Welp, despite the fact that everyone is making speculation posts in here, and the meta might change greatly in the upcoming weeks, I thought I'd make a post on the current meta. And then maybe some speculation stuff cuz why not.
Let me get this out of the way first, it's definitely doing better than when Archeops and Magmortar were here. That being said, I do still find there to be a slightly overwhelming amount threats currently. And just like before, this leads teambuilding to be fairly limiting. So, what are these threats? Well, I'm glad you didn't ask. Quick summary time!
I have a problem.
Kingler: This crab is a perfect example of a mon that if let in safely, and you lack proper prep for it, it just picks up a KO with its STAB Life Orb Sheer Force boosted Liquidation. And if you lack a switch in, you're often forced to sack off a mon in hopes you can revenge kill it. But if that wasn't enough, it comes with coverage in Superpower, utility in Knock Off, and various setup options with Agility, Swords Dance, and Substitute. Some good switchins include Tangela, Gastrodon, Poliwrath, and Alolan Exeggutor.
Aurorus: While I've found people to be worrying less and less about this mon, it still serves a large threat. It's another mon that can potentially just come in and pick up KOes with its STAB Choice Specs Blizzard. While it can be played around with certain resistances due to being locked into a single move, that isn't a particularly reliable way of dealing with it when teambuilding, especially with its coverage in Freeze-Dry and Earth Power. It can also be run as a Choice Scarf user or Lead, but its Choice Specs set is by far the most threatening. Switchins include Hitmonchan, Munchlax, Lanturn, and Clefairy (more or less).
Pyroar: This is the most versatile of these four, making it all the harder to check in one mon. It can spam one of its two great STAB options with its Choice Specs set, Nuke stuff while Taunting things like Clefairy with its Z-move set, or serve as one of the fastest Choice Scarf users with its, well, Choice Scarf set. It can also play around with Z-Solar Beam or Z-Sunny Day to make it further unpredictable and harder to completely counter. Although they can vary depending on the set, some pretty consistent switchins are Regirock, Lanturn, Poliwrath, and Hitmonchan.
Lilligant: Unlike the previous three, this isn't just a wallbreaker that just comes in and OHKOes everything. However, it can sweep teams thanks to Quiver Dance while being somewhat hard to defensively check thanks to its its coverage options between Hidden Power Fire and Hyper Beam. Therefore, Speed control is all the more important, but even then it can be difficult if your Choice Scarf mon is something like Mesprit, which is outsped by +1 Lilligant. Or it can Z-Sleep Powder, making it harder for pretty much all Choice Scarfer mons. Varying based on the coverage option, checks include Skuntank, Ferroseed, Alolan Exeggutor, and Oricorio-Sensu (who does pretty much counter either way).
So, what was the point of this? Well, since you didn't ask so politely, this shows how threatening these mons can all be if you don't properly prepare. Furthermore, their checks vary a lot between the different mons, especially with some having various set options. This means that you end up having to carry two or three mons just to check those mons alone. And that's not even including other vital resistances on teams such as Fighting (which I often need multiple of) and Normal. And that's still not including necessities on pretty much every team like Stealth Rock, hazard control, and Speed control. There are some mons that can do multiple of these things, but I'm kinda tired of having to stick Hitmonchan on all of my teams. Its just overall hard to fit all this onto six mons, to the point where I find myself just accepting the fact that my team loses to Kingler.
These were just my thoughts, I'm not saying we should do a suspect or anything, especially since that tier shift is coming up, although I wouldn't be against one in the future depending on how the meta develops. But speaking of that next tier shift, I have pretty mixed feelings about it overall. A couple of the drops from NU would be pretty great for the meta, even helping against some of those previously mentioned threats, but then there's those couple which would just dominate the current meta. So NU could pretty much either help us or just screw us over. And then there's also the mons that are leaving.
Qwilfish and Altaria: We lost these two a couple shifts ago, and both have some pretty good matchup against those four big threats. Qwilfish would help a lot with the Kingler overpopulation, while Spikes and Toxic Spikes would also be really useful. It also offers Intimidate alongside being simply a great Fighting resist. Altaria checks Kingler, Pyroar, and Lilligant, assuming they aren't running coverage like Ice Beam or Hidden Power Ice, but even then it would give them a worse matchup against other checks. It also gives a nice bulky Defog user, and maybe even some Dragon Dance shenanigans, who knows.
Accelgor and Dodrio: These two just look broken. Accelgor can run some Choice Specs set, with great coverage between Bug Buzz, Focus Miss, and Sludge Bomb. If it doesn't feel like going Choice Specs, it has a bunch of utility and stuff with moves like Spikes, Encore, U-turn, Knock Off, and Acid Spray. Also there's that Speed, which, if you haven't heard, creeps Modest Choice Scarf Mesprit. Dodrio similarly is seemingly near impossible to wall between Return, Brave Bird, and Jump Kick. It has a good amount of versatility too, between its Swords Dance, Choice Band, and Choice Scarf options. That being said, it does suffer from 4mss, wanting to fit Quick Attack, Knock Off, Pursuit, (and Swords Dance if that's the set its running) on top the three previously mentioned moves. Its also fairly easy to weaken through things like Stealth Rock and Brave Bird recoil, but even then will at least dent a lot of teams. Even if these two don't end up being as broken as them appear to be on paper, they'd still add to that limit in teambuilding, so I could see them leaving either way.
Omastar and Jellicent: These two I'm kinda iffy on. Omastar has access to Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes, which could be fun, but its Shell Smash set could be a little overwhelming with its great Defense and Special Attack alongside nice coverage. We can already deal with Carracosta and Gorebyss just fine though, so it could be ok. Its weakness to Mach Punch could also be exploited. Jellicent's STABs are pretty much unresisted, with great coverage and Trick for the things that it does struggle against, so a Choice Specs set could prove to be a threat. However this is downgraded with its low Speed, although its bulk is nice and leads to its other potential set, as a wall. As a wall, it would help against threats like Kingler and Pyroar, especially with access to Recover and Will-O-Wisp.
Uxie and Froslass: These are just two decent mons. Uxie would probably replace Mesprit in its Defensive Stealth Rock set and stuff like that, and maybe serve as a bulkier Calm Mind user. Froslass, that's right, a fourth Spikes user, could be a cool lead, with some nice utility options in Taunt, Destiny Bond, Thunder Wave, and Will-O-Wisp. I could even see it running a fun Choice Specs set, as although it has a mediocre Special Attack, it has a great natural Speed, nice STAB coverage, and access to both Trick and Switcheroo (yay diversity).
Ferroseed, Stoutland, Gastrodon, Ninetales, and Sandslash: Leaving the potential drops, these are the mons leaving the tier. Ferroseed is the big one, if its S-Rank on the viability rankings doesn't show that enough. While we may have all those new Spikers to make up for its loss, it's still gonna be noticeable, as it serves as a good switchin for so many mons. It's not gonna help that it's the main reason Lilligant has to run Hidden Power Fire either. Just like in BW and ORAS PU, Stoutland is currently an amazing wallbreaker. A lot of people won't completely mind it leaving, since it could often be a pain to deal with. But on the other hand, it was my first analysis ;-;. Gastrodon is just a nice switchin to plenty of mons, Kingler included, so it will kinda suck to have it leave. I'm not as sure about if the last two will rise, but good for them if they do, since they don't have too much of an impact in PU's current meta.
I probably missed a couple speculation mons, but I'm half asleep, so oh well.
That also justifies anything I said that's wrong. But overall, I do currently find these threats to be a little to overwhelming in teambuilding, and it could go either way with the tier shift. Unless NU just destroys our dreams and gives us nothing.
