★ np: SS UU Stage 9 - Call Me By Your Name

[kumiko]

good morning. As of today, UU has been shaken up. We have received tier shifts and this is what's changed for us:

Bisharp moved from UU to OU
Kyurem moved from UU to OU
Skarmory moved from UU to OU
Slowking moved from UU to OU
Zeraora moved from UU to OU
Magnezone moved from RU to OU

Buzzwole moved from OU to UU
Latios moved from OU to UU
Moltres moved from OU to UU
Barraskewda moved from OU to RU

As such, the UU Council has decided to make two immediate votes following these tier shifts. Today, we voted on Alakazam, Latios, and Ramolost. The vote went as follows:

As such, Alakazam, Latios, and Ramolost are now banned from UU immediately.



Alakazam has been one of the top threats in the tier for the past little bit, and with the recent tier shifts, its dominance will simply be too much. Slowking is one of the tiers two viable pivots into Alakazam, able to shrug off two hits from any of Alakazams attacks, given proper SDef investment. Zeraora is one of the few viable Pokemon in the tier that revenge Alakazam and do not immediately sacrifice momentum, thanks to Volt Switch and naturally outspeeding without needing an item like a Choice Scarf. These two Pokemon were lost, and on top of that, Bisharp, a very viable offensive check to Alakazam, also rose in usage and is now found its place in OU. With what the tier has left, there are very few ways to work around Alakazam. The most notable Pokemon remaining are Aegislash, Celesteela, Chansey, and Scizor. Aegislash and Scizor, however, are far from hard counters; both take substantial damage from Shadow Ball, as well as Focus Blast in Scizor's case, but will fail to take Alakazam down with their priority moves, unless they run offensive sets and boosting items, which will make it even harder for them to combat Alakazam. Celesteela and Chansey, similarly, are much better long term answers to Alakazam, but these two Pokemon struggle to not immediately sacrifice momentum and give the opposition a multitude of chances to make progress against them, on top of Alakazam commonly fitting Knock Off to make these two Pokemon struggle to check it even more.

Last Friday, a survey as sent out in the UU Updates Thread, in which we polled the playerbase as to what would be appropriate with how to handle Alakazam.

The results can be seen here

Additionally, a similar survey as sent out to UU players who achieved some prerequisites Lilbur and I established, the prerequisites are as follows:
1) you have played at least 1 game of SS UU in UUPL IX;
2) you reached Top 16 in UU Masters III;
3) you are a member of the UU tiering council.

And these are the results of this survey

Ultimately, even if the tier shifts did not occur, it is very likely Alakazam would be getting quickbanned regardless; at the very least it would be suspected instead. The tier as it stands gives Alakazam too many chances and too much room to dominate.



This should really come as no surprise, as Latias can already be found in UUBL, but the two will be reunited there. Latios has an obscene amount of tools for this tier; a LO + 3 Atks set would be infinitely more dominant than its red counterpart, as not only does Latios have 20 more base SpA, but Slowking, the primary pivot of said set, is not going to be around to tank any kind of Draco Meteor. For reference, said Draco Meteor would do 47.6-56.3% to max SDef Slowking. Latios has way more offensive tools than Latias did, and with no form of Pursuit to punish it, there is really no reason to give it the time of day when Latias isn't legal.

it had to be done

Tagging Marty and Kris to ban Alakazam and Latios from SS UU whenever you have the time. Thank you!

---

​

With that, feel free to discuss anything you feel appropriate with regards to the new metagame!

 

[basaninho]

best ban ever

 

[justdrew]

Latios and Alakazam bans seem pretty insignificant compared to the Ramolost ban. Honestly it's about time. Thank you council for this amazing decision!

 

[Tuthur]

I wont miss you Ramolost.

 

[viol and bass]

You know we had to do it to em

 

[JustFranco]

lets fucking GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THE 3 BEST BANS IN HISTORY

 

[Fusion Flare]

Good riddance to them, honestly. Now the stupid loser azelf haters are gone, forever! Wiped from this plane of existence! Removed! I say this is a change for the better! Now we can truly appreciate the power of azelf without people saying ‘b-bUt ItS a C raNKe mOn!!!1!’

 

[Mega-Pokebattlerz]

Dammit Ramolost was my ace, time to rebuild my team

Ok but seriously, these shifts suck. We lost some of the best mons in the tier, and in return we get... Buzzwole and Moltres. Those two will probably be cool, but it can't make up for the fact that like half of all UU teams are invalid now.

Time to start using Boots Heliolisk again.

 

[Mirbro]

We lost Ramolost

 

[StarFalcon555]

I'm in a car rn so I'll have to wait a bit to share my thoughts on the Zam and Lati bans + the shifts but I just wanna say free my boy Ramo he did nothing wrong

 

[BigFatMantis]

SPEED LIST:

As you can see, Azelf is ready to assert its dominance over the tier that Zeraora and Alakazam are gone. The only two viable pokemon to naturally outspeed it now are Ribombee and Noivern, both of which are questionable choices for your team at best, but certainly have nowhere near the impact nor the usage as Zera + Zam. So now Azelf can sweep entire teams pretty easily, as it has the coveage options to do so and no longer fears the Zera knock. Here are some good options for it:

ALL OUT ATTACKER AZELF:
Azelf @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
- Fire Blast

This set hits the tier for SE or Neutral damage, and hits everything pretty hard. It has no safe switch ins besides Incineroar and Chansey really. Good to just hit things right away.


OLD SCHOOL A ORB AZELF
Azelf @ Adrenaline Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
- Fire Blast

This Azelf cannot be stopped at all once it gets set up other than running into Incineroar or a scarf Zarude. And if the enemy goofs with Intimdiate then even the scarf Zarude does not matter.
+2 252 SpA Azelf Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 337-397 (47.8 - 56.3%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Azelf Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 332-392 (83.4 - 98.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
If you feel that you need the extra damage boost and don't care about the speed boost from A Orb, then slap on an expert belt or Life Orb:
+2 252 SpA Expert Belt Azelf Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 398-470 (100 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Azelf Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 438-516 (62.2 - 73.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You also have physical options w/ Knock + U Turn + Rocks for a more utility based Azelf that isn't the usual suicide boom lead. Overall, you should use this guy more now.

 

[Monky25]

Hey everyone, Monky here. I'm going to be doing another usage reflection post like I did last time at the beginning of March, where I just talk about recent meta changes and Pokemon that have been getting better or worse. This time we have actual changes so its gonna be interesting to speculate what Changes will happen as a result of these rises/bans. Down below are the individual usage stats for March and April.

April 1630 Usage

Rank | Pokemon | Usage % |
+ ---- + ------------- + ---------
| 1 | Scizor | 34.81739% |
| 2 | Zeraora | 30.72505% |
| 3 | Kommo-o | 27.64614% |
| 4 | Krookodile | 23.53663% |
| 5 | Salamence | 21.75897% |
| 6 | Amoonguss | 19.15342% |
| 7 | Rotom-Heat | 14.21265% |
| 8 | Alakazam | 14.15173% |
| 9 | Skarmory | 12.62033% |
| 10 | Slowking | 12.56760%
| 11 | Azumarill | 11.66463% |
| 12 | Mew | 11.49882% |
| 13 | Celesteela | 11.41120% |
| 14 | Aegislash | 11.26283% |
| 15 | Chansey | 11.00410% |
| 16 | Jirachi | 10.97033% |
| 17 | Bisharp | 10.37276% |
| 18 | Thundurus-Therian | 10.33571% |
| 19 | Keldeo | 10.31680% |
| 20 | Kyurem | 10.11513% |
| 21 | Grimmsnarl | 9.94278% |
| 22 | Rotom-Wash | 9.83484% |
| 23 | Conkeldurr | 9.29807% |
| 24 | Nidoqueen | 9.07197% |
| 25 | Moltres-Galar | 9.01250% |
| 26 | Tangrowth | 8.91928% |
| 27 | Hatterene | 8.78456% |
| 28 | Gyarados | 8.61166% |
| 29 | Primarina | 7.77611% |
| 30 | Tapu Bulu | 7.31378% |
| 31 | Mamoswine | 7.10284% |
| 32 | Azelf | 7.09479% |
| 33 | Nihilego | 6.79455% |
| 34 | Lycanroc-Dusk | 6.02187% |
| 35 | Quagsire | 5.79348% |
| 36 | Tentacruel | 5.67568% |
| 37 | Ninetales-Alola | 5.59592% |
| 38 | Zarude | 5.15029% |
| 39 | Victini | 4.84731% |
| 40 | Magnezone | 4.73980% |
| 41 | Rhyperior | 4.69290% |
| 42 | Crawdaunt | 4.69062% |
| 43 | Chandelure | 4.63069% |

March 1630 Usage

Rank | Pokemon | Usage % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---------
| 1 | Scizor | 33.99984% |
| 2 | Zeraora | 26.60058% |
| 3 | Kommo-o | 25.09393% |
| 4 | Krookodile | 24.48224% |
| 5 | Salamence | 23.13517% |
| 6 | Victini | 22.81724% |
| 7 | Amoonguss | 15.99494% |
| 8 | Jirachi | 13.88700% |
| 9 | Slowking | 13.29768% |
| 10 | Azumarill | 13.12898% |
| 11 | Mew | 12.36035% |
| 12 | Celesteela | 12.13072% |
| 13 | Moltres-Galar | 12.12565% |
| 14 | Rotom-Heat | 11.67314% |
| 15 | Chansey | 11.58058% |
| 16 | Nidoqueen | 11.54282% |
| 17 | Conkeldurr | 11.32612% |
| 18 | Grimmsnarl | 10.98067% |
| 19 | Skarmory | 10.82977% |
| 20 | Keldeo | 10.65477% |
| 21 | Gyarados | 10.63062% |
| 22 | Tangrowth | 10.41481% |
| 23 | Terrakion | 9.95065% |
| 24 | Kyurem | 9.57744% |
| 25 | Rotom-Wash | 9.24526% |
| 26 | Bisharp | 8.90769% |
| 27 | Primarina | 8.78564% |
| 28 | Tapu Bulu | 8.76906% |
| 29 | Thundurus-Therian | 8.61465% |
| 30 | Lycanroc-Dusk | 8.20053% |
| 31 | Hatterene | 7.58126% |
| 32 | Nihilego | 7.20355% |
| 33 | Alakazam | 6.47127% |
| 34 | Azelf | 6.26853% |
| 35 | Ninetales-Alola | 5.48839% |
| 36 | Tentacruel | 5.46560% |
| 37 | Mamoswine | 5.26118% |
| 38 | Quagsire | 5.09219% |
| 39 | Crawdaunt | 4.85173% |
| 40 | Zarude | 4.65085% |
| 41 | Chandelure | 4.54059% |

Notable increases in Usage

(6.47%-->14%) Although this guy just got banned, I still have to talk about this. He absolutely SOARED in usage in a month. We all finally woke up and realized how broken this guy was. He has no true counters and very few offensive checks, making it a super threatening Pokemon to use both on the ladder and in tours. Though his reign was not too long, Zam will go down in infamy as one of the top threats in UU post crown tundra dlc. Also it might just be me but zam felt more broken than latias and terrak

(16%--->19%) Haha funny mushroom. Anyway, Amog Us has maintained its spot in the top 10 while still growing in usage. The defensive utility it proves to check threats like Zeraora, Scizor, Keldeo, and Primarina is very valuable, and spore is always nice to piss the opponent off. With zera leaving it could lose a bit of urgency in the builder, but nonetheless amoonguss is a very solid Pokemon in UU as of now.

(3.05%-->4.7%) Also shooting up in usage is rhyperior. This guy would've even risen if usage was based on 1 month stats. Anyway, rhyp has soldered itself as one of the best rockers in the tier, beating out common defoggers. It can eat some solid hits with solid rock and spdef investment while also hitting hard due to EdgeQuake+ high natural attack stat. Glad he gets the recognition he deserves on the ladder, and rhyp looks to continuously grow in usage on the ladder.
Notable Decreases in Usage

(13%--->10%) A bit drop in usage, jriachi has felt really mid in the recent weeks. Steels like scizor, aegislash, celesteela, and skarm have all eaten into its usage with Pokemon like Chandelure, rotom-H, krookodile, and bisharp all doing really well recently. Jirachi has lost a lot of its niches with latias and terrak leaving and it looks like it will continue to be on the decline.

(12%-->9%) Gonna be real idk why this guy dropped, maybe people started using steela from BigFatMantis' hyper offense rather than Moute's hyper offense. Though VERY inconsistent, moltres galar is still a top threat in the metagame and benefits a lot from the rises and recent bans

(11.5%-->9%) Despite the queen being slow, she is super threatening and one of the tier's best rockers. With slowking leaving, chansey is now the only Pokemon in the tier that doesn't get 2HKOd by it. Queen likely dropped off a bit due to the cheese hyper offense teams breaking through it alongside the surge of alakazam, still queen is a very threatening Pokemon that should not be underestimated
New Drops

- these are all the long staying drops we got from OU. Barra makes rain a fair amount better with it giving rain a solid phsycial breaker that can power through many defensive Pokemon with its choice banded attacks. Rain in general gets better with Pokemon like Kyurem, Slowking, and zeraora all rising. Moltres gives the tier a new defogger and offensive sets are gonna be pretty cool. Overall a nice addition to the meta. My favorite drop, buzzwole, will be awesome. An ultimate physical wall with recovery makes this guy incredibly tough to break and it can run offensive sets with its wide variety of coverage. I'm glad to see how these fit in the new meta!
Goodbye Old Friends

- all these Pokemon have risen to OU. Most were expected, but at least for myself I was in for a shock seeing Bisharp rise. Nearly all of these Pokemon were metagame staples, so the tier will have to reshape itself with them gone.

Lastly, like last time I'll drop some questions below, answer them if you want
1. What do you think of the tier changes? Thoughts on the rises or drops?
2. How do you think the meta will change as a result of the rises? Anything in particular get better or worse?
3. What do you think about the drops we got?
4. What Pokemon do you think will rise up to fulfill the roles done by those who have risen? (Ex: Something like milotic as defensive water or thundurus-I as a fast electric pivot)
5. Any underrated Pokemon or sets that you are using that you want to share?
6. A fun question, but in honor of the April fools joke, what Pokemon would you take from OU and bring down here and why? Mine is Tyranitar, it could be a really nice addition to the tier acting as a solid rocker and breaker.

That's all from me, hope you enjoyed reading this and have a great time throwing away all your teams building and laddering in this new meta!

 

[pdt]

Ramolost was absolutely unhealthy for the tier. In every battle, when dealing with him you have no idea what he will do, which makes him a fantastic mental breaker depending on which matchup you want to win. His stats, while mediocre, are made up with his French typing (strong against women and weak against Germans). Obviously his STAB moves aren’t his forte either, but the ability to never misuse Spore in game is a little overpowered. Although on first glance Ramolost may be a degenerate idiot, he is actually very hard to deal with in game.

Thanks for doing something for once council. except vivalospride

Pak get chazzed

 

[sims796]

I've no idea who this Ramolost character is, but I suddenly feel a lot happier with his absence. Odd. Is that normal?

 

[Fusion Flare]

I've no idea who this Ramolost character is, but I suddenly feel a lot happier with his absence. Odd. Is that normal?

It’s been recently discovered that when you remove the bad, the good shines a lot more :)

Hope this helps

 

[Amane Misa]

Haha we lost 4 scizor checks

 

[justdrew]

Hello. With all the broken or annoying Pokemon being banished to the dark and ugly caves that are OU and UUBL, the tier seems kind of cool. My interest is really only with Buzzwole right now since Moltres is less cool. Buzzwole seems really cool but not at all broken. It gets great coverage movies: Poison Jab, Earthquake, Stone Edge, and Ice Punch. It has great stats including a decent speed tier and insane attack and defense. The biggest issue with Choice Band Buzzwole which is what I have been running is you are forced into a lot of predictions. Bulk Up seems like a great option as well. I've had my fun on ladder while everyone is scrambling to put together teams that don't have Zeraora, Skarmory, Kyurem, Slowking, Bisharp or Alakazam so I'll share the first team I made. I haven't lost yet but to be fair the post shift meta is really young so that's kind of a weak statement. Anyway:

https://pokepast.es/16535d1c3d6cb47b

Here are a few fun calcs:

252+ Atk Choice Band Buzzwole Close Combat vs. 120 HP / 0 Def Scizor: 339-400 (109 - 128.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Buzzwole Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 220+ Def Amoonguss: 264-312 (61.1 - 72.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Buzzwole Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 282-334 (87 - 103%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Buzzwole Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Celesteela: 330-388 (82.9 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Buzzwole Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 160+ Def Kommo-o: 223-264 (62.9 - 74.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Buzzwole Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mew: 169-200 (41.8 - 49.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Moral of the story is, if you're running Choice Band Buzzwole and you get a free switch in, if you click the right move you're killing, and if you choose the wrong move it's either doing 0% or close to 50%. Not broken but pretty cool and very strong.


Also Scizor is looking kind of scary without Zeraora and Skarmory. It's always been scary but this doesn't help. An issue to be solved soon. Okay bye!

 

[ausma]

the return of god heliolisk

In all seriousness! Although the loss of Slowking and Zeraora are really sad (sorry again), I think there's a lot of room for development, especially with Moltres and Buzzwole in the picture. Both provide a lot of cool defensive and offensive options for teams; namely Moltres, which is an immensely cool wallbreaker that takes advantage of Scizor, Tangrowth, and Amoonguss superbly well, while also being a Defog user that can beat Kommo-o. Heavy-Duty Boots really help it a lot, and I can see it being a really good offensive pivot of sorts thanks to its additional access to U-turn.

Likewise, Buzzwole's physical bulk is neigh unparalleled. It has some really nifty resistances to Dark- and Ground-type moves which can provide the tier a pretty great Knock Off switch-in. It seems to do a solid job in checking Krookodile, MURDER DOG, Zarude, and Wingbeat-less Scizor in spite of the loss of Skarmory. Plus, Choice Band looks really meaty in tandem with its new access to Close Combat and its wide array of coverage. I really wanna give that a try.

Unironically though, even if they won't be able to fill in the hole left by Zeraora, I can see Thundurus (Incarnate or Therian) or Heliolisk rising to compensate for the loss of Zeraora, and truthfully they wouldn't be sour replacements as they all can still exploit things like Amoonguss and Tangrowth and provide wallbreaking opportunities for monsters like Chandelure or the aforementioned Moltres. Thundurus-T may not be anywhere near as fast, but it also boasts an Electric-type immunity, Knock Off, and the additional access to U-turn to exploit potential Thunderbolt switch-ins, and seems pretty fun alongside the new Buzzwole and Moltres.

thanks for banning zam btw that thing was honestly horrible in every shape and form to deal with

 

[dunderguy]

Looks like even with excadrill and tyranitar visiting UU for the weekend Alakazam proved to be too much for them, well done w the ban

 

[Celebiii]

Hello everyone, I am very excited about the new shifts and I wanted to write about why YOU should be using Celebi in the new UU meta!

With today's tier changes, Celebi lost two threats that outsped and threatened it in the past in Alakazam and Zeraora, two slower but no less dangerous checks in Bisharp and Kyurem, and a huge roadblock for Celebi making progress in Skarmory. The overall speed level in UU is much slower now, with fellow Psychic-type Azelf now setting the natural highest point at 361 Speed. This, along with the departure of an incredibly meta-defining Heavy-Duty Boots user in Zeraora, allows Celebi to become a much more potent offensive threat in the metagame, and one I believe is worth exploring. In this post I will be talking about Pokemon Celebi is useful against, what Pokemon threaten Celebi, and where I believe it will be most effective in the new metagame.

Celebi's Targets
I will be referring to the Life Orb Celebi set in the points below, since I believe it to be Celebi's strongest set at the moment:

Celebi @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain / Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- Earth Power / Aura Sphere
- Recover

Celebi has many targets in the new UU meta that it can threaten with its STABs and choice of coverage. I've coloured the targets I think are particularly important in blue:

Targets

• Aegislash: Starting off with a weird one because Aegislash does not have a defined best set yet, but Celebi is able to threaten Aegislash with a 2HKO in Shield forme and an OHKO in Blade forme with Earth Power, while (potentially) not being 2HKO'd by Shadow Sneak. Celebi needs to watch out for the SubToxic set and heavy damage/OHKOs from Aegislash's Ghost STAB attacks, however.
• Amoonguss: Amoonguss is a defensive pillar in UU, and a target for Celebi's Psychic. While almost never OHKO'd from a Life Orb Psychic (6.3% chance), Amoonguss itself can only do 49.2 - 58.6% to Celebi with Sludge Bomb, easily allowing Celebi to 2HKO.
• Azumarill: While Celebi does not want to come in on a Banded Play Rough or Ice Punch, it can stomach a +6 Aqua Jet from the Belly Drum set, and threatens heavy damage with Giga Drain (68.8% chance to OHKO from the Life Orb set) or a KO with Leaf Storm on Azumarill.
• Barraskewda: With Barraskewda dropping back into UU, rain is sure to make a resurgence, and Celebi can check Barraskewda in an emergency. A healthy Celebi takes 80.9 - 95.6% from Banded Crunch, and Celebi OHKOs Barraskewda back with Giga Drain.
• Buzzwole: Buzzwole's role in the meta is up in the air at this point, but its poor special bulk leaves it very vulnerable to Celebi's Psychic. However, a fully specially bulky Careful Buzzwole can survive a Life Orb Psychic 75% of the time and threaten to revenge KO with Bug STAB, so it remains to be seen how this matchup will commonly play out.
• Chandelure: Chandelure is a bit of a dicey target given that Choice Scarf is a viable item for it to be running and Celebi's Earth Power only has a 31.3% chance to OHKO, but with a bit of chip damage and knowledge of its item (which is very frequently Heavy-Duty Boots) Celebi will be able to remove Chandelure reliably.
• Cobalion: Celebi can threaten a 2HKO on Cobalion with Earth Power, barring Iron Head flinches and the rare Megahorn coverage from Cobalion.
• Conkeldurr: Conkeldurr's Bulk Up set can survive a Life Orb Psychic, but it will not be able to revenge KO a healthy Celebi with Knock Off at +0 (and sometimes not even at +1; +1 Knock Off has a 43.8% chance to OHKO). The Guts Flame Orb set drops to Life Orb Psychic 100% of the time.
• Crawdaunt: Celebi has to be wary of a potential Focus Sash, as Knock Off will OHKO, but otherwise Celebi OHKOs Crawdaunt with Grass STAB attacks.
• Gyarados: Would you believe me if I told you that Celebi actually threatens Gyarados? Celebi has to fear Bounce, but if Gyarados is carrying Ice Fang as its coverage over Bounce, Celebi will actually 2HKO Gyarados 90.6% of the time with Psychic, while not being 2HKO'd by Ice Fang at +0 or OHKO'd by Ice Fang at +1, meaning that if both Pokemon come in on the same turn, Celebi will win the 1v1 vs. Bounceless Gyarados! Even with Bounce, Gyarados does 79.1 - 93.8% at +0, meaning Life Orb Celebi will be able to KO Gyarados about 68% of the time!
• Keldeo: This is the biggest selling point for Celebi right now. Celebi is not threatened by either of Keldeo's STAB attacks, even from Choice Specs Keldeo in the rain, or even OHKO'd by the supereffective Icy Wind and Air Slash. Celebi can revenge KO Keldeo with Psychic or Leaf Storm 100% of the time, or gain some HP back with Giga Drain, which has a 31.3% chance to OHKO and can easily be put over the edge to OHKO with a bit of chip damage. Keldeo is an extremely threatening Pokemon with the lower Speed benchmarks in the new UU meta, and Celebi being a sturdy check to it is a valuable role.
• Kommo-o: Celebi (like just about everything else) has to be wary of Kommo-o setting up, but Celebi will OHKO every offensive Kommo-o variant, and 2HKO the defensive Stealth Rock setter while taking < 50% from both its Draco Meteor and Flamethrower.
• Krookodile: With the loss of Alakazam and Zeraora lessening the need for Scarf Krookodile, Celebi can threaten an OHKO on non-sashed Krook variants with Giga Drain. This is admittedly dicey, as Focus Sash and Choice Scarf are both viable items on Krook, but Celebi can at least circumvent the Focus Sash issue if its teammates are able to chip Krookodile, which is not a huge ask given the hits Krookodile is often forced to take throughout a match.
• Mamoswine: Simple: Ice Shard does 55.7 - 66.2% to Celebi, and Giga Drain always OHKOs Mamoswine.
• Milotic: Milotic's defensive investment in the coming meta is unknown, but Celebi is a solid answer to it, absorbing HP back with Giga Drain or threatening heavy damage with Leaf Storm. It is worth noting that even an uninvested Ice Beam can put a sizeable dent into Celebi, however (38.1 - 45.1%).
• Nidoqueen: Also simple: Psychic always OHKOs Nidoqueen.
• Primarina: Primarina has been on the come up lately, filling a valuable role as one of the only reliable checks to Kommo-o and Galarian Moltres, and Celebi is here to threaten it. Giga Drain does 65.1 - 77.1% to the Substitute + Calm Mind set and Leaf Storm OHKOs. Celebi needs to be a bit more careful of Ice Beam on the Specs set, as Giga Drain only does 78.7 - 93.3%, and Primarina's Ice Beam has a 56.3% chance to OHKO, but Celebi can slot in Leaf Storm over Giga Drain to OHKO.
• Quagsire: lol
• Rotom-Wash: Giga Drain does 82.8 - 98.3% to the standard pivot set, and OHKOs the Choice Scarf one. Leaf Storm OHKOs both.
• Rhyperior: Celebi has a 68.8% chance to OHKO fully specially defensive Careful Rhyperior with Giga Drain and will always OHKO with Leaf Storm. It does need to be wary of a possible Megahorn, though.
• Tentacruel: It remains to be seen if Tentacruel will rise up at all in this new metagame, but Celebi outspeeds and 2HKOs the current standard set with Psychic.
• Venusaur: Celebi cannot come in on a Sludge Bomb and can do nothing to a boosted Venusaur, but it will outspeed and OHKO Venusaur with Psychic if sun is not up.

That is a surprisingly large list of notable Pokemon that Celebi can threaten! That said, Celebi has a lot of things that threaten and/or wall it in return. I've pointed out the most important of these (again, in my mind) in red:

Pokemon that Threaten and/or Wall Celebi

• Azelf: Azelf naturally outspeeds Celebi and threatens it in a variety of ways: it can get up screens in its face then explode, damage it heavily with Fire Blast, or threaten heavy damage/a KO with U-Turn.
• Celesteela: Walls Life Orb Celebi and can threaten to KO and gain a Beast Boost off Celebi with its Flying STAB attacks.
• Grimmsnarl: Can get screens up in Celebi's face, reduce Celebi's damage with Spirit Break, or threaten KOs with Dark STAB attacks, while not caring much for Celebi's attacks.
• Hatterene: Very bulky and can threaten Celebi with Mystical Fire and Shadow Ball.
• Jirachi: Jirachi fears Earth Power, but can flinch Celebi to a KO or threaten heavy damage with U-Turn or the more rare Fire Punch.
• Kingdra: 2HKOs Celebi with Hurricane or Draco Meteor in the rain. Celebi cannot OHKO it without a boost.
• Lycanroc-Dusk: Lycanroc-Dusk cannot outright KO a healthy Celebi with Crunch (80.9 - 95.3%) and will be OHKO'd by Giga Drain, but Lycanroc-Dusk can simply wait until Celebi has taken some chip damage and come in to revenge KO it later. It can also run Focus Sash, which bypasses the need for chip damage on Celebi to KO it.
• Moltres: As with the other new drops, it's unknown what sets Moltres will run right now, but it is likely to run bulky Defog sets that can threaten heavy damage on Celebi with Fire STAB while having the bulk to not be deathly afraid of Psychic. Offensive variants will not mind Celebi at all as long as they don't switch directly into Psychic.
• Galarian Moltres: Completely counters Celebi and can set up on it freely.
• Mienshao: Outspeeds Celebi and threatens heavy damage or KOs with Knock Off and U-Turn.
• Nihilego: Doesn't like taking Psychics, but won't drop to one, and can threaten to gain a Beast Boost from KOing Celebi.
• Noivern: Noivern can outspeed and 2HKO Celebi with Flamethrower or Flying STAB attacks, or pivot out safely while still racking up a ton of damage on Celebi with U-Turn. Celebi can only 2HKO Noivern in return.
• Polteageist: Doesn't care about any of Celebi's attacks since it basically always holds a Focus Sash. Can Shell Smash in its face and OHKO with Shadow Ball.
• Raikou: A dicier threat since it fears the 2HKO from Earth Power, but with a Calm Mind boost or a Substitute already set up it can threaten Celebi back if it carries Shadow Ball, or simply force Celebi to put itself in KO range with Life Orb recoil by repeatedly boosting or using Substitute.
• Rotom-Heat: Doesn't like taking Psychics, especially since it usually takes many hits over the course of the game, but threatens heavy damage or KOs with Overheat.
• Salamence: The special attacking variant can rarely lose to Celebi if it gets unlucky with Speed ties, but the Dragon Dance variant can set up in Celebi's face and OHKO it. The defensive variant can 2HKO with Dual Wingbeat, but Celebi might be able to win in a 1v1 due to being faster and 2HKOing with Psychic, although Salamence may win with some chip damage on Celebi and use of Roost to take advantage of Life Orb recoil.
• Scizor: god I miss HP Fire
• Sylveon: The cleric set can stall Celebi out, and the Choice Specs set wins the 1v1, 2HKOing Celebi while Celebi 3HKOs Sylveon.
• Tangrowth: Tangrowth is an interesting one. The physically defensive set will lose 1v1 against Celebi, but the Assault Vest set will win 1v1.
• Tapu Bulu: Bulu is another interesting case, because it depends on Bulu's item and what coverage it is running. Darkest Lariat and Megahorn are huge threats, but Celebi also threatens heavy damage with Psychic on most variants.
• Thundurus and Thundurus-Therian: Both of these outspeed and threaten 2HKOs on Celebi with several moves: Sludge Wave, Knock Off, and U-Turn.
• Umbreon: Completely walls Celebi and can KO it with Foul Play or Toxic stalling over several turns.
• Zarude: Fears only Aura Sphere from Celebi (which is still a 2HKO), and will outspeed and 2HKO Celebi with U-Turn or Darkest Lariat.
• Zygarde-10%: Zygarde-10% will lose the 1v1 if it clicks Thousand Arrows vs Celebi (for some reason), but will win with Banded Outrage.

All that being said, Celebi is a powerful attacker, with its main shortcomings being that it is outsped by a fair number of notable metagame threats, and that it sometimes lacks the coverage to break through sturdier Pokemon, Steel-types in particular. I believe that Celebi will be most viable on Sticky Web teams in the current metagame, as they bypass its speed issue and enable several other slower powerhouse threats that pair well with Celebi to patch up the holes in its coverage, such as Choice Specs Sylveon and Chandelure. Celebi appreciates offensive pivots on these teams, and I believe Mienshao, Rotom-Wash, and Rotom-Heat fill this niche nicely, enabling Celebi to switch in safely and helping to threaten the Flying- and Steel-types that give it trouble. However, I would love to see Nasty Plot, SubSeed and Defensive Stealth Rock sets explored as well, and I'm hoping Celebi can be very successful in the new UU metagame. Thank you for taking the time to read all of this, and I hope more people try out my favourite Pokemon in UU soon :D

 

[Rcook]

I do think that Alakazam leaving is great for the tier, I used it a fair amount and it was definitely broken and I think it would've been a clear ban if it went to suspect, I honestly think Zam was worse for the tier than Terrak. Moltres should find a niche in this tier quickly as a decent scizor counter. I honestly think that Thundy-I should be better as it has a lot of the utility Zera did with knock off, volt switch/u-turn, and a good speed tier. It also has prankster t-wave and np which has always been decent in the tier. Honestly the biggest lose in the tier had to be slowking as it was a great defensive glue mon as it didn't lose that much momentum with teleport unlike other bulky waters in the tier like suicune, quag, and gastro. However I do think that Milotic may see an increase in usage having decent spdef and flip turn to keep constant momentum with the team. I do think that this tier shift is one of the worst UU has seen in a long time as the tier is going to change a lot with the loss of the best bulky water, an insane wallbreaker, and the best offensive pivot the tier had. In return UU gained an okay defensive defogger, a rain sweeper, and an decently hard hitting fighting type which the tier definitely didn't lack but Buzzwole does have recovery and bulk which does make it different from other hard hitting fighting types like Conk in the tier

 

[Luirromen]

New drops, new (and sad) rises, the metagame as we know its pretty much gonna have a massive change, today I wanted to mention how some of the faces of the metagame are probably gonna be affected due to the shifts/zam ban.


Krookodile really appreciate pretty much all the rises, was a good zeraora check but unable to actually directly switch in on him due to having acces to CC/Play Rought, and Scarf variant wont like to take a Knock Off, Kyurem was an offensive check to Krookodile and forced it to switch, so giving a free Sub to SubRoost variants, Skarmory walled it all day and forced it to switch due to Body Press, Bisharp leaving (in conjuction with zeraora) allows krook to be the premier Knock Off spammer in the tier. Unfortunate, shifts brings Buzzwole, who its basically a counter to krookodile, able to take both stabs rock coverage, acces to roost and dual super efective stab, at least Krook can lure on it with Toxic (Or Aerial Ace but really, who would slap that on Krook)


This one enjoys Zeraora and kyurem leaving, 2 of the best ways to revenge kill offensive variants, and also likes zam leaving since no longer wont have to run SpDef spreads to check it. GMoltres doesnt deserve to be compared with the Kanto one since they have different roles. But as a hole, I feels its good for it that those 2, specially zeraora leave.


Bisharp being the best user of Safety Googles to use Amoonguss as a set up fodder its incredible for it, however there still being a plenty of picks that can use amonguss as set up fodders (Spoiler: Almost half meta), but bisharp was the main one.


We basically lost 3 good answers for scizor, AND if that wasn't enought, just a friendly reminder that scizor had been running SpDef spreads to keep in check Zam and Kyurem, who both leave the tier, so now Scizor can run more offensive spreads. We got Kanto Moltres who its a cool "check", yeah "check", since it wont like to take a Knock Off, I dont think Moltres its gonna become a top threat/pick on the meta (I dont mean its bad, it actually looks pretty good), but if it wasn't the case, scizor can adapt by start running Protective Pads, a Protective pads set without Knock Off can work against Moltres builds so Scizor wont fear to get burned by Flame Body. My point is, that scizor can adapt to moltres being used as a check for it. Buzzwole can be a check too, this one actually its better than moltres as a check, unless you want to run Dual Wingbeat very specific for Buzzwole. Scizor despite recieven 2 checks gets better now in my eyes.


BigFatMantis favorite psychic type (or that is what I think) gets absolutely better now, like zam, its a fast Psychic type with acces to Nasty Plot and pretty good coverages on Fire Blast/Shadow Ball/Thunderbolt/Dazzling Gleam etc. Now it doesnt get outclassed by Zam, doesnt have to fear a faster knock off pivot that doesnt need a choice scarf AND Bisharp leaving removes those annoying 50/50 sucker punch mind games, pretty cool mon right now. Btw, aside from Nasty Plot sets, I used in the past this Suciide Lead set on the ladder sometimes and got pretty good result with it, and I havent seen anyone else use it (I havent checked UUPL replays tho, but maybe its the same case) so I wanna share it.
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Imprison
- Knock Off
- Explosion

Imprision: As long as the user remains in battle, opponents cannot use any move which is also known by the user.
This allows Azelf to beat any other suicide lead since its the fastes one on the meta, and makes for a good counter to Lead Krookodile, you imprission turn 1 and the only move that Krookodile can use is Taunt, bcz rocks and Knock Off are disable and you are inmune to Earthquake thanks to Levitate, you should give it a try.

That its all for today, happy new meta!

 

[rss bootcamp]

Welp kinda glad zeraora is gone because now we dont have a good choice bander that spams plasma fist, but now with kyurem gone we don't have a good aegislash counter. But buzzwole isn't bad and moltres is also a good pokemon, but uu getting hit the hardest kinda sucks because that is the regular tier i play the most

 

[Tidal]

And so I strike, like a blazing fast dodgeball in an echoing gymnasium! Here to answer some questions my good pal Monky25 has provided for us! Here we go and once again i recommend also answering these, let's see those opinions!

1. What do you think of the tier changes? Thoughts on the rises or drops?

The tier changes look fun in general, despite the fact 80% of my builder got invalidated. I actually wanna make a seperate post for this sooner than later so i'm gonna skip this one for now, though I'll return in a day or two!

2. How do you think the meta will change as a result of the rises? Anything in particular get better or worse?

This shifts made a lot of different things better, the list is so long i won't go into detail but i will say my highlights!

These two no longer are forced to trade with Zeraora, which absolutely amazing. I can see Incarnate replacing Zera as the speedy switcher, whilst Therian will become a frightening wall-breaker.

No more Skarm and Slowking (and Bisharp) holding him back now! DD sets are now terrifying, but the defensive set will stay as consistent as ever, being able to check a large majority of physical attackers in the meta.

Oh no! Your best special sponge and best offensive check is now missing! The only thing holding this back is it's lack of speed (and like all of it's other offensive checks), but it still hits like a glass of choccy milk after a long shift of work.

You've probably read Mantis' post, so I won't bother explaining. If you haven't go read it now!
There are obviously more pokemon that stand out, but my brain just feels like poop at the moment so you're only getting those four :)

3. What do you think about the drops we got?

The new Hot Wings is an interesting case. It can run a fully defensive set to help check things like Scizor and Salamence and help hinder them with a burn. Something i've been testing is Offensive Defog, and it's really quite great! Flamethrower and Hurricane are a given, and then you can choose between Scorching Sands or U-turn (please pick U-turn) and finally Defog. Meta is still fresh so we'll see how things develop, though Knock Off hurts it a sizeable amount

With it's rippling muscles, it can put giant holes through teams with a Choice Band or Choice Scarf. The loss of Skarmory means that it's offensive sets can really shine and It's just a really fun mon to use in general. It's defensive sets are also great, with a number of handy resistances, I recommend using it when you get the chance!

Rain

5. Any underrated Pokemon or sets that you are using that you want to share?

Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Mienshao in this new meta is really fun! It gives a team both a great cleaner and a fast offensive pivot. It can outspeed the majority of the tier, some even at +1 like Salamence and Gyarados (this is why Stone Edge is on them!) I can really see Mienshao picking up, along with Zarude who offers similar benefits.

6. A fun question, but in honor of the April fools joke, what Pokemon would you take from OU and bring down here and why? Mine is Tyranitar, it could be a really nice addition to the tier acting as a solid rocker and breaker.

If OU can take Zera we get Dragapult or Tornadus-T, it's only fair. Tagging ausma so she can convince OU mods to let it drop and convince the tier it's bad.

That's all for now, get ready for a part 2 soon!

 

[The Damned]

I'm actually...pretty glad with the tier shift, which is...weird to say given how much the tier shift usually just utterly screws UU over. I mean, it's not like this shift didn't devastate most people's Teambuilder cookies like an earthquake in Etchisketchistan, but it helps that most of the stuff we lost was either "obviously" going to rise for whatever reason or things people were beginning to debate as problematic anyway (including Zeraora & the quickbans). Of course, I guess I have the luxury of saying this basically after taking a break for a month, so what do I know.

That said, I must admit that I'm utterly confused why Bisharp and Magnezone rose to UU, but I gave up trying to understand OU's whims years ago, and I never used either of them. Ripparoni to anyone who used them in UU a lot though.

Haha we lost 4 scizor checks

Honestly, this is basically the only thing that worries me right now in the current meta, especially since Scizor unfortunately has Dual Wingbeat now for Buzzwole, which OHKOs where Aerial Ace didn't. I'm very glad that Moltres was among the drops even if Buzzwole can outspeed Scizor if it actually wants, Bullet Punch aside, and even if Scizor gets to somewhat freely use Knock Off because Game Freak decided to be such geniuses this gen that they took out all counterplay to that move beyond "have Regenerator and don't die".