Hey guys, when will TS stabilize again?
The most recent tier shift is absolutely insane.
1. It actually has the equivalent of base 239 Attack.Oh, god. Light ball isn't banned. *Hyperventilating* (Light ball Pika effectivly has 190 AtK and a stab physical 120 base power move. Ban lightball or we will all die to Pikachu.
Wanted to make a post on some of the bulky Pokemon I think are pretty potent in Tier Shift right now. Hopefully this can get some discussion flowing.
Utility Pokemon
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
We have a large pool of solid defensive Pokemon to choose from in Tier Shift, especially with recent tier shifts. Cresselia and Kyurem immediately stand out to me, having some ridiculous stat spreads that can let this Pokemon act as walls, general utility Pokemon, or late-game cleaners given the right set.
View attachment 297688
Psychic isn't the absolute best defensive typing out there, which is the one thing keeping Cresselia from being "broken" in my eyes. 120/150/150 bulk, however, can somewhat offset that middling defensive type. My favorite set to use with Cress is Sub CM, given that you have a decent speed tier, a manageable special attack, and ridiculous bulk. This is an extremely solid win condition—psychic + fairy coverage is hard to wall, especially in a format with less relevant bulky steels than your average meta. Even after 2-3 CMs, you're punching holes. A basic utility set rocking Toxic or Thunder Wave can also suffice.
View attachment 297692
Man, this thing is borderline broken. One look at its stats should already tell you what you're getting into when trying to fight Kyurem, defensively and offensively. I will once again bring up the point of the low amount of relevant steels in this OM to suggest that sometimes Kyurem doesn't even need Earth Power to be effective. A Sub Roost set rocking Protect or Icicle Spear > Earth Power can work perfectly fine, the former providing more longevity and better PP stalling, akin to SubTect Suicune, and the latter giving Kyurem itself more PP to work with. On the defensive side of things, 125/110/110 doesn't stand out as ridiculously broken, but then you look at its offensive stats and see where the issue comes in. You're eating hits and dealing a ton of damage back with 150/150 offenses, even if you run next to 0 offensive investment. I personally prefer running offensive investment on this Sub Roost set.
View attachment 297693 View attachment 297695
View attachment 297696View attachment 297697
View attachment 297698View attachment 297699
Tier Shift has a good number of reliable Bulky waters that all perform different roles. Gastrodon, Vaporeon, and Mantine provide Water-immunities to completely shut down opposing Waters and attempts to Flip Turn. Each also check completely different targets; Gastrodon is better intended for Grass-types, Mantine can tackle special attackers better thanks to its monstrous 170 SpD, and Vaporeon acts a bit like a middle ground that also has access to momentum in Flip Turn. Suicune acts as a PP Staller with Pressure. Quagsire is damn near essential on a solid stall build thanks to Unaware and a good defensive typing. Slowking, while having noticeably worst stats than the other above options, can also perform well as your team's special wall. Future Sight Teleport support is amazing for wallbreakers, and Teleport in general is just very solid in tandem with Regen.
View attachment 297700
This is a random niche Pokemon I wanted to talk about briefly for its Trapper set. Altaria has pretty solid stats in 75/130/145, which can help it easily trap more passive Pokemon that can't pivot out. A large number of the above Utility Pokemon would lose 1v1 to Altaria, and I think this gives decent room for its spot on stall or semi-stall builds. Dragon/Flying is decent defensively; it benefits from Heavy-Duty Boots but can also make Altaria susceptible to Knock Off / Corrosive Gas users, where its effectiveness can diminish after Stealth Rock chip. The EVs are fairly customizable. The EVs on the second set listed allow you to outspeed 0 investment base 130 Speed Pokemon and below, which I think is a fairly reasonable benchmark.
I'd also like to talk about Offensive Pokemon like Thundurus or Porygon-Z at some point, but I think this post is long enough.
So the previous gen rule that running a banned ability reduces your shift was removed for Gen 8?use politoed which now has respectable stats since it is back in pu since drizzle has been banned in the low tiers
Shouldn’t be. Tier Shift works on the lowest tier a mon is legal. Drizzle Politoed is an RU Pokémon and only gets RU boosts. This was just overlooked when tiers banned it.So the previous gen rule that running a banned ability reduces your shift was removed for Gen 8?
So the previous gen rule that running a banned ability reduces your shift was removed for Gen 8?
It's just like how base Silvally is in a higher tier than some Silvally forms like Bug.how will it be usable with base zamazenta banned? will it be in crowned by default like in BH? or will you just complex ban it to only be usable with the crown item?
looks the most terrifying of any of these to face. Obviously it is slow, but it just makes it so hard for balance and stall to work. Once it gets in against something slow or non-threatening it seems like it should just get a kill against most teams. It will easily 2HKO fat mons like 252/252+ vaporeon. Maybe try switching in a fairy type? Well even if you come in on a close combat a relatively bulky offensive fairy like Silvally fairy with 0/4 investment will be 2HKOed by a combination of CC on the switch+bullet punch. You could maybe live with 252/4 or 252/252 but I feel like at that point you are really sacrificing it's overall usefulness. A bulky aromatisse should be able to switch in fine but other than that I see very few hard switch options. Problem is most of the bulkiest physical walls are weak to fighting and the second best options after that are at least neutral to CC or are weak to knock off.Right-o let's talk about the Pokemon in places they probably shouldn't be and the mess we'll have to deal with should they decide to stay
91 / 130 / 112 / 130 / 169 / 148
To nobody's surprise this has insane stats, but just how good it is? Having 91/169 SpDef is certainly nice (in more ways than one), and it's got great Speed and good offensive stats. The problem comes in with that STAB combo: dealing with Ghost, Poison, and Flying is going to be rough for Virizion, and there are plenty that can take its hits. Virizion is also mediocre in the Specially Offensive department, lacking any non-STAB and Normal moves outside Air Slash.
72 / 98 / 120 / 143 / 120 / 137
what the fuck. if flying/psychic wasn't so exploitable this would be an absolute nightmare. right now it's just your average, run-of-the-mill nightmare. Not as fast or powerful as Kadabra is (hell even Solosis hits harder), but what it does have is a more unique, probably better typing, actual defenses, and a much improved movepool.
104 / 131 / 103 / 131 / 113 / 108
In an era where getting teammates onto the field is easier than ever, this guy looks extremely promising. Scrappy Boomburst is one of the freest moves in the entire game and, as a three-stage Normal types, Exploud has access to tons of strange coverage moves to help blow past anything that might want to try and wall it. Having all defensive stats sit nice and pretty above Base 100 isn't too shabby either.
90 / 170 / 120 / 105 / 125 / 95
Does so much damage it makes other sources of damage seem irrelevant. The combination of CC/Knock/Facade is horrifying to face, especially in the face of a Guts boost off 482 Attack. Even if this does leave PU it's going to be getting better stats than it did last gen assuming RU is off the table.
85 / 175 / 170 / 100 / 120 / 65
Weather Ball Gigalith is finally viable. If you're bad. A Pure-Rock typing with auto-sand + phenomenal bulk is bound to be good, especially one with such devastating attack power. Still really let down by lack of recovery, but this may as well be the textbook definition of a tank.
65 / 155 / 90 / 125 / 90 / 135
Mieinshao with NU boosts is not okay. Gaining CC this gen is incredible for it, though I could see some still tempted by the raw power of Reckless HJK. Regen is also better now that this can actually stomach hits.
95 / 95 / 95 / 140 / 160 / 90
As someone who has had a lot of experience with Sylveon being stronger than should be allowed, this immediately caught my attention. No Hidden Power is a setback but Mystical Fire is good compensation all things considered. Still has really strong Hyper Voices and enough attack to potentially run some of its cooler physical moves, like Quick Attack or Body Slam.
83 / 109 / 91 / 193 / 91 / 103
this guy walks up to your om and "252+ SpA Xurkitree Rising Voltage (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Electric Terrain: 339-400 (47.4 - 56%) -- 82.4% chance to 2HKO" its ass wyd
In all seriousness this really suffers from not having tail glow and not having the best speed all things considered, but i can't get over how gross that special attack stat is
Onto more serious and likely permanent topics
70 / 125 / 110 / 95 / 100 / 120
Reminder that this exists and, for all intents and purposes, is just a straight upgrade of offensive Rillaboom sets. Having low HP is a letdown for Wood Hammer recoil, but in exchange you have vastly improved speed and beefed up defenses that nearly matches its evolved form's physical side and actually improves on the special side. It doesn't even miss on on Rilla's best moves in Glide, WH, Knock, SD, Acro, and U-Turn.
100 / 110 / 135 / 120 / 60 / 60
Falling to UU this gen has done a lot to shorten the gap between it and Tangela. This is better on the physical side but loses out on the special side, while being slower as well. The only other real advantages over Tangela is having enough HP for 101 substitutes, which is probably not worth running, and access so some other moves like EQ. Had this been in RU Tang would be a great "side-grade" to Tangela, but as it stands now its pretty niche.
100 / 160 / 130 / 80 / 100 / 120
May not remain PU but I see this having a ton of potential use as of now. It's strong, decently fast, and has a lot of great tools. Defiant is great to have as well. This is a famously reliable Scarfer in lower tiers and I could see it remain as such going forward. Slower sets also don't seem bad. To me this looks like a Pokemon that can make a lot of progress throughout a match while being sturdy enough to actually survive should it come in on attacks.
It's just like how base Silvally is in a higher tier than some Silvally forms like Bug.
Ah.Not anymore it's not. Every form is now PU
Does ZU get +50? I'm thinking insane Appletun and Accelegor.