Metagame 1v1 Old Gens

[Synonimous]

so ik no one cares abt bans in old gens but this is smth thats irked me for a long time: low accuracy sleep moves in sm. (specifically lower accuracy than sleep powder)
from the big tiering policy post:
IV.) Probability management is a part of the game.

• This means we have to accept that moves have secondary effects, that moves can miss, that moves can critical hit, and that managing all these potential probability points is a part of skill.
• This does NOT mean that we will accept every probability factor introduced to the game. Evasion, OHKO moves, and Moody all affected the outcome "too much", and we removed them.
• "Too much" is if a particular factor has the more skilled player at a disadvantage a considerable amount of the time against a less skilled player, regardless of what they do.

the problem with sets like hypno gengar (iconic as dream eater is or no) is that they turn the game into a coinflip: 60% of the time it hits and u win, 40% of the time it misses and you lose. this isnt an issue solely restricted to sleepers but its most apparent when ur whimsi has a 55% chance to steal the game with a grasswhistle. these kinds of coinflip sets shouldn't be allowed. they have no consistent matchups. theres never rly been an argument against banning them but fsr ti and quote blocked majority council agreements to suspect em.

Just quickban em, who cares about being able to use hypno Gengar or grasswhistle Whimsi. Just adapt, use more consistent sets, and nothing of value is really lost in terms of the metagame.

 

[RADU]

eblurb and Potatochan are the new BW Council members!
And with them come new VR shifts

Rises

Kyurem-Black S -> banned! soon
Genesect A -> A+
Scrafty A- -> A
Victini A- -> A
Chandelure B -> B+
Jellicent B- -> B
Sableye B- -> B
Rotom-Wash C+ -> B-
Togekiss C+ -> B-
Serperior C -> C+
Gastrodon C- -> C
Weavile C- -> C
Shelmet UR -> D

Drops

Dragonite S- -> banned! also soon
Slowbro A- -> B+
Alakazam B+ -> B
Scizor B+ -> B
Thundurus-Therian B -> B-
Staraptor B- -> C+
Bronzong C+ -> C
Golem C+ -> C
Galvantula C+ -> C

The set compendium is also being re worked and expanded and sample teams will be our next priority once those are done, so stay tuned for that!

 

[RADU]

Kyurem-Black and Dragonite: Suspect?
​

As you all may know, users Kaif, SolarflareRo and ggopw were recently banned off Smogon, one of which was the active BW Leader, two of which were BW Council members and all 3 participated in the recent Kyurem-Black suspect. As a result of their ban, the BW Council has had a shift in leadership, an addition of 2 new members and a removal of 3 previously present members. Furthermore, the suspect was mantained before the "Kyubless BW 1v1 Tournament" took place, which gave us more insight on the unhealthiness of Kyurem-Black in the tier.
Given the aforementioned succession of events and to ensure the integrity of the voting process, Kyurem-Black will most likely be re-voted on, alongside Dragonite, utilizing the same criteria for voters selection as the prior suspect (Players who have performed well in BW Cup, World Cup of 1v1 IV, 1v1 Premier League IV + all Council members).
The reasoning behind the addition of Dragonite to the voting process is that, as it has been brought up multiple times in the past and it has been directly shown in the Kyubless Tournament, Kyurem-Black's ban will most likely result in a metagame dominated by Dragonite. More than one voter has actively stated that they would only vote Ban on Kyurem-Black if Dragonite were banned alongside it.

This post was made to gather community response to the suspect, so if you have any questions/concerns/insights please post about them in this thread or pm me on Discord at RADU#0075, I'll be more than glad to respond to them.

In lack of abundant community backlash, the voting will be held within the following two weeks (date T.B.D.)

 

[Potatochan]

While I personally think kyub needs to be banned for the sake of the BW metagame, I'm not sure I can agree with the reasoning given above. I think the initial suspect was flawed due to 8 out of 18 potential voters not voting, eblurb having never built a BW team and thus having never experienced the restraints kyub causes in the teambuilder, solar admitting to voting dnb to troll stable and agreeing it would be best for the meta if it were banned, and sansho also telling me kyub is blatantly broken idfk what happened with his vote he says he !picked. However, a retest on the premise that kaif, solar, and ggopw are now banned and as such a retest would result in kyub's ban is sheer vote manipulation.

I would still prefer that we retest kyub before pl, but rather for the reasons listed above as opposed to how banned users voted dnb and the result would change. Their ban itself does not suddenly invalidate their votes.

Lastly, I definitely don't think that dnite should be tacked on to a kyub retest. A major argument for keeping kyub free was that if kyub is banned then dnite becomes overcentralizing, but if this is proven to be the case then council can suspect dnite following pl or even quickban it mid pl if it becomes enough of an issue.

save bw

 

[DEG]

I do agree with my fellow comrade Potatochan. While I'm still with banning Kyurem-Black, I don't think right now is the correct time for a resuspect. This suspect would end up falling in the category of voting / suspect manipulation which is something that should be forbidden. It comes at a time when a pro-ban takes leader after the ban of an anti-ban leader and the ban of 2 other no ban users which, if using the same list of voters, will definitely result in the ban.

Following that, resuspecting just 1 week prior, or even during PL and just creating a chaotic old gen isn't what we're looking for when looking at competitivity, and no, a fun tour (Kyubless BW) doesn't mean that the metagame will look like that since PL/WC/Cup and these fun tours are played in different settings and mindset.

I'd suggest waiting for PL, and see how Kyurem-Black fares. If deemed broken, you could use other criteria to determine the qualified list as the people that are voting this time would be more active, and knowledgeable of the BW 1v1 metagame.

 

[Potatochan]

I don’t think there’s much sense behind waiting for pl to “see how Kyurem-Black fares”, considering the vast majority of the community agrees it’s broken, including 2 users who voted dnb (I have logs from both solar and sansho). Additionally, with the quickban of necrozma 2 weeks into last pl, the meta adapted fine in the middle of the tour. I maintain that suspecting kyub before pl is the correct move, in the hopes of creating a more healthy metagame for this pl.

 

[zioziotrip]

While I get the points being brought up in terms of policy, they don’t really apply here. BW 1v1 under its current ruleset is considered a “retro tier.” As outlined here, retro tiers are any tier created for an old gen that did not exist when it was current gen. BW 1v1 is currently pick 1 bring 3 as opposed to its former iteration of pick 1 bring 1 and would thus be considered a retro tier. Retro tiers have no obligation whatsoever to adhere to policy and I don’t really get why we would want to selectively apply it. There is basically no one currently playing BW 1v1 who opposes the ban. As Potatochungus pointed out the last vote had 8 abstains (nearly half) and some suspect votes thrown in. The last pool was clearly not a great one and a majority of players playing for PL want Kyurem-Black removed. I see absolutely 0 reason to wait since KyuB has been in the tier since 2017 and to say that a few more months may shift opinion is a bit silly. Please do not hold off the vote.
e: sniped by potatochungus T_T

 

[LRXC]

What it feels like to play ADV 1v1 on Pokemon Showdown...

 

[DEG]

hello! i have decided to remove whale from ORAS council due to inactivity. welcome LRXC Elo Bandit and Mubs to the team.

 

[RADU]

KYUREM-BLACK: KING DRAGON SENDS HIS REGARDS

​

After further discussion, the Council has decided to have a final vote on Kyurem-Black alone, keeping in mind that in case of a ban, Dragonite would be very closely looked at, and most likely be voted on within the first weeks of PL.
The vote was set up at 2PM today and, after roughly two hours, the vote resulted in a 93% Ban supermajority (with 13 Ban votes, 1 Do Not Ban vote, 0 Abstains and 1 user who did not vote)

List of voters

1. 
   
   DEG
   
   
2. 
   
   eblurb
   
   
3. 
   
   Freddy Kyogre
   
   
4. 
   
   Gym Socks!
   
   
5. 
   
   Krytocon
   
   
6. 
   
   Mubs
   
   
7. 
   
   PA
   
   
8. 
   
   Potatochan
   
   
9. 
   
   Rellia
   
   
10. 
    
    Sanshokuinsumireko
    
    
11. 
    
    Simbo
    
    
12. 
    
    STABLE
    
    
13. 
    
    Wanony
    
    
14. 
    
    XSTATIC COLD
    
    
15. 
    
    Yami

The voters were selected using the same criteria as the last vote, being 1v1 BW Cup IV, 1v1 Premier League IV and World Cup of 1v1 IV performances + all Council members

This means
Kyurem-Black is now banned from BW 1v1
tagging The Immortal to implement.
tagging pqs cause he asked me to

That said, Dragonite will be kept under close watch and, if deemed unhealthy for the metagame, be voted on extremely soon. Resources will also be updated for Kyurem-Black's ban, but given the magnitude of this tiering shift this might take a while.

thanks for reading, have a nice day

 

[Ginger Princess]

Kris would u be able to implement this, when you have the time?

 

[dhelmise]

Kris would u be able to implement this, when you have the time?

its been implemented since sunday

 

[rumia]

now this is what i would call a certified 1v1 old gens moment! ha!

 

[Tol]

now this is what i would call a certified 1v1 old gens moment! ha!

you rascal, you!

 

[DEG]

hello, if you've been playing or building bw you've already seen that dragonite is super restricting. it has around 5+ sets counting choice band, choice specs, choice scarf, dragon gem, and haban berry. these sets might grow more as the player adapt their dragonite sets to counter the opposing dragonite counter which makes it unhealthy when you look at it from this point of view.

even with the current sets in mind dragonite restricts both teambuilding and picking which are the most fundamental aspects in 1v1. your team will have to run a dragonite counter not because its an s type pokemon but because it has access to aforementioned 5 sets which it can use with little to no opportunity loss making its definite counters scarce, this means that dragonite wraps the metagame around it. when it comes to picking, this is also the same you will also have to really tryhard and guess what it runs if you have 2 checks for it, or really being lost in your thoughts guessing if you're picking the dragonite counter or the other pokemon, it is also restricting psychologically. on top of picking, it's just so easy to complement and cover its already scarce checks.

what i suggest is a council + pl BW players from week 1 and week 2 vote so the voting/discussion process doesn't take long then we can resuspect it post-pl with a correct list of voters.

 

[RADU]

Dragonite.​

On the topic of a potential Dragonite ban, I am personally inclined to agree that Dragonite is absurd to account for at teambuilding and to pick against at preview, given how absurdly broken his typing + moveset + stats + ability is, making it extremely versatile and difficult to reliably counter or setguess at team preview.
Here's a list of Dragonite sets I've made for PL that beat very different things:

sets

Dragonite @ Dragon Gem
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 208 SpA / 8 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Extreme Speed
- Protect
standard gem dnite, except evd for the ditto and with protect to beat mons that could potentially try to cheese this with fake out + ice coverage. draco + espeed is quite insane

Dragonite @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Superpower
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

while scarf dnite isn't that uncommon it can still bait certain sets like other haban dragons that try to deal with this, or mons that try to tank and 2hko back. Also beats Pressure stall

Dragonite @ Choice Specs
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 2 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast

specs dnite is quite absurd as its able to beat physical tanks that check it through virtue of being too bulky, and in addition it gives dnite a very nice flying stab.

Dragonite @ Haban Berry
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Atk / 24 Def / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Outrage
- Toxic
- Rock Tomb
this set is extremely stupid but it beats haxorus (and generally all dragons except like haban rough skin garchomp), certain stall like cresselia and sableye, pressure stall with agility and reliably wins the ditto with rock tomb unless its vs scarf/haban.

Dragonite @ Binding Band
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
- Substitute
- Wrap
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen51v1-1278272400-ldhzurcuqf69apaau37yedmvja2ara9pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen51v1-1279171759-dl7zd2fgdvjrfdkpaaqqa7yantro63epw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen51v1-1279186771-yjh8lh5qzcefp0bji2qc0b958xz5auxpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen51v1-1279209107-47zr9sg1mwgqd15dar65l4jhkfibpuipw
DONT SLEEP

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Toxic
- Roost
- Dragon Dance
This didn't get used but it beats pressure stall, sab/moonlight cress/mew and others, + gives you a more reliable MU with certain mons bc confusion. It can also use dd + roost to literally pp stall certain attacks cause multiscale is broken

Dragonite @ Flame Orb
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 192 Def / 252 SpA / 64 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Fling
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
:P beats crustle

While the viability of these sets may be questionable, Dragonite can run pretty much what it wants and beat some of its most prominent counters. Such is, that a lot of high caliber BW players have started relying on mons like Mamoswine, Band Avalanche Aggron, Glaciate Victini, Icy Wind Jirachi, Ice Gem Metagross, Mold Breaker Haxorus, Occa Ice Beam Genesect etc. which, while not bad per sé, are definitely being hard pushed in viability simply because of Dragonite's presence in the tier, and not only that, but Dragonite can almost effortlessly tech for most of these.

Given what was stated in mine and deg's post, we have taken a council vote and Dragonite will be voted on Saturday the 13th.
Of course, given that there is no wide-spread controversy coming from this. The criteria for who is allowed to vote is still being discussed, but will most likely be a variation of council members + players with recent tournament results.

 

[RADU]

DRAGONITE: BRUCE ALMIGHTY
​

Following the recent Kyurem-Black vote and subsequent ban, the Council has kept Dragonite on extremely close watch, already suspicious that it would be broken in a metagame without its most consistent counter. The Kyubless Tournament and the first two weeks of Premier League have made it extremely apparent that Dragonite is extremely over centralizing, often resorting to niche mons to hard counter it or multiple checks on the same team combined with difficult set guessing. Its sheer base stats combined with its amazing movepool and the absurd ability Multiscale required Dragonite to be countered in very specific ways. Thus, on the 13th of February Dragonite was put to a vote and with a World Record Speedrun time of 14 minutes it reached and passed the 60% ban threshold, with 11 Ban Votes (78%) and 3 Do Not Ban votes. As such, Dragonite is now banned from BW 1v1.
Tagging The Immortal (rip), Kris and crucify for implementation.

List of voters

1. 
   
   DEG
   Ban
2. 
   
   eblurb
   Do Not Ban
3. 
   
   Freddy Kyogre
   Ban
4. 
   
   Here Comes Team Charm!
   Ban
5. 
   
   Maki
   Ban
6. 
   
   PA
   Ban
7. 
   
   philisteen
   Do Not Ban
8. 
   
   Potatochan
   Ban
9. 
   
   Quantum Tesseract
   Ban
10. 
    
    Rosa
    Ban
11. 
    
    Sanshokuinsumireko
    Do Not Ban
12. 
    
    STABLE
    Ban
13. 
    
    Wanony
    Ban
14. 
    
    XSTATIC COLD

Ban​

Given the specific circumstances, the criteria to decide who was able to vote was the following:
- BW Council members
- Top 4 of the Kyubless 1v1 Tournament
- Users who have played BW in the first 2 weeks of PLV

The BW Council will work towards updating its resources in sight of the tiering changes, while looking at the metagame development that BW will undergo during Premier League.
Also this means dnite is banned week 3 jsyk

 

[Mishlef]

cough cough

I‘m Sensing A Severe Lack Of Kyuw In The BW 1v1 Metagame

 

[Kentari]

Unban Blaziken in ORAS. Also, Whaleee quit pokemon, so free him from the council.

 

[Ginger Princess]

Unban Blaziken in ORAS.

Based and Correct statement

 

[lost heros]

Unban Blaziken in ORAS. Also, Whaleee quit pokemon, so free him from the council.

this is correct

 

[rumia]

this is correct

i agree

 

[DEG]

Yo, you're gonna see a lot of me soon. It's the time of the year where I decide that I love contributing instead of doing shits irl. Welcome to the PL ORAS report, why? Cause I can!
Also fact checked with ***inic.

Cutoff 2.0%

Pokemon	Usage	Usage %	Win %
	Charizard	68	27.20%	47.06%
	Altaria	35	14.00%	42.86%
	Kyurem-Black	35	14.00%	40.00%
	Heatran	32	12.80%	37.50%
	Gardevoir	30	12.00%	53.33%
	Victini	30	12.00%	50.00%
	Mawile	30	12.00%	50.00%
	Metagross	25	10.00%	40.00%
	Togekiss	19	7.60%	63.16%
	Greninja	19	7.60%	52.63%
	Dragonite	17	6.80%	47.06%
	Lopunny	16	6.40%	75.00%
	Gyarados	16	6.40%	68.75%
	Volcanion	16	6.40%	50.00%
	Genesect	16	6.40%	37.50%
	Sableye	16	6.40%	37.50%
	Tyranitar	15	6.00%	46.67%
	Serperior	13	5.20%	76.92%
	Diancie	13	5.20%	61.54%
	Landorus-Therian	12	4.80%	58.33%
	Archeops	12	4.80%	50.00%
	Manaphy	11	4.40%	54.55%
	Venusaur	10	4.00%	50.00%
	Gengar	10	4.00%	50.00%
	Clefable	9	3.60%	66.67%
	Porygon-Z	9	3.60%	44.44%
	Aggron	9	3.60%	22.22%
	Haxorus	8	3.20%	75.00%
	Slowbro	8	3.20%	62.50%
	Terrakion	8	3.20%	62.50%
	Sawk	8	3.20%	25.00%
	Garchomp	7	2.80%	85.71%
	Sylveon	7	2.80%	42.86%
	Jirachi	6	2.40%	100.00%
	Heracross	6	2.40%	66.67%
	Deoxys-Speed	6	2.40%	50.00%
	Snorlax	5	2.00%	80.00%
	Swampert	5	2.00%	60.00%
	Medicham	5	2.00%	40.00%
	Donphan	5	2.00%	40.00%
	Meloetta	5	2.00%	40.00%
	Hoopa-Unbound	5	2.00%	40.00%
	Azumarill	5	2.00%	20.00%
	Mew	5	2.00%	20.00%
	Registeel	5	2.00%	0.00%

Full stats: https://pokepast.es/de4dc2273033c177

Looking at the cumulative ORAS statistics, it's really no surprise to see Charizard at the top, this Pokémon is so splashable on a lot of teams and has a lot of surprise factor not only from the mega stone, but from the sets each Charizard can run. This PL Charizard seems to favorize Substitute as a move when it was dropped in prior tournaments. Substitute allows it to beat raising Sub Torrent Greninja which in its turn adapted to run surf+hydro cannon on its moveset. This raise of Charizard has seen many Pokémon switching sets to be able to counter it better. Thus Mega Altarias are running Confide and dropped Toxic on stall set to be able to have a better chance against Mega Charizard Y, Kyurem-Black shifted its whole stat to a Bulky Spdf variant with Rock Tomb to be able to counter both Charizard more effectively. Speaking of Kyurem-Black it also started using Imprison sets to defeat Mega Gyarados but it didn't really payoff this PL as Mega Gyarados effectiveness is down.

+Up
Most used Pokémon, Surprise factor Item+Moveset, Checks a plethora of threats in the metagame, Substitute being used to counter recharge move specially Sub Torrent Greninja.

+Up
Prime Charizard check, utilizing more Confide to counter Zard Y, Great partner to Zard.

+Up
Sets shifting to Haban Spdf Rock Tomb Ice beam toxic roost to defeat Charizards, Dragonite, and Stall Pokemon, Imprison+Outrage+Stone Edge can be used for Gyarados, dropped its other sets

-Down
Suffering due to metagame shifts this PL, Low-usage also due to metagame favoring fairy-types like altaria and gardevoir, started to run Outrage+Stone Edge to adapt to the rise of Spdf Haban Kyurem-Black and Charizards.

Other part of trends we have Heatran and Gardevoir which are atleast stable, both were always great picks and their usage didn't rise nor fall and its defintely because they still beat the top Pokemon. Heatran still defeats Charizards and has a solid chance against Mega Altaria if Heatran runs taunt, and Gardevoir effectively checks Dragon-types like Kyurem-Black and Mega Altaria. Meanwhile Mega Metagross and Mega Mawile have tanked usage a little bit but generally stayed the same, they're the primary counter of Kyurem-Black and Fairy-types but drops to the rising threats of Heatran, Charizard and the new hot thing this PL: Victini. Speaking of new Pokemon rising we don't only have Victini, we also have Togekiss and Volcanion packing usage. Diancie, Landorus, and Gengar are also rising, not as much as others but slowly and have a good winrate %. There's a lot of pokemon suffering and specially the stally archetype so Pokemon such as Mega Sableye have really tanked, also glasscannons like Porygon-Z are also in a bad position.

+Up
New Fire-type gaining traction in ORAS which is starting to hinder more and more Steel-types. Victini is able to lure in Water-type Pokemon with its Weakness Policy set which saw fair usage this PL. It can also run Choice Band, Choice Specs and Choice Scarf, albeit not too popular, which makes this Pokémon threatening. It can also run taunt to block stall mega altaria. This Pokemon is a response to the prominence of Spdf Bulky Kyurem-Black, ulterior spam of Steel-types, Mega Gardevoir and Sableye.

+Up
lol people finally woke up and realized that Spdf Twave Togekiss just beats most of the metagame. This Pokemon paired with Encore and Twave can easily break through bulky offensive Pokemon that aren't steel-types. The metagame heavily favors it as ORAS is still a bulky offense metagame. This set can easily break through Charizard, Altaria, Victini, Manaphy, and more.

+Up
Landorus does have a high win-rate this PL. It was always used but this new trends are favoring it, both AV and Specs sets are lit and hit two different targets. It's a cool fire-type and steel-type check.

+Up
Woo more Rock-type Pokemon gaining popularity. People are slowly shifting from Mega Tyranitar is primary Rock-type to Mega Diancie. Trendy tech Protect+Skill Swap is just too effective and can take not only take down charizards but it can take down mega gardevoir and altaria that easily defeat tyranitar. It also has a favorable matchup against rising threats Togekiss and Victini making it an all-around good Pokemon to utilize right now. Though, it really doesn't outclass Mega Tyranitar, as Spdf Mega Tyranitar has a different hitlist and can defeat Genesect, Heatran and Greninja, which beats Mega Diancie.

+Up
Will-o-Wisp + Hex + Speed + Typing just shutdowns a bunch of Physical attackers and have a positive matchup against all Fairies. The prominence of Fire-type Pokemon hurts it but it's still a great Pokemon that is packing good usage. It also benefits from the fall of Tyranitar and Mega Gyarados, and the prominence of bulky Kyurem-Black. It can also run Hypnosis to cheese fire-types lol.

+Up
Volcanion is also a good pick in the current metagame as it has a favorable matchup against a bunch of metagame picks. Water/Fire is a really nice typing allowing it to beats all Steel-types and beat some Fairy-types like Mega Gardevoir as it can learn Sludge Wave. Specs set hurts like a truck. It suffers against Skill Swap Diancie, and Spdf Mega Tyranitar and have iffy matchups against Charizards and Landorus-T matchups as both are set-dependent.

-Down
Metagame didn't favor Mega Sableye as everything that is on the rise beats it. New Kyurem-Black sets, Fairies (Gardevoir, Altaria), Charizard, Diancie easily defeat Mega Sableye. Metagross, Greninja, and Dragonite are the high tier Pokemon that lose to Sableye, theyhave stable usage but not too high which doesn't really justify it being spammed.

-Down
Bulky metagame also doesn't favor this Pokémon. Charizards are running Spdf, Kyurem-Black is running Spdf, Rise of Rock-type Pokemon, the stable usage of Steel-type Pokemon and Specs set is slow and cannot really survive hits from faster offensive Pokemon like Mega Lopunny. Porygon-Z is really in a weird spot right now, most teams have a counter without even trying.

-Down
Really bad atm, most teams adapted to this so it's no longer as effective. Berry-lures are also outdated and can be easily discerned on team preview, more fire-types, more taunt, same steel-types, a lot of sound-moves, this really doesn't fit in new metagame trends.

+Up
Specs Clefable wooo. Not amazing usage but still managed to tie Porygon-Z and has a better winrate LOL. It has good coverage and manageable bulk plus its a Fairy-type it's trying to find its place in the metagame. It's really not amazing but it's something to keep in mind for the future.

-Down
This literally has 1 usage only AND its a loss. Nothing is going its way, it's only saving grace is its typing which gives it some benefits but other than that, it's really not a great pick in today's metagame.


I was gonna analyze Combos but I got lazy l0l, maybe part 2 soon??
e: ORAS resources will receive a revamp next week most likely.

 

[TheShadowClaw]

USUM 1v1plV Viability analysis with a bit of personal bias.
By TheShadowClaw

Gen 7 1v1 Usage Stats (pokepast.es)

Usage Cutoff 1.03%

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Charizard | 71 | 14.67% | 54.93% |
| 2 | Dragonite | 54 | 11.16% | 59.26% |
| 3 | Victini | 47 | 9.71% | 51.06% |
| 4 | Zeraora | 40 | 8.26% | 42.50% |
| 5 | Primarina | 36 | 7.44% | 47.22% |
| 6 | Greninja | 34 | 7.02% | 55.88% |
| 7 | Altaria | 33 | 6.82% | 42.42% |
| 7 | Gyarados | 33 | 6.82% | 39.39% |
| 9 | Tapu Fini | 32 | 6.61% | 53.12% |
| 10 | Magearna | 31 | 6.40% | 51.61% |
| 11 | Heatran | 29 | 5.99% | 55.17% |
| 11 | Zygarde | 29 | 5.99% | 55.17% |
| 11 | Garchomp | 29 | 5.99% | 51.72% |
| 11 | Metagross | 29 | 5.99% | 34.48% |
| 15 | Mew | 26 | 5.37% | 57.69% |
| 15 | Porygon-Z | 26 | 5.37% | 38.46% |
| 17 | Magnezone | 25 | 5.17% | 56.00% |
| 17 | Gardevoir | 25 | 5.17% | 36.00% |
| 19 | Serperior | 23 | 4.75% | 65.22% |
| 20 | Slowbro | 22 | 4.55% | 59.09% |
| 20 | Venusaur | 22 | 4.55% | 50.00% |
| 22 | Landorus-Therian | 21 | 4.34% | 47.62% |
| 23 | Genesect | 20 | 4.13% | 65.00% |
| 23 | Donphan | 20 | 4.13% | 45.00% |
| 25 | Aegislash | 19 | 3.93% | 57.89% |
| 25 | Tapu Bulu | 19 | 3.93% | 52.63% |
| 25 | Mawile | 19 | 3.93% | 52.63% |
| 25 | Celesteela | 19 | 3.93% | 36.84% |
| 29 | Meloetta | 18 | 3.72% | 27.78% |
| 30 | Tapu Lele | 17 | 3.51% | 58.82% |
| 30 | Tyranitar | 17 | 3.51% | 52.94% |
| 30 | Incineroar | 17 | 3.51% | 41.18% |
| 33 | Diancie | 16 | 3.31% | 37.50% |
| 33 | Togekiss | 16 | 3.31% | 37.50% |
| 35 | Hoopa-Unbound | 15 | 3.10% | 66.67% |
| 36 | Volcarona | 14 | 2.89% | 57.14% |
| 37 | Ambipom | 13 | 2.69% | 61.54% |
| 37 | Naganadel | 13 | 2.69% | 46.15% |
| 37 | Deoxys-Speed | 13 | 2.69% | 38.46% |
| 40 | Volcanion | 12 | 2.48% | 58.33% |
| 40 | Heracross | 12 | 2.48% | 41.67% |
| 40 | Swampert | 12 | 2.48% | 33.33% |
| 43 | Kommo-o | 11 | 2.27% | 63.64% |
| 43 | Clefable | 11 | 2.27% | 54.55% |
| 43 | Kyurem | 11 | 2.27% | 54.55% |
| 43 | Registeel | 11 | 2.27% | 27.27% |
| 47 | Haxorus | 10 | 2.07% | 60.00% |
| 47 | Blaziken | 10 | 2.07% | 50.00% |
| 47 | Sableye | 10 | 2.07% | 40.00% |
| 47 | Manaphy | 10 | 2.07% | 40.00% |
| 47 | Archeops | 10 | 2.07% | 30.00% |
| 52 | Sawk | 9 | 1.86% | 66.67% |
| 52 | Pinsir | 9 | 1.86% | 55.56% |
| 52 | Ferrothorn | 9 | 1.86% | 44.44% |
| 52 | Aggron | 9 | 1.86% | 33.33% |
| 52 | Gigalith | 9 | 1.86% | 33.33% |
| 57 | Slaking | 8 | 1.65% | 87.50% |
| 57 | Pidgeot | 8 | 1.65% | 50.00% |
| 59 | Crustle | 7 | 1.45% | 85.71% |
| 59 | Terrakion | 7 | 1.45% | 71.43% |
| 59 | Keldeo | 7 | 1.45% | 71.43% |
| 59 | Nihilego | 7 | 1.45% | 57.14% |
| 59 | Medicham | 7 | 1.45% | 42.86% |
| 59 | Rhyperior | 7 | 1.45% | 28.57% |
| 65 | Kartana | 6 | 1.24% | 83.33% |
| 65 | Blacephalon | 6 | 1.24% | 83.33% |
| 65 | Empoleon | 6 | 1.24% | 66.67% |
| 65 | Porygon2 | 6 | 1.24% | 66.67% |
| 65 | Araquanid | 6 | 1.24% | 66.67% |
| 65 | Thundurus-Therian | 6 | 1.24% | 66.67% |
| 65 | Type: Null | 6 | 1.24% | 50.00% |
| 65 | Gallade | 6 | 1.24% | 50.00% |
| 65 | Lopunny | 6 | 1.24% | 50.00% |
| 65 | Shaymin | 6 | 1.24% | 33.33% |
| 75 | Salazzle | 5 | 1.03% | 40.00% |
| 75 | Muk-Alola | 5 | 1.03% | 40.00% |

Charizard is obviously on top of the usage. It threatens every team without a hardcounter as it can simply run Will-O-Wisp, Flame Charge or Special Defense to beat its small amount of checks like Specs Greninja, Dragonite and Naganadel. Even if you think you got the right mon to counter Zardx, Zardy could still be around to take out Landorus-therian or Tapu Lele.


The second most used mon is Dragonite. It can act as a lawnmower with Flyinium-Z or as a Dragonslayer with Dragonium-Z. The worst thing with seeing this thing on preview is predicting its set as it can also viably run a Choice item and even be Special Offensive. No surprise in usage here.

A- --> A/A+
Victini however, has gained a great amount of usage this pl. It has not done great or bad but it still almost hits 10% of usage. Similar to Dragonite, Victini is also capable of running a variety of sets that all have its own niche. Its 100s base stats across the board account for a hard-to-KO, fast physical or special offensive threat that has a great movepool in V-Create, Bolt Strike, Blue Flare and Stored Power in combination with Z-Celebrate. A Scarf set from time to time also makes this a great glue on a lot of teams.

A -->A-
Zeraora is also a highly used mon this pl, but it hasn't done well. The fact that Zeraora is bound to its Electrical movepool makes this mon very predictable. Even lure sets with Outrage or Choice Band still fail to succesfully counter the bulky Fairy and Psychic types this gen has to offer. Its odds vs Charizardx aren't in its favour either on top of that.


Primarina does exactly what you want it to do, beat Dragon/Fire/Rock/Ground types. Aqua Jet, Encore and Substitute all aid in more versatility. No surprise in its high usage here.

A+ --> A
Although straightforward on preview, Greninja is a great lure with a broad versatility. Even though Choice Specs and Sub Petaya are its best set, there's nothing wrong with Choice Band Rock Slide to beat Charizard or Life Orb Shadow Sneak for Meloetta thanks to its Protean ability. The problem I have with this is that can't beat everything you want it to beat due to the lack of moveslots, therefore it being very limited in options. Also, a lot of mons are evd to tank a Greninja and counter in return like Kommo-o, Magearna and Metagross.


Altaria has the 7th highest usage, as an attempt to hardcounter Charizard, Dragonite and Gyarados but failed to do as it is very weak to Fairy, Psychic and Steel types that run the meta. The low winrate does point towards a drop but because Altaria is already placed in the B+-tier I think it's already well-set there.

S --> S-/A+
Gyarados has the lowest winrate of all compared to its usage. It's not a surprise. Gyarados is a straightforward mon that is good at wallbreaking and checking its fellow S-rank mons. But it also fails to live up to its high standards this pl as shown from its winrate. Therefore I'm leaning towards a drop.

I will now discuss only significant changes of all mons lower than top 8 usage.

B+ --> A
Get this thing out of the B-tier. Heatran has shown that it has great capabilities this pl. It checks both Charizards as well as Dragonite and it's in good shape to take on the Steel-types as well the Fire-, Fairy-, Grass-, Psychic- and even Normal-types that rule this meta. It has a great typing with a great movepool that allows Heatran to both wallbreak with Taunt and Rock Tomb and also OHKO a lot of the metagame. Air Balloon is its standard item that does great, but I believe Grassium-Z to do well too. My personal experience this pl is that Heatran is one of the best glues on my teams.

A --> A+
I haven't used Zygarde much this pl but from what I have heard is it a great mon. Power Construct allows Zygarde to outstall Stall and be one of the best Physical Walls in the meta, checking Charizardx. Its options go for the regular but still great Groundium-Z, to Dragonium-Z with Z-Dragon Dance (and even Poisonium-Z?). A mon that can't be avoided while teambuilding, as shown from its high usage.

B+ --> A-
Garchomp has about the same role as Zygarde and that can be seen from its usage. Sub Groundium allows it to safely beat Charizard which is huge. It can run a Choice Band viably too. Its usage is too high for its current ranking.

A+ --> A
I remembered from last year that there was an ongoing discussion on where to place Metagross. This pl shows us a rather low winrate. Even though its Typing, Stats and Ability go well together, this mon is also one that's pretty blank on preview. You should only be worried about its speed and whether it runs Zen Headbutt, Ice Punch, Laser Focus or Magnet Rise I guess because there's not much to be scared for otherwise.

A+ --> S-
Similar to Victini, Mew has gained a lot of attention this pl. This is because it can be very frustrating to face on preview as it can run either a Stall set or an offensive one with one of the best Z-moves around. This pl I (re-)introduced a Z-Transform set that does do great too, even allowing Mew to beat Dark-types like Gyarados and Tyranitar as well as set-up mons like Meloetta and Genesect. Its long range in counters, great stats and variety in sets should give it enough reason to be part of the S-tier.


If you had asked me last year where I would put this mon, I would say S-. This pl it turns out that Porygon-Z is very well prepared for as shown from its low winrate. A reason for this can be that Porygon-Z fails to beat Special Defensive walls and is easily countered by Faster mons and Steel-types. Porygon-Z has moved into the Z-Conversion tunnel as Choice Scarf tends to threaten other checks as well. It hasn't done well this tour, but I won't lower its ranking because it can still be a menace on preview.


Gardevoir has similar results as Porygon-Z, but I will also not change its rank as Gardevoir's Trace, Pixilated Hyper Beam and Stallbreaking capabilities are still up-to-date.


Even though Serperior is straightforward, it has proven to be best Leech Seed stall mon of this pl. It has a winrate of 65%, possibly because people don't want to lose a matchup against it and therefore pick its counter and lose. I don't think it warrants a higher rank then A- because it is still easily countered by Fire-types, Taunters and Sound-Based mons.

B+ --> A-/A
As Charizard and Dragonite seemed to rule this pl. As a result, Anti-meta threats like Mew, Gardevoir, Metagross and Zygarde where active this tournament. For Genesect this meant for a clean sweep vs a lot of matchups as is shown from its high winrate of 65%. Genesect's typing, ability and movepool are great for covering Psychic-, Steel-, Water-, Grass- and Ground-types. The metachanges should therefore give rise to Genesect.

B+ --> B
Donphan has not been a reliable part of the team this pl because it has a low winrate. It might act as a Charizard check but it often fails to do so. Also it relies on Z-Earthquake and Ice Shard and if those two don't ko, donphan will get kod. Donphan only really beats mons where his moves are Super-effective against because other mons will tank its hits, therefore Donphan should drop in Viability.

B- --> B/B+
Tapu Bulu has gained quite the usage this pl (#25). Bulu is a great physical offensive threat and also a Wallbreaker together with Swords Dance, Rock Tomb and Taunt. It profits from slower Tanks and because it can simply KO them first. Grassy Surge allows for great opportunities vs Physical Walls like Zygarde, Kommo-o and non-Iron Head Mawile.

A --> A-
Meloetta is a very spd wall as well as a great wallbreaker with Z-Celebrate and Laser Focus. I also seem to struggle against it, but that could also because of my own building style. Meloetta has the lowest winrate of the top 30 most used mons with 27%. Therefore I can't ignore a drop in Viability.

B+ -->A-
Tyranitar is a very unique mon in the metagame. It hardcounters both Charizards and Dragonite and its Sand Stream Ability together with its typing allow for a massive special Defensive buff that allows it to beat Genesect (with Fire Punch) and even Choice Specs Greninja on top matchups vs Psychic-, Fire- and Normal-types. Tyranitar has a wide and awesome movepool that includes great STAB in Crunch (recommended), Stone Edge and Rock Tomb, coverage in Earthquake and Fire Punch and also Taunt for wallbreaking. Tyranitar is definitely A-rank worthy, in week 2 it has shown to have a 100% winrate with a usage of 5 as an example.

B+ --> B
I was surprised to see that Togekiss had a very low winrate (maybe because the hax seemed overpowered). This might be due to it being very weak to physical threats and supereffective mons like Magnezone, Metagross, Magearna and Zeraora. It can't deal much damage and relies on hax most of the time. Even its Z-move sets are easily dealt with a single Substitute or Taunt. Togekiss should get a drop.

B --> B+/A-
Another Dark-type mon that had succes this pl is Hoopa-Unbound. Its high offensive stats (both physical and special), typing (and thus STAB) and movepool in Hyperspace Fury that ignores Protects and Substitutes mean that Hoopa is quite an antimeta mon as well as great glue. It can beat Psychic types reliably as well as Fairy Types thanks to its high spd and Gunk Shot. Personally I recommend Choice Scarf as this allows Hoopa to beat Gardevoir, Porygon-Z, Tapu Lele and Garchomp reliably. Just like Heatran, (Choice Scarf) Hoopa felt like great glue on the teams that I have made. It should definitely get a rise.

B- --> B
I don't want back up on this but its winrate says so.

B+ --> B-
Registeels hype from last year seems to be over. It has a low usage (11) and a low winrate (27%). Nothing much else to say.

C+ --> B-/B
pqs — 04-04-2021
Slaking is broken
I have to back up on this, Slaking's Choice Band set can be quite overwhelming. This pl it only had 1 loss out of 8.

C --> C+
Keldeo is the last noteworthy mon that has a good winrate, possibly because of its good speedtier together with its typing.

C- --> C
| 77 | Weavile | 4 | 0.83% | 100.00% |

B- --> C+/C
Zapdos has only been used 4 times and has a winrate of 0%

The Pokemon I haven't mentioned above are 1. below the usage of 4 and therefore insignificant to the metagame or 2. have a decent winrate compared to their usage and are therefore already ranked in the right tier.

Honorary and personal mentions:
UR --> C
Although not a ranked mon, Houndoom definitely fullfills a niche namely beating both Steel- and Psychic- Types as well as Stall with Nasty Plot or Taunt. Its high speedtier allows you to run modest nature as this gives you just enough speed to outspeed base 100s (329), similar to Ambipom, and KO Porygon-Z. Its mega ability (Solar Power) makes it beat Charizardy too.

Set

Houndoom-Mega (M) @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Dark Pulse
- Nasty Plot
- Snarl / Taunt

B- --> B+
Despite the poor usage of Manaphy, I do think it deserves a raise. After using it myself I found out that it is pretty easy to build with as Tail Glow + Coverage of choice is wallbreaking and simply beats almost anything that can't 2hko it. Even Skill Swap should be considered as this allows Manaphy to beat Dragonite, Kommo-o, Volcanion, Crustle and Magnezone more reliably.

 

[DEG]

VR update. (Logs up until B-, will log C+ and under later)
Full VR: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/1v1-old-gens.3646875/#post-8031459
*Most important reasoning can be found in the ORAS PL metagame report.
Don't forget that you can reserve ORAS 1v1 Analyses! Help us fill the dex!
https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/past-generation-1v1-analyses.476/

Hide

UP
A+ > S-
A+ > S-
A > A+
B+ > A
A- > A
A- > A
B > A-
C+ > A-
B > A-
B > B+
B- > B+
B- > B+
B > B+
C+ > B+
B- > B
B- > B
C > B
C > B
B- > B
B- > B
C > B-
C+ > B-
C+ > B-
C > B-



DOWN

S > S-
S > S-
S- > A+
S- > A+
A > A-
A > A-
B+ > B
B+ > B
B+ > B
B+ > B
B+ > B
B+ > B
B+ > B-
B > B-
B > B-
B > B-
B+ > B-
B > B-
B > B-
B > B-