Metagame BDSP UU (Tier Shifts @ Post #107)

Just wanted to make a post about some mons I think look conceptually interesting mons I find fun to slap on teams. I'm not gonna go very in depth about it, just wanted to briefly mention some mons.

Also Proof that I actually play the tier (bcuz for some reason people do that)

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Number 13 and 16 on each respective account. Both were with some shitty stall teams I made.
Might aswell add in those shitty stall teams while I'm at it
https://pokepast.es/11e821b344e8b35e - The less shitty of the two (disregarding the gligar set)
https://pokepast.es/ac3bb3afebcd873c



Claydol is one of the two usable spinners in the tier that learns a pivoting move and is one of like two teleport users who don't suck ass. Honestly, the fact that its a fat mon with a pivoting move + spin + ice beam strong enough to a lot of the time ko mence after rocks or a resisted hit makes it pretty decent. Levitate also gives it a lot more staying power than most of the other spinners, as it can spin through hazard stacking. I wouldn't call it great or anything (insanely flawed defensive typing, slow, low hp, weak, every buzz word you can throw at a passive mon etc) and it faces competition from most of the good spinners in the tier.

0 SpA Claydol Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Salamence: 232-276 (70 - 83.3%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

+1 252 Atk Salamence Outrage vs. 248 HP / 4 Def Claydol: 288-340 (89.1 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO (Worst case scanario)

+1 252 Atk Salamence Outrage vs. 248 HP / 248+ Def Claydol: 211-249 (65.3 - 77%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (Best case scenario)




This thing is a menace. There's such a lack of good steel types in the tier, and there are literally zero good steel types with reliable recovery in the tier. These steel types are also used to check many other dangerous mons in the tier, so their existence will rarely impeed the moth as it cleanly 3hkos every one of them in worst case scanario (I.E max spdef max hp). Paired with rocks and spinners, this thing can basically sit on most fat teams if you make a single wrong play. The lack of a 4x rocks weakness also means that it can stay around. The main problem with it is that its kinda dead weight defensively against non fat stuff, as it can't really take hits from most mons bar like grasses (which is kinda nice cuz it sets up on roserade post sleep powder). Toxic spikes is a meme please don't run it (unless your name is drapion).




Manaphy counter numero uno has come back for vengence, ready to hard counter another extremely prevelant water type set-up sweeper dominating the tier. With the combination of the highest spdef on a mon with reliable recovery in the tier, haze and defog, you basically cuck any specially offensive hazard setter, any slow special set-up sweeper without an electric move (and some fast ones), sit on most sun teams and fog for free on most specially offensive mons in the tier. TLDR it sits on two of the best set-up sweepers in the tier, blastoise and (as much as it pains me to say this) Cresselia, while also sitting on one of the better playstyles of the tier and fogging pretty effectively in matchups where its strengths shine.

So why isn't this mon SSSSSS+ rank and used on every team? Because its other attributes are incredibly mediocre. Not only does this deal jack shit for damage, basically inviting in every single physical attacker in the tier (which includes some of the scariest mf's in the tier like Heracross). But it also freely lets in the ever present volt-turn, basically guranteeing that any team that runs it is in for a wild ride against (insert here) strong mon the volt-turn supports. There is no end to this things passivity, making it incredibly hard to justify over other water types, who may have lower highs but in exchange are actually useful in mu's, where the mons they're supposed to hard counter aren't present.


Now on a less bitter note, Jumpluff.



This thing is terrible but I just wanted to say that sd would be a good meme is magneton didn't suck ass kek.


Speaking of good memes, I made a cursed gligar set because I was tired of losing to scarf rotom-mow.



Gligar @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Defog
- Roost


Concept: Fuck Rotom-mow. Bulk out in special defense, Rotom deals jack shit for damage, smooth brain player uses trick, gets toxic'd. Immunity broke.

Excecution: Works 100% of the time, just watch out for hp ice lol.
 
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I want to introduce a mon that is underated in this meta. :rhyperior: , it makes sense that this mon isnt used much, becauses it matchs badly against common rockers like donphan and bronzong, ground types like flygon, quag and the former donphan. But it also does poorly agisnt the mons that are used to check blastoises and the dragons like bulky waters and grass types. But this only aplies for the bulky rcoks set, which is pretty bad btw. The best set by far is banded, it can mitigate many of the issues that makes the rocks set bad. First, with edgequake and megahorn you hit everything in this meta really hard(the last moveslot can be rock blast, ice fang, stealth rocks, hammer arm, or whatever you want. Common switchings like donphan or quag, slowbro, milotic get 2Ko by eq, which can turn the tables on many defensive cores, also 1v1 cress, is not joke either, one megahorn and something like scarf mence can clean it up later, it chunks brozong really hard too, and has free entry agaisnt zapdos, moltres and via u-turn/volt switch. Looking foward of how this metagame evolves.https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspuu-1467744245
 

UltiMario

Out of Obscurity
is a Pokemon Researcher
Was messing around with shed stall a few nights ago, was doing well even in high ladder, went 16-1 during my first session (and the loss was just due to air slash flinch hax so whatever)
:xatu: :shedinja: :chansey: :blastoise: :roserade: :quagsire:

Shedinja will likely keep a lot of stuff in check until Home drops, but until then a lot of mons are missing Hidden Power and random coverage moves, giving Sheddy a bit of extra breathing room. Magic Bounce is a must, along with double hazard removal to keep it alive. Sash has definitely proven to be the item of choice over something like Lum, as the opportunity to prematurely end something's sweep with Shed tanking one hit is huge. Unaware Quagsire with Toxic might be the best panic button in the entire tier and basically stops a bunch of sweeps dead in their tracks. TSpikes lets you pressure teams that might otherwise bypass your cores, I ran into one SubCM Suicune that would've been a huge pain if not for TSpikes blocking it entirely. While Blastoise has been mentioned a few times here for for Shell Smash, it's an absurdly good defensive spinner in the tier, and probably the MVP of the team. It has winning match-ups against a large number of rockers and takes very minimal damage from basically anything they can do, and the few non-sheddy ghosts available just don't want to switch into Scald either. Volt Switch Forretress is kind of a pain, but you can still come in on Forretress a huge number of times over the course of the game since it only barely does more damage than 2 rounds of leftovers.
 

Eve

taking a break
is a Site Content Manageris a Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
Community Leader
Hey! Just wanna clarify that BDSP UU is currently in Alpha, meaning nothing will be banned until January. Sorry for any confusion.

Oh also, reminder to not assume Home will allow transfers into BDSP- all official statements about Home connectivity thus far have only mentioned transferring from BDSP to Home.

Happy posting!
 
Opinons so far:

Salemence is crazy, all it needs is 1 turn to set up with moxie and everything starts dropping, this thing is brutal if gets a dance off or even 2. CB is just as nuclear and Salemence hits everything neutral or supereffective. This thing wont last long guarenteed.

Cressealia is neigh unmoveable without a Dark type and all good dark types in UU are weak to ground so they get boddied by Mence or any other fast stong ground attack. Ever since recover/softboiled were lost Moonlight is a godsend for longevity, this thing does not die from an unboosted non super effective attack. Its unlikely it will stay long.

Metagross. Bar non the best CB aside from Mence, nothing aside from Bronzong and physical cress/mew can switch in, everything else either drops or takes massive damage from its hits.CB isint even all it does, its a good defensive mon when invested and can take hits and swich out, putting up rocks if it needs too. Metagross is also a rare mon in that it has stab priority, since sucker punch was lost bullet punch is now very good,m, all in all once Cress/Mence are banned this thing will dominate , despite its lowerd movepool.

Sun is sun, shits wack with no other weather to counter it, it makes Mence and Cress even harder to wall and turn specs Houndoom into a thermonuke on top of the sun sweepers. Prob wont last long
 
Hello everyone I have compiled a viability list for BDSP UU. A good amount of other community members gave their input in the discord so shoutout to all of you for any assistance provided. The Pokemon under the first title nearly everyone agrees has viability in this tier. Anything below the title "potentially viable" are uncertainties but they have the stats and movepools to potentially have a niche or simply haven't been explored enough. This isn't anything official, just a useful source for anyone that prefers the smaller builder to look at. This first list is in alphabetical order, the latter I got lazy with.

BDSP UU Viability List:
Abomasnow
Absol
Aerodactyl
Aggron
Ambipom
Blastoise
Bronzong
Cacturne
Chansey
Charizard
Cloyster
Cresselia
Crobat
Ditto
Drapion
Entei
Espeon
Exploud
Flygon
Forretress
Froslass
Gallade
Gardevoir
Gastrodon
Granbull
Gyarados
Heracross
Hippowdon
Honchkrow
Houndoom
Kabutops
Kingdra
Kingler
Linoone
Ludicolo
Machamp
Mantine
Medicham
Metagross
Mew
Milotic
Mismagius
Moltres
Nidoking
Nidoqueen
Ninetales
Omastar
Porygon-Z
Quagsire
Qwilfish
Raikou
Registeel
Rhyperior
Roserade
Rotom
Rotom-C
Rotom-H
Sharpedo
Shedinja
Shiftry
Slowbro
Slowking
Smeargle
Snorlax
Steelix
Suicune
Swampert
Tauros
Tentacruel
Torkoal
Torterra
Toxicroak
Umbreon
Uxie
Venomoth
Venusaur
Victreebel
Vileplume
Weezing
Xatu
Yanmega
Zapdos

Potentially Viable:
Kadabra
Porygon2
Pilowswine
Volbeat
Ursaring
Vaporeon
Swellow
Spiritomb
Shuckle
Sceptile
Sableye
Rotom-F
Regirock
Primeape
Regice
Rampardos
Purugly
Miltank
Mesprit
Mawile
Masquerain
Marowak
Leafeon
Lanturn
Gorebyss
Golduck
Floatzel
Exeggutor
Electrode
Drifblim
Altaria
Arcanine
Camerupt
Dodrio
Hitmontop
Hitmonlee
Hitmonchan
Zangoose
Sneasel
Rapidash
Wigglytuff

Below are some of the sets I have seen or used/suggest using. This is only for the Pokemon I am certain to have viability. I am sure there are sets that are missing that X Pokemon can use so if you have tried something and see it isn't there that is fine. Perhaps share the set and the success you've had with it for others to give a go or discuss. Also, AoA = All-out-Attacker if anyone doesn't know.
Abomasnow
Screens
Choice Specs
Absol
Swords Dance
Aggron
Choice Band
Offensive Stealth Rock
Ambipom
Fake Out Revenge Killer
Blastoise
Shell Smash
Defensive Rapid Spin
Bronzong
Defensive Stealth Rock
Cacturne
Swords Dance
Offensive Spikes
Chansey
Defensive
Charizard
Choice Specs (Sun)
Claydol
Defensive Rapid Spin or Stealth Rock
Cloyster
Shell Smash
Spikes Setter
Cresselia
Calm Mind
Utility (Thunder Wave + Ice Beam)
Trick Room or Weather Setter
Crobat
Utility (Defog/Taunt)
Ditto
Choice Scarf
Donphan
Bulky Rapid Spinner
Drapion
Swords Dance
Bulky Utility (Taunt/Toxic Spikes/Toxic)
Choice Scarf
Dugtrio
Suicide Lead (Memento + Stealth Rock)
Dusknoir
Choice Band
Electivire
Life Orb Physical AoA
Entei
Choice Band
Espeon
Choice Specs
Choice Scarf
Calm Mind
3 Atks Life Orb
Exploud
Choice Specs
Flygon
Choice Scarf
Utility (Defog)
Choice Band
Dragon Dance
Mixed Wallbreaker
Forretress
Rapid Spin + Spikes
Froslass
Spikes Suicide Lead
Gallade
Swords Dance
Gardevoir
Choice Specs
Choice Scarf
Gastrodon
Defensive Wall
Granbull
Defensive Wall
Gyarados
Dragon Dance
Heracross
Guts Wallbreaker
Choice Scarf
Hippowdon
Defensive Stealth Rock
Honchkrow
Life Orb AoA
Houndoom
LO AoA
Choice Specs
Choice Scarf
Nasty Plot
Kabutops
Swords Dance
Choice Band
Kingdra
Choice Specs or LO AoA
Dragon Dance
Critdra
Kingler
Swords Dance + Agility
Linoone
Belly Drum
Ludicolo
AoA Rain Sweeper
Machamp
Guts Wallbreaker
Magmortar
Choice Specs or LO AoA
Manectric
Choice Scarf
Mantine
Defensive Wall
Medicham
Choice Band
Metagross
Offensive/Defensive Stealth Rock
Choice Band
Agility
Mew
Nasty Plot
Defensive Stealth Rock or Defog
Taunt stallbreaker
Milotic
Defensive Wall (Don't use Flame Orb ._.)
Mismagius
Choice Specs
Choice Scarf
Nasty Plot
AoA + Taunt/Will-O-Wisp
Moltres
Defog
Agility
Choice Specs
Nidoking
AoA
Nidoqueen
AoA
Ninetales
Nasty Plot
Omastar
Shell Smash
Lead
Porygon-Z
Choice Specs
Nasty Plot
Choice Scarf
Quagsire
Unaware Wall
Qwilfish
Defensive Spikes
Swords Dance (Rain)
Raikou
Choice Specs
Choice Scarf
Pivot AoA
Calm Mind
Registeel
Defensive Stealth Rock
Rhyperior
Stealth Rock
Choice Band
Roserade
Spikes
Rotom
Choice Scarf
Hex + Will-O-Wisp
Rotom-C
Choice Scarf
Nasty Plot
Pivot
Rotom-H
Choice Specs
Nasty Plot
Pivot
Salamence
Dragon Dance
Special Breaker
Defensive
Sharpedo
Speed Boost Sweeper
Shedinja
Stall
Shiftry
Sun Wallbreaker
Slowbro
Defensive Wall
Slowking
Defensive Wall
Calm Mind
Smeargle
Suicide Lead
Snorlax
Curse Lax
Steelix
Defensive Stealth Rock
Suicune
Offensive Calm Mind
Swampert
Stealth Rock Setter
Tauros
AoA
Tentacruel
Rapid Spinner
Torkoal
Sun Setter
Torterra
Agility
Choice Band
Stealth Rock Setter
Toxicroak
Swords Dance
Umbreon
Wish Passer
Uxie
Defensive Stealth Rock/Pivot
Venomoth
Quiver Dance Sweeper
Venusaur
Sun Wallbreaker
Victreebel
Sun Wallbreaker
Vileplume
Defensive Wall
Weezing
Defensive Wall
Xatu
Defensive Wall
Yanmega
Choice Specs
Zapdos
Defensive Wall
 
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but unlike Probopass, it can utilize Magnet Rise to sit on would be checks like Donphan or Hippowdon
What do you mean? It actually learns Magnet Rise too, ... Or it's because it will suffer 4-Moveslot Syndrome if we do so?
I'm also thinking on building Probopass with Body Press to hit hard on Registeel, since Probo and Regigigas are the only mons to have access to it (until BDSP becomes transferable).
 
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I used Aggron as 80% of my leads, the set only really works when theres no hazards but it has actually helped.
Aggron @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
Ev´s 252 Atk/ 252 Sp Atk
Brave Nature
-Head Smash
-Stealth Rock
-Heavy Slam
-Flamethrower/Ice Beam?
Flamethrower was used solely for Forretress, though I guess Ice Beam can work too if you are afraid of Donphan or Flygon. Head Smash is used to be able to suicide lead rocks to make sure they cant rapid spin or defog away the 1 turn rocks. Maybe Ill try out the Banded Variant but that might be after I am bored of Leaggron.
 
I'm probably just fortunate but I have not had very much trouble with Salamence- it being locked into Outrage makes it really easy to kill and other moves aren't nearly as threatening. Of course I'm willing to admit my team is probably way more anti-mence than most (Max physical bulk Suicune and Donphan, as well as a Metagross) so maybe that's all it is. People might not be using it as smartly as they could either bc it tends to come out earlier than it needs to and just drop. Not trying to pull a "this mon definitely isn't banworthy because [anecdote]" as it's still worth considering with how much it can dismantle, but it seems a little overhyped in my opinion.

Anyhow here's the team I hit #1 on the ladder with today if anyone wants to give it a try:


Prometheus (Entei) @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Stone Edge
- Extreme Speed
- Crunch

The initial mon I wanted to build around that led to everything else. I feel like Entei's really strong in this meta, Sacred Fire gets a nice dent in everything besides the bulkiest waters and Espeed is also extremely useful to pick sweepers or other weakened mons off come the end of the game. If their bulky water is weakened, gone, or non-existent, you really don't have to think with Entei. You can even keep it in on shit like Donphan and Mence and end up fairly satisfied whether or not you burn with the crazy damage you get. Crunch can be very nice to screw with CM Cress as well and fish for defense drops.

BRITA (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Rest

Suicune, in my opinion, feels like the strongest Pokemon in the tier besides Salamence. It can sweep without very much planning at all and it doesn't even always need to wait til the midgame with how a lot of the teams I'm fighting are built. Entei takes advantage of the Grass types Suicune doesn't like, as well as burning the physical attackers that already had a tough time getting through Suicune's physical bulk to make them basically harmless. Obviously both Entei and Suicune don't like Water types but can push them to their limit pretty quickly working together, and Suicune can basically just set up on all the ones I see besides Clear Smog Gastrodon and opposing CM users. I would note that I didn't even really need Rest as often as I would've expected, replacing it with Protect might be worthwhile just to grab the extra lefties turns and ensure a 2HKO from banded Salamence, but I'm not seeing too much of the latter and Rest can still be vital at times (even if it's not too many games).

Wheeliephant (Donphan) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin

Gotta love Donphan, excellent supportive pachyderm. I run full physical defense mainly because Salamence and opposing Donphan, but I'm sure Attack EVs would work fine too. The set should be fairly straightforward to anyone who has ever seen or used Donphan, just does all the good removal while being able to hit most anything that can switch in to bother it at least a little. It can even kill overconfident Roserades very easily despite lacking Attack investment, so not too much is lost there.

LE BOOMER (Rotom-Mow) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Trick

Rotom-Mow has been super helpful and is in many cases my go-to lead, a lot of teams have to make a tough call against it turn one that can set the pace for the rest of the game. It can check a lot of the set-up sweepers that aren't Salamence, plain out speeding things like Gyarados or Tricking Cresselia and Suicune. Trick is wonderful to disrupt all kinds of opposing strategies in general and seemingly still very unexpected to many opponents. Its power and speed never disappoint, as well as its bulk despite being uninvested (though I'm usually not hard switching it in). Needless to say, it's a nightmare for the Water types that the dogs dislike as well. Its coverage is simply amazing for this meta and forces opponents into rough spots all the time, since the only good Electric immunities cannot eat Leaf Storm very comfortably at all.

Iron (Metagross) @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

This is where the team gets slightly more unusual but still fairly straightforward. I originally had bulk, but I tried out speed and discovered it was way better for consistency against other Metagross as well as the variety of bulky but potentially faster Pokemon that inhabit the tier (Uxie, Milotic, Suicune, etc.) It also tends to take most hits pretty well even without the HP, so no big loss. The goal of this set is to throw out rocks when I need them while also placing some additional immediate offensive pressure without a choice lock, but more importantly, to bait in the bulky Water types that irritate Entei and Suicune in and Explode on them- after the chip from Meteor Mash thanks to an Adamant nature and Life Orb, this usually gets the kill and allows me to wipe the rest of the game with the dogs. Earthquake barely gets used as Steel types are not too popular, but Bullet Punch didn't seem worth becoming relatively helpless against them even if I would've been using that move way more.

Neuton (Snorlax) @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Curse
- Facade
- Crunch
- Recycle

Another set that thrives on inaccurate expectations. A lot of people seem to expect a more slow-paced traditional Snorlax, especially once they see Curse. However, the big investment in physical attack means that even with just one boost Snorlax hits fairly hard and easily 2HKOs most non-dedicated walls. With the Figy berry and a defense boost, Snorlax lives two Outrages from banded or +1 Salamence, and easily 2HKOs back with boosted Facade (the fact that basically every mence runs Moxie is very helpful for this). Crunch over Earthquake allows it to easily disrupt the Mismagius that are vital to make webs and hazard stack teams work, and Facade allows it to largely ignore its Will-O-Wisps as well as Mismagius' attacks which are easily shaken off even without using Recycle. Many player's go to response to Snorlax before they see Facade is to try and burn it, which makes getting boosted Facades extraordinarily easy- thankfully however they're not needed to make the set function, as most teams are frail enough to lose some members even against Snorlax with only one boost. In addition to all this set up fun it is simply useful to take some special hits from things like Raikou which the rest of the team can't hold off against for too long and get some kills in the process.
 
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What do you mean? It actually learns Magnet Rise too, ... Or it's because it will suffer 4-Moveslot Syndrome if we do so?
I'm also thinking on building Probopass with Body Press to hit hard on Registeel, since Probo and Regigigas are the only mons to have access to it (until BDSP becomes transferable).

Probably didn't word it 100% correctly. But because those Pokémon are physically tanky, they don't really mind eating a Body Press. With Donphan even taking away your leftovers in the process (and Hippowdon is like a 9HKO, which you could play that long game if you want). How I probably should have phrased it was even though Magnet Rise makes it immune, it might not be in your best interest to try and take those on 1v1.

That's also specifically why I mentioned Magneton. Not only does Flash Cannon rip into those guys, it has a better match up vs opposing Registeel due to being immune to Paralysis (with Probopass you basically have to play a 50/50 and hope you Taunt or Magnet Rise on the correct turn). Again, I think both have some potential if teams continue to overly rely on Steel-types as their main or only answer to Dragon and Normal-types.

(Low-key, I'm pretty tired right now, but I'll try editing this post tomorrow and try to highlight other cool stuff I've been trying.)

10:30 PM EST Edit Time!

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Probopass @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense / Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Magnet Rise
- Body Press

So after some further testing on the ladder, I can definitely say Probopass and Magneton are plenty viable in this UU environment. The main difference between the two are how they're played as Magnet Pullers. Probopass is a bit more defensive in how it handles, but it effectively gets the job done thanks to Body Press being the freest move once you get your pseudo Levitate. The choice between Iron Defense and Body Press mainly comes down to your team structure, which adds to its flexibility. Speed is there for 0 Speed Registeel, although I'd imagine by the time I'm done posting y'all will have started running 8 Speed just to snipe me.


1639277301627.png

Glaceon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Freeze-Dry
- Shadow Ball
- Ice Shard / Water Pulse / Sleep Talk

As of typing this out, I've yet to complete my testing of this, but so far this thing is a menace. Some of you are really comfortable out there using your bulky Water-type as your Ice check, and Glaceon is here to give you that icy cold wake-up call. Anything that isn't named Registeel can catch one of its STABs or Shadow Ball, and the vast majority of the time it's either a 2HKO or an OHKO. Last slot is pretty flexible, mostly because its move pool is subzero temperatures low. Ice Shard is just nice to have for the sake of priority and keeping Salamence in line, while Water Pulse can dent Probopass and Fire-types. Sleep Talk is bare minimum filler if you want to try and use this as your sleep fodder versus stuff like Roserade or Vileplume.

1639278264231.png
(Yes, I do have an affinity to the color blue. Don't @ me)
Spiritomb @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dark Pulse

Been trying this on bulkier builds like stall to some mild success. I think at times its low HP gets in the way of spin-blocking successfully, which can be a problem when Donphan is probably the most used Pokémon I think I've seen besides maybe Salamence or Raikou. Still, its bulk is respectable enough to work alongside cleric support and hazards like Toxic Spikes from Roserade or Nidoqueen. I prefer Dark Pulse as the STAB of choice, mainly due to the prevalence of Normal-types. Despite the performance issues though, I'd still say I had some fun using it.


:primeape::weezing::mew::granbull::houndoom::roserade:

Just some more stuff that I'll continue testing to get a more firm opinion on. Some will more than likely suck or be awkward (It's Primeape. I don't have too high of hope for Primeape), but that's one of the things I'm loving about BDSP UU right now. There's such a treasure trove of Pokémon to try. I honestly haven't felt this excited about a new metagame since probably either ORAS or DPP.
 
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I'm probably just fortunate but I have not had very much trouble with Salamence- it being locked into Outrage makes it really easy to kill and other moves aren't nearly as threatening. Of course I'm willing to admit my team is probably way more anti-mence than most (Max physical bulk Suicune and Donphan, as well as a Metagross) so maybe that's all it is. People might not be using it as smartly as they could either bc it tends to come out earlier than it needs to and just drop. Not trying to pull a "this mon definitely isn't banworthy because [anecdote]" as it's still worth considering with how much it can dismantle, but it seems a little overhyped in my opinion.

Anyhow here's the team I hit #1 on the ladder with today if anyone wants to give it a try:


Prometheus (Entei) @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Stone Edge
- Extreme Speed
- Crunch

The initial mon I wanted to build around that led to everything else. I feel like Entei's really strong in this meta, Sacred Fire gets a nice dent in everything besides the bulkiest waters and Espeed is also extremely useful to pick sweepers or other weakened mons off come the end of the game. If their bulky water is weakened, gone, or non-existent, you really don't have to think with Entei. You can even keep it in on shit like Donphan and Mence and end up fairly satisfied whether or not you burn with the crazy damage you get. Crunch can be very nice to screw with CM Cress as well and fish for defense drops.

BRITA (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Rest

Suicune, in my opinion, feels like the strongest Pokemon in the tier besides Salamence. It can sweep without very much planning at all and it doesn't even always need to wait til the midgame with how a lot of the teams I'm fighting are built. Entei takes advantage of the Grass types Suicune doesn't like, as well as burning the physical attackers that already had a tough time getting through Suicune's physical bulk to make them basically harmless. Obviously both Entei and Suicune don't like Water types but can push them to their limit pretty quickly working together, and Suicune can basically just set up on all the ones I see besides Clear Smog Gastrodon and opposing CM users. I would note that I didn't even really need Rest as often as I would've expected, replacing it with Protect might be worthwhile just to grab the extra lefties turns and ensure a 2HKO from banded Salamence, but I'm not seeing too much of the latter and Rest can still be vital at times (even if it's not too many games).

Wheeliephant (Donphan) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin

Gotta love Donphan, excellent supportive pachyderm. I run full physical defense mainly because Salamence and opposing Donphan, but I'm sure Attack EVs would work fine too. The set should be fairly straightforward to anyone who has ever seen or used Donphan, just does all the good removal while being able to hit most anything that can switch in to bother it at least a little. It can even kill overconfident Roserades very easily despite lacking Attack investment, so not too much is lost there.

LE BOOMER (Rotom-Mow) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Trick

Rotom-Mow has been super helpful and is in many cases my go-to lead, a lot of teams have to make a tough call against it turn one that can set the pace for the rest of the game. It can check a lot of the set-up sweepers that aren't Salamence, plain out speeding things like Gyarados or Tricking Cresselia and Suicune. Trick is wonderful to disrupt all kinds of opposing strategies in general and seemingly still very unexpected to many opponents. Its power and speed never disappoint, as well as its bulk despite being uninvested (though I'm usually not hard switching it in). Needless to say, it's a nightmare for the Water types that the dogs dislike as well. Its coverage is simply amazing for this meta and forces opponents into rough spots all the time, since the only good Electric immunities cannot eat Leaf Storm very comfortably at all.

Iron (Metagross) @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

This is where the team gets slightly more unusual but still fairly straightforward. I originally had bulk, but I tried out speed and discovered it was way better for consistency against other Metagross as well as the variety of bulky but potentially faster Pokemon that inhabit the tier (Uxie, Milotic, Suicune, etc.) It also tends to take most hits pretty well even without the HP, so no big loss. The goal of this set is to throw out rocks when I need them while also placing some additional immediate offensive pressure without a choice lock, but more importantly, to bait in the bulky Water types that irritate Entei and Suicune in and Explode on them- after the chip from Meteor Mash thanks to an Adamant nature and Life Orb, this usually gets the kill and allows me to wipe the rest of the game with the dogs. Earthquake barely gets used as Steel types are not too popular, but Bullet Punch didn't seem worth becoming relatively helpless against them even if I would've been using that move way more.

Neuton (Snorlax) @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Curse
- Facade
- Crunch
- Recycle

Another set that thrives on inaccurate expectations. A lot of people seem to expect a more slow-paced traditional Snorlax, especially once they see Curse. However, the big investment in physical attack means that even with just one boost Snorlax hits fairly hard and easily 2HKOs most non-dedicated walls. With the Figy berry and a defense boost, Snorlax lives two Outrages from banded or +1 Salamence, and easily 2HKOs back with boosted Facade (the fact that basically every mence runs Moxie is very helpful for this). Crunch over Earthquake allows it to easily disrupt the Mismagius that are vital to make webs and hazard stack teams work, and Facade allows it to largely ignore its Will-O-Wisps as well as Mismagius' attacks which are easily shaken off even without using Recycle. Many player's go to response to Snorlax before they see Facade is to try and burn it, which makes getting boosted Facades extraordinarily easy- thankfully however they're not needed to make the set function, as most teams are frail enough to lose some members even against Snorlax with only one boost. In addition to all this set up fun it is simply useful to take some special hits from things like Raikou which the rest of the team can't hold off against for too long and get some kills in the process.
You know that Lax set is incredibly strong, swapped the HP evs for defense EVs and it managed to live a guts boosted close combat and KO back with a powerful facade and caused the opponent to forfeit as figgy activated. With screens this seems even stronger so I decided to make a core of dogs, the metagross, but with a twisted spoon espeon and a screen setter mowtom.
https://pokepast.es/f72a42b9aa798a2f

after getting into a bit of a slump when testing I managed to reach top 50 with this.
 
can someone help improve this sortof hyper offense team? feels too frail most of the time:

Roserade @ Focus Sash
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder

Heracross @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Facade
- Stone Edge

Gardevoir @ Life Orb
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast

Cloyster @ White Herb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Ice Shard

Typhlosion @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Eruption
- Focus Blast
- Flamethrower
- Extrasensory

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Defog

tried to use roserade lead (which works well so far),
heracross and typhlosion wall breakers (which also work decent but would prefer a bit more coverage on typhlosion but houndoom's too frail),
cloyster and gardevoir setup sweepers (gardevoir is way too frail for calm mind, shud i use specs or scarf?)
flygon as revenge/pivot (no prob here)
 
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Sceptile @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Drain Punch
- Rock Slide/Earthquake/Dragon Claw


Sceptile is the second fastest swords dancer in BDSP UU as of now, with great base SPD, it can tank a hit from most special sweepers.

295 ATK/339 SPE/206 SPD

Doubtlessly a valid swords dancer for this tier, give him an A+
 

KaenSoul

Shared:Power Little Knight
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And it turns out stall is much better here than what i tought, here is a team i have been using in the ladder with success.
:Chansey: :Slowbro: :Quagsire: :Zapdos: :Weezing: :Umbreon:
https://pokepast.es/0616bf53af54924e
The team is pretty standard, there isnt much to explain, Slowbro run enough SpA to ohko Salamence with Ice Beam without rocks, NGas Weezing to counter Heracross, Zapdos to punish U-turn, Quagsire does Quagsire stuff, Umbreon has Sand Attack, yes, Sand Attack, why? Because it doesnt learn Heal Bell in this game fuck me, didnt feel the need to run Taunt or Moonlight and Yawn isnt much different from Sand Attack as they are going to switch out anyway, and if they for some reason stay you spam Sand Attack and become invencible (not like that ever happens) you can try Mud Slap but Sand Attack hit flying types. Confuse Ray is an option i guess but the chance is too low this gen. Just run whatever in that slot, you are clicking wish most of the time with this thing.
Im 100% sure this team does well because the ladder doesnt even try to cover stall and run no outs to any kind of defensive core, i have no replays because i didnt really do anything special.
 
The Pink Bulldog



Not gonna lie, this thing is pure cash money. In a metagame where literally every mon that has access to a decently strong ice move will have one , alongside enough spatk that they can OHKO Salamence, Granbull stands tall as by far the best overall Salamence check, since it's the only pokemon in the tier that Salamence really can't hurt without teching in moves that exclusively hit Granbull (like iron tail). This results in Granbull having a nice little niche on stall, as the only mon in the tier that doesn't fear a single move choice band Salamence can click, while also hard walling every other set bar mixed life orb.

Granbull's defensive utility is pretty shallow outside of Salamence. It hard walls the other relevant dragon in the tier, Flygon, only really caring about a STAB Earthquake. Aside from that, it really only serves as a subpar check to the guts boosted fighting types of the tier, as it resists their stab(s) and only gets 3HKOD by Facade post burn and Intimidate. It also checks some miscellaneous fighting and dark types like physically offensive Cacturne, Absol and Gallade, while also serving as a decent pivot, if you really need to drop a mons attack. It also learns heal bell, resulting in some pretty funny shenadigans alongside rest-talk, but its generally just a pretty solid move in general, as it frees up a move slot on chansey (unless you wanna run double cleric)

Obviously some of the big flaws of Granbull are that it is a mon that easily gets chipped down thanks to its lack of reliable recovery and hazard weakness, but that's kind of why you use it on stall. On stall you can afford to pair it with some wish passers and extra hazard removal, which greatly reduces its overall weaknesses and makes it far more reliable at doing its job.


Btw here's the stall team I've been dicking around with on ladder. Not a very serious one, but pretty fun.

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Future Sight / Calm Mind / Filler
- Slack Off
Not gonna lie, the only thing that basically distinguishes every slowbro variant is the choice of filler. Not much else to say, very standard and boring.



Gligar @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Defog
- Roost
My own invention because I hate Rotom-Cut. Already made a post about it so there's not much else to add. It kinda fogs on stuff but not really.



Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Haze
- Toxic
- Recover
Spdef boi. For real though, my team handles the vast majority of physical setup sweepers in the tier, but loses hard to stuff like Nasty Plot Mismagius and has an unreliable matchup against Suicune and Blastoise. I just got tired of losing to those threats and bulked it out. Haze > Earthquake because I'd rather have a better Suicune matchup than hit stuff slightly harder.



Granbull @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Heal Bell
- Play Rough
Already talked about Granbull enough, so TL;DR resttalk is its only form of recovery, heal bell for nice utility and play rough for stab.



Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp / Toxic
- Ice Beam
- Roost
Yes I like double defog on stall, how'd you know? Anyway, this is a pretty standard mew set bar the lack of speed evs. Really though, I just didn't know what the speed tiers were when I first got into the tier and am just too lazy to fix it.



Chansey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD OR 4 hp and 252 in both defenses same nature
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Aromatherapy / Shadow Ball/ Whatever filler you desire
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
Pretty standard set all things considered, you could opt out of rocks if you chose another rocker and aromatherapy is entirely because I find Granbull to be an unreliable cleric. Shadow ball is for missy, which as previously stated I utterly despise, but you can run any filler like protect or twave etc.


Drinking game: Take a shot every time I typed 'Standard'

252 Atk Salamence Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Granbull: 97-115 (25.3 - 30%) -- guaranteed 4HKO. vs CB

252 SpA Life Orb Salamence Fire Blast vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Granbull: 209-247 (54.5 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. Y I K E S, even flamethrower 2HKOS

8 Atk Granbull Play Rough vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salamence: 276-326 (83.3 - 98.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. You could definitely invest more into attack for a more reliable ohko.

252 Atk Flygon Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Granbull: 118-139 (30.8 - 36.2%) -- 55.4% chance to 3HKO. vs CB

252 Atk Flygon U-turn vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Granbull: 28-33 (7.3 - 8.6%) -- possibly the worst move ever. Lefties also heals U-turn

-1 252 Atk Flygon Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Granbull: 79-94 (20.6 - 24.5%) -- guaranteed 5HKO. vs CS

8 Atk Granbull Play Rough vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Flygon: 276-326 (91.6 - 108.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

-1 252 Atk Guts Heracross Facade (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Granbull: 128-151 (33.4 - 39.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

+1 252 Atk Guts Heracross Facade (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Granbull: 288-339 (75.1 - 88.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. In case of sd.

8 Atk Granbull Play Rough vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Heracross: 288-342 (95.6 - 113.6%) -- 75% chance to OHKO. Play Rough basically always kos when factoring in burn.

Choice Band and Scarf are too weak to mention.

The exact same calcs apply to Machamp and Hariyama in case you were wondering.

When your hardest move to hit Granbull with is a resisted non stab move: 252 Atk Life Orb Absol Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Granbull: 73-87 (19 - 22.7%) -- possible 5HKO.

Of course that's discounting memes: 252 Atk Life Orb Absol Night Slash vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Granbull on a critical hit: 97-114 (25.3 - 29.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

TL;DR Granbull is cool on stall and bad everywhere else.
 
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I used Aggron as 80% of my leads, the set only really works when theres no hazards but it has actually helped.
Aggron @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
Ev´s 252 Atk/ 252 Sp Atk
Brave Nature
-Head Smash
-Stealth Rock
-Heavy Slam
-Flamethrower/Ice Beam?
Flamethrower was used solely for Forretress, though I guess Ice Beam can work too if you are afraid of Donphan or Flygon. Head Smash is used to be able to suicide lead rocks to make sure they cant rapid spin or defog away the 1 turn rocks. Maybe Ill try out the Banded Variant but that might be after I am bored of Leaggron.
Can I steel this? I am trying to make a bulky offense team and this would be really helpful. I will be sure to post it when done and results show.
 
Been having a lot of fun with banded scizor. with 110 base attack and STAB, this is the strongest U-Turn you can get in the tier, and it can lead to some insane momentum to let in powerful breakers.

Scyther @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
- Brick Break
- Quick Attack


Edit: As of now I'm working with a double defog core of Moltres+Sciz and it's been working well so far, though you have to play well to get rocks off the field
 
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Specs

Getting in your own way
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UUPL Champion
I'm probably just fortunate but I have not had very much trouble with Salamence- it being locked into Outrage makes it really easy to kill and other moves aren't nearly as threatening. Of course I'm willing to admit my team is probably way more anti-mence than most (Max physical bulk Suicune and Donphan, as well as a Metagross) so maybe that's all it is. People might not be using it as smartly as they could either bc it tends to come out earlier than it needs to and just drop. Not trying to pull a "this mon definitely isn't banworthy because [anecdote]" as it's still worth considering with how much it can dismantle, but it seems a little overhyped in my opinion.

Anyhow here's the team I hit #1 on the ladder with today if anyone wants to give it a try:


Prometheus (Entei) @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Stone Edge
- Extreme Speed
- Crunch

The initial mon I wanted to build around that led to everything else. I feel like Entei's really strong in this meta, Sacred Fire gets a nice dent in everything besides the bulkiest waters and Espeed is also extremely useful to pick sweepers or other weakened mons off come the end of the game. If their bulky water is weakened, gone, or non-existent, you really don't have to think with Entei. You can even keep it in on shit like Donphan and Mence and end up fairly satisfied whether or not you burn with the crazy damage you get. Crunch can be very nice to screw with CM Cress as well and fish for defense drops.

BRITA (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Rest

Suicune, in my opinion, feels like the strongest Pokemon in the tier besides Salamence. It can sweep without very much planning at all and it doesn't even always need to wait til the midgame with how a lot of the teams I'm fighting are built. Entei takes advantage of the Grass types Suicune doesn't like, as well as burning the physical attackers that already had a tough time getting through Suicune's physical bulk to make them basically harmless. Obviously both Entei and Suicune don't like Water types but can push them to their limit pretty quickly working together, and Suicune can basically just set up on all the ones I see besides Clear Smog Gastrodon and opposing CM users. I would note that I didn't even really need Rest as often as I would've expected, replacing it with Protect might be worthwhile just to grab the extra lefties turns and ensure a 2HKO from banded Salamence, but I'm not seeing too much of the latter and Rest can still be vital at times (even if it's not too many games).

Wheeliephant (Donphan) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin

Gotta love Donphan, excellent supportive pachyderm. I run full physical defense mainly because Salamence and opposing Donphan, but I'm sure Attack EVs would work fine too. The set should be fairly straightforward to anyone who has ever seen or used Donphan, just does all the good removal while being able to hit most anything that can switch in to bother it at least a little. It can even kill overconfident Roserades very easily despite lacking Attack investment, so not too much is lost there.

LE BOOMER (Rotom-Mow) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Trick

Rotom-Mow has been super helpful and is in many cases my go-to lead, a lot of teams have to make a tough call against it turn one that can set the pace for the rest of the game. It can check a lot of the set-up sweepers that aren't Salamence, plain out speeding things like Gyarados or Tricking Cresselia and Suicune. Trick is wonderful to disrupt all kinds of opposing strategies in general and seemingly still very unexpected to many opponents. Its power and speed never disappoint, as well as its bulk despite being uninvested (though I'm usually not hard switching it in). Needless to say, it's a nightmare for the Water types that the dogs dislike as well. Its coverage is simply amazing for this meta and forces opponents into rough spots all the time, since the only good Electric immunities cannot eat Leaf Storm very comfortably at all.

Iron (Metagross) @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

This is where the team gets slightly more unusual but still fairly straightforward. I originally had bulk, but I tried out speed and discovered it was way better for consistency against other Metagross as well as the variety of bulky but potentially faster Pokemon that inhabit the tier (Uxie, Milotic, Suicune, etc.) It also tends to take most hits pretty well even without the HP, so no big loss. The goal of this set is to throw out rocks when I need them while also placing some additional immediate offensive pressure without a choice lock, but more importantly, to bait in the bulky Water types that irritate Entei and Suicune in and Explode on them- after the chip from Meteor Mash thanks to an Adamant nature and Life Orb, this usually gets the kill and allows me to wipe the rest of the game with the dogs. Earthquake barely gets used as Steel types are not too popular, but Bullet Punch didn't seem worth becoming relatively helpless against them even if I would've been using that move way more.

Neuton (Snorlax) @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Curse
- Facade
- Crunch
- Recycle

Another set that thrives on inaccurate expectations. A lot of people seem to expect a more slow-paced traditional Snorlax, especially once they see Curse. However, the big investment in physical attack means that even with just one boost Snorlax hits fairly hard and easily 2HKOs most non-dedicated walls. With the Figy berry and a defense boost, Snorlax lives two Outrages from banded or +1 Salamence, and easily 2HKOs back with boosted Facade (the fact that basically every mence runs Moxie is very helpful for this). Crunch over Earthquake allows it to easily disrupt the Mismagius that are vital to make webs and hazard stack teams work, and Facade allows it to largely ignore its Will-O-Wisps as well as Mismagius' attacks which are easily shaken off even without using Recycle. Many player's go to response to Snorlax before they see Facade is to try and burn it, which makes getting boosted Facades extraordinarily easy- thankfully however they're not needed to make the set function, as most teams are frail enough to lose some members even against Snorlax with only one boost. In addition to all this set up fun it is simply useful to take some special hits from things like Raikou which the rest of the team can't hold off against for too long and get some kills in the process.
Dope team, been using it. Entei is a huge threat and burns help Curse Lax a lot.

As for some mons I've been liking:

:rs/crobat:
Crobat is legit! U-turns on pesky steels and really helps with faster threats like Missy, scouting Flygon, +0 Mence, ect. Poison Fang is something I've been testing out too as spreading Poison for priority users like Ambipom & Entei is rlly useful. You always want Roost & Turn but the other slots are pretty customizable tbh

:dp/toxicroak:
Haven't seen much talk about Croak and it makes sense why its overshadowed, the tier is still super new and it isn't on the level of the brokens. However its sheer breaking power is great. Often times, teams check one of its sets well enough but miss out on checking the other properly. This is usually how it goes with Croak wherever it lands each gen, so I only see it rising during this meta development process. Please use it, both sets are very good. Getting mence into +1 sucker range isn't the worst either with SD, and you do force it to not DD most of the time

:gs/espeon:
This is a bit more of a fun pick, Espeon is a blast to use. Similar to Crobat this speed tier is really solid. It does lack immediate 1 hit ko opportunities I find, but it does force things out none the less. For example: Donphan wanting to keep sturdy/staying out of +1 Mence range, Bronzong wanting to keep healthy for Metagross, Steelix wanting to stay healthy for x Physical threat. Espeon really pairs well with the physical threats of this tier. CM is what ive mainly been rocking, Specs sets could maybe be looked into, screens also works obviously but is fishy
 
Happy holidays everyone! Here to share my thoughts on some of the Pokemon I've used and seen others use in this meta:

The Good




In my opinion, one of the top 5 Pokemon in the meta right now. Very little outruns it, it's bulkier than you might think, and access to Scald means most of the tier's Ground types go from checks to victims, especially as it outruns all of them. SubCM is its best set IMO, with only Grass and Dragon types resisting Thunderbolt and Scald. Most Grass types struggle to damage it much after a boost or two, and the most common Dragons (Salamence, Flygon and Kingdra) are neutral to Thunderbolt or Scald. The former two also hate a burn. Calm Mind + 3 attacks is also very good, and it can even run Choice items if that tickles your fancy. On the downside it doesn't bring much to the table defensively and it struggles with special walls like Snorlax and and Chansey.

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Scald

Raikou @ Life Orb / Expert Belt / Shuca Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Scald
- Extrasensory / Volt Switch

Raikou @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Extrasensory





I haven't seen people using Lax very often, which is a massive shame IMO. I tried the Gluttony Curse set from SM RU, but it was really bad due to the nerf to the pinch berries. Then I tried its classic CurseLax set, and wow it was incredible. Without STAB Fighting moves, you are not KOing this thing once it's got a few boosts under its belt and it can even use Pokemon that should wall it, like Forretress and Bronzong, as set up fodder. Curse is pretty much its only set (Band sucks), but that set is amazing. It can beat just about every other boosting sweeper out there in a setup war. Just keep it well away from the tier's Fighting types and it won't let you down.

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Careful Nature
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 176 HP / 180 Def / 152 SpD
- Curse
- Body Slam / Facade
- Rest
- Crunch / Earthquake / Sleep Talk

HP and defence EVs mean at +1 it can survive burned Jolly Heracross's Close Combat and KO it back with a +1 Body Slam.
252 Atk Guts Heracross Close Combat vs. +1 176 HP / 180 Def Snorlax: 426-504 (84.3 - 99.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 0 Atk Snorlax Body Slam vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Heracross: 283-334 (94 - 110.9%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO





Running a stall team and your opponent has a Heracross? Bad luck. Admittedly this thing isn't much good against more offensive teams, but that's not its job: it's supposed to smash massive holes in your opponent's team for other stuff to clean up later, and it does this brilliantly. Heracross is the best Fighting type in the tier IMO, as while it is slightly weaker than Machamp it is much faster. STAB Megahorn also lets it plough through bulky Psychic types like Cresselia, Slowbro and Uxie. It can also choose what walls it depending on what it runs in the last slot. Hate Flying types? Use Stone Edge. Don't like Fairies? +3 Facade puts most of them 6 feet under. Ghost types giving you the chills? Exorcise them with Throat Chop.

Heracross @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge / Throat Chop / Facade





The other legendary beast, this is another brilliant Pokemon in BDSP UU. Don't try to use it as a pure wall - Gastrodon and Milotic have reliable recovery while Tentacruel provides hazard control. Suicune is at its best as a bulky sweeper, being an absolute pain to kill once it's grabbed a Calm Mind or two. CroCune is generally its best set, but it can always branch out to catch its checks and counters off guard. SubCM with Ice Beam or Extrasensory can use the otherwise counter Gastrodon as set up fodder. It can even run a full on offensive Calm Mind set that catches Roserade, Tentacruel and Toxicroak off guard. Like Raikou, another top 5 mon.

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk / Ice Beam

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 Spe
Bold nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Ice Beam / Roar

Suicune @ Leftovers / Expert Belt
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest / Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump / Scald
- Ice Beam
- Extrasensory


Honourable Mentions


The Bad



For the love of God people, stop using this thing! It is absolutely atrocious. It's even worse than it was in BW UU, if you can believe that. No Fire Punch or Low Kick means it lets just about every Steel type in for free, to either set hazards or smash holes, it's very frail and has no useful resistances. It's supposed to be an offense-killer and yet it's so damn weak it can't even manage that! Raikou shrugs off everything it does (Inner Focus also blocks Fake Out flinches) and blasts it, ditto for Salamence, Flygon and Kingdra. Sneasel does everything the monkey does and does it better - sure it's frail and has bad defensive typing as well, but its STABs let it threaten Salamence, Mismagius, offensive Mew and Flygon. Ambipom's STABs let it threaten...absolutely nothing.



Unlike the monkey, this thing actually has logical reasons for using one. On paper Magnet Pull + Iron Defense + Body Press makes it a deadly Steel remover that might even be able to sweep late game. So what's the problem? Well, most teams don't really need a dedicated Steel remover. Salamence has Earthquake and Fire Blast, so it can generally smash most of the tier's Steels anyway. Exploud has Fire Blast and Focus Blast to smash them on the switch. Chlorohpyll Venusaur has both Torkoal and Ninetales to melt the Steel types it can't scratch, while Victreebell has Weather Ball to scorch them. Calm Mind Cressselia uses them as set up fodder. On top of that many of the tier's Steel types can still give it problems. Metagross simply smashes it with Earthquake, Bronzong and Registeel can run that move too (quite easy to fit now they can't run Toxic) to smack it hard on the switch and Forretress can Spike all over it then Volt Switch out. If you want to crush the Steel types, there are a plethora of Fire, Ground and Fighting types that can do that without being useless at everything else.




It pains me to put Zapdos here, it really does. Especially as it's always been a key part of OU and even when it dropped to UU in BW it was great there that time. But losing Hurricane and Heat Wave was really rough for the thunderbird. Without the aforementioned moves it really struggles with the tier's Grass and Ground types. The only set it can really run effectively at the moment is a bulky Defog set, and even that has its problems. Rapid Spin is on the whole much better than Defog, since keeping your own hazards up is more useful. And Salamence can do it better, since it has better physical bulk thanks to Intimidate and Fire and Water resistances. Raikou and the Rotom formes are just better choices for an Electric type.

The Overlooked



Most people pass this thing up because Exploud can hit harder. It also has Fire Blast and Focus Blast to scare away Steel types. But then it hit me. Don't use Porygon-Z as a wallbreaker. Instead, try using it as a revenge killer and late game cleaner. Choice Scarf Porygon-Z is a fearsome anti-offense Pokemon that can still put in work against more defensive teams, while Agility can blitz them late game. Now yes, it is still frail and has no resistances, so pairing it with VoltTurn is recommended.

Porygon-Z @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Adaptability / Download
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Tri Attack
- Dark Pulse
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam / Hyper Beam

Porygon-Z @ Life Orb
Ability: Download / Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest / Timid Nature
- Agility
- Tri Attack
- Dark Pulse
- Thunderbolt / Nasty Plot



Of the legendary birds, I personally think Moltres is the best right now. Unlike Zapdos it got to keep Hurricane, giving it a STAB combination that only Rock types (most have low SpD) and Rotom-H (no reliable recovery) resist. With its high Special Attack stat it can hurt almost everything in the tier - even Milotic, unboosted Suicune and Gastrodon take heavy damage from Hurricane. It's a versatile Pokemon too - it can be a wallbreaker, late game cleaner with Agility and even bulky utility Pokemon. Get rid of Stealth Rock, and this bird will reward you in spades.

Moltres @ Life Orb
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Hurricane
- Roost
- U-turn / Agility

Moltres @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid nature
- Fire Blast
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Air Slash / Flamethrower

Moltres @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Def / 216 Spe
Timid nature
- Roost
- Flamethrower
- Defog
- U-turn





While it is usually overshadowed by Metagross, which hits a lot harder, Registeel should still be considered. After all, 80/150/150 defenses are incredible and unlike Cresselia it can't be poisoned. Unlike Bronzong and Metagross it isn't weak to Ghost and Dark type moves, so it isn't bowled over by Mismagius. Being able to stop Exploud from spamming Boomburst is a very nice USP (Fire Blast won't 2HKO from full most of the time, if Registeel runs Protect Exploud will have to hit 3 Focus Blasts in a row). It can even be a late game sweeper with Curse - don't knock it, better than you might think.

Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Earthquake / Protect
- Thunder Wave / Protect

Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Iron Head
- Rest
- Earthquake / Sleep Talk




With Chansey losing Wish, Vaporeon takes over its mantle as Wish Passer. It's no coincidence I listed it with Registeel - it's my attempt to recreate the iconic RegiMola core from XY RU. Having great bulk and a high SpA stat, it can tank a +1 Salamence Outrage and OHKO it with Ice Beam with no investment, which Blastoise can't do. Losing Heal Bell did hurt, but Roserade can run Aromatherapy and has great synergy with the mermaid as well, coming in on the Grass and Electric types that trouble it, while Vaporeon can come in on the Fire and Ice types that trouble Roserade.

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Wish
- Protect
- Ice Beam / Haze


Honourable Mentions





Just my silly personal opinions, take them with a grain of salt. I didn't talk about Salamence because everyone else has already said everything I could say about it better - it's broken as hell. Once again, happy holidays. May 2022 be better than 2020 and 2021.
 
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It's bulkier than you might think
As soon as I saw this I got flashbacks to when this gem screwed me over

+2 252+ SpA Blastoise Surf vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Raikou: 241-285 (75 - 88.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Base 90/75/110 defense stats on a purely offensive mon is huge, fully agree with the notion that Raikou is one of the top attackers in the tier.


Also to not make this a throwaway post, I thought I'd just bring up why ambipom is awful.

The Bad



For the love of God people, stop using this thing! It is absolutely atrocious. It's even worse than it was in BW UU, if you can believe that. No Fire Punch or Low Kick means it lets just about every Steel type in for free, to either set hazards or smash holes, it's very frail and has no useful resistances and it just doesn't hit hard enough. "But I really want to use an offensive Normal type!" I hear you say. "Fine", I reply "here is Snorlax, which has great special bulk, actual resistances with Thick Fat and makes an epic late game sweeper. Here's Exploud, which can 2HKO almost everything in the meta. Here's Porygon-Z, which trades some of Exploud's power for a better matchup against offense. Or you could try Swellow, which is faster, more powerful once Guts has been triggered and has an easier time coming in with its Ground immunity."
I completely agree with the notion that Ambipom is a terrible mon, but this post kind of misrepresents why Ambipom is terrible. Ambipom isn't a terrible mon because it's outclassed by the rest of the normal types in the tier or because it's walled. It's distinct enough in its niche as an offense killer to not warrant facing competition from the rest of the normal types in the tier, as its the only one that has both an above average speed tier and decently strong priority. Being walled by fat stuff isn't really a detriment on a mon that isn't supposed to kill fat anyway.

The reason for why it's terrible is because it can't fulfill its niche thanks to how pathetically weak it is. The offensive mons in this tier are just far too strong for double priority to kill unless heavily chipped, and the metagame is overall focused way more on teams that atleast have some kind of defensive backbone. The only exception to this is like sun (but even then u still have torkoal). It's not bad because it has no usable niche, it's bad because it's so bad at fulfilling the usable niche it does have that it doesn't warrant seeing use.
 
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I'm using this variant of Arcanine that basically takes advantage of its intimidation to resist enemy attacks and proceed to neutralize with Will-o-Wisp. Obviously this variant already exists, I am not wanting to invent the wheel but to help a little those of us who are breaking our minds creating balanced teams.

Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 Spe
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Morning Sun
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed

I take this opportunity to thank ChrystalFalchion for his version of Porygon-Z RevengeKiller. Just what I was complaining about about the meta was the few options of scarf users, and you come to hammer my mind open. I'll keep reading this way although because the ideas that are being put on the table are getting better and better, and although I don't usually use them, I learn a lot. Greetings to all.
 
As soon as I saw this I got flashbacks to when this gem screwed me over

+2 252+ SpA Blastoise Surf vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Raikou: 241-285 (75 - 88.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Base 90/75/110 defense stats on a purely offensive mon is huge, fully agree with the notion that Raikou is one of the top attackers in the tier.


Also to not make this a throwaway post, I thought I'd just bring up why ambipom is awful.



I completely agree with the notion that Ambipom is a terrible mon, but this post kind of misrepresents why Ambipom is terrible. Ambipom isn't a terrible mon because it's outclassed by the rest of the normal types in the tier or because it's walled. It's distinct enough in its niche as an offense killer to not warrant facing competition from the rest of the normal types in the tier, as its the only one that has both an above average speed tier and decently strong priority. Being walled by fat stuff isn't really a detriment on a mon that isn't supposed to kill fat anyway.

The reason for why it's terrible is because it can't fulfill its niche thanks to how pathetically weak it is. The offensive mons in this tier are just far too strong for double priority to kill unless heavily chipped, and the metagame is overall focused way more on teams that atleast have some kind of defensive backbone. The only exception to this is like sun (but even then u still have torkoal). It's not bad because it has no usable niche, it's bad because it's so bad at fulfilling the usable niche it does have that it doesn't warrant seeing use.
Raikou has 100 spe def, not 110. But it still bulky for an offensive mon
 

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