrai and Shaymin-S.

Dialga – 29.37%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (44.21%)

Groudon (37.89%)

Mewtwo (31.76%)

Palkia (28.80%)

Darkrai (27.03%)

Dialga had a fair spread of sets used in November; its brilliant set of resistances, immunity to Toxic, and wide movepool allows it to be one of the most unpredictable Pokémon in the game. One set that surprised many people during this month is Bulk Up/Fire Blast/Draco Meteor/Dragon Claw, with Bulk Up attracting Groudon, only to receive a Draco Meteor in the face. A lot of Dialga ran maximum Speed this month, possibly to outrun Adamant Rayquaza and most other Pokémon in the base 90 bracket.

Dialga’s typing, movepool, and stat spread allows it to partner with just about any Pokémon in the game. It can lure just about any Pokémon in the game and murder it, opening up a pathway for another Pokémon to sweep.

Rayquaza - 28.14%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (47.28%)

Mewtwo (46.59%)

Wobbuffet (39.51%)

Darkrai (32.59%)

Groudon (29.33%)

Rayquaza focused on its Swords Dance set this month, having it exactly 50% of the time. Around half of that is the Dragon Dancer, used 26.4% of the time. Even smaller, Rayquaza used Draco Meteor 16.9% of the time. Rayquaza is perhaps one of the most unstable Pokémon in this metagame, sometimes leaping up to #2 and other times sinking down to #7 , changing frequently. It is largely affected by metagame trends; for this month, Swords Dance Rayquaza is most common due to Palkia being more common than Dialga, and mixed Rayquaza is not as common as Ho-Oh, a Pokémon whose usage spiked in the last two months, can check it reasonably well, forcing it to use Outrage or lose.

Kyogre is commonly used with Rayquaza due to its ability to take Ice -type attacks. It is also a top partner because it is very common. Mewtwo can set up on Lugia, and provide a fast, special attacking force to the team compared to Rayquaza’s moderate Speed, and high physical power. Wobbuffet traps Choice Scarf Dialga, Palkia, and Garchomp, and provides Rayquaza with a free turn to set up or attack through Encore. Darkrai can set up on Lugia, possibly put a threat to sleep with Dark Void, and lure Choice Scarf Pokémon that can be revenge killed by Wobbuffet. Groudon can set up Stealth Rock for Rayquaza or simply overload the opposing teams with brute physical force.

Giratina-O – 27.08%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (41.42%)

Groudon (41.09%)

Deoxys-S (39.30%)

Palkia (38.83%)

Mewtwo (37.04%)

Giratina-O enjoys its role as the premier spinblocker in the metagame. With access to Levitate and moderately high offensive stats, it can switch in quite easily and put a lot of pressure on the opposing side. Giratina-O has made a steady, but interestingly accelerating rise from its introduction till now. The metagame demanded for its ability to spinblock and not get worn down by the entry hazards, and with the huge rise in Ho-Oh in this and last months, many people do not want their entry hazards to be spun away as it is a ridiculously powerful threat with impressive bulk. With the increase of Forretress throwing Payback around to hurt Giratina-O trying to block Rapid Spin, its set took a major twist in this month. From October 2008 to October 2009, the Calm Mind set remained the most popular set. However, Giratina-O in November was prominently mixed, with Hidden Power [Fire], Outrage, and Shadow Sneak. Hidden Power Fire took care of those Payback Forretress, Outrage gives it a way to hurt both Kyogre and Blissey at the same time, and Shadow Sneak became popular as it is a priority move that hits many Ubers super-effectively, allowing Giratina-O to act as a revenge killer of sorts.

Giratina-O’s versatile role allows it to partner up nicely with many Pokémon. Kyogre’s massive usage and resistance to Ice -type attacks finds its way to becoming a top partner for Giratina-O. Groudon can handle Tyranitar and physical Rayquaza, and provide sunlight, allowing Giratina-O to OHKO Forretress with Hidden Power [Fire]. Both Groudon and Giratina-O are staples in stall teams nowadays due to their important roles – it is no wonder that Groudon is a top partner for Giratina-O. Giratina-O partners up very well with Deoxys-S as it blocks Rapid Spin and keepsing Deoxys-S’s Spikes and Stealth Rock intact. Hidden Power Fire will swiftly pulverize Forretress. Due to the increase in faster paced stall teams, Palkia is common in order to take on Water Spouts and Nasty Plot Darkrais, both of which Giratina-O does not enjoy handling. Even in offensive teams, Palkia fills the same role, while Giratina-O spinblocks for the team. Mewtwo can handle Darkrai and appreciates Giratina-O’s spinblocking talents very much, causing switches with its massive movepool and putting a lot of pressure on the opposing team.

Scizor - 26.91%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (57.80%)

Mewtwo (42.28%)

Rayquaza (29.59%)

Wobbuffet (29.57%)

Dialga (28.52%)

Scizor boasts a wonderful typing, a powerful, reliable priority move, and of course, U-turn , that makes it fit well in many Uber teams. Scizor was mostly Choice Banded this month, holding the item 42.3% of the time. It made its way to the top ten due to the prevalence of Scarf Palkia, as well as being a solid Rayquaza revenger. It is also a fantastic check to any Mewtwo without a Fire-type move. At the lower end of the top 25, the rise of Latios, Latias, and Shaymin-S might have also contributed to Scizor’s rise. That said, however, Scizor struggles with many Pokémon in the top 10. Dialga can roast it with a Fire-type attack and resists both of its STABs, Kyogre can simply douse Scizor with its powerful Water-type attacks, while Groudon’s massive Defense allows it to shrug off whatever Scizor throws at it. Giratina-O commonly carries Hidden Power Fire and does not mind taking U-turn if it needs to. Furthermore, with Spikes being pretty common in the metagame, Scizor has troubles constantly apply pressure via U-turn. The increase of Ho-Oh did not help Scizor at all. Despite these setbacks, however, Scizor remains a great utility Pokémon.

Scizor’s number one teammate is Kyogre, because Kyogre can absorb any Fire-type attacks thrown at it and provide rain through Drizzle, which softens up fiery blows at Scizor should it ever need to take one. Scizor can also safely switch into Blissey (as long as it doesn’t have Flamethrower and/or take repeated Seismic Toss and/or taking Spikes + Stealth Rock damage in the process), and apply pressure with U-turn, which benefits both Kyogre and its number two partner, Mewtwo. Scizor can also switch into Dragon-type attacks thrown by Choice Scarf Dialga and Palkia aimed at Mewtwo. It also resists the types that Mewtwo are weak to. In return, Mewtwo can take on Groudon and non Choice Scarf Dialga which both plague Scizor. Rayquaza and Scizor have a decent synergy type-wise, and can provide the team with a “wall of priority” which helps ensure that the team is not swept by a faster threat. Wobbuffet is a common partner for Scizor for two reasons: Firstly, Wobbuffet can Tickle away at Blissey and Lugia for Scizor to Pursuit. Secondly, if not Tickling, Wobbuffet can help Scizor set up Swords Dance. Likewise with Mewtwo, Scizor also resists Wobbuffet’s weaknesses. Dialga and Scizor may both be Steel-types, but Dialga lacks resistances to Dragon- and Ice-type attacks, which Scizor covers. Scizor also aids against non-Flamethrower Mewtwo who may blast Dialga away with Aura Sphere. In return, Dialga can scare the likes of Giratina-O and Kyogre (although it may have problems swapping in to both depending on the set).

Wobbuffet – 24.62%

Top-five teammates:

Rayquaza (45.16%)

Mewtwo (36.96%)

Kyogre (36.83%)

Scizor (32.32%)

Dialga (31.47%)

Wobbuffet’s usage has remained steadily around the lower end of the top 10 for a while now. However, the sharp increase in Mewtwo and Giratina-O kept Wobbuffet from rising up. Regardless, Wobbuffet remains almost a staple in offensive teams due to its ability to revenge kill Scarfers and set up deadly Pokémon such as Rayquaza.

Speaking of setting up, Rayquaza is a top partner for Wobbuffet because Rayquaza is an absolute menace with one turn of set up. Wobbuffet can also revenge kill Choice Scarf Dialga, Palkia, and Garchomp for Rayquaza. The same applies for Mewtwo and Kyogre, really, except Mewtwo shares Wobbuffet’s weaknesses. Scizor benefits from Wobbuffet’s Tickle support, Pursuiting away at walls such as Blissey and Lugia. Sometimes, Scizor may use the support from Wobbuffet in order to set up a Swords Dance. Dialga resists Wobbuffet’s weaknesses and can scare away Darkrai (with Choice Scarf Draco Meteor), and Giratina-O. Dialga can also set up Bulk Up with Wobbuffet’s Encore support.

Darkrai – 24.51%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (51.28%)

Rayquaza (37.42%)

Mewtwo (36.23%)

Groudon (32.53%)

Dialga (32.39%)

No one is quite sure exactly why Darkrai fell sharply this month. Perhaps it’s because of the rise in Mewtwo (who not only checks Darkrai well but also competes for a team spot). Darkrai’s usage probably also went down because Ho-Oh rose in usage. Scizor is comfortably staying in the top 10 and can annihilate Darkrai with Bullet Punch. Regardless, Darkrai is still one of the most threatening sweepers in the game, and one of the very few who can overwhelm Blissey with sheer force through its Nasty Plotted Focus Blasts. Outside of sweeping, Darkrai is currently at #4 in terms of leads – with Choice Scarf it can sleep Deoxys-S before it pulls out a Stealth Rock, or with a Focus Sash (using the Nasty Plotter set) , and it can attempt to cripple or possibly sweep the opposing team right off the bat.

Kyogre is highly used and resists Bullet Punch, making it an effective partner to Darkrai. It can also check Ho-Oh, who can give Darkrai massive problems. Darkrai supports Rayquaza by getting rid of Lugia, and can lure in a Choice Scarfed Pokémon to be revenge killed by Wobbuffet. Mewtwo may not seem like an effective partner to Darkrai, but both Pokémon are incredibly fast and share similar checks, and thus one Pokémon can weaken a check and the other can plow through it. Like Kyogre, Groudon can switch into a Scizor’s Bullet Punch without much of a hassle. In return, Darkrai pulverizes Lugia and Giratina-O for Groudon. Lastly, Dialga is versatile and can support Darkrai in many ways, not limited to, resistance to Bullet Punch and ExtremeSpeed, and laying Stealth Rock on the field.

Deoxys-S – 22.47%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (51.86%)

Giratina-O (47.37%)

Mewtwo (42.25%)

Scizor (33.02%)

Wobbuffet (32.56%)

Deoxys-S wasn't the #1 lead only once ever since the conception of the Stealth Rock/Spikes/Taunt lead set (it was at one point overtaken by Deoxys-A in terms of leading, but it regained its title of king of Uber leads) soon afterwards. In fact, Deoxys-S is used almost twice as much as the next most used lead, Groudon. This month showed practically no Dual Screen Deoxys-S – almost every Deoxys-S set contained Stealth Rock, Spikes, and the occasional Taunt.

Deoxys-S’ teammates are geared to take advantage of its ability to lay down entry hazards quite safely and early in the game. With Spikes and Stealth Rock down, Kyogre can pummel its way through teams with absolute brute force – at a single misprediction Palkia can lose over 75% of its health from Choice Specs Kyogre. Giratina-O is another very common partner to Deoxys-S due to its ability to spinblock and thus preserving the entry hazards on the field. Giratina-O is also immune to ExtremeSpeed and can finish off Deoxys-A leads should they attempt to use it on Deoxys-S, if Deoxys-S does not have it also. Mewtwo’s impressive movepool can instill fear on many Pokémon in the Uber metagame and cause many switches, building up Spikes and Stealth Rock damage. Scizor can abuse the entry hazards through its excellent typing and its extremely powerful U-turn. Finally, Wobbuffet can set up many Pokémon who will enjoy the entry hazard support provided by Deoxys-S, such as Lucario and Rayquaza.

Forretress - 22.04%

Top-five teammates:

Groudon (65.23%)

Ho-Oh (49.38%)

Blissey (47.31%)

Palkia (45.41%)

Giratina-O (38.82%)

Forretress remains a stable Pokémon in the Uber metagame, due to its ability to set up multiple entry hazards and Rapid Spinning away enemy entry hazards. With its ability to use Toxic Spikes, Forretress can quickly set a countdown till death on many Pokémon in the Uber metagame, such as Kyogre, Groudon, Mewtwo, and Darkrai. Forretress saw an increase of usage this month to aid Ho-Oh by Rapid Spinning away the deadly Stealth Rock, who loses half of its health otherwise. However, its rise also contributed to the rise of Hidden Power [Fire] Giratina-O.

Forretress’s top five partners combined reflect the most common kind of Uber stall used during this month. Groudon and Forretress are staples in an Uber stall team. Groudon sets up Stealth Rock and Forretress sets up the rest of the entry hazards. Forretress also resists Groudon’s weaknesses to Grass - and Ice-type attacks, while Groudon takes care of Rayquaza who may try to set up on Forretress. Ho-Oh benefits very largely from Forretress’ Rapid Spin and entry hazards support, and handles Darkrai who may try to set up on the metal bagworm. Blissey is another staple in Uber stall, and absorbs special attacks that Forretress cannot take. It can pass Wish to Forretress as it lacks a recovery move. Palkia sports a quadruple resistance to Fire-type attacks that roast Forretress to a crisp, and checks Rayquaza and Darkrai.

Ho-Oh – 18.57%

Top-five teammates:

Groudon (75.17%)

Forretress (58.61%)

Blissey (36.27%)

Palkia (32.37%)

Giratina-O (31.14%)

The addition of Brave Bird to Ho-Oh’s barren physical movepool in HGSS caused its usage to skyrocket from the low-mid 20s to #13 for both last and this month. The move gave Ho-Oh a reliable attack to use in the rain, and severely hurts what used to be safe counters for it, such as Kyogre and Giratina. Ho-Oh is now regarded as one of the deadliest Pokémon in the Uber metagame, boasting extremely powerful STAB attacks, a high base 130 Attack, and an excellent Special Defense stat which allows it to function both as an offensive terror and a nightmarish staller. In bright sunlight, Ho-Oh can take on the likes of Mewtwo, Darkrai, and Scarf Palkia, and Scarf Dialga with relative ease, completely walling their attacks while threatening to deal incredibly massive damage with a sun-boosted Sacred Fire or Brave Bird. With this kind of quality Ho-Oh fitted itself comfortably in stall teams, destroying what would otherwise be threats to stall while providing the team with immense firepower (no pun intended). Unfortunately, Stealth Rock is a thorn to Ho-Oh, and thus also Forretress’ usage increased, and as a consequence, the number of stall teams also made a notable increase. As the metagame could no longer ignore Ho-Oh as a threat, Giratina-O became much more common during this month in order to stop Rapid Spin and thus keeping Ho-Oh in check.

Like Forretress, Ho-Oh’s top five partners reflect the generic Uber stall team used this month. Groudon is Ho-Oh’s top partner for many reasons – Groudon brings bright sunlight into the field and pseudo-removes Ho-Oh’s Water -type weakness, as well as taking down Tyranitar and providing Stealth Rock support. Ho-Oh, in return, takes on Grass Knot, Seed Flare, Fire Blast, and Ice Beam very well with its typing and incredible Special Defense. Forretress removes Stealth Rock from the field and lays its own entry hazards, while Ho-Oh takes care of Darkrai who could easily set up on Forretress. Blissey provides Ho-Oh with Wish support and can take on special attacks Ho-Oh cannot easily take, such as Thunder and Kyogre’s Surf. Palkia takes on the Water-type attacks aimed at Ho-Oh with ease. Finally, Giratina-O blocks Rapid Spin, allowing Ho-Oh to abuse its raw power and/or Whirlwind to cause maximum devastation

Latios – 15.16%

Top-five teammates:

Mewtwo (64.71%)

Kyogre (62.12%)

Scizor (47.78%)

Giratina-O (42.23%)

Deoxys-S

Latios rose noticeably since last month, probably due to its sheer power and fairly fast base 110 Speed which allows it to plow through many offensive teams. Since there are no Uber Pokemon that serve as a Latios counter, most offensive teams rely on Scizor and faster Pokemon such as Darkrai and Scarf Palkia to defeat it, or pick it off with Giratina-O's Shadow Sneak. However, none of these methods are reliable in stopping Latios due to its obscenely powerful attacks and surprising amount of special bulk courtesy of Soul Dew. Latios is extremely lethal in late-game when Scarfers are removed by Wobbuffet, as only a few things in the game outrun it.

Mewtwo is perhaps Latios’ top partner as Mewtwo’s incredible Speed stat relieves Palkia’s duty of being a Choice Scarfer, and Latios was then chosen over Palkia perhaps due to its higher base Speed and special attacking prowess. Mewtwo can bait Blissey, and can either Selfdestruct to eliminate it (though risking Protect) or overload it through Taunt and Calm Mind. Kyogre increases Thunder’s accuracy to 100% and handles Scizor and Tyranitar who hurt Latios badly. Scizor resists all of Latios’ weaknesses and can pressure Blissey through Pursuit and U-turn. Since Deoxys-S is quite commonly partnered with Latios during this month due to Latios’ good use of entry hazard damage, Giratina-O ensures that Forretress will not land a successful Rapid Spin.

Blissey - 15.19%

Top-five teammates:

Forretress (68.82%)

Groudon (66.33%)

Ho-Oh (44.32%)

Palkia (43.13%)

Giratina-O (38.96%)

Blissey, one of the staples in Uber stall alongside Forretress, Groudon, and Giratina/Giratina-O, remained fairly unchanged in terms of usage despite what seemed to be the increase of stall in general. Perhaps people are running balanced teams with stall-based Pokémon such as Forretress, Groudon, and Ho-Oh. Regardless, Blissey enjoys being the queen of special walling, absorbing the many special attacks thrown around in the Uber metagame. However, Blissey can not handle every single special attacker in the metagame (for example, Choice Specs Water Spout from full HP Kyogre 2HKOes it), and often falls to repeated damage from Spikes which Forretress and Deoxys-S easily sets up on most Blissey. Could this be why Blissey’s usage hasn’t increased?

Forretress is Blissey’s top teammate as its high physical defense allows it to take on moves such as Outrage with ease. Furthermore, it lays Toxic Spikes which Blissey can stall out the opponents with. Blissey can pass Wish to Forretress to enhance its survivability, and take many special attacks Forretress cannot. Groudon provides a physically defensive fort against the likes of Scizor and Rayquaza, and sets up Stealth Rock. Drought benefits Blissey as it weakens Palkia’s Aqua Tail as well. Ho-Oh can help back up Blissey in terms of taking special attacks, and provides the overall team with a hefty amount of offensive power. It can also take on Fighting-type attacks that threaten Blissey. Palkia shields the team from Kyogre’s horrifically powerful Water Spouts, which penetrates even through Blissey’s titanic HP and Special Defense. Finally, Giratina-O can help Blissey by handling threats through its immunities, such as Groudon by switching into Earthquake, or Selfdestruct from an all-out-attacker Mewtwo, or even a boosted Aura Sphere from a moderately weakened Calm Mind Mewtwo. Giratina-O can finish Mewtwo off with Shadow Sneak afterwards.

Latias – 15.00%

Top-five teammates:

Groudon (52.32%)

Kyogre (40.87%)

Dialga (37.08%)

Ho-Oh (32.51%)

Forretress (30.61%)

Like Latios, Latias’ usage too has slightly increased over the past few months. With Blissey’s usage very, very slowly dripping downwards, and Wobbuffet still lingering around in the top 10, some players choose Latias as their Kyogre stopper over it instead of Choice Scarf Palkia. Her good base 110 Speed and impressive Special Attack and Special Defense stats help her be strong both offensively and defensively. Because offensive teams don’t prepare much for Latios and Latias nowadays, these Pokémon can really be a nuisance to them. Judging by her top-five teammates, Latias appears mostly in stall-based teams.

Groudon is a common partner to Latias as Groudon handles threats such as Scizor and Tyranitar and can lay Stealth Rock on the opposing team. In return, Latias absorbs powerful Water Spouts aimed at Groudon. Kyogre and its Drizzle ability supports Latias by making Thunder 100% accurate, and Kyogre can switch in on Scizor and Tyranitar to an extent. In return, Latias can switch into Thunder and Grass -type attacks aimed at Kyogre, if it must. Dialga’s resistances can allow it to swap in against Scizor and occasionally Tyranitar, while Latias aids in taking Choice Specs Water Spouts as Dialga is not strong enough to do so. Ho-Oh can strike hard on the physical side and nail both Scizor and Darkrai, while Latias absorbs watery blows Ho-Oh would otherwise be doused to. Finally, Forretress and Latias resist all of each other’s weaknesses, and Forretress can lay down entry hazards which greatly aid Latias in sweeping.

Garchomp -14.60%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (48.51%)

Palkia (35.05%)

Mewtwo (31.11%)

Dialga (30.58%)

Scizor (26.69%)

Garchomp’s usage has been falling slightly through time – it appears that the increase in stall teams, Mewtwo, and Latios, and Latias had an adverse side effect to it. Stall teams can wall Choiced Garchomp quite easily, while the deadly Swords Dance set is taken down by the abundance of Mewtwo, Latios, and Latias. Nevertheless, Garchomp remains a great Pokémon to use. Sporting fast Speed by Uber standards, and an immunity to Thunder Wave, Garchomp can easily sweep slower teams. With a Choice Scarf, Garchomp is one of the best revenge killers in the game, outrunning even Choice Scarf Palkia. Its decent base 108 HP and 95 Defense allow it to take on a Rayquaza’s Swords Danced ExtremeSpeed with ease and deliver a lethal blow with its Dragon Claw. In this month, 62.6% of the Garchomp held a Choice item.

Kyogre is Garchomp’s top partner as it takes on Ice Beam, while Garchomp takes on Thunder. Kyogre will also handle non Thunder Calm Mind Mewtwo, which is problematic to Garchomp. As Choice Scarf Garchomp can handle both forms of Rayquaza, Palkia is freed from its Scarfed duty and can focus on wallbreaking instead. Dialga can provide Stealth Rock for Garchomp, and is able to threaten one of Garchomp’s nemeses, Lugia, with Thunder or even Toxic. Its Steel-typing allows it to switch into a Scizor’s Bullet Punch if it needs to. Finally, Scizor resists both of Garchomp’s weaknesses to Dragon - and Ice-type attacks, while Garchomp resists Fire-type attacks that Scizor do not enjoy taking. Scizor can provide a check to faster threats such as Latias and Mewtwo.

Deoxys-A – 13.40%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (50.44%)

Mewtwo (46.59%)

Wobbuffet (42.63%)

Darkrai (36.38%)

Rayquaza (35.33%)

Deoxys-A is primarily used as a lead at this time, taking that role 62.27% of the time. Once famed for its ability to terrorize teams with its impressive wallbreaking powers, Deoxys-A is severely hurt by the many priority moves used in the Uber metagame. Scizor and Rayquaza are both common and can Bullet Punch or ExtremeSpeed it, respectively. Lucario has reared its head into the metagame and threatens Deoxys-A with an ExtremeSpeed. Lead-wise, Deoxys-S carries ExtremeSpeed over 50% of the time. Finally, HGSS gave Giratina-O Shadow Sneak, which makes matters much worse for Deoxys-A as it can switch in on many of Deoxys-A’s attacks. However, Deoxys-A is still quite a powerful lead, setting up Stealth Rock and intimidating the likes of Groudon and Kyogre with its obscenely powerful attacks and sometimes forcing a Choice Scarfer to come out. This can be used to the team’s advantage.

Kyogre is a common teammate as they’re both offensively-minded Pokémon, and Deoxys-A can lure out Choice Scarf Palkia, which can fall into the hands of Wobbuffet. Mewtwo, Rayquaza, and Darkrai all appreciate the Stealth Rock provided by Deoxys-A, as well as the possibility of having the opposing team’s Choice Scarfed Pokémon removed. Wobbuffet, as mentioned twice earlier in this paragraph, annihilates Choice Scarf bearing Pokémon from the battlefield, and provides Encore support to its teammates.

Shaymin-S – 12.56%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (45.04%)

Palkia (35.61%)

Groudon (32.82%)

Mewtwo (30.30%)

Darkrai (30.15%)

Shaymin-S’ usage has stayed around the low 10s – high 20s area ever since it was introduced into the Uber metagame. It’s usage is possibly limited by the increase of Ho-Oh and Mewtwo in usage, as well as the increase in stall teams (which makes the Choice Scarf set close to useless). Speaking of Choice Scarf, it is by far Shaymin-S’ most used set, holding the item 61.9% of the time. This is because Shaymin-S can be used to flinch lead Deoxys-S and Darkrai into oblivion before they can land a single move. Later on in the game, Choice Scarf Shaymin-S can revenge the likes of Adamant Rock Polish Groudon as well as monsters such as Kingdra in torrential rain. When not used as a Choice Scarfer, Shaymin-S either held a Life Orb for a devastating all-out-attacker set or used Substitute + Leech Seed, which is incredibly frustrating to play around due to its absurdly high Speed and access to Serene Grace Air Slash.

Kyogre is Shaymin-S’ top teammate as it can block Ice Beam aimed at it, while Choice Scarf Shaymin-S can swap into Grass-type attacks fired by Deoxys-A, Mewtwo, and other Shaymin-S. Palkia is a teammate due to its universal use of absorbing Water Spouts, as well as having a quad-resistance to Fire-type attacks. Groudon provide Stealth Rock and make switching around Shaymin-S much more difficult, especially the SubSeed set. Groudon also handles Scizor and Rayquaza who have deadly priority moves. Mewtwo stomps on Lugia who may swap into Seed Flare, and can lure Blissey out and Selfdestruct if it must. Darkrai can also crush Lugia.

Lugia – 11.90%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (51.77%)

Darkrai (34.82%)

Palkia (27.97%)

Dialga (27.63%)

Groudon (27.23%)

Lugia’s usage has been falling in the past few months at a rapid rate, and for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the general increase of Forretress made Lugia’s life miserable as it can set up Toxic Spikes and Spikes quite freely on it, taking ~9% from Ice Beam. Secondly, Wobbuffet is a common force in offensive teams and can easily Encore Lugia without much fear, setting up another sweeper in the process. It would appear by the teammates displayed, Lugia is still being used incorrectly, and it was quite true in the battles of November. People still use Lugia for no other reason but to check things in their offensive teams, which can be easily punished due to its terrifyingly low damage output on anything it does not hit super-effectively with Ice Beam. Lugia should either be used to cause massive injury by abusing Spikes and Stealth Rock through Whirlwind, or as a Calm Minder if your team calls for it, NOT just as a check to the likes of Groudon (Lugia can’t even stop Rock Polish Groudon and the defensive Groudon it walls often partner up with Forretress) and Rayquaza (who can beat certain Lugia with Dragon Dance Life Orb Outrage after Stealth Rock damage). While Lugia is by no means a bad Pokémon, using it incorrectly is quite often the fatal blow to many teams.

Kyogre is Lugia’s top partner as it can take on Ice Beam, as well as stopping non Thunder Mewtwo and Darkrai (to an extent) that plague Lugia. Darkrai is possibly Lugia’s top partner because Lugia can take on Scizor, Shaymin-S, and Choice Scarf Dialga, and Choice Scarf Palkia, but otherwise they show little support for each other. Palkia can take on Water Spout which Lugia cannot, and Kyogre may be eager to swap into it due to its extremely weak, not very effective Ice Beam. Groudon and Dialga can easily take on Thunder aimed at Lugia, and can provide Stealth Rock for Lugia to begin abusing Whirlwind with.

Mew – 10.07%

Top-five teammates:

Mewtwo (55.78%)

Rayquaza (51.43%)

Groudon (35.73%)

Dialga (33.82%)

Darkrai (32.10%)

Mew is an interesting and overlooked Pokémon in this metagame. It is used quite often as a lead (47.32% of the time, as a matter of fact), setting up Stealth Rock with relative ease. There are a few reasons why Mew is sometimes used over the traditional leads. It is not OHKOed by Darkrai’s Dark Pulse when not holding a Focus Sash, allowing to easily set up a Stealth Rock or U-turn away to something that can finish Darkrai off. U-turn in general is extremely useful should the user not want Mew to Explode immediately, in fear that a Ghost-type Pokémon such as Giratina-O may swap in and laugh. Mew is overall a formidable lead, setting up Stealth Rock quite easily on Kyogre, Groudon, and Dialga, while denting Deoxys-S and Darkrai. Other times, when Mew is not used as a lead, it is the most deadly Baton Passer in the entire game, having access to moves that sharply boost every single of Mew’s stats. The strategy employed is often to have entry hazards laid down by another Pokémon early in the game, then Dual Screens, and then sending in Mew who can easily set up with its bloated defenses with the screens active. To counter such strategy, one must predict when Mew will come in and send in the appropriate Pokémon, such as Taunt Mewtwo, before it pulls off a Rock Polish.

Mewtwo is Mew’s top partner for a couple of reasons. Firstly, on offensive teams Mewtwo likes the Stealth Rock provided by Mew. Mew may also Explode on the opposing lead Kyogre, making it much easier for Mewtwo to sweep teams. Secondly, on Baton Pass teams, Mewtwo is almost a staple due to its incredible Speed and access to Dual Screens, Taunt, and Selfdestruct. Rayquaza is a common teammate for Mew as it appreciates the Stealth Rock support, and can occasionally be the end of a BP Mew’s recipient if it falls under certain situations such as if Shaymin-S is spamming Seed Flare. Groudon is a common recipient for Swords Dance Baton Pass Mew, due to its impressive bulk and immense power. Its Speed can be easily patched with Mew passing Rock Polish to it. The same applies to Dialga with Nasty Plot Baton Pass Mew. Finally, Darkrai resists Ghost-type attacks and can defeat Giratina-O should Mew whiff an Explosion on it.

Giratina – 8.82%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (46.43%)

Mewtwo (37.15%)

Forretress (36.52%)

Rayquaza (32.85%)

Blissey (32.51%)

Once high up in usages, Giratina is now a former shell of itself. The metagame has progressively grown unkind to it - Spikes is on about every other team and severely hampers its walling ability. Furthermore, Giratina fell massively behind in competition for the premiere spinblocker to Giratina-O, whose Levitate ability allows it to fly over Spikes and Toxic Spikes from the Forretress it attempts to spinblock. To make matters worse, Giratina lacks power unlike it’s counterpart, and Forretress does not mind too much being spinblocked by Giratina, as it can use the time to set up as many entry hazards as it pleases. Finally, Giratina-O makes a better stall breaker, ending Stall vs Stall battles much quicker than Giratina. Despite these curses, Giratina still finds its way into several stall teams who welcome its ability to spinblock without getting worn down quickly by Payback. Its ability to wall a wide variety of physical moves may appeal to the more conservative players.

Kyogre will gladly take on Ice Beam fired at Giratina, while Giratina does the same for Kyogre with Thunder and Grass -type attacks. Giratina can wall Scizor, which can annoy Mewtwo greatly. Like with Giratina-O, Forretress, and Giratina are excellent pairs in Spiking and spinblocking, with both resisting each other’s weaknesses. Giratina aids Rayquaza in stopping Groudon and Scizor, both which are threatening to its sweep, and finally Blissey is a staple on stall teams and can support Giratina in many ways, such as Wish support for its lack of reliable recovery and taking special Ice- and Dragon-type attacks that are too powerful for it.

Lucario – 8.39%

Top-five teammates:

Mewtwo (45.87%)

Deoxys-S (42.93%)

Wobbuffet (38.49%)

Rayquaza (32.29%)

Groudon (31.77%)

Lucario’s usage has lingered around the high 20s for the past few months, and there are several factors that lead to that. With defensive Groudon extremely high up in usage, the rise of +Speed natured Giratina-O, and Ho-Oh and Mewtwo’s usage bolt, Lucario has a harder time sweeping compared to when it was first popularized. Nevertheless, Lucario is still an extremely threatening sweeper, firing off a 120 BP STAB move with little drawback. Unlike Rayquaza, Lucario’s quad-resistance to Stealth Rock allows it to come in continuously and smack common checks with a powerful Close Combat or Crunch in a hit and run manner, before finally Swords Dancing and shredding apart any remaining wisps of life that linger.

Like with Rayquaza, Mewtwo helps Lucario by attacking hard and fast on the special side, while Lucario attacks hard on the physical side. Mewtwo can also support Lucario by setting up both Light Screen and Reflect with relative ease. Furthermore, Lucario resists Mewtwo’s weakness to Dark -type attacks, taking Choice Scarf Darkrai’s Dark Pulse and Tyranitar’s Crunch. Deoxys-S sets up entry hazards which is crucial for Lucario in sweeping, as a few rounds of entry hazards damage allows it to take down its common checks. Since Lucario is extremely frail (its defenses are even lower than Darkrai’s), Wobbuffet allows it to set up using Encore. Lucario also resists all of Wobbuffet’s weaknesses, while Wobbuffet clears away Choice Scarfed Pokémon such as Garchomp, Palkia, and Dialga. Rayquaza and Lucario share similar checks, and either one could weaken their enemies for the other. Finally, Groudon can either provide Stealth Rock for Lucario, or simply clean up the mess Lucario left behind.

Tyranitar – 7.0%

Top-five teammates:

Garchomp (47.16%)

Dialga (37.75%)

Palkia (30.76%)

Kyogre (29.02%)

Mewtwo (28.02%)

Tyranitar is one of the most versatile Pokémon in the Uber metagame, and its statistics reflect that. Tyranitar was somewhat commonly used as a lead, being able to take down Deoxys-A and Deoxys-S through the use of Focus Sash and Crunch, as well as easily setting up Stealth Rock and sandstorm against the rest of the leads. Choice Band Tyranitar is the next most common Tyranitar, destroying powerful threats such as Latios, Latias, and Mewtwo – as a matter of fact Tyranitar can survive a Calm Mind boosted Aura Sphere with a Careful nature and lots of specially defensive investment! Further along with that, Tyranitar can Pursuit away at Pokémon such as Choice Scarf Palkia (if not using Surf), the aforementioned Latios, Latias, and Mewtwo, and Giratina-O. Next most commonly used item is Leftovers, perhaps to take advantage of Tyranitar’s bulk, and then Choice Scarf as it can revenge Swords Dance Rayquaza, Lucario, and Latios, and Latias, while its STAB Crunch deters Wobbuffet trying to revenge kill it. The “Other” category for items lies at 14.6%, with 6 kinds of items, which is incredibly high.

Garchomp is Tyranitar’s top teammate for many reasons. First of all, Garchomp’s Sand Veil is activated through Tyranitar’s Sand Stream. Tyranitar handles threats to Garchomp such as Scarf Palkia, Mewtwo, Latios , and Latias, and occasionally Lugia. In return, Garchomp handles Lucario who threatens Tyranitar (but can not switch directly into Close Combat). Dialga resists Tyranitar’s weaknesses to Water-, Grass-, and Steel-type attacks, and appreciates the Sandstorm support. Palkia helps take on powerful Water Spouts that will annihilate Tyranitar. Kyogre and Tyranitar work together very well, with Tyranitar removing Kyogre counters such as Latias and Palkia, and Kyogre changing the weather to rain should the sand be no longer desirable. Furthermore, Kyogre resists Steel-type attacks and takes on Scizor’s Bullet Punch with ease. Finally, Mewtwo resists Fighting-type attacks, taking a Close Combat from Lucario and delivering a swift OHKO with Aura Sphere or Flamethrower.

Jirachi – 6.17%

Top-five teammates:

Kyogre (52.63%)

Groudon (44.09%)

Deoxys-S (28.26%)

Darkrai (28.2%)

Giratina-O (27.84%)

While Scizor and Forretress are by far the most common Steel-types in Ubers, Jirachi has carved out a notable niche in Ubers for several reasons. First of all, Jirachi only has a 2x weakness to Fire-type attacks, meaning that the rain can effectively remove this weakness. Jirachi also has a much higher Special Defense stat than Scizor and Forretress, which is a valuable asset in a metagame where specially based Dragon-type assaults rule supreme. Jirachi's most common item and nature are Leftovers and Careful respectively. This in conjunction with U-turn and Wish being very common moves on Jirachi suggests that the most common use for Jirachi is a Wish passer. Jirachi is also often seen with Body Slam, as its 60% paralysis rate (due to Serene Grace) can be used with Iron Head to create an extremely annoying “paraflinch” strategy. Around 29% of Jirachi used Choice Scarf. Choice Scarf Jirachi is notable for being the best Rayquaza check in the Ubers metagame, and can also use Iron Head to potentially flinch its foes to death!

Kyogre is Jirachi's top teammate for several reasons. First of all, Jirachi provides a Grass-type resistance Kyogre, while Kyogre resists Fire-type attacks. Secondly, Kyogre's eternal rain allows Jirachi to bypass its weakness to Fire-type attacks. Jirachi provides Groudon with both a Grass- and Ice-type resistance as well. Deoxys-S and Darkrai are likely top teammate for Jirachi because of its use on offensive teams. Jirachi provides not only a vital Dragon-type resistance, but also Wish and paralysis support. Choice Scarf Jirachi can also be useful on offensive teams due to its ability to check Rayquaza. Finally, Giratina-O is likely a top teammate with Jirachi due to two reasons. First of all, Jirachi covers Giratina-O's weaknesses to Ice- and Dragon-type attacks, while Giratina-O resists Fire-type attacks, and is immune to Ground-type attacks. Secondly, Giratina-O especially appreciates Jirachi's Wish support due its lack of any reliable recovery.

Salamence – 5.10%

Teammate information is not available for this Pokemon.

Salamence may seem odd in the Ubers metagame, as it is generally outclassed by Rayquaza. Its usage made a dramatic rise in November though, because of its ability to be a good Rayquaza teammate. While pairing two Dragon / Flying type Pokémon together is risky, it has payed off due to both Rayquaza and Salamence being nearly uncountertable in the Ubers metagame. The idea of the combination is that one Pokémon does a massive amount of damage to its checks, while the other ends up sweeping. The most common Salamence set in the Ubers metagame was a Dragon Dance set. This is likely due to its ability to sweep teams after Rayquaza has weakened them. A notable feature about Dragon Dance Salamence in Ubers is that it Speed ties with Choice Scarf Palkia, meaning that it can defeat a common problem Dragon Dance Rayquaza has. The other Salamence set used in Ubers seems to be a mixed set with Draco Meteor. This is likely used due to Salamence dealing a massive amount of damage to Rayquaza checks such as Groudon with Draco Meteor.

Unfortunately, there are no teammate stats for Salamence in Ubers. However, some assumptions can be made about common Salamence teammates. Rayquaza is likely a top Salamence partner, as using two nearly uncounterable Dragon-type sweepers together is the main selling point of Salamence in Ubers. Wobbuffet is also likely to be a common partner due to its ability to set up Salamence and Rayquaza, and for its ability to eliminate Choice Scarfers such as Garchomp. Finally, Steel-types such as Scizor are likely top partners due to providing vitals Ice- and Dragon-type resistances.

Kingdra – 4.6%

Teammate information is not available for this Pokemon.

Kingdra's base stats may not make it seem like much a threat, but Kingdra made it into the OU of Ubers because of its amazing ability, Swift Swim. Thanks to Kyogre's eternal rain, Kingdra can reach a Speed stat of over 500! This in combination with Kingdra's Dragon-type STAB makes it a huge threat in the Ubers metagame. Thanks to Swift Swim, Kingdra is able to outspeed and OHKO prominent Dragons such as Palkia and Garchomp, even if they have a Choice Scarf! The most common Kingdra set in November was a Dragon Dance set. This is likely because after a Dragon Dance, Rayquaza will no longer be able to outspeed and revenge kill Kingdra (due to Air Lock negating Swift Swim). The other most common Kingdra set was a specially based mixed attacker with Draco Meteor.

Like Salamence, Kingdra has no teammate stats. This is one assumption we can make though. Kyogre is most certainly on almost every team Kingdra is present on. This is because Kyogre's drizzle is key to Kingdra's success in the Ubers metagame.

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