The Metagame Today (?)
Post-Alpha National Dex RU is a completely different metagame from what it was last month. Part of it has to do with the fact that the rises and bans have created a metagame less centralised around all-out offence. However, I am here to elaborate on a few Pokemon that were initially overshadowed or more niche that are now a similarly suffocating presence around offense: this time of a bulkier variety.
National Dex RU is no stranger to banning bulkier Pokemon. Deoxys-Defense, Aggron-Mega and Tangrowth were banned in generation 8 as they lead (or were believed to lead) to an overly centralised metagame that placed extreme emphasis on specific balance cores. DeoD also acted as a win-condition in its own right with its Cosmic Power and Nasty Plot sets, which further contributed to the pre-eminence of the aforementioned cores. As SSJ pointed out above, we currently have 5-6 banworthy threads on the radar that have defensive merit with at least 4 of those having a place on stall (although currently balance abuses all 6 the best).
Without further ado, here is the triad dominating NDRU now.
The Triad
I should have expected Iron Hands and Dondozo to get out of hand sooner or later. During the barrage of rain teams and hyper offence, I expected Iron Hands and Dondozo to transition into relatively healthy elements of the metagame as they, on paper, helped keep a lot of stupid threats in check had they not ended up being problematic themselves. I couldn't have miscalculated further. Kyurem was something that I wanted to keep unbanned, despite knowing full well it was not gonna last long. Two main reasons for this decision: it was outsped and outgunned in the previous, more offensive metagame, and it was something nice to have in the event something overwhelming popped up on balance.
Speaking of which...
Dondozo is very, very centralising right now. Like rain in Alpha, you pretty much need water immunity or an extremely bulky water resist to stand up to this thing. Unlike Rain, you need to slap an even narrower range of water immunes to match up well - Seismitoad on every team just doesn't cut it. You are forced to run a Pokemon that resists or is immune to both Fighting and Water attacks. This is a small list of Pokemon, including Slowbro (and its Mega), Mantine, Vaporeon and Jellicent. Even then, the right tera type can thwart would-be answers. Tera Dragon flips the type chart against Grass/Electric checks, whilst Tera Steel blanks Grasses and blows Fairy and Ice checks out the water. Tera Steel also happens to blank a lot of Pokemon that would otherwise Calm Mind alongside Dondozo (notably most slowtins sets) whilst its regular Water typing is sufficient to blank Scald + Ice beam Slowbro. Amoongus, a theoretical check, does little vs Tera Dragon and you might as well be down a Pokemon if Amoongus is your Tera steel Dondozo answer.
If Dondozo were to be gone, physical attackers would boon. However, there's a possibility that they can veer too hard into the broken territory. Mega Gallade and Victini (for example) are only held back by the fact that they lose to Dondozo 1v1. Threats like Scizor, Slither Wing and Ceruledge would rise to the fore as they greatly appreciate the big don gone. Defensive waters that were used to check it (like Mantine and Jellicent) would experience a noticeable decline in usage whilst competing water types (like Quagsire) would see an uptick.
TLDR; Fish too big for this pond
This thing is a juggernaut. I have 1v1'd an entire rain team (including Manaphy and Floatzel) with Tera Water Hands. It's a similar case to Dondozo in that this thing combines immense bulk with serious game-ending potential. Iron Hands is also quite slippery with the ability to terastalise into types like Water, Fairy, Flying, Ghost, you name it. This allows it to thwart would-be earthquakes either from ground types or strong physical/special attackers. However, even without terastalisation, Iron Hands can fire Fighting STAB (CC or Drain Punch) or snipe switch-ins with Ice Punch. Iron Hands might be the hardest of the three to sell a pro-ban argument for since it has qualities that could, on paper, make the metagame healthier. For one, it's a bulky fighting type that can stomach hits from a wide range of dark types and functions as a neat pivot with an Assault Vest. A Pokemon that can check dark types and Kyurem fulfils a niche very few Pokemon can replicate. Remember, not many Assault Vest users in RU can boast living a super effective choice specs Fluttermane Moonblast and OHKO cleanly with a heavy slam.
The most convincing no-ban argument would be that we haven't had a metagame with Iron Hands without Kyurem and Dondozo forcing teams to be built in a specific manner. That is arguable and I will admit, I have looked through that lens for the previous votes (Gardevoir-Mega, Gengar, etc.). However, the metagame would be overall a lot freer with Iron Hands out of the equation. Iron Hands is over-centralising since it forces a lot of Pokemon to run specific tera types to check Iron Hands both in builder and in-game. Furthermore, the variety of the sets and the ability to snowball quickly with a very rigged risk-reward ratio make Iron Hands overpowering as well for the metagame.
TLDR; this thing can eat anything and slap back hard
Nobody is surprised that this thing is overwhelming for an RU tier. It has been banned in every iteration of RU that it was allowed in: ORAS, SM and SS. However, why ban Kyurem over other stronger and more offensive dragons like the Lati twins, Mega Altaria or Salamence? The way the metagame is shaping up with bulky offence and balance teams thanks to Dondozo and friends means that it is easier to fit defensive checks to the other dragons listed. Those same defensive builds don't particularly enjoy going toe-to-toe with one of the best balance breakers in the game period.
There are plenty of ways to go about this but the classic set of Freeze Dry, Earth Power, Roost and Substitute is pretty straightforward. Thanks to terastalisation, you can offset pretty much any weakness you have in exchange for solid neutral typing. Tera Water in particular makes Scizor look like a chump. There are a few other sets that are just as deadly. Dragon Dance might seem like a Baxcalibur knock-off but this very set has been used to PP stall Pex in OU last gen. Likewise, 3 attacks with Never-melt Ice, and Specs are still proficient in muscling through teams. The other thing that also makes Kyurem overwhelming is how slow the tier has gotten with all the rises and bans. 317 isn't great but it's definitely possible to run modest and still be in a good position to outspeed the crowded base 80s. Alternatively, you can outrun the base 85s with timid and have enough EVs left for 404 HP subs, max special attack and change.
Kyurem leaving means little for offensive competition since it's strictly better than most ice types and most dragon types have their own well-defined niches. I guess Mamoswine would get to see a bit more usage and things would appreciate the 317 tier being significantly less important (see Jirachi). Not to mention bulky waters could be a lot easier to slot onto teams without overreaching to have kyurem counterplay options.
TLDR: Kyurem busted down RU's door, said "it's Kyurem time" and then kyuremed all over RU
Miscellaneous Threats
If we want a healthy metagame, it will involve these three getting the boot at some point in this metagame. Victini, like in UU, is a multi-faceted threat with extreme breaking power. Whilst Dondozo comfortably 1v1s, it doesn't like switching into Banded bolt strike, Tera fire Sun boosted Banded V-Create, stored power or a random special attacking Victini. Compared to UU overall, there are fewer consistent answers to the traditional sets giving Victini the luxury to run more experimental options. Omniboosting is something that the council is taking a keen interest in the other abuser: Jirachi. However, I feel Victini is more deserving of action as it doesn't need to jump through the same hoops as Jirachi to fit coverage.
I wanted to see how Mega Gardevoir would do following the first wave of bans. I did initially intend to ban this but I figured it might be worth giving it a shot since, at the time, I thought Slowbro-Dalar + Jirachi were sufficient enough answers. Two caveats: Jirachi has to fiddle with rolls and slowbro-galar isn't slowbro-galar half the time. I mentioned that the metagame got slower when discussing Kyurem's brokenness and I will echo the same sentiments here. The difference is that Mega Gardevoir is working off the universal baseline for a "good" speed stat: the golden 100s.
Gallade-Mega I wanted gone from day 1. I suppose there's the argument you could make that the base form of gallade is stronger than its mega-evolution thanks to the recent sharpness buff. Nevertheless, you cannot understate the value that Mega Gallade's speed brings forth to the table. It's like Mega Medicham v Medicham. Band Medi technically out-damages its mega but the speed and the ability to switch moves are insane. Likewise, tying with the base 110s is significantly better than tying with the base 80s (and trust me, scarf gallade has excruciating 50/50s). However, it has its flaws here that can be taken advantage of. Mega Gallade does not enjoy Mega Sableye as well as other defensive stalwarts such as tera fairy slowbro nor does it enjoy the abundance of faster Pokemon (e.g. alakazam), scarfers (fellow base 110s lati@s and Gengar) and priority. None of these issues are insurmountable, plus Mega Sableye's mere existence here is contentious. However, they did help create a more ambivalent picture of Gallade amongst the council and members of the community.
? This was supposed to be a 2 parter, with part 1 commenting on the rises + bans plus their impact on the tier. However, I felt that this section deserved to be published more. I'll try to finish the write-up soon but I may delay or heavily modify it.