What's New in BW2?
Well, a whole lot of things. There are a ton of new tutor moves, released Dream World Pokemon, Keldeo, and new formes for the genies trio.
Rain
At the moment it's pretty widely agreed that rain teams benefitted the most from BW2. Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T are already having a major effect on the metagame. The former is seeing use as a Choice Scarfer due to its monstrous Special Attack alongside its base 101 Speed, which allows it to sit in the same useful Speed tier as Landorus. Devastating Nasty Plot, Agility, and Substitute sets are also seeing play.
Tornadus-T is a major upgrade to Tornadus. At the cost of a small amount of power, it has gained access to Regenerator and increased Speed and bulk. The Speed boost is most notable for allowing Tornadus-T to outpace Starmie and Choice Scarf Tyranitar. Life Orb is the most prominent set, allowing Tornadus to abuse Hurricane with a large degree of freedom, with Focus Blast and U-turn being used frequently alongside it. Regenerator helps in compensating for Stealth Rock and Life Orb recoil. Choice Specs are also a viable option, though in this case the decrease in power is more noticeable in comparison to regular Tornadus. Regular Tornadus still also has a niche in Prankster Tailwind, though for the majority of teams Tornadus-T is by and far the more preferable forme.
Keldeo's projected impact has doubtlessly been stunted by how common Tornadus-T and Choice Scarf Thundurus-T are, but it's still a powerful force, capable of running Calm Mind, Choice Specs, or Choice Scarf with good effect. Keldeo even gained Icy Wind, a boon for its Choice Specs set that makes dealing with Latios much easier. Keldeo is obviously right at home in the rain, but can also function on sand teams, as Tyranitar can dispatch of pesky Lati@s with little difficulty.
Haxorus is notable for gaining Aqua Tail and Superpower; Aqua Tail is a good wallbreaking tool in rain, and Superpower gives Haxorus the ability to smash Ferrothorns attempting to tank Outrage.
Sun
Ninetales, for the first time, has access to semi-reliable recovery. It is now able to run Restalk with Drought, making it easier for it to stick around throughout a match and provide sunlight for its teammates. Giga Drain is a notable move for both Venusaur and Volcarona; the former moreso than the latter. With Giga Drain, Growth Venusaur in the sun can beat Chansey and Blissey one-on-one, assuming they lack Thunder Wave or a super effective special move, Flamethrower in particular. Thanks to its immunity to Toxic, Venusaur can accrue a healthy number of Growth boosts, then Giga Drain the blobs for a large amount of damage, healing off Venusaur's injuries from Seismic Toss. Giga Drain's recovery is useful as far as sweeping goes as well, allowing Venusaur to take more risks in setting up and making it more difficult to revenge kill with priority.
Roost is the most notable new move Volcarona has received, giving it more reliable recovery. Bulky sets are likely to see a rise in usage, as they no longer have to contend with the shortcomings of Morning Sun. Morning Sun may still see some use on truly dedicated sun teams, but for the most part Roost does everything Morning Sun needs to do, and more reliably. Giga Drain is useful on Life Orb sets, giving Volcarona a way around Keldeo, Terrakion, Jellicent, and Gastrodon all at once.
Sand
Sandslash finally has access to its Dream World ability, Sand Rush. Though essentially an inferior Excadrill, Sandslash is still a threatening Swords Dance sweeper, and, just like Excadrill, should prove very difficult to spinblock against. Stoutland, another Sand Rush sweeper, gained Superpower, finally giving it a way around the likes of Terrakion and Heatran. Sand teams seem likely to switch to a Sand Rush focus once again, with two viable sweepers now available to them.
General
Thanks to the Stealth Rock tutor, the most useful entry hazard is likely to see a bit more presence in the metagame, which is not necessarily a bad thing when taking Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T into consideration. Landorus-T is probably the least notable of the Therian formes, and is likely to see most of its use as a bulky Stealth Rock supporter and defensive pivot, since Landorus pulls off most other offensive niches better inspite of Landorus-T's massive base 145 Attack, thanks to Sand Power. Poison Heal Gliscor not only gained Stealth Rock, but it also gained Roost, cementing it as one of the best physical walls in the metagame. Terrakion can use Stealth Rock as well, and should be able to find plenty of opportunities to set it up, given the number of switches it can force. Ferrothorn's only notable improvement is that with the Stealth Rock tutor, it can finally hold the holy trifecta of Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Leech Seed, all on the same set, whereas before it could only have two of the three at one time.
Amoonguss's Dream World ability, Regenerator, allows it to function as a check to rain teams, thanks to its massive Special bulk and access to the ever-deadly Spore. It can make good use of Giga Drain, as well as Clear Smog and Stun Spore to neuter offensive threats.
Your Opinions
So, what do all of you think and feel about this? What has been working for you, both in terms of the new threats and in terms of stopping them? Have you noticed any metagame trends? What interests you that you want to try? Don't restrict yourselves to what I've talked about here either. Feel free to discuss new things I might have overlooked! Please keep discussion away from bans, as it's a little bit early for discussion of that.
Have at it!
Well, a whole lot of things. There are a ton of new tutor moves, released Dream World Pokemon, Keldeo, and new formes for the genies trio.
Rain
At the moment it's pretty widely agreed that rain teams benefitted the most from BW2. Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T are already having a major effect on the metagame. The former is seeing use as a Choice Scarfer due to its monstrous Special Attack alongside its base 101 Speed, which allows it to sit in the same useful Speed tier as Landorus. Devastating Nasty Plot, Agility, and Substitute sets are also seeing play.
Tornadus-T is a major upgrade to Tornadus. At the cost of a small amount of power, it has gained access to Regenerator and increased Speed and bulk. The Speed boost is most notable for allowing Tornadus-T to outpace Starmie and Choice Scarf Tyranitar. Life Orb is the most prominent set, allowing Tornadus to abuse Hurricane with a large degree of freedom, with Focus Blast and U-turn being used frequently alongside it. Regenerator helps in compensating for Stealth Rock and Life Orb recoil. Choice Specs are also a viable option, though in this case the decrease in power is more noticeable in comparison to regular Tornadus. Regular Tornadus still also has a niche in Prankster Tailwind, though for the majority of teams Tornadus-T is by and far the more preferable forme.
Keldeo's projected impact has doubtlessly been stunted by how common Tornadus-T and Choice Scarf Thundurus-T are, but it's still a powerful force, capable of running Calm Mind, Choice Specs, or Choice Scarf with good effect. Keldeo even gained Icy Wind, a boon for its Choice Specs set that makes dealing with Latios much easier. Keldeo is obviously right at home in the rain, but can also function on sand teams, as Tyranitar can dispatch of pesky Lati@s with little difficulty.
Haxorus is notable for gaining Aqua Tail and Superpower; Aqua Tail is a good wallbreaking tool in rain, and Superpower gives Haxorus the ability to smash Ferrothorns attempting to tank Outrage.
Sun
Ninetales, for the first time, has access to semi-reliable recovery. It is now able to run Restalk with Drought, making it easier for it to stick around throughout a match and provide sunlight for its teammates. Giga Drain is a notable move for both Venusaur and Volcarona; the former moreso than the latter. With Giga Drain, Growth Venusaur in the sun can beat Chansey and Blissey one-on-one, assuming they lack Thunder Wave or a super effective special move, Flamethrower in particular. Thanks to its immunity to Toxic, Venusaur can accrue a healthy number of Growth boosts, then Giga Drain the blobs for a large amount of damage, healing off Venusaur's injuries from Seismic Toss. Giga Drain's recovery is useful as far as sweeping goes as well, allowing Venusaur to take more risks in setting up and making it more difficult to revenge kill with priority.
Roost is the most notable new move Volcarona has received, giving it more reliable recovery. Bulky sets are likely to see a rise in usage, as they no longer have to contend with the shortcomings of Morning Sun. Morning Sun may still see some use on truly dedicated sun teams, but for the most part Roost does everything Morning Sun needs to do, and more reliably. Giga Drain is useful on Life Orb sets, giving Volcarona a way around Keldeo, Terrakion, Jellicent, and Gastrodon all at once.
Sand
Sandslash finally has access to its Dream World ability, Sand Rush. Though essentially an inferior Excadrill, Sandslash is still a threatening Swords Dance sweeper, and, just like Excadrill, should prove very difficult to spinblock against. Stoutland, another Sand Rush sweeper, gained Superpower, finally giving it a way around the likes of Terrakion and Heatran. Sand teams seem likely to switch to a Sand Rush focus once again, with two viable sweepers now available to them.
General
Thanks to the Stealth Rock tutor, the most useful entry hazard is likely to see a bit more presence in the metagame, which is not necessarily a bad thing when taking Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T into consideration. Landorus-T is probably the least notable of the Therian formes, and is likely to see most of its use as a bulky Stealth Rock supporter and defensive pivot, since Landorus pulls off most other offensive niches better inspite of Landorus-T's massive base 145 Attack, thanks to Sand Power. Poison Heal Gliscor not only gained Stealth Rock, but it also gained Roost, cementing it as one of the best physical walls in the metagame. Terrakion can use Stealth Rock as well, and should be able to find plenty of opportunities to set it up, given the number of switches it can force. Ferrothorn's only notable improvement is that with the Stealth Rock tutor, it can finally hold the holy trifecta of Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Leech Seed, all on the same set, whereas before it could only have two of the three at one time.
Amoonguss's Dream World ability, Regenerator, allows it to function as a check to rain teams, thanks to its massive Special bulk and access to the ever-deadly Spore. It can make good use of Giga Drain, as well as Clear Smog and Stun Spore to neuter offensive threats.
Your Opinions
So, what do all of you think and feel about this? What has been working for you, both in terms of the new threats and in terms of stopping them? Have you noticed any metagame trends? What interests you that you want to try? Don't restrict yourselves to what I've talked about here either. Feel free to discuss new things I might have overlooked! Please keep discussion away from bans, as it's a little bit early for discussion of that.
Have at it!
