Metagame NP: ZU Stage 1: Begin Again - Squawkabilly quickban #99

[plznostep]

Cool Underrated Pokemon in ZU

Hey all! It's your favourite Flittle Fanatic here again to speak about some Pokemon who I think are underutilized in the current Metagame. I think SV ZU has so many threatening Pokemon in this tier that no-one uses so I wanted to make a post highlighting them, so here we go!

Greedent
Fun Fact; Greedent is the only Normal type in ZU with access to Swords Dance. And it is really annoying when you use it. Firstly, Greedent has some pretty impressive bulk for a Pokemon in ZU. 120/95/75 in bulk is very impressive when you compare it to other Pokemon known for their bulk in the meta, such as Swalot. It allows Greedent to live hits from even the scariest wallbreakers the tier. For example, with only 24 Special Defense EV's and Max HP (Greedent isn't running speed anyway), you always live a Focus Blast from Specs Grumpig and you can take hits from Guts Luxray very well also, with not even Tera Normal Facade being able to OHKO you from full. You can use this bulk to force trades versus teams like Balance due to Greedents amazing offensive coverage with Earthquake and Crunch and great attack stat to back this up. This makes for an excellent wallbreaker who I believe should be utilized more in this tier.

Gumshoos

The American Patriot Gumshoos is in the tier, but he won't be making walls; he'll be breaking them. With Stakeout, this Pokemon doesn't have any switch ins, so with support from pivots such as Dedenne, this Pokemon is able to tear through teams like its nothing and really help you in breaking down the opposing team to clean up later with a Pokemon such as Grumpig. It helps that Gumshoos also has a pivotting move in U-turn so it can fit pretty well in VoltTurn cores with other pivots alongside it, a trait I really love that this Pokemon can offer you. There are some downsides to Gumshoos of course. The bulk is pretty average and its defensive typing is not helping while it also is quite slow, but when using this Pokemon correctly, I have just noticed it does so well so I hope you try it

Here's a replay of it. Even though I lost here, I think this replay can really show how great Gumshoos was at breaking down my opponents team here, but also shows some of its flaws so you can keep it in mind when using it.

Gumshoos Replay

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9zu-1871191237-dluzescdsimwjrono8owxue4eu3vl1apw

Murkrow

Even though I have seen a little bit of a rise in this Pokemon's usage, I don't think it has the usage it deserves quite yet. Firstly, this thing is surprisingly good at checking the best Pokemon in the tier at the moment, Grumpig, because it resists/is immune to all of its moves, except Focus Blast which people don't seem to like running, which is a wonderful trait to have. Not only that, it has an amazing speed tier and offensive STABS and stats as well, with the option to go physical, which has Brave Bird, priority and a pivotting move in U-turn while Special has Nasty Plot, Dark Pulse, Hurricane and Heat Wave to hit steels. And it just turns out that its really hard to wall Murkrow too without running a generally fat special mon which can just get bombed on the switch if it turns out to be physicals anyway, so nothing is really safe from Murkrow on the switch anyways. The con of Murkrow is that it's bulk is bad but due to Grumpig being so prevalent, its not as bad as it used to be so I would definitely suggest Murkrow for players to try out.​

 

[Tuthur]

The ZU Council voted on some of the newly released NFEs and as a result Basculin-White-Stripe, Qwilfish-Hisui, and Sneasel-Hisui have been banned from SV ZU. Tagging Kris and Marty to implement!

 

[Corthius]

Tier Shifts are live!

moved from ZU to PU
moved from ZU to PU

moved from PU to NFE​

Have fun and don't run stall.

 

[sinnabyss]

https://pokepast.es/d5b453227b78c743

Big stall in zu lol, this seems to be the most common version from what i've seen. Crocalor entering the tier has made a previously mid playstyle into a great one. EP on duns is fun for surprise chunking stonjouner. Toed does toed things, spinning away the hazards that annoy croc and knocking off items off opposing pokemon, crippling them despite the low damage. Dunny is a tanky consisten rock setter that nothing really wants to switch into because of serene grace body slam (BS) Croc shuts down a lot of major threats such as leafeon, threatning wisp and roaring any mons trying to sub on it. Oranguru checks the tiers many psychics, especially grumpig. protect lets it scout choice locked mons. hyper voice can be used over future sight for more immediate threat. greaveard is a huge annoyance to most physical attackers, restalk gives it recovery, roar lets it phaze mons trying to setup, and night shade lets it do consistent damage. finally, mareanie is a very tanky mon that rounds out the team. it absorbs tspikes which annoy toedscruel greatly (and everything else really), it can counter with its own tspikes (or just plain old toxic if you prefer)

 

[BaitWiz]

State of the Meta

A lot of people are frustrated with the current meta, and there are five mons that stand out to me in it. I just wanted to make a longer post detailing each one's strengths and weaknesses in as unbiased a fashion as possible, and then a sort of final thoughts with my own 'next steps' I would recommend.

Strengths: Grumpig's solid speed tier lets it get the jump on many of ZU's most common Pokemon like Luxray, Toedscool, and Banette, as well as outpacing pretty much every single wall. It boasts a solid 90 base special attack stat and can either have immediate speed/power with Choice Scarf/Specs or opt for more power later with Nasty Plot. Lastly, it does have a somewhat niche Substitute/Salac set, though this set isn't as common as other sets. It has phenomenal coverage even without Tera and uses Terastalization excellently to flip type matchups. Lastly, while its physical bulk isn't anything to write home about, it does actually have a respectable base 110 SpDef that's boosted further by Thick Fat, giving it additional resistances to key types.
Weaknesses: Grumpig's physical defense is lackluster, meaning it often finds itself 2HKO'd or OHKO'd by most common invested physical attacks and often takes hefty chunks even from uninvested attacks. It also gets slowed down by other psychics, including opposing Grumpig, and gets stopped almost completely by Oranguru. Banette also threatens to kill it outright with priority if it gets in safely as well. Dark types in general like Murkrow and Krokorok can also slow most of Grumpig's common sets down, though they have to be wary of the potential Focus Blast until the full set is revealed and can have the matchup flipped on them with Tera Fairy.

Strengths: Leafeon boasts phenomenal speed for ZU, outpacing the majority of the metagame even without boosts, and has solid attack to back it up. Almost every single set carries STAB and Swords Dance; after that, Leafeon has several great options between Double Edge, Synthesis, Trailblaze, and the rare Substitute. In addition, it has surprisingly solid physical bulk without investment due to its sizeable base 130 defense backed up by a decent base 65 HP stat. Leafeon's biggest strength, though, comes from Terastalization; gaining a different defensive typing with Tera Fire and/or improving its coverage to include the likes of Tera Ground and Tera Rock are what push Leafeon into a tier of its own, at times being capable of winning games on the spot with the right Tera type at the right time and often being able to pick and choose its counters.
Weaknesses: Leafeon is quite susceptible to status, with Toxic severely limiting its sweep and Paralysis/Burn often ending it outright. Crocalor is also a thorn in its side, standing firmly in Leafeon's way once it gets in. Outside of that, most of Leafeon's counterplay is situational; it gets stuffed completely by flying-types like Fletchinder and Jumpluff if it's running Tera Ground and can struggle against walls like Swalot and Sliggoo if it isn't. Leafeon is very difficult to offensively check and can typically wear its own defensive checks down to come back for a sweep later, making it one of the best Pokemon in the tier at the moment.

Strengths: It's a Bait post, Dunny's back. Dunsparce's decent bulk is pushed to extreme levels with Eviolite, allowing it to withstand some of the strongest attacks in the metagame including the likes of Luxray's Tera Normal Guts Boosted Facade and +2 Leafeon Leaf Blades. In addition, it has a great movepool, allowing it to pick and choose basically any three moves it wants after the requisite Roost; Body Slam, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Stealth Rock, Coil, and Calm Mind are just a few of the many moves that Dunsparce can easily slot onto its moveset. In addition, moves with secondary effects become twice as likely, allowing Dunsparce to get somewhat reliable paralysis off of Body Slam, often dropping SpDef with Shadow Ball, and even being capable of fishing for 20% Ice Beam freezes with shocking consistency due to its absurd bulk and longevity.
Weaknesses: Dunsparce is cripplingly weak to two things; loss of its item and status. Knock Off and Trick are excellent tools that many use to attempt to take Dunsparce's Eviolite away and are often carried on the likes of Banette, Grimer-A, and Choiced Grumpig. Paralysis tends to slow Dunsparce down quite a bit, giving it less opportunity to spread status and maintain hazards, while burn and poison cut into its bulk; toxic especially is a deathsend for Dunsparce, forcing it to switch out early and often once the status is applied. Finally, Dunsparce is quite passive in nature; while it's capable of being incredibly annoying through the spread of its paralysis, it doesn't actually output a ton of damage every turn, meaning it can become setup fodder for Substitute mons.

Strengths: Swalot has become one of the tier's defining mons for a reason. It has several great sets with AcidPress and Defensive Utility sets being its primary options. With access to the lucrative Toxic, its own hazards with Toxic Spikes, and a wide move pool allowing it to fit a wide variety of moves from Sludge Bomb to Earthquake to Shadow Ball to Ice Beam, Swalot can be customized fairly easily to fit its team's needs. It also has two great abilities for the tier; Sticky Hold lets it act as a Knock Off absorber for its team and hold onto its treasured Leftovers while Liquid Ooze punishes Leech Seed users like Jumpluff and Scovillain.
Weaknesses: Swalot's mono-Poison typing often betrays it, giving it a glaring weakness to the Psychic-types omnipresent throughout the tier. It also struggles immensely into other Poison-types and can often find its damage being lackluster, meaning that while it can find many opportunities to switch in and help its team, it doesn't have a ton to do once it's in. Swalot also suffers from a severe case of 4mss; AcidPress sets require a way to hit ghost-types, meaning they're typically forced to run either Shadow Ball or Toxic, and defensive utility sets in general can't fit all of the tools that they need to stop everything in the tier. Lastly, Swalot is missing a reliable recovery move, either having to run the unreliable Rest or, more often, running Protect as its 4th move to get the most out of its leftovers while it's in, creating room for abuse.

Full disclosure; I haven't seen much of Sliggoo-H personally, but I've been told enough about it (and seen enough complaints about it) that I feel okay doing a quick overview of it. This won't be as in-depth as the other four mons due to the lack of knowledge I have on it, and some statements here might be incorrect or incomplete.
Strengths: Our first actual Steel-type (sorry Cufant) has been making waves as a bulky Crit-Me-Not wincon with Battle Armor and CurseTalk + Iron Head bowling over unprepared teams, and it has solid bulk even before Eviolite comes into the equation. It also has a decent special attack stat to use half a dozen different moves off of, though I haven't heard much about special attacking sets.
Weaknesses: Sliggoo-H takes a long time to get rolling and is incredibly passive before it's setup, meaning it can often be out-setup by Acid/Iron-Press users like Swalot and Stonjourner. It also needs its Eviolite to maintain its special bulk for a sweep or risk getting cut short early by the likes of Specs Grumpig, meaning that it can often get chased out by the likes of Banette and Grimer that it would otherwise have no qualms sitting in front of and setting up on.

My thoughts:

Grumpig is a clear step above the rest of the Psychic-types in the tier and all of its traits combined make it unreasonably stressful on the builder. As such, I would fully support a ban on it.

Leafeon's abuse of Terastalization sometimes allows it to win from team preview with solid play, making it a wild card for the opponent to dance around at times. I'm unsure how I feel about Leafeon, but it's definitely problematic; I lean towards a suspect test for it more than anything, as I think it's far stronger on ladder than in tournament play.

Dunsparce's ability to unironically fish for freezes with legitimate consistency pushes it far across the line of competitively healthy in my eyes, especially when combined with Body Slam being risky for anything to switch into due to its hefty 60% paralysis rate and Dunny’s excellent longevity due to its great bulk. I fully support a ban for Dunsparce.

Swalot's a great Pokemon, but it also has clear counterplay. Losing it would be disastrous for the tier in my honest opinion, especially as it's one of the biggest reasons why SubSeed Jumpluff/Scovillain aren't ravaging the entire tier. I would be fully DNB in relation to Swalot; it brings far too many positives to the tier overall and has very clear cut weaknesses.

I'm uncomfortable stating much about Sliggoo, as I don't know much about it and haven't interacted with it much; my understanding is that it's one of the main reasons why Swalot is running AcidPress more often these days and it's a piece of the puzzle that is every team running 6 out of the 9 same mons every game.

Overall, I think there's still some degree room for innovation in this metagame, but there's also clear problematic mons that need to be resolved in one way or another and I think that these problematic mons are limiting the tier's ability to explore new ideas and concepts.

 

[Tuthur]

With ZU Open finishing, ZULT qualifications stages ongoing, and ZUPL right at the corner, the ZU Council would like to hear your opinion on the SV ZU metagame. As such we are holding an SV ZU Survey. Everyone is free to take part to it, so do not hesitate!

 

[love chants]

Gonna be dropping a metagame post based on my experiences from Cycles 1 and 2 from ZULT. Kind of sad how low the threshold was for Cycle 2, but at least I qualified so I can't complain.

The Slate

Gonna give some quick thoughts on these and what I rated them on the survey.

I don't see this mon as very problematic yet, but I do run a lot of stonjourner and sball swalot which can stuff it a bit, although it can tech wisp / sball for stonjourner. Right now I don't think its our biggest issue but I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes one as some of the few mons above get banned. It just struggles to find opportunities to come in and get a clean SD, but once teams get weakened its rather easy to cleanup with this mon. Rating: 2

Wow I dislike this mon. The community seems rather split on whether this mon is healthy or not. I think the reason some don't want it banned is it because it just hold the tier together being a nice glue, check all type of mon. I personally believe that it promotes lazy teambuilding although that's probably not a reason to get it banned alone. It always feels like it has an almost no drawback move to click in Body Slam and to a lesser extent Ice Beam. It does rely on eviolite but this is under the assumption that you can even find a knock onto it from one of our few viable knock users. It also dislikes spikes, but there are few good spikers in the tier and Toedscool can often struggle to even fit them. I think its rather unhealthy and uncompetitive for the same reasons Sneasler is talked about in OU, although I will say it will suck to lose a rocker since I feel so few feel actually viable. I would be happy with a suspect test. (also people haven't really toyed with weird agility headbutt sets yet ) Rating: 3

Man I haven't really thought of this mon to be honest so I'm not gonna have too many thoughts on it. I'm not sure I see it as broken but I run a lot of taunt and Iron Press Swalot + Stonj. Personally I believe there's ways to deal with it but I think it is rather centralizing as you have to have a couple outs for the curse sets. I think acid spray sets are manageable and rather healthy for the tier though. Its rated 4 but I'm leaning 3 now that I think about it more. The good news is that PU might take it anyway. Rating: 4

I think more people started complaining about this ever since AcidPress Swalot became more popular and honestly its very annoying but it hates taunt. I think the most annoying part of this mon is that it can tera dark, but then it loses to opposing swalot and mareanie. Not sure how I feel about this yet other than it and toxic are at the very least just annoying. Other sets are good but not broken imo such as SD. Rating: 1

This mon is just overcentralizing imo, while its not gonna clean up teams on its own it normally forces a 2 for 1 trade or playing the speed tie war or forcing out a tera. Its hard to find your switchin as well because you can opt for earth power, dgleam, focus blast as your third coverage option. Its hard to revenge kill too because of its solid bulk and lack of solid fast physical attackers in the tier outside of Scarf Thwack, Leafeon, Wugtrio (shit), and Banette. I think all this combined with its set variety make it too overbearing for the tier. Rating: 5

I think this lowkey might be the most broken mon in the tier. 3 Atks + Tera just has no switchins until you find the tera type which imo should be fire / ground right now but they can run steel / normal if they want (I would not recommend it though). The only thing thats keeping this in check is Sliggoo-H and once it leaves it'll be able to run 2 atks synthesis / sub more comfortably, Its speed + bulk + power is just too much for the tier, mostly its speed though. Rating: 5

Metagame Thoughts / More Random Rambling

The meta right now is simply stale at the moment. There's a pool of about 15 mons that I feel stand above everything else in the meta. Everything else seems rather mediocre or bad. I think its mostly because you don't wanna give mons like Sliggoo-H, Leafeon, Grumpig, and Swalot free turns. Leafeon and Grumpig should probably be banned and Sliggoo-H probably rises to PU, which will definitely shake up the meta and allow for it to develop a bit more.

chants list of good mons

Swalot
Dunsparce
Sliggoo-H
Grumpig
Leafeon
Banette
Stonjourner
Thwackey
Mareanie
Toescool
Hypno
Flareon
Crocalor

chants list of less good mons but are okay

Crocalor
Gothitelle
Oranguru
Jumpluff
Scovillain
Luxray
Dedenne
Gastly
Pawniard
Murkrow
Bramblin
Mudbray
Pupitar
Stantler
Raboot
Quilladin
Fletchinder

This is all just my opinions and some spots could change or w.e but it's just from what I've watched / played. The mons in the second list can be solid, but can often be stuffed or heavily annoyed by one of the mons in the top list. Overall the meta is pretty slow right now and fairly bulky and most teams look pretty similar but I think this has to do more with Sliggoo / Leafeon / Grumpig being rather constricting in the builder. One thing I hate is how few good rockers I feel we have. I can't drop teams right now per fish anemometer request so I'll just drop a couple sets I think are really good right now. Click on sprite for set.


Taunt Pig is extremely, extremely good at shutting down all these fat teams, I've honestly liked it more than NP although NP can be more threatening and force more immediate trades. I like it cause you can always just Taunt Swalots without fear they tera dark, also I've preferred Focus Blast as the coverage option to kill Tera Dark Swalot and Murkrow who have gotten more popular and still hitting Sliggoo-H and Dunsparce.


highlight of this set is shadow ball which helps you beat other swalot, banette, ID Stonj, and Gastly. Not much to say here to be honest its fairly simple.


Taunt is my preferred fourth move on Banette cause once again it shuts down fat and stops Press Swalot, cursed body helps you cheese sball swalot. I run bulk over max speed to take Sball from swalot a bit better.


This set has bulk to take 2 dunsparce ice beams and Covert Cloak obv avoid hax, tera can be ground or whatever. Not having boots can suck but being able to get potential 2 SDs on Dunsparce is nice, Tera Fire makes it hard to get revenged by thwackey and other leafeon unlike tera ground unless leafeon pops their tera ground. Credits to diego_yuhhi for spread.


This is super antimeta right now and can setup on a lot. Not sure what the spread does but this set was made up by Tuthur I believe. I was watching Toto farm with this on ladder. Not much to say other than its very good as its not my set.

That's pretty much it sorry for the lengthy post / rambling, but I've wanted to make a home meta post for a while now. Thanks for reading and good luck to those trying to qualify for ZULT.

 

[diegoyuhhi]

GREAVARD

Greavard @ Eviolite
Ability: Fluffy
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Night Shade
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Roar
​

"woah woah woah, WHAT? GREAVARD!?"
yup, greavard. if we had a vr thread this would be a vr nom post, but instead it's just a random post to showcase one of my favourite mons in this meta.
"b-but diego, doesn't that thing have like garbage stats?"
its stats are not great indeed, but let's just make a quick comparison:

although they serve different purposes, both these mons have really similar defensive stats, and both have access to eviolite to boost it further
"yea but mareanie has a great ability in regen while fluffy is kinda mid!!!"
fluffy can look mid on paper, but when you start looking at some calcs you realize how great it can actually be:

random calcs, alphabetically ordered

252+ Atk Banette Shadow Claw vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 76-90 (25 - 29.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO (ik it would just knock but w/e)
+2 252+ Atk Tera Dark Banette Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 210-247 (69.3 - 81.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
tera dark is mainly for this mon btw:
+6 252+ Atk Banette Shadow Claw vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Tera Dark Greavard: 75-88 (24.7 - 29%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO
+4 252+ Atk Banette Shadow Claw vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Fluffy Tera Dark Greavard: 84-100 (27.7 - 33%) -- guaranteed 4HKO (assuming evio knocked off)

+2 252 Atk Dewott Liquidation vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 63-75 (20.7 - 24.7%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
+6 252 Atk Dewott Liquidation vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 126-149 (41.5 - 49.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Gumshoos Crunch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 168-198 (55.4 - 65.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (you live the one afterwards and are able rest if rocks aren't up)

+6 252 Atk Jumpluff Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 137-162 (45.2 - 53.4%) -- 35.5% chance to 2HKO

+2 252 Atk Leafeon Leaf Blade vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 85-101 (28 - 33.3%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO
+6 252 Atk Tera Grass Leafeon Leaf Blade vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 228-269 (75.2 - 88.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (unlikely scenario but wanted to showcase how insane this mon's bulk can be)

252 Atk Guts Luxray Crunch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 81-96 (26.7 - 31.6%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Guts Luxray Facade (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Tera Dark Greavard: 70-83 (23.1 - 27.3%) -- 69.2% chance to 4HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Pure Power Meditite Zen Headbutt vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 70-83 (23.1 - 27.3%) -- 62.2% chance to 4HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Slaking Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 101-119 (33.3 - 39.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252+ Atk Sudowoodo Head Smash vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 73-87 (24 - 28.7%) -- 98.1% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Sudowoodo Head Smash vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 96-113 (31.6 - 37.2%) -- 83.1% chance to 3HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Wugtrio Triple Dive (3 hits) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 63-72 (20.7 - 23.7%) -- approx. 5HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Wugtrio Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Fluffy Greavard: 72-85 (23.7 - 28%) -- 89.6% chance to 4HKO

“well i wanna see this mon in action tho!!”

replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9zu-1873993252 here during the first cycle of ladder tour, we can see how in the endgame after setting rocks up greavard only had to spam roar and occasionally heal up to rack up damage in the opposing team.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9zu-1874928735 again during ladder tour, greavard just sat in front of the physical attackers on my opponent's team and walled them indefinitely lmao

aaand yea that was a quick talk about a mon i like more than what i should. idek why i made this post i was bored

 

[Tuthur]

The survey has been open for about a week, and the council would like to share the results and the future plans we have.

Answers show that the metagame is particularly unenjoyable with an average grade of 6.05 overall, which is even lower for qualified voters whose average drops to 5.56. It is also not perceived as much competitive, with an average grade of 5.85, which drops further down to 5.5 for qualified voters. Overall, the metagame seems quite disliked with it being neither enjoyable nor competitive for most players.


Moving to individual Pokemon, we start with Banette. Banette has risen as a staple of offensive teams, as the most effective spinblocker and a very threatening Swords Dance sweeper with access to Knock Off. The general public rated it at 2.03, while the qualified pool rated it at 1.94, meaning Banette is majoritly perceived as a balanced presence in the tier.


Dunsparce has been the source of plenty of discussions due to its ability to easily ditch paralysis, fish for freeze, and wall most of the tier. These issues with it were well reflected in the votes with a 3.27 average grade. However, the qualified voters seem to find it more manageable with a 2.94 average grade. There doesn't seem to be a consensus on Dunsparce, community members being quite split on its brokeness, competitivity, and balance.


Since its drop last month, Grumpig has been one of the most controversial Pokemon in the tier. It has gathered the highest average grade in both pools, 3.72 for the general one and 3.88 for the qualified one. This shows that at all level of the playerbase, most perceive Grumpig as the most problematic element in the tier. It must be noticed that some players mentionned in their answers that they are worried about the other Psychic-types; Gothitelle, Hypno, and Oranguru, which perform a similar role to Grumpig.


Hisuian Sliggoo sports an amazing defensive typing and stellar bulk, making it one of the hardest Pokemon to take out, and can tear holes throught teams with its Curse and Acid Spray sets. Many have complained about how restrictive Hisuian Sliggoo was to play against. The average grade it scored are 3.27 for unqualified pool and 3.56 for qualified pool, that shows it is considerd as a problematic element at every level of play, almost at the same level as Grumpig.


Leafeon has progressively risen as one of the most threatening breakers in the tier thanks to its excellent stats and access to Swords Dance. Leafeon scored an average grade of 3.13 in the general pool, and 3.44. This shows once again a consensus on this Pokemon, with most players considering it problematic. It should also be noted that several individual answers asked for actions to be taken specifically against sun teams. Leafeon happens to be one of the best abuser of sun, with Scovillain.


Swalot has been a premier tank in the metagame for a while, and recently started to make with its AcidPress sets. However, both pool seem to be fine with it, giving it 2.15 and 2.13 in average, meaning it is perceived as a very strong Pokemon, but not a problematic one.

Several voters manifested a will of getting rid of terastallization. This won't happen as ZU doesn't want to split from official lower tiers, that all allow it.

With answers being so negative about the state of the tier, the council is holding a vote on all 4 Pokemon that scored an average grade over 3; Dunsparce, Grumpig, Hisuian Sliggoo, and Leafeon, as tiering decisions are deemed urgent and necessary. Stay tune for results of the vote!

 

[Tuthur]

As announced on the above post, the SV ZU Council voted on Dunsparce, Grumpig, Hisuian Sliggoo, and Leafeon.

​

As a result Leafeon and Grumpig have been quickbanned from SV ZU. Tagging Kris and Marty to implement the bans on the ladder.

 

[Corthius]

I am so happy about the Leafeon ban. It was in my eyes the most restricting pokemon we had in the tier by a mile. There are a bunch of pokemon that I tihnk benefit a lot from this, and many of them for a simple reason: Their speed tier.
Many pokemon like Raboot, Murkrow, Pikachu, Drizzile and Stantler had one big issue, when I considered putting them on my team: They are breaker, that get revengekilled pretty easily by Leafeon. That was such a big issue because giving Leafeon free turns or even save switchins was a pain to deal with. Now these pokemon get freed up more and I can justify using them a lot easier, which makes me really happy. Other pokemon, that partly benefit from the speed tier argument, are Wugtrio and Thwackey, two pokemon that I have learned to love, especially pablo.

I want to go deeper into the topic of three pokemon that benefited from the ban and what sets they might run now more effectively.


Raboot @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
Tera Type: Dark / Fire / Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- High Jump Kick
- Sucker Punch / Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
This is the big winner for me right now. It can run a multiple of different moves and sets, if supported properly. The easiest to use is an offensive pivot set that runs Flare Blitz/HJK/Uturn and Sucker Punch/Taunt/other fillers. It is really effective at chipping down walls with hazards, while maintaining momentum via U-turn. The set I am really excited to use is the one above. With Libero changing your typing to Normal, you get STAB on Double-Edge and get really good neutral coverage in Normal and Fighting. Complementing that, you can pick between Sucker Punch, which I still found very valuable in general, and prevents getting revengekilled as easily, or Fire coverage. I'm looking forward to using this set!


Stantler @ Eviolite
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tera Blast
- Earth Power
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
Honestly, I have no clue what this thing is going to use the most effectively. I have seen CM + Agility sets, bulky CM + Rest sets, CM 3 Attacks and physical sets. Stantler is super diverse, and the average speed tier dropping also helps it immensely. It can basically do whatever it wants, and I always viewed it as a more nerfed and balanced Girafarig. The bulk with Eviolite is amazing and 3 good abilities only increase the diversity in what it can do. I personally view CB and CM 3 Attacks sets to be the most effective, simply because the metagame is still filled with immense threats that I don't want to allow to set up alongside me. Trick is also really cool for choiced sets in general. I am really excited for ZUPL, and some teams bringing new stuff like Stantler and creative sets there!


Scovillain @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Stomping Tantrum
- Sunny Day
Scovillain fell off pretty badly. The average speed tier got higher, Grumpig was a really solid and splashable answer to it, and with Leafeon being everywhere, Sunny Day sets weren't all that great anymore. With both Leafeon and Grumpig getting the boot, I believe that Scovillain's usage rises, especially sets that include Sunny Day. Manual Sun got pretty much nerfed into not existing anymore, but self-setting Scovillain sounds really really potent. The sets can vary too, but I didn't bother putting every single option for it.

That's it from me so far, I wish everyone happy metagame-development and have a great day. Cheers.

 

[JMan1008]

I'm so glad Grumpig is gone, but now I'm gonna have to find a new cheesy win condition other than Leafeon (It definitely needed the ban tho lol, I kept using it for a reason after all). And with the undisputed best psychic back out of the tier, I can use Hypno without seeming like I'm throwing too.

Overall though, I'm happy with the bans and excited to see how the tier develops without two insanely strong mons in the tier. Dunsparce is still gonna be annoying to deal with, but having more flexibility to build around it now that you don't have to worry about two potent sweepers is pretty nice. (You also don't have those sweepers to deal with Dunsparce but that's a whole different issue and I'm sure plenty of people know how to deal with it way better than I do)

Also as a completely different topic, how do we feel about Gumshoos? As far as competing Normal types go, Slaking's a menace but also super exploitable, Persian's 70 ATK is kinda disappointing sometimes, Dunsparce is a tank but I like finishing games within an hour so I'm not a huge fan of running it, and Oranguru is just a mid Psychic type, so what about the second highest ATK Normal type in the tier? I've been trying out this set for the boi and it's pretty simple but fun kinda like how I find Slaking to be:


Gumshoos @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Facade
- U-Turn
- Crunch
- Earthquake

Gumshoos might not be Slaking levels of strong, but 110 ATK is still pretty threatening, and if you run Facade and manage to eat a status move, you can just spam a crisp 280 BP move at everything but the few ghosts in the tier and pretend you're Ursaluna. Its low speed does mean you're gonna eat a lot of hits but hey maybe you can make Trick Room work down here (I doubt it but still). The other moves really don't matter but Crunch is good if you swap in on a Banette for some reason, and Earthquake can deal damage to Stonjourner without taking 10 years. You could also run a Strong Jaw set with Tera Dark and some biting moves (especially Crunch)to grab a surprise KO on that Banette who thought it'd eat an Adaptability/Stakeout Facade. The mon does suck though, don't get me wrong, it's just a decent status absorber in a tier with zero Heal Bell (Happiny is not a real pokemon). Now we just have to wait til July to see what nasty mons we'll get this time

 

[plznostep]

Winners and Losers of Bans

With Leafeon and Grumpig banned, ZU has entered a new era. These are some winners and losers that will benefit a lot with these changes.

Winners



Wugtrio

Wugtrio loves the fact that Leafeon is gone, one of its most common answers. This leaves most teams Water resist as Sliggoo-Hisui, which Wugtrio has coverage for anyways

252 Atk Choice Band Wugtrio Stomping Tantrum vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Sliggoo-Hisui: 160-190 (50.1 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

This makes Wugtrio much better as a wallbreaker and cleaner, and I anticipate it will see a resurgence in usage.



Drizzile

Drizzile is in a very similar case to Wugtrio. It appreciates the fact that Leafeon isn't around anymore, as it has little to no coverage to hit it with and doesn't have worry about being revenged by it anymore. It's a good step in the right direction for Drizzile, and now we just need to see Sliggoo-Hisui to go for it to really thrive in this tier.



Glalie

Glalie was always very annoyed about Grumpig being around in the meta, as it could switch into its Ice moves and force it out afterwards, not a great matchup. With Grumpig gone, Glalie should be able to more freely spam its Ice moves in the tier, and while it had priority in Ice Shard, having one less faster physical attacker in Leafeon to revenge it is very nice.



Swalot

Be prepared to see a lot more of Swalot in the coming days. Grumpig is now gone, meaning that that's one less threat for most Swalot sets to worry about. This means the tier will be running Psychic-types that are generally much slower such as Hypno and Oranguru, meaning Swalot may have the opportunity to get the jump on them.



Pikachu

Pikachu very much appreciates these bans. Pikachu struggles with Leafeon due to being outsped by it and also because it lacks the coverage to hit it. Now with Leafeon gone, Pikachu is way more threatening. Grumpig was also a generally fat special mon that could run Tera Ground and annoy it a lot, so its great that Grumpig is gone. I also anticipate we'll see a lot more of Pikachu, as these two being gone opens it up a lot.



Raboot

Raboot benefits a lot from Leafeon leaving the tier, it no longer has to worry about being revenge killed by it at all and will likely take up the slot as a strong physical revenge killer, but one that will not have the same bulk and options that Leafeon had, making it overall way more balanced for this tier. I am very excited to see this Pokemon become more revelant in the meta with its amazing ability in Libero and movepool, with options such as Flare Blitz, High Jump Kick, Sucker Punch, U-turn, etc.



Grimer-Alola

Grimer-Alola was always at an odd place in the meta before. It was a great check to Grumpig, but it could slot Earth Power to hit it super effectively. Now, no Psychic actually has a move to hit it, meaning that it is now probably the premier Psychic answer in the tier, effortlessly shutting down dangerous setup sweepers such as Hypno. Swalot becoming more revelant hurts it, but Swalot was already incredibly common before anyway, so nothing's changed there.



Gothitelle

With Grumpig gone, Gothitelle has lost its main form of competition. While Gothitelle definitely won't be as dominant as it was in April, I can see it becoming a pretty solid breaker in the tier, stepping up and filling Grumpigs role as a strong Psychic breaker, while its poor speed and worse coverage options will make sure it isn't as centralizing as Grumpig ever was.


Losers

Sun Abusers

Sun has just lost its strongest Pokemon in Leafeon, and the other abusers do not look like they will be stepping up to fill the role that Leafeon has left behind. As a result, Manual Sun has died, meaning all abusers have taken a pretty bad hit, despite Grumpig leaving.



Fletchinder

One of Fletchinders best qualities was how well it dealt with Leafeon. Tera Rock sets are extinct after Sliggo-hisui dropped, and Tera Ground became much more popular, a set Fletchinder completely walled. With Leafeon now gone, Fletchinder has now lost some of its utility. However, Raboot seems to be becoming more popular, which at least gives Fletchinder a new meta revelant Pokemon to bully, and a Defogger is always appreciated in a tier with so little hazard control measures.



Crocalor

Crocalor was so valuable on stall for a variety of reasons, but one of which was how well it managed to deal with Leafeon, arguably the most dangerous Pokemon in the tier, and it also benefitted from soft checking Grumpig somewhat. With these two both gone, Crocalor is taking quite a big hit and I think we might be seeing a bit less of it in the future.



​

 

[Tuthur]

Tier shifts happened!

-
+

 

[JMan1008]

I am so hyped for the tier shifts this month. I do wish we got more drops but maybe next month we'll get the trickle down from the HOME mon drops (Calyrex will be here guaranteed)


Dunsparce was the most annoying mon to face in my opinion and it dragged out so many games on its own with its variety of nonsense sets. Between prepping for Coil sets, and Calm Mind sets, and pure utility sets alongside needing to predict your answers properly since it can Tera out of its singular weakness to take the game. Definitely happy to see it go.


Luxray has just felt kinda mid to me for a while since it's reliant on tera to get the most out of its best set. Guts sweepers are scary and being a Guts sweeper that doesn't need to Toxic itself like Flareon is definitely a good trait, but it just never felt like enough to take a game away. I have no idea how PU found a niche for it, but good for Luxray for moving up in the world.


I was a big fan of the snail and its a bit disappointing to see it go. It is a pretty damn good Steel type though so I can see why it'd be used in PU enough to rise. Hopefully we get another Steel type that isn't bad tho.


Vespiquen is a pretty cool new addition. It's the only other fully evolved Bug type other than Kricketune now and it serves a completely different function than "Set up webs and die" so I'm pretty hyped to try messing around with it. It has Toxic, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes while not being weak to Ground which is pretty great. And it has recovery plus a good variety of attacking moves to mess around with. Not to mention Destiny Bond and Taunt for utility AND being a slow U-Turn mon who even gets STAB on it. We do have a huge pile of rocks in the metagame though which OHKOs with Stone Edge even with max bulk, but we did just get another good special attacker to deal with it so I can see it working out really well


Speaking of that new special attacker, Frogadier is another nice addition. It's less immediately powerful than Drizzile, but Protean letting it change types alongside its higher speed is a huge benefit over the emo lizard. It OHKOs the rock with any special attack and it outspeeds (It even outspeeds a max speed Stonjourner at +2 as long as it runs a Scarf).


Onto the last addition, Dragonair seems like it could be an interesting addition to the tier. It'd be another Dragon Dance user and it has the same attack as Pupitar plus more speed with just a bit less bulk. It has Shed Skin too so it can run the ever-so-fun Rest with not much of a cost to it. Its physical movepool covers everything it'd really need with a good STAB in Outrage, a good attack against fairies in Iron Head, Extremespeed which is just always good (especially with Tera Normal), and Waterfall and Aqua Jet as random coverage if you really need to hit Fletchinder for some reaosn. It doesn't quite pack the same immediate power as our other physical attackers, but Dragon Dance might be able to rocket it higher than I expect. I'm not sure what exactly to expect from Dragonair but maybe it'll do something great.

Overall I'm happy with the tier shifts for ZU (other than losing Sliggoo-Hisui, and I'm excited to see where the tier goes from here.

 

[5Dots]

Going to provide some thoughts:
LOSSES

PU has discussed about it being a rock-solid Stealth Rock setter with amazing special bulk and recovery; while I didn’t expect it to move up, nevertheless, it was a welcome change. ZU matches, especially in Open, often engaged in Dunsparce wars to see who can fish for the first freeze or crucial paralysis. Setup sets like Coil (or less commonly, Calm Mind) also made it a slow but steady wincon that was difficult to deal with late-game, helped by Tera Steel or Poison negating its most debilitating weakness, Toxic. Not helping was the lack of good Knock Off users and the lack of powerful wallbreakers able to 2HKO it. I agree with JMan1008 that Dunsparce was an unhealthy presence in the tier and made games more luck-reliant with the Serene Grace shenanigans.

A lot more surprised about Luxray moving up. Even in ZU I‘ve found it difficult to slot due to how quickly it was worn down by wallbreaker and defensive sets alike. Luxray has no recovery outside Rest and struggled to deal with physical walls like Dunsparce, Stonjourner and Swalot, other than Mareanie and Pupitar. Ground-types were more uncommon albeit even better against it, which included Hippopotas and Sandygast. Based on how defensive the meta has gotten, on paper it would theoretically excel, but in practice it just didn’t hit hard enough to do so.

Hisuian Sliggoo’s two sets in either Acid Spray utility or Curse wincon, while not overwhelming (especially when compared to Dunsparce), was still quite difficult to stop noneoftheless. Between 58/83/113 bulk bolstered with Eviolite, Sliggoo-H would be relatively easy to pivot in and either wall everything or force many switches. Terastalization was the chef’s kiss - AcidPress Swalots or Stonjourners looking to beat would get walled by Tera Fairy, resulting in them eventually losing in the long run without luck. Like Dunsparce, not many would be able to 2HKO it right away, enabling it to set up comfortably late-game or be very annoying throughout various stages of the game.
GAINS

Honestly not too sure about this. It’s got all the qualities on paper to be a fantastic Spiker, including Protean, amazing Speed, U-turn, and Switcheroo. Our best water-types before its inclusion included Mareanie, a passive wall, and Wugtrio, a prediction-reliant wallbreaker not easy to fit on teams. On the other hand, its low bulk and merely decent offenses can make it too weak before it can sufficiently break through teams. I think it would be a great inclusion for offensive hazard builds when considering the strengths above.

Say hello to the new best Bug-type in the meta, gracefully triumphing over the intimidating Kricketune. In all seriousness, I also am skeptical about Vespiquen’s potential. It may very well be the best Spiker with amazing bulk compounded with Terastalization, which makes it really annoying to take down. It gets other neat tools like U-turn, Toxic, and Roost, which makes it a very bulky pivot with good recovery, which makes it great for enabling other teammates to come in more safely. This is especially prominent given the fact ZU has a shortage of good hazard removal, relying in either Toedscool for Rapid Spin or Fletchinder for Defog. On the other hand, Swalot and Mareanie are dominant walls that are immune to Toxic while threatening to Toxic it back. The fact that Vespiquen needs to Terastalize to offset is awful typing showcases how much support it needs to work, which isn’t easy considering numerous other Pokemon also vie for the same thing. Vespiquen’s shallow movepool means that most of its damage output won’t come from itself; rather, either residual damage or its teammates.

With the most prominent Fairy-type being the frail Dedenne and our remaining good Steels being Cufant, Pawniard, and Varoom, I think Dragonair may very well be the next Fraxure. Dragon Dance sets are hard to stop when considering the lack of solid Dragon immunities/resists, and it gets neat tools like Extreme Speed to circumvent its vulnerability to being revenge killed, and Shed Skin to potentially negate status. Can be a really good cleaner once walls like Swalot and Mare are weakened, especially with Tera Normal to further amp Extreme Speed’s power.​

 

[AstilCodex]

Since this tier has become somewhat playable again, not because of the bans more so the shifts that took some fat away. I still think Swalot should be gone but appearently only me thinks metapod fights are not ok . Saving it from an endless boring and dull gameplay and the award to the worst zu early meta in the start of a generation. I might as well do some writy :>

Frogadier is stupid good, it takes all the benefits from a strong special water type that Drizzile provides and makes it even better, even if its slightly weaker it gets compensated by Protean and Ice Beam coverage, faster as well. The main issue with this is its utility moves and support options. Fast spiker that threatens all limited removal (Toed, Bramblin, Fletch) for a ko with Hydro + Ice Beam is insane. Its also not limited to Specs, I've been testing and running into Scarf, Life Orb, even Eviolite does the job to switch moves and gets Spikes up. Switcheroo, Tspikes as well. Only reliant switch-in I can think of are and but you just spike up and uturn on those. I don't know if this is staying tbh.

I love that this guy does similar thing that Dnite does in ou, with a mix of Pupitar too. Dragonair is a great offensive addition and scary setup sweeper. DD + Tera Espeed and Shed Skin Rest gives it multiple chances and scenarios to setup since it can be worn down and still potentially set for a sweep later, or just muscle through something undesirable in the mid game. I personally run Outrage as 4th cuz its stronger vs fat stuff like Oranguru or Swalot but Waterfall is an option for Stonj and Tinkatink i guess. I don't see this mon as an issue currently since its first typing isn't that great, Dragon gets hit neutrally by a lot and its not that bulky even with investment. Knock, hazards and the prominence of Encore in the tier keeps it balanced.

Omg this mon its so good. Love Vespiquen, best pivot right now imo. It just blankets so much hits and its a very reliable switch into the abundant psychics that run the tier. Slow U-turn is great for momentum, another amazing spiker too which access to the limited Toxic which is huge in a non-poison types in the filthy lands for SV. Pressure is also great for taking out low pp moves, mostly 8 pp ones. Even if this is susceptible to get Knocked or Tricked its not even the end of the world as Slow U-turn will pressure their rocker constantly to avoid getting them up. Tera Ghost/Steel seem like the best options to keep hazards up vs spin or gain a better typing inmune to opp Toxic. I've also seen Hurricane for offensive pressure and some stallbreaker set with Taunt. This mon is awesome, use it.

I'm not even gonna talk about Higgoo and Dunsparce, but for all the Luxray lovers. You may be missed. Prob see you the next month tho.

 

[Tuthur]

​

The SV ZU Council has unanimously voted to quickban Frogadier. Frogadier has been a menace since it dropped last week. Its speed tier lets it outspeed most of the tier and threaten it from an OHKO or 2HKO, as the tier notably lacks reliable Water and Ice resists. Frogadier also dictates the hazard metagame with its ability to easily setup Spikes as its few switch-ins like Mareanie come in and is able to OHKO the most common removers like Toedscool and Fletchinder.

Tagging Kris and Marty to implement Frogadier's ban from SV ZU on PS!.

 

[S1nn0hC0nfirm3d]

is really hard to fit on teams because despite its buff with Spikes, and this meta being so hazard-centric, it’s because of said meta it’s struggling. It’s typing could make it a good physical wall but because stuff like and run Knock Off and others like nuke it then it’s rough. On the special side of things, it could work better with STAB U-Turn for our Psychic-types, but then you still don’t perform that well versus Trick and NP + Tera not in your favor. I would like to give this mon hope but the lack of a clear defensive niche on top of a horrible movepool past Spikes / Roost / U-Turn makes me think this thing won’t shine for long if not at all.

I agree mostly with what AstilCodex wrote but I wanted to add that there’s potential for special lure sets. If most teams just love running Ston as their wall then what’s stopping DD +Surf? Or even Twave + 3 attacks? Could be pretty annoying in a tier setting but far from gen5 vibes.

should see more use, especially alongside You would have more diversity for rockers while still walling every physical attacker, and covering hazards well with SR + Tspikes + Tspikes absorber. The glaring flaw is and how it isn’t the easiest to fit mare with but in general I think it’s not too hard to fit other Grass-type checks like God forbid you add something like Defog and now look you just need a special wall for a simple balance.

—

No immediate call for action for bans this month imo. The hazard meta and its centralization is really toxic and annoying but we shouldn’t be starving for too much longer, hopefully.

 

[Tuthur]

Tier Shifts are up!
Calyrex moved from PU to ZU
Glaceon moved from PU to ZU
Golduck moved from PU to ZU
Lumineon moved from PU to ZU
Squawkabilly moved from PU to ZU
Drakloak moved from PU to NFE

 

[Mirbro]

August tier shifts

Leafeon moved from ZUBL to PU

Calyrex moved from PU to ZU
Glaceon moved from PU to ZU
Golduck moved from PU to ZU
Lumineon moved from PU to ZU
Squawkabilly moved from PU to ZU
Drakloak moved from PU to NFE

Psychic types are common in ZU right now, but this might be a new addition that can bring a speedy Psychic type. Because of Tera and Trick, CM and Scarf/Specs might see some usage (Vespiquen needs to be careful about Tera Rock). However, it does not seem broken due to the Grass-Psychic typing and the fact that has not much longevity. I can see it as a B mon.

This might be a new wallbreaker as CM or Specs are good. Moreover, Water-types need to be careful about its Freeze-Dry. Solid A mon or even S. Banworthy?

Well, water mons are going to be splashed in all ZU rn. Golduck would be really good if Lumineon did not fall at the same time. NP Rain abuser and Scarf sets might be good. However, Lumineon can tank it and threaten it with U-turn while gaining momentum. A mon, depending on Lumineon success and how people try to make rain work. Tera Grass/Electric might make it really strong.

Another water like Golduck, but a tanky one that pivots around. We had it in the past and it was really good as a backbone with offensive pressure. Lumineon is gonna be an A mon with some chances to get higher. Water STAB are really good rn.

Guts, Pivot and Scarf are all good. Pokémon with decent atk and speed, while having access to STAB priority moves. Ban rn.

I would say another healthy addition but it is going to make more difficult the spinning process. Besides that, I would say it is a healthy addition to the tier. Pivot and phazing sets might be really good. A mon.

 

[JMan1008]

These tier shifts are way better than last time and I’m hyped as hell to start experimenting with all the drops. We didn’t even lose a mon this time which is even better. As for individual drops:



Calyrex is a bit weird. It’s another Psychic type in a tier with big Psychic competition but it does pack a mild amount of recovery alongside stored power and calm mind and unlike Hypno (the only other fully evolved Psychic who fits that description), it has more immediate power and overall bulk while also having the only move that ever made Hypno worthwhile in Draining Kiss. Hypno’s been slowly on the way out since Draining Kiss isn’t super reliable and the lack of power has been showing, so I expect Calyrex to kinda kill Hypno once and for all now. Which is unfortunate given how much I’ve been having fun getting Hypno sweeps this generation, but maybe Calyrex will do it better and be a solid competitor to the other Psychics.



I’m so excited to have Glaceon in the tier. I was experimenting with Calm Mind, Stored Power Flareon of all things just to have another Special Attacker, but now we’ve got something that outclasses our best Special Attacker by over 20 points. Its speed does suck and it doesn’t really have an ability at all, but access to Trailblaze, Wish, Calm Mind and a really good STAB type of Ice might make it worthwhile. Or hell, just toss specs on it with Freeze Dry/Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Tera Blast with Ground and then one of its other notso great additional moves and give it paralysis support and/or webs to get a decent cleaner. Hell it might be worth banning at some point but not too too soon guys, we’ve got enough specially defensive stuff anyways.



I lumped these two together because, to me at least, they give us access to another viable weather team as opposed to needing to suffer through Scovillain Chloro sweeps over and over, now it can be Golduck sweeps and Lumineon Sweeps. They both do have their own individual merits as well. Golduck has a great movepool and solid attacking stats to make use of it alongside support options such as Hypnosis for sleep, Simple Beam for shutting down ability-based mons and Cloud Nine for stuffing weather teams even more. Lumineon is arguably worse as its only real benefits are having access to U-Turn, Fairy coverage, and Safeguard if you’re really feeling it. It does also have Storm Drain to get its Special Attack to usable levels if it takes a water hit, but I don’t think it’ll shine much with Golduck around. I could absolutely be wrong tho



Squawkabilly seems pretty solid. It has phenomenal abilities in Intimidate, Hustle, Sheer Force, and Guts, but it doesn’t have the movepool to be a good Sheer Force mon. Guts is great tho and getting to abuse STAB Façade with it is great as well, not to mention it’s decently high speed and access to U-Turn making it a good option for pivoting. It doesn’t really have much other options other than spam moves with Guts or support with pivot and Intimidate tho so I’m not sure how well it will do in a tier where a faster electric in Dedenne is used a decent bit. I was wrong about Frogadier being good tho, so I might be missing something here again.



Another great ghost type to add to the tier. Doesn’t have any real Physical Ghost STAB to speak of, but access to Dragon Dance, a very fast U-Turn, great support movepool, and just a great movepool in general I think it’s gonna be a great mon who’s either banworthy due to its support options or just a mainstay Ghost type so Banette can stop carrying the type on its back

As for overall thoughts, I really like the way the metagame's been shaping up and these new additions don't really seem outright broken right now, but who knows maybe playing will change my opinion on that. Regardless though nothing we have or have had really feels like it's breaking the metagame. Lack of hazard removal is just the standard at this point, and while I hate having to spend a while breaking through Swalot while it boosts its defense and spreads Toxic, it does eventually die most of the time unlike a certain tsuchinoko was incapable of doing. And my only previous gripe with the tier was a lack of weather abusers outside of sun teams, but that got fixed before I could make a post complaining about it. And I just wanna pour one out to poor Leafeon who totally did nothing wrong and didn't create an even bigger weather based issue in the tier and could totally come back now that rain has actual mons.

 

[Tuthur]

Council voted on the new mons.

Glaceon and Golduck have been banned from SV ZU. Tagging Marty and Kris to implement.

​

 

[Tuthur]

Squawkabilly is now banned from SV ZU
​

While the council was initially split on Squawkabilly last week end (2 Ban, 3 DNB). Having it allowed for one week in ZUPL, allowed us for more experience with it and reconsider our judgement, and hold another voting slate on it. Squawkabilly just sported too great offensive stats; outspeeding most of the tier, notably Stonjourner, insane damage output with Guts boosted Facade or Hustle boosted Brave Bird, and having a strong priority for the few Pokemon that were faster than it, while not being locked. Squawkabilly can also fit Terablast Ground, that nails the few defensive counterplay that it has in Stonjourner and Steel-types (mostly tera users like Swalot and Dragonair), and U-turn / Parting Shot to scout for these Tera Steel users and escape its few poor matchups while retaining momentum. As such the council voted again on Squawkabilly and it's now banned from SV ZU. Tagging Marty and Kris to implement the ban on PS.

votes

Corthius: Ban
Danny: hasnt voted yet
Drud: Ban
OranBerryBlissey10: Ban
Tuthur: Ban

 

[GregariousGreg]

Hippopotas is underrated in SV ZU and should be used more. It is a good user of Stealth Rocks, which provides valuable chip along with Sandstorm for teammates such as SD Banette or DD Dragonair. It has fantastic physical bulk, but also can invest in Special Defense to help take care of Dedenne and Non-Toxic Utility Swalot.

Hippopotas is a good Stealth Rocker, which is one of the most important entry hazards in the game. Stealth Rock damages switch-ins looking to abuses Hippopotas' passivity, making it a valuable tool for wearing down opposing teams, especially when paired with Whirlwind. Slack Off gives Hippopotas reliable recovery, allowing it to heal off damage over time and be a more effective phazer. In addition to this, Hippopotas is a Ground-type, which allows it to block Volt Switch. Its high defense paired with recovery in Slack Off lets it effectively Whirlwind or Earthquake physical attackers such as Dragonair, Stonjourner, and SD Swalot. The chip that Hippopotas provides from Sandstorm and Stealth Rock with Whirlwind helps late game sweepers such as SD Banette and Rock Polish Stonjourner clean up late-game.

In Conclusion, Hippopotas should be used more because of its excellent bulk, access to Stealth Rocks, Ground typing, and superb phazing capabilities which help facilitate late-game breakers.