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With Jirachi banned and Skarmory to OU, I think Magneton is pretty much a wasted pick now. I was running it purely to trap other Skarmory's and Subtoxic Jirachi's. Did not expect Skarmory to go back to OU.
Jirachi, Skarmory, Hatterne, Kyurem all gone - the meta is going to look very different. I don't see anything particularly banworthy though that dropped.
Yes, TDK and I have been discussing for a while what we'd do with Chansey if she dropped this month. To that effect, the UU Council will be voting on whether or not to free Chansey. While she seemed difficult to break when she first dropped, the current metagame has gotten significantly more offensive in the intervening time, making it far less of a challenge to pressure the Blob. Her reliance on Eviolite is also proving to be a major hindrance this gen, as the lack of passive recovery and the constant chip from hazards severely limits her opportunities to come in. Still, there's no denying that she is a behemoth: with Eviolite she has absolutely unmatched Special bulk, and physical bulk on par with tanks like Swampert.
If the council votes to unban Chansey, we will likely revisit the ban in a public test, to give the overall community a chance to see if she should stay.
Beyond this vote, we will give the meta a few days to settle before looking at whether there are any necessary quickbans due to the recent tier shift. These are obviously very significant changes, especially alongside the recent Jirachi ban, and we'd like the chance to see how they play out before we jump into any new bans.
I know we're all upset about losing many UU staples. They will all be missed dearly. However, with the exception of kyurem and maybe Hat, the others that rose were indicative of metagame trends that developed during OLT, like TTar sand balance or Necrozma HO. I do feel that as the metagame stabilizes back in OU, we'll get at least a few of these back (and ditto but who cares about it). Now, I'll introduce in my opinion a solid drop to the tier, being Zarude.
Zarude faced severe competition in OU from rillaboom, who is so much better offensively and supportive with grassy terrain. However, UU is going to give Zarude it's chance to shine. It has a solid amount of viable sets, including Stallbreak Jungle healing and BU LO, but i'll introduce the set i think will be dominant in the tier.
Zarude @ Choice Scarf
Adamant Nature
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Power Whip
- Darkest Lariat/Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Close Combat
This set capitalizes on zarude's nice speed tier while increasing it's ability to hit very hard in the tier. This set has few checks and it's able to demolish many of the tiers most prominent pokemon. Power whip is basic stab while u turn is for pivoting out of bad situations. CC is for hitting steels while darkest lariat or rock slide can be used to hit certain things. I'll go into depth about that later.
Here are some calcs of what it can beat within the UU tier.
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Tentacruel: 195-229 (53.5 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Zarude U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Celebi: 316-376 (92.6 - 110.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 444-524 (137.4 - 162.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 276-326 (70 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lycanroc-Dusk: 576-680 (197.9 - 233.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Obstagoon: 540-636 (165.1 - 194.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Palossand: 276-326 (73.7 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Zarude Darkest Lariat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Polteageist: 408-482 (156.3 - 184.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Bisharp: 544-640 (200.7 - 236.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Porygon-Z: 364-430 (117 - 138.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Krookodile: 492-578 (148.6 - 174.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Wash: 384-452 (126.3 - 148.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Starmie: 468-552 (179.3 - 211.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowking: 338-402 (85.7 - 102%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Darkest Lariat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Marowak-Alola: 266-314 (101.9 - 120.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Darkest Lariat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rotom-Mow: 135-160 (56 - 66.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
There are some mons that can beat Zarude depending on their items. If mamoswine, terrakion, or cloyster are focus sash, they can kill Zarude back.
252 Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zarude: 166-198 (47.2 - 56.4%) -- 79.7% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Cloyster Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zarude: 360-430 (102.5 - 122.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zarude: 374-444 (106.5 - 126.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO Zarude OHKO's with Power whip back if they are not focus sash.
There are other mons that can or cannot beat Zarude depending on rolls.
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Sylveon: 288-339 (87 - 102.4%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zarude: 536-632 (152.7 - 180%) -- guaranteed OHKO.
If it's the wish cleric set, then it'll also be a roll to 2HKO it as well.
Mimikyu loses if it's disguise will be OHKO'd by Power Whip, but can severely dent it with play rough.
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mimikyu: 246-289 (98 - 115.1%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO.
Now, there are pokemon that can check Zarude, but only if it forgoes rock slide. Scyther and Noivern can dent zarude with u-turn and pivot out into another pokemon after taking a darkest lariat. Rock slide is a 2HKO for noivern, so you gotta hope for flinch hax. Also, Zarude's bulk means it can take a brave bird from talonflame and kill with lariat after recoil, so basically if you forego rock slide you only miss out on scyther and noivern while you kinda of miss out on a reliable way to kill chandelure with lariat.
These are now the pokemon that can check zarude, counter it, or take advantage of it.
-Grimmsnarl gets 2HKO by power whip, but can it can use zarude to set up screens on before dying, allowing another threat to come in.
-Both cobalion and incineorar live a CC and then can kill with the defense drops.
252+ Atk Zarude Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Cobalion: 218-258 (67.4 - 79.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Zarude Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 108 Def Incineroar: 264-312 (67.1 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-Darmanitan outspeeds if it's jolly scarf and nukes with flare blitz, the only way to kill it with this set is run rock slide and hope it flinches, so if you have something that can better deal with Darm use it.
-Scarf mienshao with a jolly nature is able to outspeed scarf zarude and kill with CC, but cant switch in on power whip.
-Weezing-galar walls it completely and can force it out or cripple it.
-Lastly, despite dropping this month, heracross can live any of zarude's main hits and nuke it with CC
Overall, despite not being too good in OU, i believe that zarude can be a real force to be reckoned with in UU, especially with it's adamant scarf set. the metagame has shifted a lot and even though we lost some key mons, i'm confident they'll be back with us next shifts.
I know we're all upset about losing many UU staples. They will all be missed dearly. However, with the exception of kyurem and maybe Hat, the others that rose were indicative of metagame trends that developed during OLT, like TTar sand balance or Necrozma HO. I do feel that as the metagame stabilizes back in OU, we'll get at least a few of these back (and ditto but who cares about it). Now, I'll introduce in my opinion a solid drop to the tier, being Zarude.
Zarude faced severe competition in OU from rillaboom, who is so much better offensively and supportive with grassy terrain. However, UU is going to give Zarude it's chance to shine. It has a solid amount of viable sets, including Stallbreak Jungle healing and BU LO, but i'll introduce the set i think will be dominant in the tier.
Zarude @ Choice Scarf
Adamant Nature
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Power Whip
- Darkest Lariat/Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Close Combat
This set capitalizes on zarude's nice speed tier while increasing it's ability to hit very hard in the tier. This set has few checks and it's able to demolish many of the tiers most prominent pokemon. Power whip is basic stab while u turn is for pivoting out of bad situations. CC is for hitting steels while darkest lariat or rock slide can be used to hit certain things. I'll go into depth about that later.
Here are some calcs of what it can beat within the UU tier.
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Tentacruel: 195-229 (53.5 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Zarude U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Celebi: 316-376 (92.6 - 110.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 444-524 (137.4 - 162.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 276-326 (70 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lycanroc-Dusk: 576-680 (197.9 - 233.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Obstagoon: 540-636 (165.1 - 194.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Palossand: 276-326 (73.7 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Zarude Darkest Lariat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Polteageist: 408-482 (156.3 - 184.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Bisharp: 544-640 (200.7 - 236.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Porygon-Z: 364-430 (117 - 138.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Krookodile: 492-578 (148.6 - 174.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Wash: 384-452 (126.3 - 148.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Starmie: 468-552 (179.3 - 211.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowking: 338-402 (85.7 - 102%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Darkest Lariat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Marowak-Alola: 266-314 (101.9 - 120.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Zarude Darkest Lariat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rotom-Mow: 135-160 (56 - 66.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
There are some mons that can beat Zarude depending on tier movesets. If mamoswine, terrakion, or cloyster are focus sash, they can kill Zarude back.
252 Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zarude: 166-198 (47.2 - 56.4%) -- 79.7% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Cloyster Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zarude: 360-430 (102.5 - 122.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zarude: 374-444 (106.5 - 126.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Zarude OHKO's with Power whip back if they are not focus sash.
There are other mons that can or cannot beat Zarude depending on rolls.
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Sylveon: 288-339 (87 - 102.4%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zarude: 536-632 (152.7 - 180%) -- guaranteed OHKO.
If it's the wish cleric set, then it'll also be a roll to 2HKO it as well.
Mimikyu loses if it's disguise will be OHKO'd by Power Whip, but can severely dent it with play rough.
252+ Atk Zarude Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mimikyu: 246-289 (98 - 115.1%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO.
Now, there are pokemon that can check Zarude, but only if it forgoes rock slide. Scyther and Noivern can dent zarude with u-turn and pivot out into another pokemon after taking a darkest lariat. Rock slide is a 2HKO for noivern, so you gotta hope for flinch hax. Also, Zarude's bulk means it can take a brave bird from talonflame and kill with larait after recoil, so basically if you forego rock slide you only miss out on scyther and noivern while you kinda of miss out on a reliable way to kill chandelure with lariat.
These are now the pokemon that can check zarude, counter it, or take advatage of it.
-Grimmsnarl gets 2HKO by power whip, but can cripple zarude with twave or use it to set up screens on before dying, allowing another threat to come in.
-Both cobalion and incineorar live a CC and then can kill with the defense drops.
252+ Atk Zarude Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Cobalion: 218-258 (67.4 - 79.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Zarude Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 108 Def Incineroar: 264-312 (67.1 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-Darmanitan outspeeds if it's jolly scarf and nukes with flare blitz, the only way to kill it with this set is run rock slide and hope it flinches, so if you have something that can better deal with Darm use it.
-Scarf meinsho with a jolly nature is able to outspeed scarf zarude and kill with CC, but cant switch in on power whip.
-Weezing-galar walls it completely and can force it out or cripple it.
-Lastly, despite dropping this month, heracross can live any of zarude's main hits and nuke it with CC
Overall, despite not being too good in OU, i believe that zarude can be a real force to be reckoned with in UU, especially with it's adamant scarf set. the metagame has shifted a lot and even though we lost some key mons, i'm confident they'll be back with us next shifts.
Wanted to post about Alolan Marowak, I've personally felt it to be incredibly restrictive and dangerous so far in conjunction with Teleport+TR support from the many room tour games that have happened so far today, with rather limited pokemon that can take more then one hit, and it getting obsurd amounts of opportinities due to how good of an initiator trick room + teleport slowking/bro is. It definitely has counterplay, with slowbro/king underspeeding with 0 IVs and killing it in TR, being able to be picked off by priority (tho its bulky enough to take some weaker ones like doub/lycanroc if not heavily chipped) and it being easily worn down by hazards since it can't run boots, but the issue for me is the relative ease of getting it in and forcing kills far too often with its absurd power, and ability to get around would be answers like Incin and itemless rotoms with bonemerang and shadow bone.
Will definitely be interested to see how/if teams manage to deal with this properly, beyond just limiting it and slowbro/kings opportunities and hazard removal opportunities as much as possible.
TR teams are also quite interesting with Marowak now dropped, Teleport + Trick Room Slowking already made semi-room teams a decent albeit niche structure that worked well with teammates like Copperajah, but Marowak really provides something to push them towards even more solid status. Galarbro is also a really cool option on these TR teams with Belly Drum Regen Boots sets having a lot of sustainability and being severely threatening, especially since it can easily fully heal with Drain Punch if you aren't careful.
Threw together this quick one for the last roomtour - https://pokepast.es/e729688c0f0181c3. Weezing helps make up for the severe krook weakness you have outside of TR, while Lycanroc gives you some actual speed + priority for outside of TR. Marowak IVs make sure to overspeed base speed Slowbro/King outside of TR, don't wanna take the risk that someone hasn't IVd their slowbro/king if you don't have to, (and a lot are underspeeding atm so you defo don't wanna try and attack one in TR anyway).
Using the one vs all feature on the Showdown calculator; Incineroar is a good check, but it doesn't like Bonemerang/Earthquake (30-40%), you can also try Rhyperior and Curselax.
It does depend on Poltergeist to break a lot of mons (Gastrodon, Milotic, Druddigon, Noivern, Rotom Wash,Quagsire) so going Itemless (or some kind of gimmicky consumable like Red Card or a Gem? Room Service?) could let them handle it.
I'd you factor in SD you really Quagsire or Pyukumuku (Whirlpool anyone?) to stop it defensively.
Using the one vs all feature on the Showdown calculator; Incineroar is a good check, but it doesn't like Bonemerang/Earthquake (30-40%), you can also try Rhyperior and Curselax.
It does depend on Poltergeist to break a lot of mons (Gastrodon, Milotic, Druddigon, Noivern, Rotom Wash) so going Itemless (or some kind of gimmicky consumable like Red Card or a Gem? Room Service?) could let them handle it.
I don't really know where you see 30-40% from Bonemerang/Earthquake tho :
-1 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Bonemerang (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Incineroar: 180-212 (45.8 - 53.9%) -- approx. 30.1% chance to 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Incineroar: 178-210 (45.2 - 53.4%) -- 31.3% chance to 2HKO
And it doesn't depend on Poltergeist to break things because it also has Shadow Bone which is another great Ghost STAB. We did some calcs on the UU discord and things like itemless Milotic get 2HKOed by Shadow Bone after Stealth Rocks :
252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Shadow Bone vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Milotic: 184-217 (46.7 - 55%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
So yeah I agree with Estarossa that Marowak-A may be a bit iffy to handle. I'd like to see how people managed to handle some cheesy playstyles like Trick Room and Sun after the shifts. I firmly believe Sun has the tools to be really dumb (once again..) with Tyranitar rising and Torkoal dropping back..
Mom I want Rillaboom.
Mom: We have Rillaboom at home.
Jokes aside, with all the u turn/volt spam from common threats I can see this having a similar effect as kyurem where when it's in, you kind of have to pick. I can see the whole teleport bro / volting rotoms really letting this shine.
Just wanna chime in and say with Skarm gone, Scyther is now a fucking monster. Nothing likes taking a stab U-turn from it and even less like taking a Duel Wingbeat.
Just wanna chime in and say with Skarm gone, Scyther is now a fucking monster. Nothing likes taking a stab U-turn from it and even less like taking a Duel Wingbeat.
G-Weezing still mostly stops it in its tracks. But it has definitely risen in viability.
In fact, G-Weezing is probably one of the only things preventing Lycanroc/Terrakion from getting out of control now. Sandcastle Ghost is there too, but G-Weezing has more options and better typing for most situations and many Lycanroc's have been running Crunch for ghosts. We'll see how Slowbro fits into the equation too for good defensive stops, but G-Weezing seems like the go-to.
Honestly, the fact that skarm rising is what might push stuff like scyther, shao, mimikyu, terrak, and lycanroc-dusk kinda shows the overly dependence the tier has on skarm now. I'm not advocating for a ban on these or not, but since skarm seems like a pokemoon that'll shift between OU and UU a lot, it'll be weird as without skarm they'll be too much, but with skarm they are fine. I don't even really know what to say, except the fact that it's kinda scary that the tier's entire foundation rests on skarm to some degree
Honestly, the fact that skarm rising is what might push stuff like scyther, shao, mimikyu, terrak, and lycanroc-dusk kinda shows the overly dependence the tier has on skarm now. I'm not advocating for a ban on these or not, but since skarm seems like a pokemoon that'll shift between OU and UU a lot, it'll be weird as without skarm they'll be too much, but with skarm they are fine. I don't even really know what to say, except the fact that it's kinda scary that the tier's entire foundation rests on skarm to some degree
This post so much, we absolutely need to change our tiering ideas because of Monky’s idea. We should no longer pretend that we tier purely in the present, we at least need to acknowledge tiering is more volatile now because of tier shifts and DLC. I’m saying we need to be more conservative in what we let in the tier, we absolutely shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket and hope one or two mons can give sufficient defensive counterplay to a threat by itself if that one mon has a history of going up to OU.
Yeah I agree. I was pretty vocal about how concerning the fact so many people described Skarmory and Blissey being the only things keeping certain things in check was, before Blissey rose. We handled the loss of Blissey fine but it’s looking likely losing Skarmory might be a different story.
Like we always say we try to avoid broken checking broken and it kind of feels similar to that, to me.
G-Weezing still mostly stops it in its tracks. But it has definitely risen in viability.
In fact, G-Weezing is probably one of the only things preventing Lycanroc/Terrakion from getting out of control now. Sandcastle Ghost is there too, but G-Weezing has more options and better typing for most situations and many Lycanroc's have been running Crunch for ghosts. We'll see how Slowbro fits into the equation too for good defensive stops, but G-Weezing seems like the go-to.
While true, Scyther + Any Psychic Type or Steel type should fucking wreck now. Hell throw in Barraskewda/Keldeo/Rotom-W/Sharpedo/Amy decent offensive water type and ya also don't have to worry about Incineroar either.
Add Terrakion/Lycan and a Scarfer and it's basically GG.
Hell, Weezing takes around 36-40% from Duel Wingbeat and only has pain split as recovery. Meaning even it doesn't really wanna switch into Scyther since Scyther is faster and can just U-tirn out after the Duel Wingbeat.
Okay, stepping away from the above discussion for a bit, let me take some time to bring up this bad boy. Kingdra is probably being a bit overlooked in terms of the new drops, but this thing has A LOT of potential to be a really solid Pokemon in the metagame. Its stats might not seem like much, but it's just enough to make Kingdra a good offensive threat, in tandem with its awesome Water / Dragon typing which between its STABs alone gives it hella good coverage (especially since Empoleon doesn't exist rn and won't exist for a while) in UU. As far as I know, basically nothing relevant in UU right now resists Kingdra's STAB combination. It was super good back in BW UU because of how strong a versatile an offensive threat it was, and I imagine it'll be really neat in the current UU metagame too, especially since we don't have Hydreigon and Haxorus here to overshadow it anymore.
Kingdra is super versatile, and I can imagine quite a few sets for this thing:
- First of the sets is DD Kingdra. Dragon Dance Kingdra can be an extremely strong offensive sweeper, especially with screens support from Grimmsnarl. Sub+DD in tandem with Waterfall and Outrage/Scale Shot makes Kingdra a very good late-game cleaner, and it has nigh unresisted coverage, while Substitute can protect it from stuff like Grimmsnarl's Thunder Wave. It can boost, then proceed to just sweep through a sufficiently weakened team.
- Specs Kingdra is also another set I see being a significant threat. Just switch into a slower mon like Palossand, then nuke the fuck out of something with Hydro Pump or Draco Meteor, and again, it's very hard to switch into. Pretty simple and effective. It also has Flip Turn this generation which helps it maintain momentum and helps it with potential switch-ins like Slowking, allowing it to hit and run to a teammate and keep the momentum going.
- Rain+3 Attacks Kingdra is also a potentially great sweeper just like DD Kingdra. While it doesn't have Drizzle in this tier to support it, it can self-support with Rain Dance then proceed to sweep with Hydro Pump, Draco Meteor, and Hurricane to quickly plow through a good portion of the opposing team within those few turns. Hurricane that can never miss is great for hitting Keldeo and Araquanid super hard, which is always nice.
- Lastly, while a gimmicky set, you *could* run Sniper Focus Energy Kingdra with critical hit Draco Meteor for the lulz along with Agility. A pretty gimmicky set, to be sure, but it could be fun. That being said, I think DD and Rain+3 Attacks will be better sweeping sets for Kingdra overall.
Kingdra is a simple Pokemon, but nonetheless I think it has the potential to be a very effective Pokemon when it comes to sweeping. It can run both physical and special sweeping sets, and I imagine it'll be a very solid sweeper/wallbreaker in the tier especially since it has quite a bit of flexibility in how its sets can be built. I don't know if it will be broken (I really don't think it will be) but it'll definitely be a cool Pokemon for sure. I'm definitely looking forward to this Pokemon and I'd love to build some teams around it, because it's just a really neat sweeper.
I think SubDD will probably be its best set, but Rain and Specs are probably going to be solid as well.
Above are just some base sample sets I see being effective for Kingdra this gen, but you guys could probably change things up for it depending on team composition and whatnot. Anyway, just really wanted to bring up this Pokemon as one of the new drops because I think it'll be a pretty cool Pokemon in this meta.
Okay, stepping away from the above discussion for a bit, let me take some time to bring up this bad boy. Kingdra is probably being a bit overlooked in terms of the new drops, but this thing has A LOT of potential to be a really solid Pokemon in the metagame. Its stats might not seem like much, but it's just enough to make Kingdra a good offensive threat, in tandem with its awesome Water / Dragon typing which between its STABs alone gives it hella good coverage (especially since Empoleon doesn't exist rn and won't exist for a while) in UU. As far as I know, basically nothing relevant in UU right now resists Kingdra's STAB combination. It was super good back in BW UU because of how strong a versatile an offensive threat it was, and I imagine it'll be really neat in the current UU metagame too, especially since we don't have Hydreigon and Haxorus here to overshadow it anymore.
Kingdra is super versatile, and I can imagine quite a few sets for this thing:
- First of the sets is DD Kingdra. Dragon Dance Kingdra can be an extremely strong offensive sweeper, especially with screens support from Grimmsnarl. Sub+DD in tandem with Waterfall and Outrage/Scale Shot makes Kingdra a very good late-game cleaner, and it has nigh unresisted coverage, while Substitute can protect it from stuff like Grimmsnarl's Thunder Wave. It can boost, then proceed to just sweep through a sufficiently weakened team.
- Specs Kingdra is also another set I see being a significant threat. Just switch into a slower mon like Palossand, then nuke the fuck out of something with Hydro Pump or Draco Meteor, and again, it's very hard to switch into. Pretty simple and effective. It also has Flip Turn this generation which helps it maintain momentum and helps it with potential switch-ins like Slowking, allowing it to hit and run to a teammate and keep the momentum going.
- Rain+3 Attacks Kingdra is also a potentially great sweeper just like DD Kingdra. While it doesn't have Drizzle in this tier to support it, it can self-support with Rain Dance then proceed to sweep with Hydro Pump, Draco Meteor, and Hurricane to quickly plow through a good portion of the opposing team within those few turns. Hurricane that can never miss is great for hitting Keldeo and Araquanid super hard, which is always nice.
- Lastly, while a gimmicky set, you *could* run Sniper Focus Energy Kingdra with critical hit Draco Meteor for the lulz along with Agility. A pretty gimmicky set, to be sure, but it could be fun. That being said, I think DD and Rain+3 Attacks will be better sweeping sets for Kingdra overall.
Kingdra is a simple Pokemon, but nonetheless I think it has the potential to be a very effective Pokemon when it comes to sweeping. It can run both physical and special sweeping sets, and I imagine it'll be a very solid sweeper/wallbreaker in the tier especially since it has quite a bit of flexibility in how its sets can be built. I don't know if it will be broken (I really don't think it will be) but it'll definitely be a cool Pokemon for sure. I'm definitely looking forward to this Pokemon and I'd love to build some teams around it, because it's just a really neat sweeper.
I think SubDD will probably be its best set, but Rain and Specs are probably going to be solid as well.
Above are just some base sample sets I see being effective for Kingdra this gen, but you guys could probably change things up for it depending on team composition and whatnot. Anyway, just really wanted to bring up this Pokemon as one of the new drops because I think it'll be a pretty cool Pokemon in this meta.
So some people thought Zarude would be complete dogshit when it drops from OU, and I also believed it would be bad (but not as horrible as people were making it out to be), but after some testing, I have formed the opinion that Zarude is probably in the top 15 of Pokemon in the tier right now.
1. Breaking Power and Bulk
Zarude has a great attack stat allowing it to threaten OHKOs or 2HKOs on many Pokemon in the tier like Bisharp, Celebi, Doublade, Krookodile, Grimmsnarl, Incineroar, Roserade, Obstagoon, both Rotom forms and the list goes on. Its great bulk help it find lots of opportunities to get in and break.
2. Unique typing and good coverage
It's typing is a mixed bag. One one hand, it's absolutely amazing for switching into Pokemon like Celebi, Krookodile, Palossand, Polteageist, both Rotom forms, Slowbro and Slowking, and Starmie. On the other hand, it's weak to one of the most common types in the metagame being Fighting and it's super weak to U-Turn spam which is pretty common right now. This, however can be remedied with a Choice Scarf set allowing to outspeed fighting types and U-Turn on them, or just killing them with STAB or coverage. For example, three fighting types are weak to it being Keldeo and Terrakion who get shafted by Power Whip and Cobalion which CC can pick off after Cobalion has taken about 35 damage. Lycanroc, which is essentially a fighting type due to Tough Claws boosting CC, also dies to Power Whip. It's great coverage help against a ton of teams. It is quite prediction reliant though.
Here's a team I threw together pretty quickly after the drops.
It was quite rushed so it might not be all that good, but it did get me 15:1 in the 16 battles I've played with it which is pretty cool.
Some other quick thoughts:
Slowbro is looking to replace Slowking as the new bulky Water of the tier, mostly due to being able to check Pokemon like Terrakion, Lycanroc, Cobalion, Mienshao, and others better due to the PhsyDef boost, but I still expect to see Slowking sometimes.
Kingdra is a pretty underrated sweeper that can clean teams not prepared for it, and it has some nice set versability. I don't see it making a big splash but it does look like a good Pokemon.
Marowak-A is a super good breaker that looks banworthy being able to OHKO or 2HKO the whole metagame and it also acts as a nice Rotom-Mow / Electrics type in general check. It can opt for Swords Dance or Stealth Rocks, thought the best set is definitely 4 attacks. It's middling speed and not being able to run HDB hurts though.
Sorry if this post is a bit uninformative as I'm pretty new to UU and have only been playing for a month (Somehow, I have played more than 500 games already though lol)
Zarude @ Choice Band
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Darkest Lariat
- Close Combat
- U-turn
Zarude @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Darkest Lariat
- Close Combat
- U-turn
I've been using Marowak-A - it's not the gamebreaking monster that I was hoping it would be. It's very good, but it's speed is too low and there's so many things that can revenge kill it very easily (Lycanroc, Terrakion, and most things with Knock Off). If you have any normal type on your team you can also switch in to Poltergeist easily. It's also weak to Stealth Rock since it needs to run Thick Club to be most effective, so the chip damage will really wear it down. I'd say it's good for a couple big hits during the match, but isn't going to dominate a team.
I think the best way to use it would be on a TR toom, but those are a bit more difficult now with Hatterne gone to OU. An expert TR team, with Marowak-A, is a much better option for it. But I would say it is far from the scariest thing in UU at the moment. Maybe the scariest out of the recent drops though.
As Hogg mentioned yesterday, we were voting on Chansey and now we have received all the votes from every Council member.
As such, we will be unbanning Chansey from UUBL! Tagging Marty and The Immortal to make the change on PS when they have the chance; thank you!
Chansey was initially banned swiftly upon dropping; to which it quickly rose back to OU before we had the opportunity to give it a real chance. In return, we received Blissey, who is now seen as simply to be the better of the two in OU, thanks to its ability to run Heavy-Duty Boots and for having less reliance on its item, due to the prevalence of Knock Off.
Chansey's bulk is incredible, thanks to Eviolite. It is able to shrug off things that Blissey cannot, at the expense of the ability to run an item like Boots or Leftovers. In UU, this could be incredibly detrimental. With Skarmory and Jirachi departing from the tier, Roserade now becomes the tiers top Spike setter, and its top two checks are no longer here. Hazard damage stacking up on Chansey can be critical; especially with the prevalence of Trick and Knock Off. Chansey is incredibly easy to whittle down in comparison to Blissey. On the other hand, Chansey is able of shrugging off hits that would give Blissey trouble. Without Stealth Rock up, chansey has a 85.9% chance of surviving two Weather Balls from a Specs Solar Power Charizard in Sun. The difference in bulk is incredible apparent; however, will the extra bulk be worth the negatives that come with running Eviolite in this metagame?
We will now be giving Chansey a very serious chance in the metagame, and will evaluate it over time to determine if it's still an issue within the metagame, and if it is up for debate, we will give it a full suspect test.
That is all for now. We are looking at the top threats in the tier (Lycanroc-Dusk, Mimikyu, Terrakion) still and determining what the proper course of action is, so look forward to that and please feel free to offer your input.
Sounds nice. I'm not that much of an UU player, and i'm relatively new to Pokémon (it's been 2 years since i played and i've been here for less than a month since i came back) but one thing i know, and it applies to everything: always give chanseys- i mean, chances to things. We still don't know how chansey will work in the tier, but give it a shot IMO. Maybe it might be way more healthy for the tier than we all expect.
That is all for now. We are looking at the top threats in the tier (Lycanroc-Dusk, Mimikyu, Terrakion) still and determining what the proper course of action is, so look forward to that and please feel free to offer your input.
This is really short and quick cuz i'm lazy but I feel like lycan and terrak should be voted on and mimi should be suspected
I believe that lycan and terrak should just be voted on. Lycan is the 4th fastest mon in the tier being able to kill 2 of the 3 with its priority and cc kills everything in the tier. With very little switchins like slowking, slowbro (as long as they don’t click crunch on switchin) and weezing (which takes like 40 from stone edge). Terrak is lycan off crack it cant hit common answers such as weez and slowking but those are 2 mons I definitely feel like these 2 should just be voted on.
Mimikyu needs a suspect just ban it, please. Mimikyu on its on is fine in fact it's quite weak the big problem comes in when it gets +2 and it's under webs with that mimi outspeed's and ko almost of the entire tier except for weez it cant kill and sylveon but that cant kill back. even without life orb, it can run boots which needs sd to do any real damage but once it gets sd its game over. It definitely think this needs a suspect but im hoping it leaves for sure. Of course, there are many other checks other than the common weez ex unaware quag, copper, escav but no one uses those yet but I'd definitely want a mimikyu suspect.
This pokemon is a nuke, run Sword Dance and OHKO the meta, and without there are not many things that don't being 2HKO by him
Please vote him, it is worth and I'll don't have to run Doublade and Tsarena to tank him (And Slowbro, but he is 2HK0 by Crunch)
This pokemon is great, he is not as powerful as he was before because of the shifts, (Kyurem and Ttar ban), I don't see him much, but he is still a good Wallbreaker and Sweeper (And Suicide Lead)
HO-RRI-BLE being one of the most Cleaner in the game and his Double Stab that is DANGEROUS, except of Weezing, I don't see check
A+
A / A+
A-
B+
Didn’t talk about this mon but I would rate it B-
