With the release of DLC 2 Indigo Disk, after having many discussions what has stood out to me is Dark types will have a chokehold on the early meta. We have mons improving their movepool, returning to the tier, getting an introduction to the tier, and still in the tier
. So with this metagame about to start, let's get into the race to
darkness.
Darkrai
will be monitored closely on how effective it will be. We will most likely see cheese sets like Hypnosis, and hopefully much more common Heavy-Duty Boots 4 Attack/Nasty Plot sets. I don't see Darkrai to be a large problem for hyper-offensive teams/structures as they should have a reasonable amount of Pokemon to pressure/revenge it. The concern for Darkrai comes in the form of whether Balance will be able to handle it properly. Most balances I imagine will feature the likes of Gliscor/Ting Lu as they did heavily during the Gliscor metagame. Darkrai has the tools to deal heavy blows to both general special defensive balance answers in ice beam/focus blast respectively. Now, as far as it goes with Ting Lu it would either need to knock it off early or get a safe nasty plot off to apply heavy pressure to it. I feel with a well-structured team that won't be a major problem for Darkrai. There is also the very important matter of Darkrai being able to pressure one of the most popular Spdef absorbers in Slowking-Galar similar to Greninja/Dragapult, and there is also the matter of Gliscor as well. I feel Gliscors presence helps Darkrai as Galars won't be able to easily slot on a t wave to paralyze it and cripple it for the remainder of the match as they'll likely need to carry Ice Beam once more for Gliscor (or chilly reception in
). There is also the reality that Gliscor's presence stifles Pokemon like Clodsire, Tinkaton, and Toxapex who would be viewed as respectable Darkrai measures. Now, I'm not saying these Pokemon won't be used...but the question becomes will they be a viable enough presence to allow Darkrai to remain in the OU tier long-term?
Weavile
is back. You may think Weavile never left, but it most certainly did, and thankfully with it having gained back Triple Axel it can finally cement its place in the OU metagame potentially. Weaville will most definitely see usage as it is able to not only offensively pressure Gliscor while having the amazing move in knock-off to challenge any switch in but its ice shard priority will come in handy for its fellow dark type counterpart Roaring Moon. It will not be as impactful I feel as its counterparts on this list of dark types but with its speed tier typing with the likes of Darkrai outpacing most of the metagame and pressuring a good amount of the tier offensively hopefully it will show once again why it was borderline broken in SS OU.
Kingambit
never left the OU tier. Which most find misery in,
in fact majority of the players who voted in its suspect found it too much for the OU tier. It has had a grip on this tier and for a couple of months even had more Usage in this tier than its alleged counter Great Tusk. There isn't much that needs to be said in this post that hasn't been said about Kingambit before, it's mostly here to hone in and focus on how overwhelming the Dark type will be @ the start of DLC 2. The biggest stand out on this is Kingambit has the typing that makes it not prone to easily dying to fairy attackers, unlike its counterparts. It's able to pressure the likes of Clefable, while coming into Gholdengos stabs, and having an impressive bulk that it can invest in thanks to Sucker Punch. Kingambit itself probably shouldn't be in the OU metagame, the reality is though that it is, and because of that it will most likely synergistically aid one of its Dark type counterparts to join the Ubers tier, something it was able to evade.
Meowscarada
isn't even an OU Pokemon. However, with the addition of Triple Axel to its move pool its looking to change its standing in the OU metagame and claim a lot of bodies along its way. I personally think this Pokemon with the addition of Triple Axel will be generational. Being able to get past one of its biggest challenges in Zapdos while being able to come in and pressure the likes of Gliscor, Enam, & more is a pretty big deal. Now, of course, it's limited by how protean works this generation, triple axel not being the most accurate move, along with the fact if you choose to run a protective pad, choice scarf, or choice band sets you will find yourself with a heavily spike weak pivot in a Gliscor hazard stack metagame. Nonetheless, this Pokemon is back and looks primed to join its dark counterparts in leaving balance players vexed.
Roaring Moon
just left the OU tier.
Roaring Moon was just recently banned with a commanding 70% and just like Chien Pao it aims to remind people why it was removed from the OU tier once more. It has to potentially contend for air time now though with such prevalent dark types rising the ranks as discussed in this post. Roaring Moon will be entering a metagame that likely will look quite different then when it left but I doubt it looses footing and stumbles into irrelevancy like it did earlier this generation. That's mostly due to Knock Off but also thee weather in Sun with the new toys it just got this DLC won't be falling off anytime soon. It will be a go-to counter measure on most offensive builds for the likes of scary Pokemon such as Volcarona and offensively pressuring those pesky Grassy Terrain arch types once more. It has to deal with scarf Meowscarada having now some what of a reliable move to revenge it, Weaville rising in viability so ice shard being more prevalent, and potentially speed boosting Iron Boulder coming in to revenge it. It will also have "measures" like Skarmory coming to aid the OU tier with it as well. We shall see if we're able to fend it off this go around, or it will put on a show similar to Chien Pao with its return, showing us it's above the OU tier.
Dark types truly have been amazing this generation and will continue to at the start of this DLC 2 metagame. This post doesn't even include the milder threats such as Sam-H, Greninja, or Ting-Lu who have left players at a loss in many matches this gen.
This is going to be an exhilarating start to the tier I'm looking forward to seeing who wins the...
Race To Darkness.
and it seems pretty polarizing—some people think it'll be great, some people think it'll be terrible, and no one seems to fall anywhere in between. i personally think deo-d will be bad as things currently stand, and here's why: