[Gen6] Competitive Discussion

[RicePigeon]

OU Viability update: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/xy-ou-viability-ranking-thread-v3-check-post-298.3515714/page-12#post-5696977
 
: Stays in A
A lot of people wanted Mew to move up to A+, but in the end it was decided that Mew is not as metagame defining or as hard to prepare for as most A+ Pokemon. Fire-types and Gliscor shut it down for the most part or at least give it serious troubles, faster offensive Pokemon with Sub don't give a fuck about it (Mega Gardevoir, Mega Gyarados, Sub Terrakion), and because it wants to take its time to leave its mark, it's not that effective against offensive teams. Mew is a great Defog user and a great staller with WoW + Taunt + Knock Off, but it's lack of offensive presence is a serious problem against offensive teams and Fire-types, which is the main reason for keeping it in A.


: A+ ---> A
: B+ ---> B
Garchomp is by no means bad, but it's kinda a jack of all trades master of none mon like Rotom-W. It's fast, but not super fast, powerful, but not out of belief, and bulky, but not extraordinarily so. It has a lot of good sets, but they all face some sort of competition.

With the removal of Aegislash, Mega Heracross is just so much better as a wall breaker than Mega Garchomp. Yes, Heracross can't go mixed, but it still beats physical walls like Quagsire + Skarmory. Mega Garchomp is bulky and powerful, but extreme competition as a wallbreaking mega (hera, garde, cham, charizard Y, etc) as well as being outperformed by its normal forme in all but one role. It also faces competition from Kyurem-B, who sports identical offensive stats while being able to hold an item such as Life Orb, Leftovers, or Choice Scarf, all of which have their own uses. Unlike the Mega wallbreakers, Kyurem-B can also provide wallbreaking support for Mega sweepers, such as Mega Charizard X, Mega Gyarados, Mega Pinsir, and Mega Tyranitar, something that none of the Mega wallbreakers, including Mega Garchomp, can do by the nature of being a Mega Evolution. Additionally, Mega Garchomp requires the presence of weather in order to effectively wallbreak (Mega Charizard Y does too in a way, but this isn't an issue since Mega Charizard Y sets up the sun by itself), something that Mega Heracross, Mega Medicham, Mega Gardevoir, Kyurem-B, and Mega Charizard Y don't require.

: Stays in S
Mega Charizard X stays in S rank because of its versatility. It has two clear A+ sets in BulkyWisp and SD + Tailwind, and when you take into account bulky DD + Roost, DD + 3 attacks, and Roost + 3 attacks, there is no 100% safe way to play around this thing. Also, with our standards of S rank getting more lax the minute we included Keldeo there, Charizard X also being there is perfectly logical.


: A+ ---> A
: Stays in A+
Bulky waters handle Mega Tyranitar very well, and it really hates how common Will-o-Wisp is now. Mega Tyranitar is not as threatening as it used to be now that Scarf Keldeo, Scarf Terrakion, and Scarf Landorus-T are quite common. Sand Rush Excadrill is also very common now and will take advantage of Mega Tyranitar's sand to beat it. It's still extremely bulky, but it has relatively poor typing and Speed. Mega Gyarados however deserves A+. It's extremely bulky, like Mega Tyranitar, but has the ability to make use of its non mega form on the same moveset. Unlike regular Tyranitar and its Mega, regular Gyarados has Intimidate + a typing that synergizes very well with Mega Gyarados' typing, and thus lets it create mindgames. It also has Mold Breaker, which is great for ignoring stuff like Unaware, allowing it to beat Quagsire and Clefable which can stop Mega Tyranitar's sweep.


: A ---> A+
: Stays in A
Mega Heracross goes in A+ because it's the best of the three wallbreaking Megas (Medi and Gardy being the other two), because unlike them it has great all around bulk, and punishes switches like no other of them can, thanks to access to Swords Dance. This makes Mega Heracross the epitome of an effective wallbreaker and a great choice against any playstyle, where Mega Gardevoir and Mega Medicham can struggle to leave their mark against offensive, and even some stall teams (especially Mega Gardy). Also, Mega Heracross requires the less prediction out of those three to work, because Mega Gardevoir often has to rely on Focus Miss or WoW on predicted switches, and Mega Medicham has to rely on High Jump Kick while still getting walled by bulky Psychic-types. Not to mention that Mega Heracross massacres half your typical sand team, being able to beat one on one all of Tyranitar, Ferrothorn, and Excadrill, while being able to take advantage of the former two's presence to do big damage.


: Stays in A+
Mega Venusaur offers a lot to bulky offensive, balanced, and even defensive teams with incredible defensive stats, nice defensive typing that allows it to cover a lot of threats, and solid power to put severe hurt on opposing pokemon in the process. mega venusaur covers numerous top threats that bulky offensive teams struggle with, including azumarill, keldeo, non-psychic/hp fly thundurus, mega gyarados, and ferrothorn (also suicune which can be a threat depending on the team), making it a valuable team member, while not disrupting the tempo of offense. mega venusaur is strong. its sludge bomb does 50% to latios, like 70-75% to talonflame, almost 3/4 to thundurus, over half to non-spdef zard x, and over half to kyurem-b. its giga drain easily 2hkoes the likes of excadrill, and even severely damages things like ttar in sand, normal gyarados, and landorus-t. its hidden power fire easily destroys what it needs to. i'm not saying this is the pinnacle of strength, but when you're talking about a mon that can check/counter so many things, this is very impressive. mega venusaur is an unmatched tank. it doesn't 'face competition with gard/hera/cham', lol. these pokemon fulfill different roles on a team. if you're talking about the tendency of people to use megas for stallbreaking, i guess that's a consideration, but these pokemon require significantly more support to function well on a team, while mega venusaur is a very easy pokemon to fit onto a team. sand is kind of a problem but giga drain's recovery still helps it out a lot, sand isn't up forever, and it's not like synth does /nothing/ in sand (ie if venu is at 50% it's better to have a 76% venu after sand than a 50% venu, still). none of these factors are enough to drop mega venusaur by any means.


: A ---> A+
Ferrothorn is a spectacular pivot that is incredibly hard to 2hko with neutral attacks. It checks a lot of stuff, and serves as a solid answer to rain teams, which have been making a comeback lately.


: A ---> A-
Hippowdown generally only has one set, which really makes it predictable. It's really similar to Skarmory; they're both really easy to use/understand walls. Like Skarmory, it is also quite passive. On sand teams, it's not as good as Tyranitar as a sand setter mainly because Tyranitar has Pursuit trapping abilities and offensive presence plus a lot viable sets and can also check the ever-so-common bird spam with its Choice Scarf set, something Hippowdon cannot do. Hippowdon can still be useful on balanced sand/stall though but even then it still faces competition from other physical walls like Landorus-T. Earthquake and Slack Off are pretty much mandatory and EQ is so easy to take advantage of. Toxic and Rock Slide is nice but then it can't phase stuff so it has a case of 4MMS.


: A ---> A+
In addition to its defensive set, Landorus-T is fantastic for its Choice Scarf set, which has been gaining a lot of popularity and for good reason. It's able to revenge kill a bunch of unsuspecting stuff, including Talonflame and Mega Pinsir, two pokemon commonly found on Birdspam teams. It can still support the team w/ intimidate and its offensive presence, while utilizing U-turn to preserve momentum. While it cannot outspeed Excadrill in sand, which is super common nowadays, it can still threaten it. Superpower allows it to revenge kill threats including Ferrothorn, Air Balloon Excadrill, Air Balloon Heatran, Mega Gyarados, and even Tyranitar/Mega Tyranitar, with the latter's Mega Evolution moving down one sub rank partially because of Scarf Landorus-T. It can still run its Double Dance set effectively, as well.


: Stays in B+
: A- ---> B+
Suicune is a nice bulky water, status absorber, and win condition all in one Pokemon, something that stall teams can appreciate as they usually lack some kind of offensive presence, which Suicune can provide with Calm Mind + Scald + Rest + Sleep Talk, a set that has remained relatively unchanged since Gen 3 with the exception of Scald replacing Surf ever since it was first introduced last Gen. However, it is too reliant on Scald Burns, and it must also rely on Sleep Talk picking the right move, which turns things into a coinflip and can let it down at times. Additionally, it has to worry about Unaware Clefable, especially those that run Calm Mind and/or Stored Power. Greninja with Grass Knot is also a thorn in Suicune's side that limits its ability to sweep.

Manaphy is similar to Suicune, in that its a water type sweeper, except that it trades Suicune's ability to act as a wall in exchange for more offensive power with Tail Glow. Unlike Suicune, Manaphy is 2HKO'd by Life Orb Terrakion and Life Orb Excadrill, so it doesn't have as good of a matchup against offensive teams as Suicune does. While Manaphy also can run the exact same set as Suicune, it lacks the higher defensive stats and the ability Pressure and thus, can't PP stall the threats that Suicune can.

 

: Stays in B
: B ---> B+
Raikou is being overhyped. Yes, it has an excellent speed tier, but its bulk and power are only average, depending on its item. Its better now because of the rise of birdspam, but it's not on par with other awesome B+ mons like Alomomola and Kabutops. Assault Vest is worn down easy, Choice Specs is easily handled once locked into a move due to electrics common resistances + its weak coverage, and Calm Mind has trouble boosting + beating special walls. It's really cool on rain teams, and still can check a bunch of stuff with AV. Mega Manectric is similar to Raikou, but is much faster and physically bulky in exchange for special bulk and power. Thus, it's able to check birdspam easier, as well as outspeed stuff like adamant Mega Aerodactyl + Greninja.


: B ---> B+
Mega Aerodactyl has a really neat stallbreaking set with Aerial Ace + Aqua Tail + Taunt, which allows it to beat or shut down many common defensive Pokemon, including Skarmory, Amoongus, Mega Venusaur, Mew, Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Heatran, while also checking offensive threats such as Breloom, Keldeo, Mega Medicham, and Mega Heracross. It also has a cool all out attacking set. It is an amazing check to bird spam, and is just a pretty cool mon. A rise is totally justified.


: B+ ---> B
Scizor is outclassed by its Mega Evolution in everything except its Choice Band set, which is very easily prepared for nowadays. It lacks the increase in both defenses that are afforded by its Mega Evolution, and the Choice Band set's inability to run Roost really lets it down.

 
: B ---> B+
Strong Mega, performs well in the metagame now that Aegislash and Mega Mawile are banned. Similar to Mega Aero and Mega Manectric, Mega Alakazam's blistering speed gives him an edge against offense teams. 150 speed allows him to run Modest, giving him a downright monstrous special attack stat while still outspeeding key threats in the metagame. Psychic/Psyshock are very spamable now, and he has a very deep movepool behind it. Taunt, Focus Blast, Dazzling Gleam, Shadow Ball, Substitute and Disable give him a lot of options. Using Magic Guard on his base form allows him to come in multiple times before Mega Evolving (and he can even stay in his base form if Toxic’d) and Trace can grab a good ability sometimes, especially when revenge killing Excadrill in sand or Kabutops/Kingdra in the rain, making him very effective against weather teams. It is almost better to treat him as not having an ability, and take whatever ability you pick up as a bonus. Zam is great because you can tune him to take on offense or stall. Not many things can do both. Giving Mega Alakazam Protect will also allow it to beat Greninja 1 on 1, which is a nice bonus.


: B ---> B-
Lucario is a lot worse than Kingdra, so just based on that it should drop. It has severe 4MSS, since Iron Tail and Ice Punch are both needed to beat its common checks and counters, and it wouldn't dare give up close combat, extreme speed, or swords dance for them. It also really needs to set up an SD to properly sweep, but even then its average base 90 Speed lets it down, leaving it easily revenge killed by other common threats such as Garchomp and Terrakion. doesn't really help that it's also pretty frail to boot, getting OHKOed or crippled by most physical walls which can take even a boosted attack; it can't even kill Lando-T at +1 with a 4x super effective Ice Punch in most cases. similarly, its special set isn't very good either, with low BP moves and lack of ESpeed which isn't very appealing.


: B ---> B+
Things just keep getting better for Starmie. Starmie's bulky set is pretty epic, and its offensive set, while weak, has great coverage, reliable recovery, and Analytic makes your opponent think twice about switching their Pokemon out. Rapid Spin is what makes it worth using, but its awesome Speed tier, reflect type, and two great abilities make it really nice.


: B- ---> B
Celebi has reliable recovery, a water resistance, access to Nasty Plot, Stealth Rock, and Heal Bell, and solid all around stats. It checks Azumarill, can be offensive or defensive, and can also Baton Pass boosts to its teammates. Celebi can also run Perish Song, allowing it to check Suicune and other threats.


: B- ---> B
With Aegislash and now Mega Mawile gone, things are looking up for Staraptor. Its immensely powerful, at the cost of being very suicidal with mediocre speed and no bulk. It has great three move coverage, utility in u-turn and final gambit, and the ability to revenge kill stuff with a scarf or just one shot everything with a band. It has few switch ins, and is just a really sweet pokemon. Its ability to support Hawlucha, Talonflame, and Mega Pinsir is just the icing on the cake, and only serves to make Birdspam even more threatening.


: B ---> B+
Defensive Victini is one of the few Pokemon on stall teams that can check or counter Mega Gardevoir and Mega Medicham, as well as check Mega Heracross to an extent. The only other Pokemon able to do this is Doublade, who sports identical typing and better physical bulk than its now-banned evolution. Defensive Victini can also check Mega Charizard Y. Even with minimal investment it can still hit hard, and can also make use of its Choice Band, special attacker, Choice Scarf, and Trick Room sets


: B ---> B+
Magnezone is a pretty great Pokemon now that Ferrothorn is on the rise, and Skarmory and Scizor are still spectacular threats that alot of teams appreciate having removed. Removing them for dragons and fairies is really great, and Magnezone is the only pokemon that does what it can do. With a Choice Scarf, it also checks bird offense relatively well, and with its magnet rise + air balloon set, it can also check Excadrill very well. The fact that it was once at C rank is laughable.

[RicePigeon]

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/smogon-usage-based-tier-update-september-2014.3516635/
 
August's monthly statistics are up, and with that comes the Tier changes:
 
: UU ↑↑ OU
: BL ↑↑ OU
: NU ↑↑ RU
: UU ↑↑ OU
: OU ↓↓ BL
: OU ↓↓ UU
: NU ↑↑ RU
: BL ↑↑ OU
: OU ↓↓ UU
: Untiered ↓↓ UU

: OU ↓↓ UU

: OU ↓↓ UU

: OU ↓↓ UU

: UU ↑↑ OU

: BL ↑↑ OU
: RU ↓↓ NU
 
First post will be updated to reflect these changes

[RicePigeon]

With the tier shifts this month, I completely overlooked the OU viability changes that also occurred:

: C+ ---> B-
With Aegislash and now Mega Mawile gone, Hawlucha has a much easier time spamming its stab Fighting and Flying moves, both of which complement each other very nicely, to the point where Hawlucha doesn't even need to run non-stab coverage moves. It has three usable sets in Sub + Liechi, Sub + Sitrus, and Power Herb + Sky Attack, all of which take advantage of Unburden, which lets it outspeed Choice Scarfers and even Excadrill in sand. Of course, it is dependent on team matchups and only works in late game, but right now it is on the same level as Lucario, who is currently B- as well.

: C+ ---> B-
Omastar hits stupidly hard on rain teams, even harder than Kingdra, the only other special sweeper used on rain teams. It has all the tools it needs to cripple everything (Knock Off, hilariously powerful Hydro Pumps, and Ice Beam) not even chansey is safe switching in because after it gets its eviolite knocked off it can't beat omastar after rocks are up (252+ SpA Choice Specs Omastar Hydro Pump vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Chansey in Rain: 310-366 (48.2 - 57%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock). Although it may seem to face competition from Kingdra, it actually compliments Kingdra nicely as a secondary Rain Sweeper, and thus it only faces competition from Kabutops, who hits on the physical side.

: D ---> C-
"Why are you not using Ferrothorn" is weird statement to make, considering Ferrothorn doesn't beat HP Fire Greninja, which is very popular now, while Empoleon does. Empoleon is also more specially bulky, so its defensive set can handle Omastar and Kingdra better. Empoleon has Defog. Being able to get rid of rocks is its main use over Ferrothorn and Heatran, and in tandem with countering water-types, and a specs set, it's definitely worth ranking. Its offensive set counters both Calm Mind Clefable and Calm Mind Suicune, which is big for offense. It also checks Azumarill, Greninja, and Rain (even Kabutop if it's using Aqua Jet over Low Kick). But actually, comparing it to the C- mons is relatively easy. It's very similar to Toxicroak, another underused and underrated mon, because both check and counter a limited amount of mons based on their offensive and defensive virtues. Thanks to Empoleon's great typing and movepool that let it have two viable sets, and rise is warranted. Compared to Pokemon like Heatran, Ferrothorn, Keldeo, and Greninja, Empoleon combines their virtues and adds a bit of its own.

: C ---> C+
Goodra was a pokemon that was becoming lackluster but its becoming quite good now with many of the metagame changes. It may be easy to wear down but the fact that checks so many rampaging Pokemon in a pinch while also having offensive presence is very worthwhile. Almost every special attacker can be walled by this regardless of super effective coverage; Raikou, Mega Manectric, Mega Charizard Y, Gengar, Heatran, and even Breloom. It has nice coverage itself and it much better than a large amount of the pokemon in its current rank.

: D ---> C-
Haxorus is a good partner with other particular sweepers like Mega Charizard X for its ability to destroy Stall and handle Unaware users and slower Fairies with Swords Dance + Poison Jab as well as Taunt. His Double Dance set consisting of both Dragon Dance + Swords Dance allows him to be effective against both Offensive and Defensive teams alike. The reason he shouldn't go higher than C- is because he really flounders against certain team archetypes and doesn't always pull its weight. Not to mention it can't switch into jack. Between LO, SR and Sand passive damage racks up quickly, and then there's the drawback of being Outrage locked with following confusion if you don't use a Lum berry. He's also easy to revenge kill.

: C ---> B
Jirachi rose to B because it is on par with the rest of Pokemon there, and people have finally started to realize that with its second biggest counter gone (Aegislash), Jirachi is plenty viable and versatile. Wish + Toxic / T-Wave / Body Slam, SubToxic with Iron Head and Fire Punch, and SR + U-turn are all good sets that check a multitude of dangerous Pokemon (Latios, Latias, Clefable, Mega Gardevoir, Greninja, Mega Alakazam, Mega Aerodactyl) and provide ample of team support and offensive presence to not be easy to take advantage of.

: C- ---> C
Doublade beats Mega Gardevoir, Mega Medicham, Mega Pinsir, Terrakion, and Mega Heracross on stall, which is very impressive. It has massive physical bulk, so much that it doesn't need to invest in any of it, and its defense is still as high as Deoxys-S' speed. With investment, its special bulk is acceptable, and it can even use Rest viably with a Heal Bell user to cover its lack of recovery. It needs support (stuff to cover neutral/super effective special moves, Heal Bell, etc), but its worth C rank.

: Stays Unranked
No offensive presence whatsoever. It faces huge competition from Starmie as a rapid spinner on defensive teams, and faces further competition from Mega Scizor and Skarmory as a physically bulky hazard remover. It cannot beat Gengar, the only notable spinblocker in OU, something that Starmie, Excadrill, and even Mega Blastoise can do. Spikes and Toxic Spikes see almost no use due to Defog, and the niche of Stealth Rock + Hazard removal can also be done by Skarmory. Skarmory also has Taunt and Whirlwind, and Empoleon has offensive presence. Sure, Forretress has Volt-Switch, but Ground-types still laugh at it. Have fun with Forretress when Garchomp is using you for setup bait.

: D ---> C-
Froslass can get up spikes and has a fast taunt to stop other leads and Stealth Rockers. It creates a lot of 50/50 scenarios with Destiny Bond where if you guess 1 wrong you're dealing with a layer or more of spikes and possibly even a dead Pokemon. Niche as fuck and definitely have flaws but C- is reasonable.

: C+ ---> B-
In the wake of the banning of Deoxys-S, Azelf is one of the top dedicated leads out there for Hyper Offense teams. The Dual Screens set can give any threatening sweeper an easy path to victory, with Explosion dealing a healthy chunk of damage to anything not named Gengar. A side benefit to Explosion is that you can switch-in a sweeper behind screens without worrying about taking a hit or status on the switch. Azelf is also one of the better hazard leads in wake of Deoxys-D and Deoxys-S leaving the tier. A fast Taunt allows him to outspeed and disable most opposing leads, Rocks are great on any team and Magic Coat can be used in niche situations (especially against Lead Mega Aero and priority Taunters). Lead sets can utilize Knock Off and U-Turn for good utility, while also making it not complete Taunt bait. Even uninvested, they are not to be laughed off at 125 base attack. Azelf can also run a Nasty Plot set which, while not very effective on its own, can get you off to an early 6 on 5 (or more) if the opponent is expecting a typical lead set. It also has a wide selection of moves to add to coverage to compliment Psyshock/Psychic. Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Dazzling Gleam, Shadow Ball and the rare Energy Ball give you a lot of options. Overall a very good Pokemon who always puts in work on HO teams.

: C+ ---> C
By Mega Standards, 135 base Sp.Atk is pretty low. It isn't weak by any means, but it isn't a monster like Mega Heracross, Mega Gardevoir, or Mega Charizard Y, nor does it have the staying power of Mega Venusaur. Mega Blastoise was C+ because it was a Rapid Spinner that was able to beat spinblockers most reliably, but now Aegislash is dead, so there's a lot less strain on Starmie. Starmie with Life Orb + Analytic is only slightly weaker than Mega Blastoise, but has a huge niche over MegaToise; it's super fast. Starmie can defeat things without having to take a hit, so its lesser bulk isn't that notable. Plus, Starmie has Recover, something that a bulky and slow Pokemon like Mega Blastoise only wished it had. Starmie also resists fighting + psychic, which is in huge demand nowadays with Mega Medicham running everywhere, and has a viable all-out defensive set in addition to its offensive Analytic set. Needless to say, using a Mega Evolution as your spinner has too much opportunity cost compared to using another spinner in conjunction with another Mega that needs hazard removal support, such as Mega Charizard X/Y and Mega Pinsir.

: C+ ---> C
It used to handle Aegislash and Mega Mawile better than its washing machine brother, but now that those are gone, it has lost one of its niches.

: C+ ---> C
Its sweeper sets are next to impossible to use in this meta. It is effortlessly revenge killed by both Azumarill and Talonflame, and outsped and KOed by Excadrill in sand. Using Volcarona also demands hazard removal support, and even then it still suffers from a case of 4 Moveslot Syndrome; It wants Roost so it can mitigate passive damage from Sand, Stealth Rock and Life Orb, Quiver Dance is almost mandatory, and it wants to run all of Bug Buzz, Fiery Dance/Fire Blast, Giga Drain, Hidden Power Ground, Hidden Power Ice, and Hidden Power Rock, so it is almost always walled by common things regardless of which set it chooses. Additionally, it wants both the passive recovery that leftovers has to offer AND the attack boost from Life Orb, as the latter allows it to score vital KOs such as against Tyranitar at +1, but cannot have both for obvious reasons.

: D ---> Unranked
Moltres's primary niche in OU was as a check to Mega Mawile, who is now banned. Without Mega Mawile, there is no longer any reason to use Moltres in OU. There are much better and reliable checks to Mega Charizard Y than Moltres, and while Moltres is able to check Landorus-I, it is far too reliant on hazard support to do so.

: Stays in C+
Smeargle stays in C+ alongside Espeon because they are the face of Baton Pass teams in OU, and with some screens support they can be a really dangerous combination to face.

: A- ---> B+
Mandibuzz dropped to B+ because of bigger competition for anti-hazard supporters with Starmie getting more and more viable, and inability to deal with popular offensive threats that can take advantage of Mandibuzz, such as Mega Gardevoir, Mega Heracross, and Terrakion.

: B+ ---> B
Scolipede dropped to B because its Baton Pass set is not as good as it used to be, because of bigger competition with Geomancy Smeargle, now that you can only have one Baton Pass user on each team.

: Unranked ---> D
Whimsicott goes in D because Prankster Memento and Tailwind are great for setting up sweepers, while priority Encore and Stun Spore give some insurance against opposing sweepers, giving to Whimsicott a little niche on offensive teams.

[RicePigeon]

An oversight on my part, but when I was posting the tier listings, there was one Pokemon I forgot to mention:

 

: UU ↓↓ RU

 

 

First post will be updated with this oversight corrected.

EDIT: It would seem that Smogon is currently in the process of creating a new tier below NU called PU (Partially Used, also a pun on the term "P.U." which is used as a sound of disgust), which will also introduce BL4 as well. The tier list will be updated with a full NU list once more details regarding PU are revealed.

[RicePigeon]

Updated first post with details on the new PU tier, as well as a full list of the Pokemon that are strictly NU.

 

Also added definitions for Check and Counter in the terminology section.

[RicePigeon]

More OU viability updates:

: Unranked ---> C
While Mienshao has two viable sets in OU, it gets ranked for its Reckless + Fake Out set. It acts as a cool anti lead against Sash Garchomp, Sash Breloom, Sash Mamoswine, Fake Out Mega Medicham, Tyranitar, and Rotom-W, being able to OHKO/2HKO all of those with a combo of Fake Out and High Jump Kick, except from PhD Rotom-W, which takes 82% damage minimum from the above combo. On the last two slots, you can run any combination of U-turn, Hidden Power Ice, Stone Edge, and Poison Jab, but HJK alone is enough against a ton of offensive teams, as it 2HKOes at worst most frail or even some bulky resists. Only Slowbro, Physically Defensive Mega Venusaur, Mew (after one U-turn it's 2HKOed by HJK) and Physically Defensive Amoonguss are common hard counters to Reckless Mienshao.

: Unranked ---> D
Jellicent was added to D rank because it has a niche as a spinblocker on Spikes stacking defensive teams and a reliable counter to Keldeo. However, it has a ton of flaws, such as huge Pursuit weakness, mediocre bulk, weakness to many common threats, and competition with other bulky Water-types, which is why it didn't go any higher.
 
: C+ ---> B-
Ever since the Aegislash ban, Psychic-types have skyrocked in viability, and this is for two reasons. The first reason is the more obvious one; there's one less Pokemon that can abuse Cress. Aegislash resisted Psychic and Ice, is immune to Toxic, didn't really care about Thunder Wave or Hidden Power Fire, and could kill it very easily with Shadow Ball. Now, Cress doesn't have to worry about Aegislash any more, and the other two viable Ghosts don't particularly enjoy dealing with Cress. The second reason is that Aegislash's removal also made Mega Medicham much more common, and so having a Pokemon that resists High Jump Kick and Zen Headbutt is a necessity on every stall team. Many people choose Slowbro for this role, since it also acts as a bulky water, some choose Victini, due to the extreme offensive presence, access to Will-o-Wisp, and Fairy resistance, and some choose Mew, due to its ability to terrorize opposing stall teams. However, Cresselia is also an incredibly viable choice for the role. Cresselia can counter Mega Medicham extremely well, while also countering Charizard-Y (it also can abuse Moonlight's recovery with the sun's boost), Mega Gardevoir, Landorus, Talonflame, Latias, Landorus-T, Latios, Greninja, Garchomp, and some other offensive threats. Of course, it's a defensive Psychic-type, so everyone always talks about how it's complete Pursuit bait. However, its defensive set commonly runs Reflect, which allows it to flee from Pursuit users in relatively good health. Being a defensive Psychic also makes people go crazy over the Knock Off weakness. However, it doesn't mind the move that much, since STAB users of it are somewhat rare now and coverage variants are relatively easily brushed off. An extremely good quality of Cresselia on stall teams is that it hard walls Calm Mind Landorus, which no other stallmon can do. Calm Mind Landorus isn't extremely common, but if you're running a stall team without Cresselia, you will lose to it. Cress also has a couple other pros, like being able to run a good dual screens set, access to Lunar Dance which is great for HO, and Trick Room, which is niche as hell but decent.
 
: A- ---> A
Not only does he have reliably recovery AND regenerator so its nearly impossible to wear down, he has actual offensive presence with a respectable 100 sp. att (for a wall thats good) and an easy to spam STAB named scald. It also has a very wide movepool so it can choose what it wants to take down. Grass Knot beats mega gyara, flamethrower beats Ferrothorn & Mega Scizor, psyshock can be insurance against keldeo and nail mega venu/amoongus on the switch, foul play can actually make slowbro beat bulky dd char-x and stuff without relying on toxic, and ice beam helps it beat the likes of dnite and garchomp. T-wave and Toxic can also just be annoying in general. One of the best things about slowbro is that its not shut down by Taunt or Sub so long as it has the right move against the right mon, which puts it leagues ahead of Alomomola.
 
: C- ---> C
Gastrodon is outclassed as a bulky water, but what sets it apart is it's ability to easily deal with all rain teams with that lovely resistance to rock and complete immunity to water. That and it only has 1 weakness in grass and you've got yourself something that does indeed have a nice niche if you lack a bulky water and need to counter rain. Also, if fits well with Pokemon like Rotom-H in C rank as a Pokemon that is outclassed, but combines roles from other Pokemon to give itself a niche over what outclasses it.
 
: C+ ---> C
Its LO set has great coverage, which allows it to function very well against defense, provided Fairies are removed. That part is huge. Azumarill makes its life hell, and Clefable does too. It can run Iron Tail/Flash Cannon, but they're very hard to fit in. However, the main reason for Hydreigon's drop is that it lost its main niches in OU, which were its ability to check Aegislash and revenge kill Mega Mawile without having to worry about a +2 Sucker Punch. Now that it no longer has a clear niche, but still being able to function, it's very similar to Chandelure, and thus C rank is imaginable.
 
: C+ ---> C
Outclassed by Thundurus-I, Thundurus-T doesn't have a big impact on the metagame. It's known to be good only because of its Double Dance set, which is able to put in work versus offense and defense. Its very powerful, but its biggest flaw is it can't be Thundurus-I, who has a much better ability and a much better speed tier, at the cost of 20 special attack, which don't come into play that often.

: B+ ---> A-
Manaphy was moved to A- because its Tail Glow + Rain Dance set is very effective atm, being able to shred stall teams to pieces and annoy the fuck out of sand teams, removing their sand and threatening everything they commonly carry outside of Ferrothorn, which is easily trapped and KOed by Magnezone. In general because Manaphy's usage dropped over the last months, people have stopped preparing for it, which made it more effective. Even a simple TG + Wacan Berry can often get 2 KOes against bulky offensive teams.
 
: B+ ---> A-
Mega Aerodactyl is only outsped by Mega Manectric + some scarfers, so its offensive sets, also thanks to its great coverage, are able to revenge kill a bunch of things, including, but not limited to, Gyarados, Dragonite, and ScarfTran. It resists Fire, Flying, and Normal, and OHKOs Pinsir, Talon, and Raptor, and so is a really good bird check, and also thanks to Taunt, Roost, and Flying/Water coverage, it's able to beat common Stall Pokemon like Heatran, Victini, and Amoonguss. MegaDactyl is definitely worth bringing to A- for its stallbreaking, revenge killing, and birdspam checking abilities.
 
 
: B+ ---> A-
On paper, Mega Alakazam doesn't look that great, but in practice, it actually is a really effective Pokemon. It is able to revenge kill Pokemon reliant on speed-boosting abilities, which is fantastic, and it is also able to boost its power if it traces Sheer Force or Protean. There's no doubt that it's a superb revenge killer in OU, it's just that it needs to fit in with other A- Pokemon. I think its relevant problems are similar to those of Diggersby (both can be player around relatively easily), however due to one's immense power and one's immense Speed, they are really solid revenge killers and late game sweepers. Zam it has such little competition for its role and can do its job of revenge killing top tier stuff (Kabutops, Excadrill, Kingdra, Omastar, Mega Tyranitar, Mega Gyarados) incredibly well (reliance on focus miss is it's only real flaw here).

: C- ---> D
Umbreon dropped because with Aegislash gone it lost the biggest reason to use it. It is essentially outclassed by Sylveon as a cleric, which is in turn outclassed by Clefable in the same role.
 
: B- ---> B
This Pokemon is literally the definition of a late-game sweeper. While it does need its fair share of team support, all it needs is 1 Swords Dance and activating its unburden in order to sweep your entire team. With Sub+SD, it can set up on the likes of alomomola and mew while at the same time safely activating its speed boost by just subbing down. sub also protects it from stray priority mons that would be trying to hinder your sweep. having unresisted stabs (besides Thundurus and Zapdos) is just icing on the cake since there's literally nothing on offense that can take a hit from it at +2, let alone outspeed it. Memento Latios makes for an excellent offensive partner as it offers leverage in order to utterly demolish the opposition. other than that, hawlucha appreciates a team that can hold its own while simultaneously weakening its checks and counters so that it can do its job more effectively. its pros without a doubt outweigh its cons and B rank should suit it just fine.

: Stays in A-
Chansey stayed in A- because it's superior to the rest of the defensive Pokemon found in B+, such as Alomomola, Mandibuzz, and Quagsire, because it handles a much bigger array of threats. Yes it's passive, but so are Quagsire and Alomomola to a degree. Of course one could argue that Quagsire and Alomomola should be dropped to B rank, which is definitely a possibility, but before this happens i can't see those Pokemon in the same rank as Chansey.
 
: Stays in A-
Skarmory also stayed in A- because people seem to think that it is useless with Magnezone getting so popular, instead of just equipping it with Shed Shell. Skarmory still handles many threatening offensive Pokemon, such as Excadrill, Dragonite, Landorus-T, Mega Gyarados, Mega Pinsir, Mamoswine, Diggersby, Mega Tyranitar, and Mega Scizor, and unlike Chansey it's a much better team player and is less passive, thanks to access to Defog, Spikes, and Whirlwind, all of which Chansey lacks. Spikes are often overlooked but they have started becoming a very useful option on defensive teams, allowing them to better combat opposing stall teams and put more pressure on offensive teams, instead of just playing passive all the time. Even though Skarmory doesn't wall that much atm and is easy to trap and KO with Magnezone, it makes up for it with its ability to support its team, and Magnezone can be dealt with by Shed Shell, as long as you are careful and don't bring it mindlessly into Knock Off users.
 
: Stays in C+
Crawdaunt might be slow and frail, but it has very few Pokemon in OU that are able to switch in. However, those few Pokemon include Mega Venusaur (with some Speed) and Keldeo, which are two very common Pokemon that are able to switch into Crawdaunt at least once. The problem in general with crawdaunt is that while it has great power, there is simply so little reason to use it over azumarill even with that. yeah, it's strong, but it doesn't have the typing or the bulk that make azumarill such a good pokemon, and outside of trick room it is usually an opportunity cost to use crawdaunt over azumarill.

 

 

 

This all being said, I'm tempted to split the topic for the lower tiers and give each of them their own discussion.

[RicePigeon]

Doubles OU tier updates

 

 

: OU ↓↓ UU

: Untiered ↑↑ OU

: OU ↓↓ UU

: UU ↑↑ OU

: OU ↓↓ UU

: UU ↑↑ OU

: UU ↑↑ OU

: OU ↓↓ UU

: OU ↓↓ UU

: UU ↑↑ OU

: OU ↓↓ UU

: UU ↑↑ OU

: UU ↑↑ OU

: UU ↑↑ OU

: UU ↑↑ OU

: UU ↑↑ OU

: OU ↓↓ UU

: UU ↑↑ OU

[RicePigeon]

Nothing official yet, but for those who care about tier other than Singles OU:
 

• Smeargle and Geomancy are being called for suspect tests in Singles UU.
• Dialga is being called for a suspect test to move down to Doubles OU.

[Galvatron]

RU: After the Yanmega and Zoroark bans, Meloetta use has spiked to the point where it is now being considered for a suspect test.

That to be expected since Meloetta ( with Relic song) can alter her secondary type from Psychic to Fighting type as well have the effect in putting pokemon to sleep (unfortunaly that effect is low tier even with Its ability 'Serene Grace'. It dosn't have to worry about Ghost-types thanks to her Main-Typing: Normal.  Though she still mostly vulnerable against fairy types. but if you use her right in some situations she can be a tricky pokemon to deal with.   :-P

[RicePigeon]

When Meloetta was viable in OU before the Aegislash ban, the Pirouette form wasn't viable at all. Even in RU, Meloetta has 6 viable movesets and only one of them utilizes her Pirouette form. Even in UU, only 1 of Meloetta's 3 sets is the Pirouette form. So while Pirouette is an option in the lower tiers, her Aria form is by far the more versatile of the two.

 

EDIT: This sort of gives me an idea of a weekly thing where I give a brief introduction to a Pokemon and go over its competitive viability. Nothing in depth, just something to give people a better idea of how it used.

[Galvatron]

When Meloetta was viable in OU before the Aegislash ban, the Pirouette form wasn't viable at all. Even in RU, Meloetta has 6 viable movesets and only one of them utilizes her Pirouette form. Even in UU, only 1 of Meloetta's 3 sets is the Pirouette form. So while Pirouette is an option in the lower tiers, her Aria form is by far the more versatile of the two.

 

EDIT: This sort of gives me an idea of a weekly thing where I give a brief introduction to a Pokemon and go over its competitive viability. Nothing in depth, just something to give people a better idea of how it used.

Cool...

[Galvatron]

Its actually the way Smogon's tiering process works: It starts with determining which Pokemon are OU from the ones that arent. From the Pokemon that aren't, the process is repeated with just those Pokemon to determine the UU Pokemon, then the same for RU, NU, and PU. In Kabutops's case, his placement in NU wasn't based on his usage in the OU environment, but his usage in the RU environment, which allowed him in based on his usage in the UU environment. It's a trickle down process. Granted, if Kabutops were to ever make 3.41% usage in the OU environment, then this would mean he would jump from NU all the way to OU. But if he ever fell below that number, he would become UU instead of falling back to NU.

I see.. so pretty much Kabutop is considered as a Physical  'Glass Cannon' attacker then. :-P

 

 

: C ---> C-

Hydreigon has no niche in the OU metagame currently. It's not a bad Pokemon by itself, is unique, and it isn't useless, but it just fails to have an impact especially when other Pokemon can do the exact same thing it can.

That and thanks to the uprising of fairy-types Hydreigon is losing its usage more. At the last Gen(5) it was as an OU pokemon very useful especaily towards psychic and ghost-type pokemon. You pretty much say it was killer for those types. The only thing that can stand in its way was fighter and other dragon-types but Now since Fairy-types were introduce now its a risky pokemon to use and to make matters worse some psychic pokemon like Meloetta, Sylveon, Alakazam,..and a few other ones with high Sp.Atk can learn the fairy move 'Dazzling Gleam' which can give Hydreigon a hard time to deal with.

 

 

Potential future Rank change(s):

 

: C+ ---> B-

While Sylveon is outclassed as a cleric by Clefable, who sports better defensive abilities in Unaware and Magic Guard while giving Steel types a difficult time switching in with Flamethrower, Sylveon has been gaining some popularity lately as a Choice Specs nuke, capable of firing off a powerful Pixilate-boosted Hyper Voice. Any Pokemon that isn't hit for at least neutral damage by Hyper Voice is met with either Psyshock or Hidden Power Ground/Fire. Additionally, Specs Sylveon can function as a pivot with Baton Pass, despite the fact that it won't be passing any stat boosts, allowing it to maintain momentum which works great in tandem with Pokemon such as Magnezone, who traps common switch-ins to Sylveon such as Mega Scizor, and Mega Charizard Y, who has good type synergy with Sylveon while also being a powerful nuke itself.

Considering that I have raised a Clefable(with Magic Guard) it can also be a great defensive Wall if it knows 'Cosmic Power' plus let learn Moonlight and two Sp. attacks like Flamethrower or Fire Blast against steel-types and Psychic against poison-types (though I prefer Moonblast or dazzling Gleam) to give it great advantages in battle. Though that defensive wall can be broken if a pokemon has an ability to change Clefable's like Mummy curse or simple beam.

[RicePigeon]

You wont be seeing Mummy or Simple Beam any time soon in OU, and Moonlight is redundant when Clefable has access to Softboiled (albeit Softboiled is illegal with Unaware, but since you're running Magic Guard that's not an issue). If Clefable wants a boosting move to use, it's going to want Calm Mind.

[Xan]

That and thanks to the uprising of fairy-types Hydreigon is losing its usage more. At the last Gen(5) it was as an OU pokemon very useful especaily towards psychic and ghost-type pokemon. You pretty much say it was killer for those types. The only thing that can stand in its way was fighter and other dragon-types but Now since Fairy-types were introduce now its a risky pokemon to use and to make matters worse some psychic pokemon like Meloetta, Sylveon, Alakazam,..and a few other ones with high Sp.Atk can learn the fairy move 'Dazzling Gleam' which can give Hydreigon a hard time to deal with.

That's to say nothing of its usage in UU, which is still right up there in S rank last I checked, even with Florges running around.

[RicePigeon]

Hydreigon is actually at A+ now. The sole S rank Pokemon in UU is Lucario now.

EDIT: It seems that Victini and Togekiss have been banned from UU and have now moved up to BL. I'll edit the first post to reflect the changes.

EDIT2: Geomancy is now banned in UU as well, and Smeargle is currently undergoing a suspect test.

EDIT3: Smeargle is also banned from UU, but its being suspect tested to see if it will be allowed back in now that Geomancy is banned.

[Galvatron]

The sole S rank Pokemon in UU is Lucario now.

Consider that Lucario can learn soo many moves as well as through breeding(egg moves) i'm not surprise its still in that catagory.  :-P

[RicePigeon]

He suffers from 4 Moveslot syndrome as a result. While it's not noticable in UU, its definitely an issue in OU (not to mention hes frail and slow).

Btw, nominations for the next PotW start now until monday. So far people have nominated Rhyperior, Meloetta, and Crobat.

[Galvatron]

Btw, nominations for the next PotW start now until monday. So far people have nominated Rhyperior, Meloetta, and Crobat.

Really!? Rhyperior even doe it has loads of weaknesses.O_o

 

but then again Rhyperior has great defence capablilties. To be Honest I never raised a Rhyperior so I'm not worthy too judge about it.   -_-

[PlasmoidThunder]

Rhyperior has fantastic physical stats as well as HP. It's Speed and Sp. Defense are nothing to write home about, so even with Filter, Grass and Water type moves wreck the poor thing, unless you Sash it.

 

I remember I had a Rhyperior that held the Choice Band. Its Earthquakes murdered all, but it never lasted too long.

[RicePigeon]

Some news in the tiers:

 

OU News: Viability ranking updates

: C ---> C+

Mega Houndoom moved up because it's a good way to take advantage of the rise in Psychic-types and Gengar, as it checks both, while being a 100% counter to SubWoW Gengar and Mew, which is great. It also has a fantastic Speed tier that lets it outspeed most of the tier and hits pretty hard with just its STABs and Nasty Plot.

 

: C+ ---> C

Mega Absol is too frail and easy to check to be in C+, while also struggling to switch unMEvolved into the threats that Mega Houndoom can, such as Gengar and Mew, because it's afraid of WoW. Landorus-T, Fighting, and Fairy-types make Absols' life harder (Azumarill, Clefable, Keldeo, Terrakion), where Mega Houndoom covers most of them between Fire Blast and Hidden Power Grass / Fighting.

 

: C ---> C+

The reasons for Doublade's rise in rank is already covered in the PotW above. To reiterate: although Doublade is kinda dead weight outside of beating 10 specific Pokemon, these 10 specific Pokemon are so hugely threatening to Stall teams that Doublade has pretty much become a necessity for them.

 

: Stays in D

Chansey has alot more physical bulk than Blissey, but as far as stall is concerned, Blissey is not knock off prone and lefties is really helpful in regards to sandstorm, status, and hazard-stack double switches (which is the most common way offense deals with stall). Blissey has passable Sp.Atk so that it can run flamethrower/ice beam which is kinda noteworthy i guess (0 SpA Blissey Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gengar: 65-77 (24.9 - 29.5%)-isn't stalled out by gengar too which fks most stall teams :o). but what it comes down to is the team you are using it with. do u need a secondary physical wall that can take on things like mega pinsir,gyara, or land-t so that u can twave/toxic it? or can you afford the loss in bulk for added longevity. Blissey isn't completely unviable in ou.

 

: A+ ---> A

Ferrothorn dropped because the metagame is prepared for it, with magnezone and special attackers using HP Fire being everywhere.

 

: Stays in A+

Landorus-T stayed in A+ because it doesn't excel in a single role as much as the other Pokemon in S rank do and lacks versatility in comparison with the Pokemon that are in S rank mainly because of their versatility, such as Mega Charizard X. Both of Landorus-T's sets are dead weight against stall teams outside of the U-turn chip damage, and none of them is especially good offensively or defensively in general, at least not enough for S rank. Scarf Landorus-T is the best scarfer true, but it lacks a spammable STAB and needs to predict correctly between the move that KOes the opponent and U-turn to not give up momentum, a problem many of the S rank Pokemon don't have (Specs Keldeo has Scald, Azumarill and Thundurus's most effective sets are not choice locked). And of course there is the opportunity cost in being unable to run Landorus-I.

 

: S ---> A+

Landorus-I dropped because it's hard hitting ability is less needed as the metagame becomes more offensive, while its only good Speed becomes a bigger flaw. Also, it competes for a teamslot with Landorus-T, adding a significant opportunity cost.

 

: B+ ---> A-

Magnezone moved because it can trap most relevant Steel-types between its Scarf and Air Balloon sets, while also providing defensive utility by checking birdpsam, Mega Gardevoir, Clefable, and SD Mega Scizor.

 

: A- ---> B+

Breloom moved because it's getting easier and easier to check after sleep has been activated, as outside of Amoonguss and Mega Vevusaur, Pokemon such as Mega Heracross and Mew, that have risen a lot in usage over the past months, easily wall it. It's also much easier to anti-lead, with Jolly Mega Heracross and Fake Out Mega Medicham rising in usage. SD + LO is potent but the metagame hasn't adapted to this set yet, so it will stay in B+ until we see how the SD set fares in a metagame prepared for it.

 

: B+ ---> B

Mandibuzz lost viability because one of the primary reasons for its usage, Aegislash, has vanished, and it can't run a set that functions with as much efficacy in the current metagame.

 

: Stays in D

Salamence stays in D because nobody has presented a really good reason to use it over other Dragon-types with late-game cleaning abilities. Moxie Outrage is cool and all in theory, but i would prefer a much initially stronger Outrage, useful resistances, and the ability to fuck up physical Ground-types with Ice Beam that Scarf Kyurem-B provides. Or, Scarf Garchomp's superior STABs, bulk, and typing. Or, CB Dragonite's superior wallbreaking, defensive, and revenge killing abilities. Almost completely outclassed, stays in D.

 

: C- ---> C

Tangrowth is an excellent answer to Sand Rush Excadrill. It beats it much more convincingly than Ferrothorn (dies after a bit of chip damage, needs Power Whip to beat it and is completely ruined by the SD variant) Celebi (has a very real chance to lose to Iron Head Flinches), MVenu or Amoonguss (who straight up lose). It also has a good niche as an Azumarill counter that's not completely ruined by Magnezone or Banded Superpower, and though it does lose to the BD set, that set is pretty uncommon atm compared to band and especially AV. Even though Celebi also counters non-BD Azumarill too, Tangrowth does it much more convincingly. Unlike Celebi, who can get worn down over time, Tangrowth doesn't have to worry about this at all thanks to Regenerator, and its Ground immunity, increased offensive presence and far greater physical bulk makes it a good pick over Amoonguss is a lot of cases. It's also an excellent answer to Terrakion (even takes banded X Scissor which Celebi does not), Bisharp (all Ferro can do is leech seed really, and Celebi and Venu kinda just lose pathetically), Landorus-T (Celebi, believe it or not, takes a U-Turn but doesn't take it well at all, and Ferro gets eaten by Zone) and Crawdaunt, which I've seen a ton more of, and who can dispose of Amoonguss, Celebi and Ferro with Banded Knock Off (you can lose to LO SD with Tangrowth but Band is the more common set from my experience). For the most part, it's eclipsed by these other grass types, but it does hold quite a few advantages over them, to the point where it's definitely a solid option for quite few teams, especially if you're Excadrill and Bisharp weak (the latter of which seems to happen a lot).

 

: B ---> B+

Celebi moved because its Speed, Nasty Plot, ability, support movepool, and Psychic typing are big pros over Amoonguss, Ferrothorn, and Mega Venusaur.

 

: B+ ---> A-

Politoed move because rain teams benefit from the increase in offensive teams, against which rain teams fare really good. Also, rain teams are getting more versatile, which helps.

 

: C+ ---> B-

Sylveon moved because it's defensive set fares better than Clefable against offensive stat boosters and Sub users (Sub Mega Hera, Mega Gyarados, NP Thundurus, Sub Kyu-B, SD Garchomp, SubCM Keldeo, Sub + SD Terrakion, Sub Mega Medicham), and because its Specs set is good enough for B-.

 

: C+ ---> C

: C+ ---> C

Both Espeon and Smeargle have dropped in viability as the viability of both are intertwined with the other; Espeon is never seen without Smeargle, and Smeargle is never seen without Espeon. The two are only seen on teams dedicated to Geomancy + Baton Pass Smeargle.

 

: C+ ---> C

Mega Aggron moved because it's quite a bit inferior to Rhyperior outside of checking Fairy-types, such as Azumarill, Mega Gardevoir, and Clefable. Rhyperior has a much better typing for a physical tank, better STABs, Lefties, and doesn't occupy your moveslot. Mega Aggron is more or less one whole rank less viable than Rhyperior in this metagame, and should only be used over it if your team was Fairy-weak.

 

: Unranked ---> D

Lanturn has better overall bulk than Rotom-W, while also being able to provide Heal Bell support while simultaneously being immune to Paralysis. Electric-types are also a pain in the ass for many teams. Lanturn has an easier time checking threats that Rotom-W can, such as Raikou, and can absorb Scalds thanks to Water Absorb.

 

UU News: Smeargle Banned

• Smeargle suspect test voting is done and Smeargle was voted to stay banned from UU.
• Geomancy has been unbanned as a result of the Smeargle ban (since nothing else in the tier can use it)
• Victini is now undergoing a suspect test to see if it can be allowed to return to UU.

RU News: Moltres & Meloetta Suspects

• Moltres and Meloetta are gaining support for suspect tests, which may or may not happen before ORAS is released.

[RicePigeon]

Farfetch'd has that sexy Flying/Fighting samurai duck evolution has garbage base stats, that's mostly why.

 

 

In other news;

 

Showdown just updated their servers with all the ORAS info that was leaked from the demo and so far the following can be said of the changes:
 

Overpowered as fuck, most likely getting suspect tested and/or banned in the first 2 weeks after ORAS gets released.
 

Welcome back to OU Swampert. The new poster child of OU rain teams.
 
 

Aside from the above, these three are the most threatening/used Megas in ORAS OU so far. Mega Metagross loves that 110 base speed and Mega Slowbro is pretty much Suicune on steroids with that stupidly high base 180 defense. Mega Gallade may have a shitty ability for singles, but with 165 base attack and 110 base speed its a damn good sweeper, and actually outclasses Mega Medicham as a wallbreaker with a Swords Dance boost at the moment.
 

STAB combination may suck, but definitely has a role in OU. Scarf Landorus-Therian can't even do much when this thing runs Knock Off, and its U-turn hits just as hard as Choice Band Scizor's. It outspeeds Keldeo and easily 2HKOs, while OHKOing all relevant fairies in OU. This thing has perfect synergy with Magnezone and is almost never seen without it.
 
 

Mega Altaria may be versatile and anti-meta (it resisting attacks from Keldeo lacking Icy Wind and both Mega Charizards), but it really wishes it had more bulk. Great typing, but it cant handle the Mega Charizards as well as you would like it to.

So far isnt reaching OU status, but it does have a good niche on OU teams. Its best set so far appears to be its mixed set.
 
 

Giving Gunk Shot to this thing just pushed it over the top. Fairies can no longer wall it and even with 0 attack EVs and a -Attack nature it can still OHKO/2HKO most of them. Many are already calling for it to be suspect tested after Mega Salamence gets the boot.
 

136 base attack and 135 base speed actually allows Mega Lopunny to function as an offensive cleric, an interesting niche in OU, even if it ends up belonging to UU. Its extremely versatile.
 

RIP Stall as we know it. Ironically, Mega Sableye is also one of the new poster children for semi-stall.
 

Mega Latios doesn't have much over regular Latios aside from being able to use Earthquake more efficiently. Latios is already good even without its Mega. Mega Latias, on the other hand, is really bulky and a Calm Mind set is actually viable now.
 

Hurricane spam and fastest user of Defog, but nothing else. Niche at best.

 
 

As far as ORAS OU is concerned, these two suck.

[PlasmoidThunder]

And so it was that Salamence became overpowered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one was surprised.

[Galvatron]

[off-topic]

Farfetch'd has that sexy Flying/Fighting samurai duck evolution has garbage base stats, that's mostly why.

Hmm. I see whats you mean I just raised one and made a new team and tested them in acouple Single battles:

 

Vs Trainer Nobi:

XZRG-WWWW-WWWA-7ZYE

 

Vs. Trainer ALAN:

CNJG-WWWW-WWWA-7ZYJ

 

Seriously Farfetch'd need a evolution Bad. So it can survive better.

 

 

[back-on topic]

 

 

 

In other news;

 

Showdown just updated their servers with all the ORAS info that was leaked from the demo and so far the following can be said of the changes:
 

Overpowered as fuck, most likely getting suspect tested and/or banned in the first 2 weeks after ORAS gets released.
 

 

And so it was that Salamence became overpowered.

 

No one was surprised.

Indeed. The fact I own one aka(redwing)  I can't wait to use it and see what its made off

[RicePigeon]

So as I previously reported, Showdown has had full ORAS compatability for a few weeks now, using the data that was extracted from the ORAS Demo...

 

 

... And Mega Salamence is already undergoing a suspect test. Yes, Mega Salamence is being suspect tested for ubers and the game isn't even out yet.

[PlasmoidThunder]

That wasn't surprising.