Uber analysis for this month:
Changes in Rank (Overall Usage):
1) Kyogre (=)
~Significant Rift in Usage~
2) Groudon (+1)
3) Palkia (+2)
4) Dialga (-2)
5) Darkrai (-1)
~SRiU~
6) Rayquaza (=)
~SRiU~
7) Mewtwo (=)
8) Blissey (+2)
9) Scizor (=)
~SRiU~
10) Lugia (-2)
11) Deoxys-f (=)
12) Deoxys-e (+2)
13) Giratina (=)
14) Garchomp (-2)
15) Latias (=)
~SRiU~
16) Wobbuffet (+2)
17) Forretress (-1)
~SRiU~
18) Tyranitar (-1)
19) Metagross (=)
--- OU cut-off point ---
20) Giratina-o (=)
21) Shaymin-s (+4)
22) Latios (+1)
23) Jirachi (-1)
24) Ho-oh (+7)
25) Mew (-4)
Changes in Rank, Diversity Comments (Leads): Deoxys-e and Darkrai remain the most popular leads by a significant margin. Mewtwo's usage has dropped significantly, from rank 3 to 7. Groudon is used slightly more than last month (switching places with Dialga and leading by a healthy margin). Tyranitar was used significantly more this month.
Miscellaneous: There were approximately 10% (almost exactly, less than .02% off) more uber battles this month. "OU" shrunk by one pokemon this month, to 19.
Diversity Trends (Overall Usage):
Rank - January - February* - Percent Change
*- scaled down to actual usage*~.9092
1).......6495..........6488.1.......-0.1%
2).......5291..........5061.5.......-4.4%
3).......5003..........4977.9.......-0.5%
4).......4718..........4955.1.......+5.0%
5).......4695..........4713.3.......+0.4%
6).......4692..........4001.4......-14.7%
7).......3950..........3262.2......-17.4%
8).......2809..........3012.2.......+7.2%
9).......2671..........2907.6.......+8.9%
10).....2556..........2517.6.......-1.5%
11).....2247..........2305.7.......+2.6%
12).....2123..........2241.2.......+5.6%
13).....2013..........2168.4.......+7.7%
14).....1893..........2113.0......+11.6%
15).....1682..........2044.8......+21.6%
16).....1326..........1767.5......+33.3%
17).....1236..........1733.8......+40.3%
18).....1234..........1282.9.......+4.0%
19).....1147..........1182.9.......+3.1%
--- OU cut-off point --- (February)
20).....1029..........1026.5......-0.3%
--- OU cut-off point --- (January)
21)......872............991.0.....+13.6%
22)......869............841.0.......-3.2%
23)......747............771.0.......+3.2%
24)......731............751.9.......+2.9%
25)......690............660.1.......-4.3%
Statistical Observations:
Ubers was much more centralized this month. Usage among the top pokemon became more concentrated among the top 5 (particularly the top 4), as opposed to "the top 6" from last month. Among solely the top pokemon, there were relatively more Kyogre. Groudon, Palkia, and Dialga are more evenly distributed in usage than last month. Compared to the entire pool, Rayquaza and Mewtwo usage has taken a heavy blow. Usage among lower level OUs, particularly the top 17, jumped by a staggering amount. As most people suspected, there was an enormous increase of Wobbuffet and Forretress this month. There were also allot more Blissey, Deoxys-e, and Latias. Scizor and Giratina use also increased, albeit by a smaller margin. Deoxys-f, Tyranitar, and Metagross saw a slight increase. Garchomp usage was steady. Outside of the top pokemon, Lugia was the biggest loser, although he did not lose that much ground.
Analysis, by pokemon:
Choice Specs Kyogre remains the most popular Kyogre variant, even more than before. Last month, 45.9% of Kyogre wore Specs; this month - nearly half - 49.5%. Scarf and CMers fill out the rest. The real difference is in the spreads. Many more ran max speed this month 71.2% vs. 54.3% and Modest gave way somewhat to Timid (58.0% & 39.1% vs. 67.9% & 28.2%), no doubt to outrun other Specsogre (most other base 90s do not run a positive nature). Specsogre by itself continues to have a signifcant impact on team building and usage.
After a few months' hiatus, Groudon is back at #2. Groudon saw more use as a lead (anti-lead) this month, as it puts a clean stop to Darkrai and Dialga (that had been growing to counter lead Darkrai) while still posing a threat to most other common leads. Significantly more had SR this month, usually with a status move (T-wave) and a pair of attacks (EQ/DC/T-wave/SR was probably the standard, although it felt like I was encountering SE over DC more often). On the whole, Groudon were bulkier and more supportive this month - that sounds about right. RP and SD are still a threat, but they've declined through the month.
A new first for Palkia! Palkia has hit #3 for the first time. Lustrous Orb is now more popular than Choice Scarf (albeit by a slim margin - 0.4% of the total Palkia usages). As such, many of the non-STAB "last slot" moves have given way to STAB Aqua Tail, Outrage, and Draco Meteor. The item shifts are related to a number of factors. The extra power helps against Wobbuffet, who can take up to 3 Spacial Rends from a Scarf Palkia, and Blissey, who fears Outrage. The ability to switch moves prevents Forry from switching in and setting up freely and can also defeat the standard WishBliss (if you predict well, which most people have not). For offensive teams, there are other alternatives for getting around Rayquaza, so Choice Scarf is not necessary.
Dialga has "dropped" to #4, but usage is nearly as strong and steady. Dialga use as a lead declined through the month, due in part to the upsurge of Groudon leads, although some lead Dialga do run max speed over max HP. According to the stats, some lead Dialga are bluffing Lum Berry. Dark Voiding is still a risky alternative though, but it's not out of the question. Expert Belt Dialga has all but vanished (although Brick Break is still not uncommon). A new sight is the rise of Choice Specs Dialga, which should come as little surprise considering how easy it is to switch in Dialga and how deadly its Draco Meteor is. Surprisingly, Fire Blast saw a sharp decline this month. This one doesn't seem to make much sense considering how people were noting through the month that Forretress use was much higher and that I myself witnesses quite a few Dialga with fire attacks. BURestalk and general support fills out the rest of the usage, as usual.
Darkrai is about the same this month. Contrary to many people's suspicions, there were actually *more* Scarf Darkrais this month - significantly more - 35.3% vs. 29.0% - and just as many of them were used as leads as last month. According to the stats, the NP LO sweeper set was only slightly more popular than last month, but I felt like I was encountering it allot more than that.
How the mighty have fallen. Poised to pull the rug out from under Kyogre only a few months ago, Rayquaza has now plumetted to #6. The SD and DD sets see more use than before over the mixed set. The SD set remains the most popular. More people are running EQ in the fourth slot on the physical sets now. Evidently Dialga and other special-heavy steels are common switch-ins. Adamant gained further ground over Jolly this month - positive-natured base 90s and other Rayquaza, evidently, are not as significant as the extra power. Still not sure why the mixed set is doing so poorly. I can see the advantages of the physical sets and of mixed sets on other mons, but Mixquaza's unique advantages in this regard should not relegate its use to such a low level.
Mewtwo remains steady at #7. Its use has dropped dramatically, but the bulk of this is due to the decline of lead Mewtwos. The rise of "things it can't kill instantly" and the predictability and suspect reliability of the lead scarf set are all linked to its drop. The next big change in Mewtwo this month is an increase in CMers. CM/Aura Sphere/Ice Beam poses a decent threat to many of the top ubers.
Blissey use soared this month. Even more Blissey this month were Calm (85.0% vs. 66.8% last month) and many more ran Toxic. Considering how common it is right now to run a physical attack (Outrage) on your special attacker almost for the sole purpose of beating Blissey, I'm surprised that Softboiled remains more popular than Wish/Protect. Outside of Aromatherapy, I don't see how the extra moveslot provides more utility than Wish/Protect.
Scizor usage has grown slightly this month. Offensive variants are slightly more popular than last month as well, to make Blissey's life more difficult and to provide a stronger priority move to whittle away at problem mons.
Lugia usage has dropped somewhat this month. The need to run a faster spread to stop Rayquaza (while paradoxically having to deal with T-waving Groudon) and the surge in Wobbuffet both played a role in the decline. That said, a good deal more Lugia ran Toxic over Whirlwind this month (although Whirlwind was still considerably more popular).
Little has changed for Deoxys-f. More spreads run attack EVs, and, from a Superpower/Ice Beam/Extremespeed set, Shadow Ball saw a sharp drop as the fourth move in favor of Thunder, Stealth Rock, or Grass Knot - which makes sense considering what it would be likely be encountering as a lead. Thunder also guarantees that at least it's not complete set-up fodder for Forretress.
Deoxys-e continues doing what it does best - lead and spike. Fewer of them ran Lum Berry this month, and fewer ran max HP too. My guess is that many users discovered that most attacks either OHKO or 2HKO outright regardless of investment. Players who didn't care whether or not Deoxys lived or died from the start just pumped the remaining EVs into whatever attack stat their attack was in.
Giratina use rose this month, probably in response to fewer Rayquaza and more Groudon and Scizor. Accordingly, the defensive Restalk/Wow/DC set is more popular this month than before. Not sure why the CM set never picks up steam (too niche?).
Garchomp use did not change this month. Choice Scarf Garchomp was somewhat less common in favor of CB or LO, but Garchomp continues acting primarily as a revenge killer. Many of the people who were running Adamant are running Jolly now (82.6% Jolly this month vs. 75.8% previously).
Latias continues to be used as a semi-bulky, semi-speedy offensive CMer. More are dropping Thunder in favor of Grass Knot, since Grass Knot hits most of Latias' targets harder. To handle Scizor, a significant number of Latias (21.7%) have started running HP Fire, some even dropping CM just for the extra attack.
Wobbuffet's role changed slightly for a brief period this month - where Tickle + a stronger Pursuiter became a very popular strategy. Soon after, however, Safeguard resumed being the standard fourth move. The choice between Bold and Calm was more evenly divided this month. The rise in Wobbuffet in the past couple months has occurred along with a significant change in movesets, creating many mixed attackers (where mixed attacking was not usual) and adding support moves to some pokemon that ran more offensive sets. Certainly, to some extent, Wobbuffet has been responsible for this.
Forretress usage skyrocketed this month, and, according to the stats, Forretress' number one partner is not Giratina (who's #5), but Blissey. There's a number of reasons I believe Forretress usage has increased: Most Deoxys-e are suicidal and teams that have him usually don't have ghosts, he aids Blissey in stopping Specsogre, and there are a surprisingly large number of opportunities to switch Forry in to spike (or spin, although this month focused more on spinning). Spreads this month focused on Defense more than Special Defense.
There were slightly fewer CB Tyranitar this month. Those that ran other items (Focus Sash, Chople Berry) were probably leads, since lead T-tar use rose sharply this month. Around 10% of Tyranitar were Serious for some reason. While just about as many also ran Fire Blast, that was the only special attack they ran, and for what you're targeting with that, Adamant still does just fine.
Nearly 15% fewer Metagross ran Choice Band this month. Those that ran other items were more likely leads, Trickers, or some miscellaneous set. Pursuit saw a slight drop in use in favor of alternative fourth moves (on a standard MM/Explosion/EQ set).
For Giratina-o this month, natures were all over the board. The common ground between most of the sets however, was Substitute. Shaymin-s rose allot for some reason. I don't know exactly what they're hitting, but they're being used. I only saw him a few times, Jirachi was an effective team supporter. Along with the increase in Groudon, there have been *allot* of Ho-oh this month. The usual SR problems and still not having much to hit are still problems for him.