NEW DROPS
yes this is a day 1 take but this might unironically be the most busted drop of the bunch. 150/150 defenses are unprecedented in pu this gen, it's not an nfe so it can run an actual item (can actually run lefties fairly comfortably), and its defensive typing is incredibly useful in the current meta and requires mons like tauros to run dedicated coverage for it. ironpress is (rightfully) getting the most attention rn but rocks+spikes sets are also great (uninvested body press does a bunch) and i've seen calm mind sets pop off. i'm interested to see how the meta adapts to it but it's on my watchlist.
actually not as stupid as i anticipated it to be. being a glass cannon normal-type that doesn't want to run boots naturally draws comparisons to goose and squawk, but it's quite a bit bulkier (especially on the physical side) and doesn't rely on status to operate. not opting for boots in a hazard meta means that it does get worn down eventually and can be picked off by faster threats. missy still being a top mon in the tier means that it's not as free to spam body slam, and it ends up feeling somewhat balanced. a top threat for sure, but not one i'd consider banworthy for the time being.
i've initially been a bit underwhelmed by articuno at first but i've seen people's opinions and experiences with it vary. running only dual stabs feels somewhat constricting as mons like frosttom and carbink feel comfortable enough to come in basically for free; freeze dry+tera blast+roost+sub/u-turn is probably the best moveset for it. i'm very interested to see ppl come up with optimal tera types for it as well as creative stat spreads enabled by its excellent base stats.
not as big on persian as i thought i would be, defensive sets (taunt, foul play, twave, pshot) feel quite passive in practice and nasty plot sets struggle with setting up (and also just don't hit quite as hard with just one stab type). all persians also suffer from being very frail on the special side which makes them fairly easy to stop with would-be targets like missy. the speed tier is super neat and i definitely think there's potential for utilizing parting shot for frail setup sweepers, at least for nasty plot sets i'd still rather use skunk as it sets up way more easily and is harder to stop.
not much thoughts on it as i haven't used it or seen it enough, tying with raichu and tauros is a bit unfortunate but this is probably better than kanto duggy overall due to the better defensive typing and having an actual ability in tangling hair. i'd probably run the same movesets as regular duggy and forgo the steel stab.
nice ground, can do decently in a lot of matchups. seems like a solid hazards setter. pair it with a grass-type answer and you'll be fine.
not very optimistic for this one, its bulk is nice but it seems like there's a mon out there that bests it as everything it can try to achieve.
WINNERS OF THE TIER SHIFTS
with qwil-h rising to nu, skunk is once again the premier poison/dark multitasker. it is just as good as it was before and i expect usage to ramp back up accordingly.
frosttom is in an extremely good position atm, its excellent boltbeam coverage has been very solid during the last month it takes further advantage of all the not super bulky mons we got in the shift, but especially articuno which is destined to become a lot of people's go-to special wall. feels very hard to not justify running either scarf or sub+np right now.
sliggoo rising is a huge boon for lilli; during the last month offensive sets felt very awkward to use as you could not reliably beat both charizard and sliggoo with a single tera type, but now tera types like rock and electric feel way less constricting to use. expect bulky variants (qd 2 attacks synthesis with max hp max speed) to get used a lot too and possibly even beat your articunos 1v1.
i feel like it went a bit under the radar but i expect to see a resurgence, tera rock bulk up in particular just seems incredibly solid atm against so many of the new drops and losing sliggoo-hisui is absolutely a net positive for it.
i usually don't advocate for webs, especially in boots meta. that being said, it's an extremely effective way of making opposing tauros considerably less threatening (or possibly making your own tauros more threatening) and our shiny new taunter in persian doesn't really want to stay in on either of these and taunt them due to not being able to take bug moves. sliggoo rising also means masq can click qd more freely, although it'll have to reconsider its tera if it wants to have a shot against cuno.
LOSERS OF THE TIER SHIFTS
zard suffers both from the slew of new threats that are faster than it, but especially from the upcoming ubiquity of carbink that leaves it absolutely miserable. it'll probably still be the premier fire in the tier but it's going to need considerably more support to operate from now on.
gabite will keep having a niche as long as fires+electrics remain good in the meta, but carbink just does defensive sets better while largely still checking most of the same mons that gabite does. sd should still be very solid though.
another mon that is largely outclassed by carbink at taking hits from stuff. it'll still have a niche as a wishpasser but overlapping with carbink will make it harder to justify on commom team structures.
it's really not a good time to be a slow (or really just not fast enough, pu's speed level is crazy high atm) and frail breaker, as all of these struggle to take hits from the myriad of faster threats. the latter three also really suffer from carbink's presence and will be unable to make meaningful progress against unless they opt for tera steel.