So I was gonna get #1 before posting this, but the current #1 is at 1715 & I'm tired of bouncing between 1600-1670 (been doing so for four hours now), playing against people roughly ~200 points below me. Anyway I hope you can appreciate the metagame take of
#2 as well.
EDIT:
Nvm I did it
First of all I'd like to say that throughout my laddering session I've become more and more sympathetic towards
talah 's arguments against Dynamax, the value it puts on short-term is absurd, it is preventing many other skills that people enjoy expressing from shining. Additionally, I'm confident that a post-Dynamax metagame will have plenty of ways to break through fat builds, unlike my initial assumption
here, I'll be going over them somewhere in this post.
The King
This Pokemon a complete joke. The combination of Gorilla Tactics + Choice Band lets it 2hko everything in the tier (even physdef Pyukumuku), and its good speed tier allows it to outspeed the majority of the metagame, such as the two Rotom formations and Excadrill. In addition to the almighty Choice Band set, Darmanitan can also run Choice Scarf and be plenty strong, while becoming even more of a threat to offensively oriented teams.
The Volt Switchers
If you are facing BO on high ladder, chances are you'll encounter either one of these. Due to the significant cut-down on Ground-types Volt Switch is near impossible to block, allowing the rotom formations to generate momentum like crazy. Since Rotom doesn't learn Pain Split anymore you usually won't find them on balanced / stall builds, but they could run Rest(+Talk). Trick is a fantastic option since Mega-Stones and Z-Crystals are no more, allowing you to frequently cripple an opposing Pokemon.
This is a defensive Choice Scarf Rotom-Heat set I ran, it outspeeds up to Mew (which most importantly includes Darmanitan and Togekiss), investing the remaining EV's into physical bulk.
The Ground Types
Ground-type variety is very lackluster in Sword & Shield, but these three are gonna do a great job. At least this makes your choice very simple: Seismitoad is your man for offensive teams, while Hippowdon is usually the pick for defensive ones. Excadrill can fulfill a variety of roles ranging from utility spin attacker to suicide lead. I wanna go a bit more in-depth on the former two however. Seismitoad can block both Rotom's Volt Switch and has access to Stealth Rock as well as Toxic and Scald. I've even seen some Rest variants running around. The water immunity also provides you with a solid answer to Dracovish, one of the scariest breakers in the tier. Hippowdon also has access to Stealth Rock and Toxic, but in addition to that he gets Slack Off and Whirlwind, which doesn't sound impressive at first but it is as pivotal in this Substitute-filled meta as it is rare.
The Steel Types
Corviknight is perhaps the best Pokemon in the tier if we don't count Darmanitan. It can pull off around 10 sets, and the defensive utility it provides is truly outstanding. He is the only common Pressure user in the tier, and can win the Defog war against any Stealth Rock setter, unless of course your opponent switches their own Corviknight in whenever you Defog. Besides Defog, this Pokemon also has access to U-turn, Bulk Up, Power Trip, Brave Bird, Taunt, and makes a mean Substitute user. Ferrothorn is the only common Spikes user in the tier, and has kept his access to Knock Off as well as Toxic. Personally I prefer physically defensive variants for things like Gyarados, Dracovish and rain Sweeper. Aegislash is surprisingly average, not offering a whole lot in terms of defensive utility whilst having solid counterplay like SpD Hippowdon, Mandibuzz, Seismitoad etc.. Perhaps this slump is also due to the fact that he doesn't make the best use of Dynamax, but at least his Shadow Balls still hit relatively hard, and offensive double dance sets still pack a punch.
Pex
He is back and dominating like many of us suspected he would. Pex is not without flaws, however. Pokemon have been using Substitute in order to dodge the status Pex can spread while not allowing Ditto to copy them. Some examples would be Hydreigon, Togekiss, Dragapult, Corviknight, and sometimes Gyarados. Nevertheless, his ability to spread Status via Scald/Toxic/Toxic Spikes/Baneful Bunker, his great defensive stats, instant recovery, and his access to Haze + Regenerator have cemented him as the guy to beat in many regards.
Speed Control
Ditto finds himself on every third team to counteract the fatal Dynamax setup, and he's really good at it. Choice Scarf Dragapult is also able to outspeed most things even after a boost or two, so he is a cool alternative to Ditto. However, Scarf is not all Dragapult can do, in fact he's pretty versatile, able to pull off a Choice Specs set, or even a Sub Wisp one. Dragapult is also able to ignore the common Substitutes with Infiltrator or Dragon Darts, which is particularly useful against Hydreigon.
Setup Sweeper
Hydreigon gained a few tools in Sword & Shield, the most important one being Nasty Plot. Due to the Pokemon removal his speed is now top-notch, only behind a very select few. My favorite set is
this one, Dark Pulse has fantastic neutral coverage, only really requiring help against fairies. Togekiss is usually running the exact same set with different coverage options. It is slightly slower and doesnt make use of Substitute as well, but it has the 60% flinch chance, and can boost it's speed via Dynamax. While they also lost Roost, both of these Pokemon significantly benefited from the removal of Chansey/Blissey. On another note, Togekiss can run Morning Sun if it so chooses. Gyarados gained Power Whip and abuses Dynamax to a disgusting degree, partly due to moxie. Unfortunately for it, Ditto can end up countersweeping very easily, but you shouldnt make the mistake of ever underestimating this things sweeping capabilities.
Magic
I've grouped these Pokemon together since they share an impressive amount of common traits. They are all special attackers, incredibly hard to switch into, relatively slow, and fuck with hazards in some way. Clefable has a few Magic Guard sets it can pull off but the one I'd like to focus on here would be LO 3 attacks Moonlight. The only common Pokemon that can switch into that is SpD Corviknight, and the moment you Dynamax or paralyze it with Thunder even that loses. Hatterene does a mean OTR set and I've also used
this RestTalk set on one of my bulkier teams. Reuniclus plays very similarly to Clefable with either LO 3 attacks or Calm Mind, but it gives more leeway to certain things such as Hydreigon and Aegislash.
The Wallbreakers
These require special attention since they have a solid speed tier, and obliterate almost everything with their unique properties. Ideally you want to try and outspeed these, but if you cannot then you should pack a Water immunity / physically defensive Ferrothorn or Toxapex for Dracovish & a Boomburst resist for Toxtricity, Protect can help you scout against Choice Specs.
Some Useful Fat Guys
Mandibuzz makes great use of the new Boots item & has a few cute tools in its arsenal, such as Foul Play, Knock Off, Toxic, Roost, Defog, U-Turn. Tyranitar can offer you sand, good special defense, Stealth Rock, or even a more offensive Pokemon if you so choose. Jellicent is a bit of a weird one but his ability to pivot into Darmanitan and Dracovish, coupled with his access to Taunt and other good moves make for a solid Pokemon. Corsola is another Pokemon with a powerful movepool, having Stealth Rock, WoW, Strength Sap, and Hex as well as Night Shade in it's arsenal. It is noteworthy that Corsola and Jellicent can block Rapid Spin.
/
Cheesy Cheese
Hyper Offense is still going strong. Between Ribombee, Mew, and Excadrill the suicide leads usually do what you want them to do. Bisharp is still able to punish Defog, despite losing Knock Off as well as Pursuit. There are obviously a number of things you can run on these teams, but Hawlucha and Mimikyu are two very annoying options in their own right.
Unaware
These guys can be used over Ditto/Dragapult on defensive teams.
Mod Edit: It appears Unaware Clef is illegal so I edited it out to prevent confusion. Sorry.
Honorable Mentions
Rain synergizes exceptionally well with Dynamax, but hasnt really found it's footing yet, since there are so many other things to abuse, which dont require you to play a certain way. Despite that, I think that it is a bit underexplored and should have a place in the meta once everything settles down a bit.
Bit of a weird one. It took us an entire generation to figure out what to do with Kommo-o during Sun & Moon, and it's looking like he has 15 different sets once again. Between Stealth Rock, three considerable abilities that can give him a variety of relevant immunities, and respectable offensive sets, Kommo-o seems to be a jack of all trades once more. He is one of the most reliable answers to Toxtricity, and can counter non-Draco Meteor Hydreigon with ease.
I honestly don't really know what to make of this Pokemon but it has an insane amount of usage & a bunch of tricks up it's sleeve like Screens or even more self-centered sets, I'd just like to acknowledge it here.
This Pokemon does what it always did. Breaks through Clefable, Ferrothorn, Toxapex & offers strong priority, not much to say here.
Court Change is a complete joke of a move, and the rest of it's movepool is pretty fantastic as well, it gets Pyro Ball, HJK, U-turn, Zen etc.. Ridiculous speed for this metagame, unfortunately it doesnt offer much defensively, but pretty cool Pokemon overall, considering it doesn't even get Libero yet.
Durant is a phenomenal Dynamax abuser due to Hustle, as the Dynamax moves bypass any accuracy checks but keep the additional Power. It also has tremendous speed to go with that.
Conk got Close Combat to play with and for some reason its also able to use Defog. Insanely dangerous offensive threat.
This thing gets Knock Off & has access to Guts+ STAB Facade, which hits for unreal damage. He shares a speed tier with Darmanitan and Indeedee, allowing him to outspeed things like the Rotoms, Excadrill and Togekiss.
Eldegoss is not a common face right now, but Regenerator + Rapid Spin has the potential to become interesting, particularly in a post-Dynamax world. His movepool is pretty mediocre otherwise and mostly limited to Grass-type attacks, but he does get Pollen Puff to hit Leech/Sleep Powder immunities.
There are quite a few other decent Pokemon going around, but these ones were what I've encountered/used the most & to the best results. For some closing remarks, I hope that we can resolve the Dynamax issue soon, so that the metagame can keep evolving & I dont think Darmanitan-Galar has a future either.
