NFEs in PU

Introduction

As one could expect from the lowest "recognized" Smogon tier, not fully evolved Pokémon (NFEs for short) play a big role in the chemistry of the PU metagame as strong attackers, revenge killers, defensive behemoths, and supporters. While they emulate their bigger brothers in sets and characteristics most of the time, the NFEs down here often find themselves running different sets from their grown-up counterparts to take the most advantage of their traits against the rest of the tier. The main thing that makes pretty much all of this possible is the little item known as Eviolite, which boosts the Defense and Special Defense of Pokemon capable of evolving by 50%, giving them much-needed bulk to compete with the rest of the fully evolved tier, and sometimes making them even bulkier. The relatively small pool of good Knock Off users (which is pretty much limited to Dodrio, Machoke, and the three monkeys: Simipour, Simisage, and Simisear) also really helps these Pokemon thrive because they can keep their enhanced bulk for the entirety of the game in most cases and thus successfully keep some of the best Pokémon in the tier in check.

The NFEs

Roselia

The most relevant NFE in the metagame is, without a doubt, Roselia. As shown by its S-Rank placement in the PU Viability Rankings, Roselia has a lot going for it. First of all, it is blessed with great stats, especially its special ones, which are a product of its status as a fully evolved Pokémon back at the time of its introduction in ADV, with a decent Eviolite-boosted base 80 Special Defense and a great base 100 Special Attack to let it pack a punch even when it's used in more defensive roles. Roselia's Grass / Poison typing and a nice defensive ability in Natural Cure let it check the strong offensive Water- and Electric-types in the tier, such as Floatzel, Simipour, Raichu, and Zebstrika, which are very difficult to handle otherwise. Roselia also fits fantastically in the entry hazard-centric PU metagame, being arguably the best Spikes and Toxic Spikes user in the tier and having the ability to remove Toxic Spikes upon entry. Roselia is no slouch offensively either, as coupled with its great Special Attack, its nice offensive movepool consisting of strong STAB moves in Leaf Storm, Sludge Bomb, and Giga Drain as well as Hidden Power Ground for coverage against opposing Poison- and Steel-types and Sleep Powder make it very difficult to switch into.

Vigoroth

As the only Pokémon on this list— and one of the few ones in all of ORAS, for that matter—that is far superior to its fully evolved counterpart, Vigoroth has quite a peculiar role in the PU metagame as a nearly impenetrable bulky setup sweeper. From the outside, its stats look like nothing to be impressed about, but with the right EV investment and Eviolite, Vigoroth can be really hard to take down because of its access to reliable instant recovery in Slack Off (a very rare sight in the lower tiers, let alone PU), a typing that leaves it with only one relatively uncommon weakness (Machoke and Monferno are the only two viable Pokémon in PU with access to Fighting-type STAB moves), and a decent Speed stat that lets it outrun a decent portion of the metagame. These traits combined with its access to Bulk Up make it an infamous boosting tank that, with the help of either Substitute or Taunt, is able to threaten much of the tier and beat a lot of Pokémon one-on-one. Vigoroth's flaws lie in its inability to hit Ghost-type Pokémon when only running Body Slam as an attack (meaning the only way Vigoroth can beat Pokémon such as the Gourgeist formes and Misdreavus is by PP stalling them, unless Toxic Spikes are up, which isn't really convenient and leaves Vigoroth somewhat crippled as well) and the fact that it's very one-dimensional, as outside of picking between Taunt and Substitute to have an edge against some specific threats (and between Body Slam and Return as its main STAB move), all of its other moves are set in stone, and changing them would only make it less effective in the long run. The best ways to deal with Vigoroth definitely include Trick and Encore when it uses setup moves and hitting it with powerful attacks immediately, such as Knock Off and Focus Blast from the likes of Simipour, Raichu, and Dodrio. For more defensive teams, PP stalling Vigoroth with a Ghost-type and smart switching are the most reliable ways to take it on, provided that Toxic Spikes are off the field

Kadabra

With a stat spread heavily resembling that of Alakazam, Kadabra is a very strong special attacker in the PU metagame. While its big brother is almost always seen in OU as either a powerful Mega wallbreaker or an equally powerful but less devastating Life Orb user nowadays instead of a revenge killer like it usually was in BW, Kadabra takes a more supportive role instead and becomes a Pokémon with incredible utility for a lot of offensive teams. Having a reliable answer to all of the metagame's threatening setup sweepers can be really handy on the most offensive teams, and Kadabra's Magic Guard + Focus Sash combination provides a safety net against many setup sweepers, even the hardest ones to deal with such as Mightyena, Linoone, and Arbok, with its wide movepool that includes Signal Beam, Energy Ball, Shadow Ball, the various Hidden Powers, Thunder Wave, and Encore, depending on what your team needs. A Life Orb set, while fulfilling a completely different role on a team than the Focus Sash set, is also a viable option, as the switches it can force by bluffing a Focus Sash and its ability to hit really hard without taking Life Orb recoil can be really devastating for a balanced team to face. Kadabra is, however, a Pokémon that needs to be played carefully, considering its inability to switch into any attack except Toxic or Will-O-Wisp and the prominence of faster Volt Switch users that can effortlessly break Kadabra's Focus Sash without being directly forced to take a hit. In addition to this, Kadabra's power isn't stellar, and it often has to rely on moves such as Encore and Thunder Wave to reliably take on special walls such as Lickilicky and bulkier sweepers such as Fraxure.

Machoke

After Poliwrath's departure in the latest tier shift, PU was left with no fully evolved Fighting-types, and Machoke has now become the king of the pond in terms of Fighting-type attackers. Machoke already had something to distinguish itself from Poliwrath in its better physical STAB moves in Close Combat and No Guard Dynamic Punch, both of which directly outclass Poliwrath's Brick Break in any offensive role, and access to Knock Off to get a strong hit against Ghost- and Psychic-types as well; however, it was never enough to give Poliwrath firm competition on a lot of teams considering how amazing Poliwrath's defensive typing was and that it wasn't reliant on Eviolite. Machoke's place in the PU tier is as a bulky attacker that can hit very hard with two sets: No Guard + Dynamic Punch, which lets it hit hard and confuse the foe without dropping its defensive stats, and Guts + Close Combat, which makes for a better check to Pokémon such as Misdreavus, Gourgeist-S, and Gourgeist-XL and hits a little harder in general. The fact that the combination of Fighting-type STAB moves and Knock Off is virtually unresisted in PU apart from the very rare Poison-types, which are limited to Arbok and Swalot (Roselia is swiftly 2HKOed by Knock Off + Ice Punch), Flying-types that aren't part Normal, such as Pelipper and Swanna, and the even more rare Bug- and Fairy-types is a blessing for Machoke. Additionally, its coverage against top-tier threats such as Piloswine, Probopass, and Stoutland and its ability to often force trades against opposing offensive Pokémon (very few foes can take Close Combat or Dynamic Punch followed by Bullet Punch even with only Stealth Rock up) makes it very effective against a lot of playstyles, especially considering how it has a free moveslot to beat specific threats. Bulk Up, for example, is a very effective move to break Pokemon such as Gourgeist-XL quite easily, and Ice Punch or Thunder Punch can be used to make quick work out of Roselia or Pelipper and Swanna, respectively, on the switch or after they take another hit. Machoke's lack of recovery apart from Rest, however, makes it quite ineffective later in the game, when it has most likely taken multiple rounds of entry hazard damage. Its resistance to Stealth Rock helps a little, but Spikes are still a common occurrence on the battlefield, and Machoke often loses health while coming in or when facing a Pokémon that either outspeeds it, which is easy due to its low base 45 Speed, or is capable of taking a hit and retaliating before being KOed.

Tangela

Tangela's amazing Defense stat and access to the excellent ability Regenerator are definitely the reasons for much of its popularity. Not many walls in the tier can boast the ability to handle Pokémon such as Mightyena, Stoutland, Kingler, physical Floatzel, and Ursaring alone and consistently throughout the game, and Tangela just does that while also retaining reasonable offensive presence. In fact, Tangela is also a very good bulky offensive Pokemon, and with heavy Special Attack investment as well as access to moves such as Knock Off, Sleep Powder, and Stun Spore in addition to a strong STAB Leaf Storm, it can leave a dent in most teams. Tangela, however, faces competition in the role of a Grass-type from Roselia and the Gourgeist formes, which provide more utility to teams with their better supportive movepools, and the metagame is generally unfavorable to it, with various Pokémon such as Zebstrika and Roselia itself, various Fire-types, and specially oriented Water-types that commonly carry Ice Beam being very popular. In any case, with all of Tangela's shortcomings, Regenerator still remains a wonderful ability that makes it worth using over its competition a lot of the time.

Misdreavus

Misdreavus has shaped the PU tier since the beginning due to its solid, well-rounded stats and its useful typing and ability. In such a entry hazard-centric tier, the support Misdreavus can bring is invaluable, being able to block Rapid Spin thanks to its Ghost typing, use Taunt very effectively in order to stop Defog users from doing their job, and wear down Pokémon with the combination of Will-O-Wisp, Taunt, and Pain Split. Misdreavus has also made a name for itself outside of its Taunt + Will-O-Wisp set, however, through the use of Nasty Plot, making it very scary to handle with slower teams that tend to rely on status inducers to deal with bulky setup sweepers. Ghost-type STAB moves are harder to wall than ever in the tier, and the Dark- and Normal-types that resist or are immune to them are hard-pressed to take a Will-O-Wisp, Dazzling Gleam, or Hidden Power Fighting while switching in. However, Misdreavus has fallen quite out of favor lately due to the increase in popularity of Pokémon such as Rapidash, Scrappy Stoutland, Ursaring, and Simipour, which can easily blast away Misdreavus with their STAB moves while either crippling it with Knock Off and strong attacks or sometimes not even caring about burns and Misdreavus's Ghost-type STAB moves. In addition to this, the metagame's premier Spikes user at the moment is Roselia, which is capable of setting up entry hazards many times throughout the game. Moreover, Rapid Spin and Defog users aren't as prominent as before in the tier due to the former, particularly Armaldo and Torkoal because of their weakness to Water, struggling to find opportunities to use Rapid Spin at all, and the latter, particularly Pelipper and Vibrava, struggling to keep up in a metagame infested with Electric- and Water-types, which can keep pressure up on said Pokémon to prevent them from using Defog without the need of a dedicated Taunt user.

Clefairy

Clefairy is a Pokémon that has only recently gained a lot of popularity, being almost completely unused before the last 2-3 months; its increase in usage is due to the rise of special wallbreakers in the tier thanks to its ability to take them on with Eviolite and a specially defensive EV spread. What lets Clefairy do this so well is its amazing Fairy typing, which leaves it relatively free of weaknesses to special attacks outside of Sludge Wave and Sludge Bomb, and its amazing ability in Magic Guard. What also makes Clefairy so effective is also its amazing support movepool, which includes moves such as Stealth Rock (it is also the only viable user of the move in the tier to possess reliable recovery outside of Hippopotas), Knock Off, Thunder Wave, Encore, and Heal Bell, allowing it to disrupt the opposing team and support its own. Thanks to Magic Guard and instant recovery in Soft-Boiled, Clefairy also has a niche as a Calm Mind sweeper that is really hard to take down after a few boosts, but it is generally not as common as the specially defensive variant. Clefairy isn't perfect, however, as its low offensive prowess leaves it as setup fodder for a lot of threats, such as Roselia, which can repeatedly set up Spikes on it, Shift Gear Klang, which boosts on it very easily, Arbok, and Nasty Plot Raichu. In addition to this, Clefairy has a bad weakness to Taunt users such as Grumpig, which can easily beat it one-on-one, and Knock Off from the Pokémon it is supposed to check, such as Simipour. Clefairy also gives a free opportunity for strong wallbreakers that are hard to switch into such as Choice Band Stoutland and Dodrio to come in.

Fraxure

In a tier that lacks fully evolved Dragon-types, Fraxure can mimic its older brother Haxorus quite well and without much competition, as it is clearly and indisputably the best Dragon Dance sweeper. Being a Dragon-type clearly brings a lot of benefits, mainly resistances to the very common Water-, Grass-, and Electric-type attacks, which give it a lot of setup opportunities to get one Dragon Dance under its belt and start wreaking havoc on the opposing team. The lack of Steel- and Fairy-type Pokémon can also be considered a blessing for a Dragon, especially considering that the few that are present in the tier, Probopass and Clefairy, are swiftly dealt with by Low Kick and Poison Jab, respectively. The best ways to handle Fraxure are through sheer bulk and revenge killing if it isn't locked into Outrage yet. While straight-up walling it is pretty much limited to the odd Metang, physically defensive Tangela, and the Gourgeist formes, revenge killing Fraxure really isn't that hard if it is weakened, as Pokémon such as Piloswine and most Choice Scarf users (yes, Fraxure is able to outrun every unboosted Pokemon in the tier bar Ninjask and the rare Electrode at +1 with a Jolly nature, but every Choice Scarf user in the tier outruns it, with the slowest common one being Rotom-F) can easily pick it off with a little prior damage.

The Others

I limited myself to the metagame's most popular NFEs in this article, but a lot more of them are viable in this tier as well. Gabite for example is quite popular, being a very effective Stealth Rock user that mimics Garchomp in OU with its nice defensive stats, and Klang, which takes advantage of its very rare mono-Steel typing to set up with Shift Gear and sweep balanced teams, is also a powerful threat that is hardly prepared for. Duosion is also quite a big threat with the combination of Magic Guard + Calm Mind and possibly Acid Armor that makes it an extremely bulky Pokémon in a few turns while still retaining its great base 125 Special Attack stat. Less relevant but still viable ones include Venipede, which is a surprisingly good suicide lead for setting up Spikes and Toxic Spikes; Metang, which is one of the very few reliable switch-ins to Stoutland and a very sturdy Stealth Rock setter; and Zweilous, which can be both an incredibly strong wallbreaker with Choice Band and a specially defensive phazer with Eviolite.

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