RU National Dex RU Metagame Discussion

[Dorron]

https://tiermaker.com/create/sv-national-dex-ru-personal-vr-443466 you can do here your personal Viability Ranking!

Pretty roughly done but what's clear is that Galarian birds and Scizor are metagame defining

 

[Runo]

Tier list doesn't have some more nicher mons but I've been developing my list for a couple of weeks now.

S

S-

A+

A

A-

B+
()()()
B


B-

C+

()
C

()()
C-

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[Velcroc]

Usually I prepare my posts in advance but I've had a rather busy day today so I'll unwind the only way I know how - by writing paragraphs on the Smogon forum board for obscure metagames. I haven't had the energy to prepare teams en masse like I thought I would but I am getting used to the ropes if I do say so myself.

If you've kept track of the ban posts thus far, you would have noticed a recurring list at the bottom keeping track of the threats under radar. I intend to elaborate a bit on each of these threats now that round 1 of the "kick-off" has officially ended. Bear in mind that the description for each of these is heavily subjective based on my experiences and that we're at the stage of this metagame where the viability of many Pokemon can be hotly debated.




Speaking of contentious opinions, here's one for you: Gengar is on the low end of the broken spectrum for me. While it is undeniable that this thing will be kicked out of the tier sooner or later, I'm not convinced that the time is now. Gengar is undoubtedly a strong, versatile offensive threat but this metagame is full of strong and versatile threats, and I struggle to see how Gengar is significantly oppressive than quite a few Pokemon here. Sure, it punishes balance and is an especially massive pain in the behind for stall with Trick + Nasty Plot but the metagame is trending towards Offense or Bulky Offense with quite a substantial number of Pokemon that can either offensively check it or revenge it. That list does includes an assortment of scarfers for non-scarfed Gar including Latias and strong priority from the likes of Scizor which can be played exploited. However, this tier also has a host of naturally faster, viable Pokemon such as Alakazam, Mega-Aerodactyl, Zeraora, Swellow, Meowscarada, Mega-Houndoom, Mega-Absol, Thundurus and the list goes on. This isn't even mentioning Bisharp and Moltres-Galar which can use choice-locked Gengar as fodder or can utilise Terastalisation to catch Gengar off guard. None of the Pokemon I listed particularly like switching into Gengar - which is why I took time to clarify that it is, on some level, unhealthy for the tier. However, the metagame is very offensive at the moment, making it tricky for Gengar to run both set up and choiced sets without there being some catch-22.




I don't like the constraining effect that this has on the teambuilder by forcing the prevalence of Pokemon like Tinkaton. I'm pretty sure you're all familiar with what this does. Nasty Plot, Agility, Sweep. There was an expectation amongst the council that perhaps the metagame can more properly orient itself around this thing once screens is out of the picture but that fell through the floor. It's a shame that one set took all the glory since I actually looked forward to something bulkier to help check the offensive ghosts that were running around. But as of right now, this looks like a solid ban from me in the very near future.




I think both Latias and Mega-Latias are too much for the tier but as of right now Mega Latias is a significantly larger issue. Calm Mind sets have an uncanny degree of flexibility and it has the bulk to withstand heavy assaults from most Pokemon in this tier. When making a team, chances are that it loses to M-Latias given the right move or the right EV spread. Yes, it cannot beat everything at once but it does mean that multiple checks are needed to manage it. For instance, Tinkaton and Mandibuzz might seem like safe answers but neither want to take a Mystical Fire or Ice Beam (respectively). Toxic stalling attempts can be very easily foiled by cleric support, Refresh or even Substitute. Running these moves comes at an opportunity cost but Mega Latias is able to exert such immense moment to moment pressure that any loss can be easily offset in practice. Your opponent cannot afford to stay in with their Bisharp on Ice Beam Latias because it could take the hit and retaliate with Aura Sphere. Two outcomes: either they terastalise or they switch. If they guess happen wrong, both options could realistically put them in a lose-lose situation. In that sense, it reminds me of how Mega-Metagross constrained teambuilding in OU.



I did make a point about Gengar that there's a lot of priority and faster Pokemon running around RU at the moment. So it might catch you off guard to hear that, despite having these very issues, I find Zapdos-Galar broken. I don't think anyone will take offense to the notion that Zapdos-Galar is too much for the tier but it is helpful to have a disclaimer since comparisons between Pokemon are inevitable. In my opinion, Zapdos-Galar puts more moment to moment pressure then Gengar does and leverages its virtually unresisted STAB Combination far more effectively. This, in tandem with it's lack of a pursuit weakness, makes it a lot more difficult to punish a Zapdos-Galar than a Gengar. I have only run 1 set with this Pokemon and that's Choice Band. I imagine that Swords Dance + 3 Attacks saw usage in the distant past when light clay petrified the tier and that SubSD can still hold its own. However, Choice Band pushes this thing to new heights in terms of absolutely obscene calcs - even without factoring in Tera Fight or the odd Tera Flying. Zapdos Galar clicking CC and Brave Bird can be foiled with a crafty Tera but odds are something is dying when the turn ends. I said virtually unresisted coverage and I would like to emphasise this again. Sure, something like Toxtricity and Thundurus may resist the combo but...

252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Thundurus: 191-225 (63.8 - 75.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Toxtricity: 191-225 (65.6 - 77.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

The only reliable switch-in to this is Doublade which, for all intents and purposes, sucks.

If the opportunity does arise, I would vote ban for this. However, I'm not sure if this is a world-ending threat for the tour at hand since, like Gengar, you can play around this through offensive doubles, faster Pokemon like Sash Kazam and the numerous neutral priority options.




Any decision made around this Pokemon teeters on a knife's edge. Looking at historical predecent, Scizor always ends up being a metagame warping Pokemon where every teambuilding decision has to factor around it. However, terastalisation gives it the ability to break its usual threshold for damage with boosted tera steel bullet punch. Counter play is plentiful but with the exception of physically defensive moltres (who can simply burn it) all of Scizor's checks have to tread carefully around it. Scizor could still be overwhelming even without terastalisation but it would certainly not be as prominent as an offensive threat.




If current trends continue, Thundurus Incarnate may well find itself in NU. I'll give you a moment to digest that thought.

Both thunder genies are in a similar boat in terms of power but I've always had a preference for Incarnate over Therian thanks to its immensely valuable speed tier and flexibility. Both can run offensive pivoting sets but Therian is here thanks to its ability to snowball with double dance. A Moltres Jr if you will. Regardless, both Thundurus forms are in a similar position to Gen 8 UU. In that tier, Therian stayed as the metagame adapted but Incarnate was able to pose too much of a hassle and was thus banned. The difference is that both genies are able to utilise National Dex mechanics to the fullest by exploiting all three of Hidden Power, Terastalisation and Z-moves to blow back their would be checks. In an ideal world, any would be switch-in would be decimated by a move of choice. However, current gen RU is not ideal for our lamp-dwelling companions. A surprisingly large pool of potential grass and ground type switch-ins makes every move slot decision a precarious one. If you drop HP Ice, you might miss out on Bulu or Gastrodon. Slot in Grass Knot and you miss out on Bulu. Sludge Wave misses out on Gastro. Making room for all of the above by dropping Focus Blast leads to poor neutral coverage overall. Assault Vest Tangrowth is something that slips through the cracks regardless of the decision you make. This isn't even mentioning the offensive pace of the tier.







If Scizor gets banned, all of these will have to go at somepoint. Latias is already an immensely powerful wincon and borderline unreasonable threat as is but losing arguably its most splashable check would make tip-toeing around it even more inconvenient. The rest are barely manageable for now but in a metagame without Scizor, it will be far more oppressive.



Imagine telling someone in 2016 that not only would Mega Heracross be in RU but that it would also dodge a quickban. Mega Heracross is an interesting case study into how metagame dynamics can overshadow raw stats. I wouldn't get too comfortable with Mega Hera staying here long term however. While it is true that Mega Heracross is a bit slow for this metagame, it can snowball at a moments notice with Swords Dance and Trailblaze (in some cases, just trailblaze alone). There's also the long term issue of switching into this. Moltres is a make shift check but one wrong move it will end up squashed by rock blast on the predict.

->

Right now, neither are wholly broken. Glowbro usually ends up banned for quick draw shenanigans but at the moment, it's the slowest priority user and horribly outgunned. Regenerator sets have stiff competition from slowbro and slowking who are arguably more broken than it. Carrying the mega stone can help it flip match ups but it comes at the huge drawback of being crippled by hazard stack. Mega Slowbro would be an amazing Pokemon if it carried regenerator. Calm Mind and Calm Mind + Iron Defense sets definitely have their place in the tier but the nerf to recover PP and vulnerability to both status and hazards upon mega evolving is a huge down side. Offense, Balance and Stall alike can account for this Pokemon without a drastic overhaul to team composition.




Overall, I do enjoy the fast paced nature of this metagame even if something is clearly up. When compared to some other ND RU metagames which were more balanced but extremely centralising to the point of being tedious, I'd say that's a fair achievement. We might not have a stable metagame like the tail end of last generation NDRU, but I am hopeful that we're heading towards that direction.

And one more thing

Tyranitar beats almost every single one of these mons singlehandedly.

Moral of the story: Ban Tera, Free Big Tyranitar.

 

[georgebowserjr]

Now that the tier has balanced a little, I have made my own personal VR (thanks Dorron) and I must say gen 9 has changed the tier massively so far, so hopefully it will get even better with more bans. UR = terrible mons, C- are not good mons at all, C is niche mons. B- are eh mons, B are okay mons, B+ are decent mons, A- are good mons, A are really good mons, A+ are amazing mons and S is for Scizor.



These guys are S rank easily, they basically controls the tier at this point. Scizor is very splashable, and ruins everything that isn't named Moltres with Tera Steel and Choice Band and can run Bugnium Z optionally to break Mega Slowbro and other walls. And then, we have Mega Latias, who let bro in? This mon has to be the best mega in this tier. It has amazing bulk, recovery, access to Calm Mind and has insane coverage like Aura Sphere and Ice Beam to hit threats. While it doesn't have access to tera, we will be seeing a lot of 1v1 mega latias tour games, I am with you DerpyBoi.



These three are amazing mons in this tier. Moltres is easily the best hazard removal around with it's access to recovery, U Turn and Defog. While Moltres has great moves for what it needs to do, it also helps against Scizor, the best mon in this tier. Moving on to Hippowdon, gamer but swag 's partner in crime, you know who he is. The don has got to be the best ground type in the tier, with it's access to recovery, sand storm chip on opposing mons and can throw continuous Stealth Rocks and Toxics at the opponent, slowly chipping them down so that other mons can come in and finish the job. Finally we have Galarian Zapdos, which is an insane breaker and can also run subsitute bulk up. This mon is definitely getting sent to RUBL.



Ok so, hear me out. These mons are from now on are called Ew, Yuckie, Trash and Corruption Leader. If i see these mons anywhere I am questioning your life decisions. STOP THE SCOV AND USE THE FROG.



So away from the trash mons, onto this guy. Now Tapu Bulu is probably the most underrated mon in this tier, due to the fact that it has access to small recovery from Grassy Terrain and Horn Leech, decent coverage even with the lack of a physical fairy move, and has solid stats. This dude can Rock Z your Moltres if you aren't expecting it. Along with its decent offensive presence, it can run also run bulky sets. USE HIM MORE!

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Honestly, these two specifically are incredible, the fact that you can just quickly change your typing is insane, it's like a mini tera! On top of this, you can hang on to Regenerator all you want and block Toxics all the time. These two are super duper underrated and I wish more people would use them, at least while they are still hanging around down here in RU. This usually runs a special defensive set with calm mind, which makes it a really big threat. If you aren't expecting this, you are in trouble.



BAN THESE NOW!! THESE SHOULD NOT BE HERE, GET RID OF THEM!!! These are probably the most bannable things this tier has to offer. Hopefully, action will be taken soon so this tier can be healthy again. Please delete!!


I miss him.. bring him back PLEASE! IM BEGGING! I NEED HIM! HE'S MY BEST FRIEND!

update: changed a few things around.

 

[MachJacob]

It is not controversial to call Scizor the undisputed king of the tier right now. It can do so much, with Swords Dance, Close Combat, Pursuit, Knock Off, U-Turn, Roost, Defog, and other niche options like Quick Attack or Dual Wingbeat. It can hold Choice Band, Life Orb, Metal Coat, Heavy Duty Boots, Leftover, or even a Z-Crystal to choose whether to boost its power or survivability. But the one constant is that every team in this tier needs an answer to Scizor because a 394+ attack, STAB, Technician-boosted Bullet Punch is coming. There are many potential threats that are held back by Scizor's presence, and you must take it into account when building a team.


Moltres is not only one of our best answers to Scizor, but a solid defensive presence in the meta. It is one of (if not the best) defoggers in the tier, and Flame Body makes it a threat to any physical attacker. Its sets hold little flexibility, almost exclusively holding Heavy Duty Boots (and thus a crippling fear of Knock Off), with a typical move list consisting of Roost, Defog, U-turn, and either Flamethrower, Mystical Fire, or Scorching Sands.


There is some debate as to which is better, Mega-Latias or Latias with Tera, but no matter which you believe, it is undeniable that both are incredible Pokemon. Great defensive stats, great STAB and coverage options, Calm Mind, Roost, and possibly even Refresh. Whether using the bonus bulk from Mega Evolution or Tera Steel/Poison, Latias can quickly set up and become uncontrollable.


Sun is very difficult to stop. Tera Fire not only lets Venusaur hit power levels it could have only dreamed of in the past with newfound STAB on Weather Ball, but also grants it resistance to the most common priority move in the tier, Scizor's Bullet Punch. One Growth and your only options are to either stall out the sun, Terastalize into a resist to take it out, or lose your whole team. What helps in this endeavour is the incredible supporting cast of sun: Mega Houndoom offers similarly overwhelming power on a level with Chi-Yu (albeit without access to items or Tera), and the Protosynthesis users Slither Wing, Sandy Shocks and Ungaboonguss Brute Bonnet bring additional flexibility to the strategy. Scovillain is an alternative Chlorophyll user with a stronger nuke, thanks to an initial Fire typing and more powerful moves like Fire Blast and Overheat, but the Stealth Rock weakness and poor bulk make setting up Growth a lot harder. Before Venusaur dropped, I seriously considered dropping Scovillain from my sun teams in exchange for Victreebel or Shiftry. Just use Venusaur.


The other face of Ninetales tells a similar story. While lacking immediate power, it makes up for it with the additional utility of Aurora Veil, the defense boost of snow, and the immense power of Belly Drum Cetitan. With Veil, setting up is often easy, and even super-effective priority such as Scizor's Bullet Punch cannot finish off the monster, if it even survives a +6 Ice Shard. The other threat in snow is Arctozolt, with STAB BoltBeam and the high BP moves Blizzard and Bolt Beak, often with Tera Electric for a further boost.

 

[Smashburn]

Accurate-ish Personal Viability Rankings

First of all, shoutout to Dorron for taking the time to make a personal VR format! Second of all, ban Scizor pls.

Overall, the state of the metagame is a bit offensive and generally unbalanced at the moment. Offensive juggernauts like Scizor, Latias-Mega, Zapdos-Galar, and Moltres-Galar control the tier, while many others loom just ahead; including Gengar, Alakazam, Keldeo, Absol-Mega, Altaria-Mega, Heracross-Mega, Houndoom-Mega, and Terrakion. Sun is also a pressing issue, wherein Drought supports threats which are almost unwallable. We're in for quite the show over the next few banwaves, but overall I think the path to a balanced metagame is possible.


Scizor is single-handedly the most influential Pokemon in the tier right now. A monster in its own right and the tier's best superglue, it compresses multiple defensive and offensive roles at once for almost every team. Defensively, it has an amazing profile for Pokemon like Latias, Latias-Mega, Altaria-Mega, Aerodactyl-Mega, Hail, Cloyster, and more. Tools like Knock Off, Defog, U-Turn, and Roost grant it significant utility and improve its longevity, which is very valuable. Its bulk is highly customizable between physically defensive, specially defensive, mixed defensive, and bulk offensive sets. Offensively, Choice Band and SD sets are uniquely terrifying in the NDRU landscape. STAB Tera Steel and Technician boosted Bullet Punch flying at +1 or +2 on average is not something a lot of the tier would like to handle, let alone Knock Off, Close Combat and in some instances Dual Wingbeat. While very uncommon, the possibility of Tera Normal Quick Attack sets looms over some of Scizor's best checks such as Moltres. You must always take Scizor into account when building a team.

Latias, Latias-Mega, Goltres, and Gapdos have all been major points of contention recently. They're all stellar offensive threats, quickly snowballing and tearing apart teams, some with little-to-no defensive counterplay. Latias and Latias-Mega tear apart teams with Calm Mind sets, as well as specs and scarf sets respectively in addition to Tera Steel, Poison, Electric, and Dragon. Moltres-Galar also quickly gets out of hand with the combination of Nasty Plot, Agility, and Beserk, while Zapdos-Galar quickly tears apart teams with a STAB combination that no one Pokemon resists and is bolstered by either choice scarf or choice band and Terastalization.

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Weather is generally strong in the tier, though, particularly Sun and Hail. Sun teams utilize Ninetales-Alola to facilitate dangerous breakers such as Venusaur, Houndoom-Mega, Slither Wing, and occasionally Scovillain; with Sandy Shocks as an added beneficiary through Protosynthesis. Venusaur and Scovillain are the chlorophyll sweepers of choice, with Venusaur generally being more favorable. Venusaur utilizes Tera-Fire to boost its sun Weather Ball to break through steel-type checks, which also avoids being neutral to Scizor's powerful Tera Steel Technician Bullet Punch. Houndoom-Mega is near unwallable, threatening almost the entire tier with OHKO or 2HKO under sun. While it has no access to Terastalization or choiced items, it is still near Chi-Yu levels of power. Slither Wing is very strong in sun due to Protosynthesis, which boosts STAB choice-banded First Impression, U-Turn, Close Combat and secondary coverage Earthquake, Wild Charge, or Leech Life to absurd levels.

Hail sports Ninetales-Alola, the used-to-be premier screens setter of the tier before Light Clay was banned. However, its weather is still strong and because of that it holds a prominent place in NDRU weather. Arctozolt is its main abuser, utilizing 3a Substitute sets and to break down targets with STAB Tera-Electric boosted Bolt Beak and extend its usefulness outside of Hail. Cetitan is also a common partner of Ninetales-Alola, utilizing screens and hail boosts to ensure setup with Belly Drum and mow down teams with ease. While niche, Arctovish can make use of Fishious Rend and Freeze-Dry to break past its checks, while not having to fear steel or ground-type checks as much due to the utilization of Tera-Water.

And no, Beartic is not real.

Honorable Mentions
While these Pokemon were not featured in the personal VR made by Dorron, they saw usage and nonetheless deserve some spotlight.

B+
Calm Mind sets are fairly potent with Tera-Poison, and thanks to Lunar Blessing it no longer has to deal with annoying status even if it does have to forego Terastalization. Mini Latias.

B-
We saw Starmie in R1, causing havoc with an Analytic Life Orb offensive set. It's not common practice, but its an effective breaker.

C
Goofy ahh Pokemon that only exists because Smeargle with Shed Tail is a thing.

C
Shed Tail.

C
Surprisingly Lokix can actually do something. Huh.

C-
Sticky Web.

Slept On
Pokemon to consider teambuilding with more.


A lot of people simply pass up the fact that its coverage is simply unwallable, and for many teams Shadow Ball spam is enough to tear them apart.


Specs nukes almost everything, coverage is pretty mad and it's difficult for a lot of teams to stare down.


Glowbro-Mega is fake. Besides, it has better things to be doing than wasting an item slot on a mega stone-- try Assault Vest, Colbur or Shuca Berry instead.


People like to slap Specs on Keldeo and call it a day-- try Sub CM or Air Slash Flyinium Z instead.

 

[MachJacob]

MOLTRES IS GONE, TIME TO PANIC

 

[georgebowserjr]

Usage stats for April have dropped so let's go through them real quick.

What we lost


Oh no, oh dear, this isnt good. We lost our only viable Scizor check... UU ladder must hate us or something, some people just wanna see the world burn. Scizor now owns this tier, so we will have to revive an old friend, NU's biggest bird, Talonflame. Mini Moltres can be our check for now, Scizor will be gone soon, hopefully.



Wait what did this thing do to deserve a rise? I liked Tang and now it's gone, wtf UU ladder what are you doing to us. Tangrowth did not deserve such a horrible fate, they took this away from us. Odd thing too because this was also a Scizor check (gotta love tera fire).



Erm excuse me? Hail just like, died? Now the ice cream will have to come out... what on earth? This is horrible. I also liked alolatales but UU was out for blood this month.

What we gained
Now lets go through what we gained.



OH I love ttar, such an amazing mon. Today is a good day for dracozolt and the sand users. TTar can help with a lot of mons in this tier, im keen to see what it can show.



Oh shit, its back. We got the pink demon back. Tera Poison Cosmic Power is gonna shred this tier so bad, but hopefully Tyranitar can help us against this horrific monster.



Ooh this mon, did we even have this at the start of the gen? Bulu Lucha Teams aboutta go wild because Unburden sweeper is ridiculous. However, Light Clay is gone so it wont be too much of a problem.

 

[georgebowserjr]

Ok so, now that the April Usage stats have arrived, it's time to update my personal VR. (Just imagine that the new mons are in their tiers because I can't be bothered to make a new tier list).



Tyranitar seems like an amazing mon to have on your team, sand storm chip provides well and also has a very good offensive presence. I believe this mon will do really well in the tier, but it's still gotta keep an eye on the main threat Scizor. However, Scizor should be gone very soon, so this mon will wreck havoc post Scizor ban. For now, I will make this mon A, because of how strong it is in the current meta, and is quite splashable on balance and offense. Here are a couple sets we could use.



Choice band will definitely be the most common set here. Tyranitar already has amazing physical attack and is quite bulky, so it will be able to break a lot of walls in the tier. The moves for the choice band set will most likely have the Edgequake combination along with pursuit and a coverage move to attack any checks this thing has, such as Fire Punch, Ice Punch and Thunder Punch.



Another set Tyranitar could have is Assault Vest. Sandstorm provides a boost in Special Defense on Rock types, meaning Tyranitar will have a Special Defense boost in it's own sand. To make it even more specially defensive, it can hold an assault vest to tank any hits from Special Attacking mons like Alakazam and Gengar, the only downside to this is the lack of Stealth Rock.



In my opinion, hippo is better at this job because it's a little bulkier than Tyranitar, which is what you want for this role.



Moving on to this clown, Mew is an excellent pokemon that can fulfill a lot of roles. I am personally putting this in A+ because of the variety of things this demon can do.

/

First up, we have the demon Mew set. This thing is a nightmare to go against, once it sets up Cosmic Powers, you immediately lose. Along with this, it can run Tera Steel or Tera Poison to negate Toxic, which is really bad because then theres no way to beat it. Because Tyranitar is in the tier now, hopefully it can help against this thing because it needs to go. This also gets Aura Sphere to completely destroy Tyranitar and other Darks, so this is really broken.

(This is the only set that I can think of for now, I will try and think of other things to run on it).



This thing is quite scary when it comes in on a terrain, however I don't think its too bad at the moment. I will slot it in the B+ tier for now. If Light clay was still around, I would definitely put it in A, but luckily it's gone so whoopie!



Grassy seed helps Hawlucha to gain +1 physical defense on grassy terrain (Tapu Bulu will be the setter, please use it more), so it can tank a few physical hits. On top of this, the electric seed being used also activates Hawlucha's ability Unburden to make it really fast. Unfortunately for Hawlucha, Light Clay does not exist in this tier anymore, so it cannot tank a special hit too well. The frailness of Hawlucha prevents it from being too broken, so I really don't think this will be used much at all. I think the community of NDRU will be more focused on using Ttar and Mew.

That's it i guess, I cannot wait to see everyone elses updates to their personal VRs.

 

[Velcroc]

Let's pretend I wasn't sniped by SAS operative Georgebowser1
Tier shifts are out. Georgebowser has listed the shifts already but I'll provide a summary of the changes (courtesy of Runoisch)

Changes

Say goodbye to...
Moltres moved from RU to UU
Ninetales-Alola moved from RU to UU
Tangrowth moved from RU to UU

Say hello to...
Hawlucha moved from UU to RU
Mew moved from UU to RU
Tyranitar moved from UU to RU

Everyone in discord in losing their minds over this and for good reason. There's this little insect in the tier called , it pulls all the strings in this tier. Sure, there were other checks to Scizor such as Volcanion and Rotom-Heat. However, what makes Moltres stand out is not only that is simply switches into Scizor (which to be honest, Moltres isn't the freest switch to Scizor even in the tier) but that it punishes Scizor for simply clicking a move. Steels outside of Rocky Helmet Cobalion don't do that. Rotom-Heat doesn't do that. Volcanion sure as hell doesn't like Scizor u-turning out. Yes, Moltres did other stuff. It's a fantastic Meowscarada check, a wonderful defogger and a very well rounded Pokemon. But any RU player right now will admit that it's the one thing keeping Scizor from rolling over your team from turn 1. Having this gone means Scizor is on the chopping block. And if Scizor ends up being banned, the dominos start to tumble as Pokemon like Terrakion and Malt see tiering action.





Moltres takes a lot of the hype at the moment but we should give this Tangrowth rise some consideration as well. Tangrowth isn't as indispensable as Moltres since Amoongus is far easier to slot into teams than something like Rotom-Heat (which in a post-scizor metagame struggles with passivity and outrageously bad 4 move slot syndrome). Nevertheless, Tangrowth offers discrete advantages like Knock Off and higher physical bulk which provide is greater flexibility in both sets and in-battle. The physical bulk is especially noteworthy when facing off against something like Crawdaunt which shreds Amoongus but doesn't like seeing Phys Def Tangrowth on the other side. Likewise, Amoongus is annoyed by both Choice Band and Belly Drum Azu (which, friendly reminder, is in this tier). Assault Vest is also a splashable pivot into the likes of Primarina and can force out even the sturdiest of seals with Power Whip or Sludge Bomb.

Tangrowth might not be flashy, but he will sorely be missed.




Losing the fox makes Hail and Veil significantly worse. Aurora Veil was a severely crippled playstyle thanks to the Light Clay ban but the move saw use to facilitate the Mighty Moltres-Galar. Hail was a burgeoning playstyle as players began to respect the strength of Arctozolt and the resilience of Cetitan. With Alolan Ninetales gone, the best replacements are... Vanilluxe, Abomasnow and Aurorus. All three of these setters have significant issues that make then difficult to use, not to mention their shared speed issues in this fast paced metagame.

I'll let you in on a little secret, the council was planning on testing hail at one point to see if it was too much for the tier. With the best setter gone, Hail takes a huge nerf and snowscape superstars like the Arcto Bros and Cetitan plummet in viability.





Surprised to see this here but I suppose Nat Dex UU HO is moving away from the luchador in favour of Celestheela and Mega Pinsir. Although a tad linear, Hawlucha boasts superb Fighting/Flying coverage and has the ability to clean through a lot of weakened teams. Terastalisation hones Hawlucha's capabilities by letting it double down on either Fighting or Flying STAB, or providing it a defensive typing to facilitate set up. Hawlucha can tag team fairly well with both Pincurchin and Indeedee, with Electric Terrain especially appreciating the 1-2 punch a Lucha/Raichu core offers. However, our avian friend has a new nemesis dropping down with it: Mew. Mew has historically been one of the most reliable answers to lucha although terastalisation can skew this match up.

I'd wager against Lucha staying from the tier. But who knows, maybe it's all glamour muscle.




Cat's out of the bag. Mew can do anything, and I mean anything. It's a perfect option for a suicide lead, a plain ol' hazard setter, a defensive pivot, hazard removal, a Swords Dancer, a Dragon Dancer, a double dancer, a Nasty Plotter, a cosmic power win-condition, a status spreader, a lure, a trapper, a stall killer and so much more. Mew's ability to oscillate between defensive and offensive sets, and physical and special sets make it the ultimate swiss army knife for any team. This same property can help make it overwhelming for the tier. Given the similarity between this tier and last gen's National Dex UU, I would predict that the double dance Mewnium Z set is what will end up pushing this mon over the edge.

Tyranitar beats almost every single one of these mons singlehandedly.

Moral of the story: Ban Tera, Free Big Tyranitar.

I'm not gonna say I told you so. What I will say instead is that Tyranitar was one of the Pokemon that I had a funny feeling would fall off given how popular and versatile Mega Tyranitar is and how narrow-sighted the Nat Dex UU ladder can be. Back to the quote, I mentioned that Tyrannitar beats every single one of the pokemon I listed singlehandedly. While I was exaggerating to keep the post light hearted, Tyranitar offers a strong, splashable counterplay to a lot of the Pokemon I listed including Gengar, Alakazam, Latias and Moltres Galar. It also checks sun and hail, sets up sand for dracozolt and can function in a variety of roles.

Breaking down Ttar is always tricky because Sand Stream is such an integral part of Big T's playstyle yet it's contribution to sand as an archetype seems to be separated from the Pokémon itself. I'll start briefly with how it boosts sand.

Tyranitar is a huge boom to full sand and is perhaps one of its greatest assets at the moment. Full Sand, whilst solid, has to contend with Hippowdon being slow, passive and appreciating either Leftovers or Heavy Duty Boots. TTar can not only afford smooth rock, it is also significantly less passive compared to Hippowdon and infinitely more flexible. You do stack more weaknesses, but you now have significantly more leeway in how you can use the last 4 slots of the team now that the set up is significantly less passive. Maybe you can go offensive. Maybe you can play it straight balance. Maybe you can run partial sand. The choice is yours. I think the shift is strong enough to warrant inspecting the healthiness of sand and dracozolt in light of this alone.

As for Tyranitar the Pokemon, it is like mew in that it can run a whole host of sets. Choice Band, Assault Vest, defensive Tar, (the aforementioned) sand setter, Dragon Dance, Choice Scarf and lure. Even the individual sets have variety with Dragon Dance having a resist berry, boots, Weakness Policy or Z-move as items, and Defensive Tar having the option of running Chople + Pursuit or Leftovers Stealth Rock. Terastalisation adds another dimension with Steel, Flying and Ghost all being viable types to help facilitate it's goal. If we are to assess the brokenness of this Pokemon, it will lie largely with how restricting Choice Band is. Right now, we have tools to punish it like Terrakion as well as walls like Hippowdon to stomach a hit.

 

[Velcroc]

The council has voted a slate over the weekend and concluded with the next batch of bans. We understand that this is during the kick-off tour and we apologise in advance for any inconvenience. Without further ado, the following have been banned.


(the rock, not drought)

Slate

Hawlucha and Mew received the majority vote before all council members could vote but this screenshot will be updated for posterity’s sake

A Quick Word
The first few slates were voted on before Tyranitar dropped. This will affect some of the results in hindsight as many of these Pokemon gain a splashable check. However, Tyranitar’s status as an RU mon is expected to be volatile as it is currently ranked as an A- Pokemon in the National Dex UU Viability Rankings.






No surprises here. Zapdos Galar was the prime suspect amongst the National Dex RU playerbase following the previous slate with its impeccable coverage and blistering speed. Although Swords Dance and Scarf were underexplored, Choice Band Zapdos was a wallbreaker-come-cleaner package deal. In many games, counterplay came down to sacrificing a Pokemon and forcing Zapdos-Galar out with a faster Pokemon. Fighting and Flying coverage is virtually unresisted save for frail offensive threats like Toxtricity and both Thunduri / Thunduruses, or the virtually non-existent Doublade (who is hit hard by Throat Chop). Terastalisaition, as always, raises big bird’s power to incredible heights. Not much more to say here other than this is a classic case of a juiced up offensive threat getting the boot.




Yet another Kanto regional variant on the chopping block, Galarian Moltres joins its Kantonian cousin in moving out of Nat Dex RU's house. Galarian Moltres has been on the radar for the duration of this tier’s existence and was a major force for the implementation of the Light Clay ban. The council narrowly voted not to ban Goltres last time with an interest to examine Goltres on its own merit before we pursue any further tiering action. Moltres Galar has a handful of counters here, but thanks to Terstalisation it can turn Tinkaton and Nihilego (shaky responses as is) into setup fodder and thwart revenge attempts. Offensive counterplay is virtually non-existent with max speed outspeeding Scarf Zeraora (an overkill set that fulfils limited function) and Scarf Meowscarada being a common benchmark. Fiery Wrath is the final nail in the coffin, giving a notable chance for Moltres Galar to flinch through would be answers.




Impassioned debate raged on which was the superior Calm Minder, Tera Latias or Latias Mega. Regardless, both have been banned from National Dex RU for the excessive strain they place on teambuilding. While we will miss the utility sets and Scarf (which are decidedly not broken), Calm Mind sets from both variants were able to snowball quickly with very few Pokemon being reliable checks. Latias-Mega in particular had a choke hold on team building with answers such as Tinkaton and Mandibuzz being vulnerable to coverage such as Mystical Fire and Ice Beam respectively. Faster offensive dark types such as Meowscarada and Scarf Krook were unable to OHKO a well-timed Tera Latias nor the unimaginably bulky Latias Mega (0 bulk Latias-Mega has a chance to survive a banded U-turn and Dark STABs from Meowscarada). In fact, many games were decided by a Calm Mind war between either Latias variant since your best bet against Latias would more often than not be your very own.




The council selected the weather rocks for testing over the weather setting abilities themselves. Unlike Drizzle, which was banned in its entirety for making the most common type in the game overpowered, Drought and Snow Warning have a more limited suite of abusers with significant drawbacks. Instead, the problem was determined to be the 8-turn duration which gave these weathers an unfair advantage over slower paced teams as sun-boosted breakers were given ample time to break down bulkier builds. Rest assured that there is precedent in National Dex for banning weather-extending items.

If you have been following National Dex RU, you would have witnessed the power harnessed by sun teams - abusing nuclear threats like Venusaur, Slither Wing, Darmanitan and Houndoom Mega. With a wide supporting cast to maintain hazard control, sun teams were both unpredictable and flexible. For now Heat Rock is banned, although we will be keeping a close eye on Drought and the key abusers in the meantime.



On the recent drops

The Hawlucha and Mew bans are implemented primarily in the interests of making the tour competitive. We will be examining the healthiness of both Pokemon in the distant future once we go through the long checklist of potentially broken Pokemon.






The council verdict on Zapdos-Galar was finalised just before the Luchador dropped to RU. So to avoid a repeat, Hawlucha will be banned promptly.

Like its avian comrade, Hawlucha leverages its fantastic Fighting/Flying coverage to act as a late-game sweeper facilitated by terrain setters in Tapu Bulu, and the rare Pincurchin and Indeedee. The last time this was around, we had access to many Pokemon that could pick it off such as Choice Band Weavile and Choice Band Tera Grass Rillaboom, and the extremely offensive metagame pressured Hawlucha from setting up. With the metagame already grappling with the loss of fan-favourite status spreader Moltres, Hawlucha places an unneeded strain on teambuilding to a metagame already beset at all sides with strong breakers and sweepers.





Mew is quite the chameleon when it comes to its offensive and supportive talents. The council deems Mew broken in a similar manner to how Necrozma was broken last-gen: a physical or special threat that lacks reliable, overlapping counterplay. However, unlike Necrozma which had fairly linear sets, Mew is able to tailor its moveset to dispatch its supposed checks and counters. Flamethrower on Nasty Plot incinerates Tinkaton and other defensive steels, Earthquake on Dragon Dance sets beat the uncommon Muk-Alola, and Mewnium-Z means that not even Scizor can reliably revenge a fully setup Mew. This is not even accounting for techs like Ice Beam or even sets like Impostor Mew which can 1v1 an unsuspecting Mandibuzz. This unpredictability goes into overdrive thanks to Terastalisation, letting it set up freely on a wide range of Dark and Steel types. After an onslaught of offensive threats from the Alpha, the last thing this metagame needs is an unpredictable offensive threat that can end games on a moment’s notice.


TLDR: The galarian birds, Latias, Hawlucha, Mew and Heat Rock have been banned





Tagging the wonderful and diligent Kris and Marty to implement these changes at their convenience.

 

[I am New]

Oricorio-Pom-Pom @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Dancer
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Roost
- Hurricane
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

People are forgetting and sleeping HARD on this mon. It walls scizor AND is an incredibly threatning sweeper. The tier has limited checks especially with hp fighting to smack ttar. You can run the standard qd tera fighting seen in sv lower tiers or z qd with hp fight. I would recommend the tera fighting more but it requires tera and so u loss flexibility. The biggest boon for this mon is its DOMINANT scizor matchup. This means its quite hard to revenge it back as sciz is the tiers best mon. It has surprising bulk for a mon like this and could EASILY snowball. There is also the absurd qd taunt set thats smacks stall. Overall a VERY slept on threat.

some other threats i would like to highlight are sensu oricorio which has a very good offensive typing and the face of rubl lord mothra. They will get better if sciz is banned. Pom pom is the best qd mon in the tier and is one of the scariest win condition u could face.

The tier has a LOT of unexplored strategies which is so funny considering how diverse the tier is. QD mons are pokes that should be kept an eye on when the tier is developing.

Thats all I have to say rn. Have a good day.

Edit: Baile oricorio works fine too it walls sciz even better but is just a lot worse than pom pom. It has a legit niche though.

 

[Lupla]

It's been a while since i was here wasn't it? I hope everyone is doing well as i'm gonna be doing some good and bad news here


First, let's welcome our New National Dex RU Council Members! (actually 2 since one of them is coming back)


Runoisch DerpyBoi And georgebowserjr Are our new stars who have shown a lot of passion, activity and interest in the metagame! Let's give them a great welcoming!

As for the bad news, I'm unfortunately retiring from my current position as Tier Leader. I have been thinking of this for a very long time, that i just didn't had the same motivation as i once had back in 2020 and 2021, even then i already had my doubts as me being a proper leader for this meta. I have been really inactive as of lately and that's because of how burned up i was and not being able to put my words into this or properly decide between staying or not.

I wanna thank to everyone who supported me through my leadership and hope everything can still go smoothly, in the past i did leave my position but due to the state that the tier had previously was too chaotic to leave it be, there may be some problems here and there but right now i'm pretty sure all of you can make this place even better than before. Thank you so much for all of this, i wouldn't have been able to change to a more appropiate person if it wasn't for this, i'm really happy

 

[Dorron]

Didn't want to make this post but it's time. I'm also leaving my position as council member.

I don't like long farewells cuz I get emotional and all that but basically thank you so much to all of you who play the tier and spread awareness about it and have suported us during tough times. I love you all <3

 

[Clas]

Oricorio-Pom-Pom @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Dancer
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Roost
- Hurricane
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

People are forgetting and sleeping HARD on this mon. It walls scizor AND is an incredibly threatning sweeper. The tier has limited checks especially with hp fighting to smack ttar. You can run the standard qd tera fighting seen in sv lower tiers or z qd with hp fight. I would recommend the tera fighting more but it requires tera and so u loss flexibility. The biggest boon for this mon is its DOMINANT scizor matchup. This means its quite hard to revenge it back as sciz is the tiers best mon. It has surprising bulk for a mon like this and could EASILY snowball. There is also the absurd qd taunt set thats smacks stall. Overall a VERY slept on threat.

some other threats i would like to highlight are sensu oricorio which has a very good offensive typing and the face of rubl lord mothra. They will get better if sciz is banned. Pom pom is the best qd mon in the tier and is one of the scariest win condition u could face.

The tier has a LOT of unexplored strategies which is so funny considering how diverse the tier is. QD mons are pokes that should be kept an eye on when the tier is developing.

Thats all I have to say rn. Have a good day.

Edit: Baile oricorio works fine too it walls sciz even better but is just a lot worse than pom pom. It has a legit niche though.

while i think that set has a lot of issues, you have a point. this mon is hard slept on, and its a threat.


Oricorio-Pom-Pom @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dancer
Tera Type: Water / Ground / Fighting / ???
EVs: 236 HP / 220 Def / 52 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Revelation Dance
- Hurricane / Taunt
- Roost

evs are for tflame @ +1, rest bulk + avoiding rocks chip and raising def more than just 252hp. while much more reliant on terastallization, being able to just switch type to create new coverage out of the blue without needing a slot for tera blast is insane. lucky for oricorio, scizor is still everywhere and so just sits on it and boosts to scary levels. tera water slams grounds, tera ground slams electrics and the rare bulky steel that isnt scizor, and tera fighting terminates tyranitar's life. theres definitely more, and thats the scary part. pair with a toxic spreader or two + rocks and you have a mon that forces a lot of switches very quickly, lots of panic, and most importantly its literally a frailer volcarona so theres no truly reliable counter past the pray method. your only real issue is hurricane vs 6-0ing stall* but otherwise its actually pretty terrifying and slept on. prep for this people.
*taunt sets may not actually 6-0 stall depending on the mu and tera type

 

[Runo]

Hey guys. It's been a month since I've posted in this thread so I wanted to update my personal VR since a lot of the ones in the thread are either dated or straight up misinformation (Tyranitar, Thundurus, and Hippowdon are not S Rank threats, please actually play the metagame for more than 5 seconds).

"short" descriptions

S Rank
The best mons in the tier. You can't go wrong with using them to the point where its harder to justify NOT having them on teams.

S
Very stupid mon that can tear up a lot of the meta with its great stab and coverage moves. It is the best win-con with Swords Dance, best wallbreaker with Choice Band, best revenge killer with Bullet Punch. Its simply too good in the current metagame and its impact is so warping on the teambuilder that you are forced to slot a bulky check to it or you simply get overwhelmed. That being said; its also great at keeping other broken threats at bay, such as Alakazam, Terrakion, or Altaria-Mega. So its sort of a mon you need to have on your team almost. If not, then being able to compensate for the lack of it.

A Rank
Metagame staples. They require minimal support to function well and are very good at what they do.

A+
Nasty Plot is an obscenely strong win-con since it packs great coverage for the entire metagame. Its frailty is negligable because of how hard it hits.
Incredibly strong physical wall with a great typing for the meta. Access to Teleport and Regenerator makes it a great slow pivot for Bulky Offense and Balance teams.
This mon can do a LOT. Defensive Rocker, Offensive Rocker, Assault Vest wall, Choice Band wallbreaker, or Dragon Dance sweeper. Access to great coverage lets it lure a whole bunch of mons like Scizor and eliminate them, or just simply remove them with Pursuit.
Has a great typing that gives it a whole bunch of great resistances. Has coverage to deal with annoying steel types like Scizor and Cobalion, and a very solid offensive mon. Dragon Dance sets can get really stupid if Scizor is dead since its incredibly difficult to defensively check.
Great defensive typing and an impressive mixed wall. Spore and Regenerator is great to check some scary mons like Nihilego, Altaria-Mega, Scizor, and some Keldeo Variants.
Choice Band and Swords Dance sets are absurd with Tera since you can just hit incredibly hard or use a defensive tera to setup easily.
Dual Water/Fighting STABs make this an incredibly threatening mon to deal with. It's checks are fairly limited and can more often than not be abused by a different Keldeo variant like Sub Calm Mind.
A great glue mon and a quality check to a lot of threats like the Slowtwins, Keldeo, Sandy Shocks, Meowscarada, or Gastrodon. It partners well with a lot of mons who appreciate its typing and terrain support. It can also be a good wallbreaker with Swords Dance.
Thanks to its high speed tier and access to Protean, this mon is capable of being an offensive check to a ton of crazy threats like Alakazam, Tyranitar, Altaria-Mega, Terrakion, and Keldeo to name a few. It is also the best Choice Scarf user in the tier.
This mon is by far the best Spiker in the tier, using its great offensive profile to force out a ton of scary threats like Tyranitar, Scizor, Terrakion, Keldeo, Nhilego, Gengar, etc. Tera Ice or Grass lets it further expand the amount of mons it can check. Its also great speed control with Choice Scarf.

A
Uses its massive power to easily punch holes into defensive structures. It can also be an incredibly dangerous win-con with Swords Dance and Trailblaze.
Nasty Plot turns this mon into a really scary mon that's only realistically checked by Tyranitar.
Amazing defensive hazard setter with a great typing and ability to be a key check to the metagames scariest mons, such as Keldeo, Tyranitar, Scizor, etc.
An excellent defensive Rocker that can check a ton thanks to its great bulk and typing. I've also seen experimenation with Curse sets, which can be scary with Tera.
Moltres and Latias leaving the tier, diversified the defog metagame a bit. Mandibuzz's great defensive profile and solid utility makes it a fine defensive pivot, switching into a ton of threats without risking a lot.
Both of them are really stupid with Nasty Plot since they pack coverage to hit the entire metagame for big damage, both are good offensive pivots and win-cons. They're pretty much interchangable on teams as well.
The utility that Moltres provided was so good that we've started using copycats. This mon is a great replacement to Moltres and does it job as a Scizor check and Defogger pretty well.
Offensive Rocker sets are good, but Meteor Beam is a fantastic win-con. Even more with Tera since Tera Grass with Grass Knot lets you break through standard checks like Slowking, Tyranitar, and Gastrodon.
Nothing can really switch into a Specs Gengar unless you're Muk-Alola or something. Other sets like Nasty Plot are equally ridiculous. I imagine that stuff like SubStatus is also a nightmare to face. If you think its a healthy mon in this metagame, you're severely misinformed.

A-
Good wallbreaker thanks to its 100% accurate Hurricanes.
A great natural speed control option and is a solid cleaner and win-con with Dragon Dance or Hone Claws.
Slowbro, except it can actually check Alazakam, and Keldeo. I think it can revive Snow teams with Chilly Reception, but I'm on the fence about that.
Mon continues to be an impressive cleaner and works well with Hazard Stack teams.
Offers a certain type of role compression that Talonflame doesn't provide, using its additional Electric STAB to pressure Water types easier. This makes its defensive sets a bit more consistent, but its Nasty Plot sets become very scary.
Mon can be broken clicker sometimes. The current defoggers (bar Rotom-Heat and Volcanion) are abused often by this mon, which can be very difficult to answer if it has a free turn to setup Swords Dance or has Defiant triggered. This in addition to its newfound bulk with Eviolite and access to absurd strength with Tera Dark.
Solid offensive typing that soft checks big threats such as Scizor, Tyranitar, Altaria-Mega, Tapu Bulu, Nihilego, etc. This makes it's job as an offensive utility mon better since it can often capitalize off the switches it forces.
Great offensive Defogger that uses its dual Water/Fire stab to pressure every rocker not called Gastodon (even then it can just lure it with HP Grass).
Nice fast pivot that can also act as a win-con with Bulk Up. The pure electric typing gives it a key resistance against Scizor and sports solid coverage to check threats like Terrakion or Tyranitar.
great defensive typing and good special bulk to handle a plethora of threats such as Alakazam, Nihilego, Tapu Bulu, Meowscarada, and some Tyranitar and Mega-Altaria variants.

B Rank
Solid mons, but they require proper support to function well.

B+
Mon is just unwallable but that's pretty standard for Nidoking. The real kicker is that Tera lets it boost that power to absurd levels either by boosting its STABs even further, or giving it an extra STAB to one of its boosting moves.
The answers to Belly Drum are incredibly limited with Tera since it hits absurdly hard at +6. If it sets up, then you're forced to sack something in order to bring in the actual check. Choice Band sets are no saint either. Just 2HKOs or outright OHKOs everything.
Good fat Rocker that's not passive. Filter also goes a long way since it can eat hits it realistically shouldn't, like a Banded Close Combat from Terrakion.
Cosmic Power with Tera is incredibly dumb and borderline impossible to consistently check without a Regenerator core.
good Wallbreaker thanks to its Dual STABs and acsess to Knock Off for Slowbro.
Similar to Deoxys but even stupider because it has access to Stored Power and coverage for darks.
Another stupid mon thanks to Tera. Either click Tera Normal Facade to demolish the entire metagame, or Tera Fighting to demolish the entire metagame (its unwallable).
Choice Scarf is really good speed control thanks to it being able to outpace most setup sweepers and the entire unscarfed metagame.
Choice Specs and Calm sets are stupid, especially with Tera, letting it mercilessly tear apart teams without a Water immune or setup incredibly easy.
Meteor Beam and Dragon Dance sets are very strong into a lot of the metagame.
Having two Sand setters in the metagame lets it fit on even more teams.
Choice Specs and Choice Scarf are both really good sets thanks to its great coverage. Other sets like Heavy Duty Boots pivot and Booster Energy are also good sets.
Dark/Fighting coverage is very strong and its access to both Sucker Punch and Pursuit lets it check a ton of threats from Tyranitar to Alakazam.

B
Good into a lot of mons like Alakazam, Nihilego, Slowtwins, Gengar, and Necrozma
Whole lot of broken clickers left in this tier for Ditto to take advantage of. You realistically don't see this on a lot of teams though.
Cool fast pivot that can act as a Defogger, but that's about all it can be right now.
Calm Mind win-con with Pressure. Defensive Tera makes this mon really stupid.
Its a defensive Ground type that isn't a complete momentum sink thanks to Flip Turn
Mega Pidgeot that's reliant on Tera to be good. But it hits like a truck.
SD sets are very powerful but this really slow for that. Choice Band sets hitting a lot of the meta for big damage is great however.
Good offensive rocker and Choice Scarf user in a pinch. Intimidate is nice to withstand some dangerous threats like Tyranitar.
Nice fast pivot and a solid specs wallbreaker on Hazard Stack builds.
Choice Band sets are hella scary to switch into with Tera in the picture. Really fast and gets a strong priority move in Tera Normal Extreme Speed so its tricky to offensively check. Meanwhile Tera Ground is equally threatening since it lets it put massive dents into standard checks like Slowbro and Tapu Bulu.
Heracross, but it got U-Turn (I don't have a lot of experience with this mon).

B-
Calm Mind sets work on occasion, can either bluff by running base Slowbro or just make yourself known with Slowbro-Galar. Both work.
Needs some support but basically just click Shell Smash and cheese your checks with w/e tera of choice.
Has a cool offensive profile for the metagame right now. Can check a lot with its high speed and powerful STABs
Choice Band sets go hard with Tera Fighting, you basically bullshit through your 3 biggest checks in Tapu Bulu, Slowbro, and Amoonguss by using brute force.
^This but just different checks. Mixed sets are also really potent.
Cool offensive rocker that uses Solid Rock to eats hits easier than Tyranitar. It's Ground stab also makes it a scary mon to switch into.
HO mon that has a decent move pool to cover the entire metagame. Very self explanatory mon, but Tera Water or Ground also makes it fairly strong in addition to the usual Z-Crystal sets.
Reuniclus is a fairly solid win-con with Calm Mind sets, pushed even further thanks to tera letting it bypass its offensive checks.
Ghost breakers with Tera are super busted, Chandy wishes it was faster and had an easier way to break Tyranitar however.
Basically if Mienshao and Zeraora fused, then somehow got access to a broken cheese move and a way to heal itself of burns (Natural Cure).

C Rank
Very niche Pokémon that either require a large amount of support, can only fit on certain playstyles, and/or difficult to justify outside of specific cases.

I'm only gonna explain the niche playstyles instead of the individual mons

C+
PsySpam got used a lot during kickoff, with both Alakazam and Armarouge making it a far more consistent playstyle overall. PsySpam cores are more than capable of overpowering the opposition with brute force, or just use Sash spam to setup on everything.

C
Trick Room works sometimes but its pretty much matchup fishing since sometimes a team has the tools to deal with it or not.
No Heat Rock is very bad but Sun teams are still usable to an extent. Although with both Tyranitar and Hippowdon in the metagame, its very hard to get going.
Stall is another playstyle that's basically matchup fishing since it struggles to account for all of the absurd threats running around. Its probably only good if you're counter teaming someone in a tour. I'd prob give this more respect if something like Blissey or Tangrowth dropped, but it's doubtful at this point.

Honorable Mention

#Freealolatales

Thanks for reading my ramblings! Also free NDOT Team Tour :)

Edit: after being talk to in the RU Cord, Drednaw is now B- rank with Cloyster

 

[Velcroc]

Foreword: I had a ton of assignments piling on after the tour ended so I couldn't get this post out. Now that I'm a bit more free, I can catch up on unfinished business.

Without further ado, here are the:

National Dex RU Kickoff Tour Cumulative Usage Statistics

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Scizor             |   62 |  29.52% |  54.84% |
| 2    | Moltres            |   40 |  19.05% |  52.50% |
| 3    | Latias             |   36 |  17.14% |  55.56% |
| 4    | Altaria            |   35 |  16.67% |  57.14% |
| 4    | Sandy Shocks       |   35 |  16.67% |  40.00% |
| 6    | Slowking           |   29 |  13.81% |  55.17% |
| 7    | Meowscarada        |   28 |  13.33% |  42.86% |
| 8    | Nihilego           |   27 |  12.86% |  48.15% |
| 9    | Hippowdon          |   24 |  11.43% |  45.83% |
| 10   | Heracross          |   23 |  10.95% |  47.83% |
| 11   | Tapu Bulu          |   22 |  10.48% |  59.09% |
| 12   | Alakazam           |   20 |   9.52% |  40.00% |
| 13   | Slowbro            |   19 |   9.05% |  52.63% |
| 14   | Zeraora            |   18 |   8.57% |  61.11% |
| 14   | Zapdos-Galar       |   18 |   8.57% |  44.44% |
| 14   | Keldeo             |   18 |   8.57% |  44.44% |
| 17   | Rotom-Heat         |   17 |   8.10% |  70.59% |
| 17   | Aerodactyl         |   17 |   8.10% |  52.94% |
| 17   | Gengar             |   17 |   8.10% |  52.94% |
| 20   | Talonflame         |   16 |   7.62% |  56.25% |
| 20   | Cobalion           |   16 |   7.62% |  37.50% |
| 22   | Swampert           |   15 |   7.14% |  53.33% |
| 22   | Houndoom           |   15 |   7.14% |  46.67% |
| 24   | Crawdaunt          |   14 |   6.67% |  64.29% |
| 24   | Thundurus-Therian  |   14 |   6.67% |  42.86% |
| 26   | Gastrodon          |   13 |   6.19% |  69.23% |
| 27   | Terrakion          |   12 |   5.71% |  83.33% |
| 27   | Amoonguss          |   12 |   5.71% |  58.33% |
| 27   | Pidgeot            |   12 |   5.71% |  58.33% |
| 27   | Aggron             |   12 |   5.71% |  50.00% |
| 27   | Bisharp            |   12 |   5.71% |  50.00% |
| 32   | Krookodile         |   11 |   5.24% |  72.73% |
| 32   | Slither Wing       |   11 |   5.24% |  63.64% |
| 32   | Shuckle            |   11 |   5.24% |  54.55% |
| 32   | Tangrowth          |   11 |   5.24% |  54.55% |
| 32   | Ninetales          |   11 |   5.24% |  54.55% |
| 32   | Nidoking           |   11 |   5.24% |  36.36% |
| 38   | Ninetales-Alola    |   10 |   4.76% |  60.00% |
| 38   | Lokix              |   10 |   4.76% |  60.00% |
| 38   | Muk-Alola          |   10 |   4.76% |  60.00% |
| 38   | Mandibuzz          |   10 |   4.76% |  60.00% |
| 38   | Arctozolt          |   10 |   4.76% |  50.00% |
| 38   | Mamoswine          |   10 |   4.76% |  40.00% |
| 38   | Azelf              |   10 |   4.76% |  30.00% |
| 45   | Indeedee           |    9 |   4.29% |  66.67% |
| 45   | Venusaur           |    9 |   4.29% |  66.67% |
| 45   | Tyranitar          |    9 |   4.29% |  66.67% |
| 45   | Armarouge          |    9 |   4.29% |  55.56% |
| 49   | Volcanion          |    8 |   3.81% |  62.50% |
| 49   | Iron Thorns        |    8 |   3.81% |  62.50% |
| 49   | Tinkaton           |    8 |   3.81% |  62.50% |
| 49   | Crobat             |    8 |   3.81% |  50.00% |
| 49   | Smeargle           |    8 |   3.81% |  50.00% |
| 49   | Espeon             |    8 |   3.81% |  37.50% |
| 49   | Cloyster           |    8 |   3.81% |  37.50% |
| 49   | Conkeldurr         |    8 |   3.81% |  37.50% |
| 49   | Moltres-Galar      |    8 |   3.81% |  37.50% |
| 49   | Ribombee           |    8 |   3.81% |  12.50% |
...

Cutting it to the first 50 or so Pokemon. The full usage is available at https://pastebin.com/X0cbMRnX

What's in Vogue in RU?

For every 15 games you play, you have a 50% chance of seeing the following Pokemon* in order of usage:

()


No longer RU:
()

*i.e. the metric for usage statistics. Statistical caveats notwithstanding (this is a statistical sample, not a population! Draw from these at ye despair!)

Much of what Runoisch posted in R1 applied to the later rounds (except for the bans/nerfs). The metagame as a whole ended up being top-heavy with a few select Pokemon acquiring tons of usage. It's an inevitable outcome of a metagame warped around a few centralising threats. Speaking of which...


Metagame Trends


Scizor stays strong.

Scizor has been dominating the usage stats since Day 1. In fact, by the time of writing this, it is already considered the best Pokemon in the tier by consensus. This largely boils down to the versatility it has and the potency that every set has. Offensive SD, Bulky SD, Choice Band, the odd Choice Scarf, it can do it all excellently. You can get even more nitty gritty once you consider move selection and EV spreads (for example, Choice Band can run max speed, hit a benchmark or go min). In many ways, Scizor rules the roost with an iron fist and dictates many of the trends seen throughout the tour. Stuff that would be obscene here like Mamoswine has middling usage thanks to Scizor whilst mediocre Pokemon (i.e. Rotom-Heat) or outright bottom-of-the-barrel picks (Talonflame) retain noteworthy usages. For what it is worth, Scizor is also the most common lead (just ahead of Shuckle!).

For this reason, I will be discussing common moves and partners for Scizor - and no other Pokemon. It helps my workload that Latias and Moltres are no longer with us but I doubt I would have given them this level of attention either. Looking at the moves, Scizor usually runs 9 although this is biased around what moves get clicked over what moves get run. Of course, Bullet Punch is #1 followed by U-turn. Swords Dance is surprisingly common with one in every 6 Scizor clicking it at some point. Many Scizors skew offensive with Knock Off and CC being relatively popular but at least two people decided to use Scizor as a relatively bulky pivot. Quick attack Scizor was discussed as a niche option to pick off Moltres but it doesn't have much utility outside this.

Using Scizor's move set and teammate data to measure the metagame's pulse is surprisingly helpful in dictating the trends of the tour metagame. Most teams are Offensive in nature with Bulky Offense seeing a rise in usage for synergising naturally with Scizor's quality (keep in mind, Scizor is serviceable but is far from a wall).

Common Moves

| 1    | [Scizor]                |   62 |  29.52% |  54.84% |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Moves                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Bullet Punch            |   41 |  66.13% |  51.22% |
| 2    | U-turn                  |   26 |  41.94% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Swords Dance            |   11 |  17.74% |  36.36% |
| 4    | Close Combat            |    9 |  14.52% |  55.56% |
| 4    | Knock Off               |    9 |  14.52% |  55.56% |
| 4    | Roost                   |    9 |  14.52% |  44.44% |
| 7    | Defog                   |    2 |   3.23% | 100.00% |
| 7    | Pursuit                 |    2 |   3.23% |   0.00% |
| 9    | Superpower              |    1 |   1.61% |   0.00% |
| 9    | Quick Attack            |    1 |   1.61% |   0.00% |
| 9    | Dual Wingbeat           |    1 |   1.61% |   0.00% |

Common Partners

| Rank | Teammates               | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Moltres                 |   15 |  24.19% |  60.00% |
| 2    | Meowscarada             |   14 |  22.58% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Nihilego                |   13 |  20.97% |  61.54% |
| 4    | Tapu Bulu               |   12 |  19.35% |  58.33% |
| 4    | Sandy Shocks            |   12 |  19.35% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Swampert                |   11 |  17.74% |  63.64% |
| 7    | Altaria                 |   10 |  16.13% |  60.00% |
| 8    | Mandibuzz               |    9 |  14.52% |  66.67% |
| 8    | Latias                  |    9 |  14.52% |  55.56% |
| 8    | Keldeo                  |    9 |  14.52% |  44.44% |
| 8    | Alakazam                |    9 |  14.52% |  44.44% |
| 12   | Nidoking                |    8 |  12.90% |  50.00% |
| 13   | Tyranitar               |    7 |  11.29% |  57.14% |
| 13   | Slowking                |    7 |  11.29% |  42.86% |
| 13   | Hippowdon               |    7 |  11.29% |  42.86% |
| 13   | Thundurus-Therian       |    7 |  11.29% |  42.86% |
| 17   | Slowbro                 |    6 |   9.68% |  66.67% |
| 17   | Zeraora                 |    6 |   9.68% |  66.67% |
| 17   | Houndoom                |    6 |   9.68% |  50.00% |
| 20   | Gastrodon               |    5 |   8.06% |  60.00% |
| 20   | Ninetales               |    5 |   8.06% |  60.00% |
| 20   | Venusaur                |    5 |   8.06% |  60.00% |
| 20   | Azelf                   |    5 |   8.06% |   0.00% |
| 24   | Shaymin                 |    4 |   6.45% | 100.00% |
| 24   | Necrozma                |    4 |   6.45% | 100.00% |
| 24   | Aerodactyl              |    4 |   6.45% | 100.00% |
| 24   | Gengar                  |    4 |   6.45% | 100.00% |
| 24   | Krookodile              |    4 |   6.45% |  75.00% |
| 24   | Conkeldurr              |    4 |   6.45% |  50.00% |
| 24   | Slither Wing            |    4 |   6.45% |  50.00% |
| 24   | Talonflame              |    4 |   6.45% |  50.00% |

etc etc. Not gonna take the time to list every Pokemon that saw usage in the tour.

A Pheonix Rises from the Ashes

Moltres sits cozily at the number two slot, seeing use 40 times in the tour. I'm sure you're all either knowledgeable enough or smart enough to guess why this is the case. However, Moltres does more than check Scizor. It is a catch-all status spreader with access to great utility and pivoting options in Defog and U-turn respectively. Even if Scizor wasn't in the tier, I'd imagine it would get some use to check a lot of dangerous physical attackers in the tier (not just limited to the de facto Scizor replacements in Bisharp, Durant and Metagross).

However, once the April usage stats were revealed, Moltres rose from RU to UU meaning that the tier had to improvise Scizor checks. While there were many slept-on Scizor checks (like Volcanion and Mandibuzz), the answer that most of the quarterfinalists settled on came largely out of convenience. Why create a new team from scratch when you could use a perfectly functional team and just swap Moltres for Talonflame? For what it is worth, Talonflame had the same typing and just the right amount of bulk to take a +2 Tera Steel Bullet Punch, and a Knock Off in a pinch. The extra speed meant it didn't need to invest in checking Bisharp and Mega Heracross. Other than that it was Moltres-lite. Usage skyrocketed with Talonflame already seeing near double-digit usage by the end of the round. Even in the current metagame, Talonflame is doing fairly well for itself (although in large part to Scizor) and this is a great example of tournaments adapting to metagame shifts.




HO barely cuts it

Hyper Offense gathered quick usage in the early rounds with many unfamiliar players trying their hand at familiar playstyles like Shuckle Webs or Suicide Lead HO. Shuckle and Azelf fell off quickly as many realised these teams did poorly against bulkier archetypes (or people dropping out from the tour). Aerodactyl did have some staying power thanks to certain users, but the trend shifted more towards Mega Aero which has excellent speed and more breaking power. I asked Runoisch to see how much usage each form had gotten and it was an 8-6 split in favour of the base form.

However, HO tends to be a flash-in-the-pan event and I doubt we will see much of Shuckle or Aerodactyl in long-term RU play. Azelf still has potential as a nasty offensive pivot that can exploit the lack of speed control on most teams outside of niche scarfers, Meowscarada and Alakazam (Talonflame tends to run bulkier sets that under speed 361). Aerodactyl will be supplanted by its Mega in the long run. While Mega Aero is weak to Scizor, it can run a nasty Dragon Dance and 3 Attacks set which has few reliable answers.



()
Everybody loves Dark Types

Quite a few dark types got used in this tour and I can't blame the player base for this. Addressing the elephant in the room, Latias caused a surge for many of these. However, there are strong Pokemon in this line-up. Meowscarada is an excellent offensive pivot with Scarf, Boots and Band all being very threatening in their own right. A lead set with Focus Sash and Spikes could also work, but this is less consistent and has tight competition. Houndoom-Mega got usage thanks to Sun but is just as threatening as a Nasty Plot breaker. Crawdaunt is a clicking machine with Choice Band. In many a game, it can come in off a double or a slow pivot and click Knock Off.

From here onwards, you start to see the more underrated dark types. Bisharp is a thoroughly excellent Pokemon here. I remember being sceptical of the merit of Eviolite, but honestly, Bisharp never needed a life orb or black glasses in the first place. Eviolite gives it the bulk to set up far more easily. Thanks to Tera Dark, Sucker Punches and Knock-Offs sting hard. I like Tera Fire to negate Will O' Wisps from the likes of Talonflame and Gengar and be immune to Burn in general, but you could also go with something like Tera Poison or another defensive Tera to ease set up. Krookodile is a bit underwhelming given the introduction of Tyrannitar but it makes a solid Scarfer in the current metagame with an okay rocks set. Lokix is a serious threat. I know that the majority of its usage came from a few players, but it's a serious threat here. Choice Band First Impressions and U-turns hit incredibly hard thanks to Tinted Lens. One set that I enjoy is SD Tera Fighting with Axe Kick. It lures and threatens an OHKO on Talonflame and can wreak havoc on slower, unprepared teams. Muk-Alola got the usage mainly for Latias and I anticipate for it to drop off (if it hasn't already). Not saying that it is completely worthless, it's still a good Assault Vest Pivot to the remaining psychic types here like Azelf, but its niche is far less valuable when the tier has moved past getting rid of Psychics.

Mandibuzz is an excellent defensive pivot that should get some more attention from the community. Tera Fairy or Tera Steel improves an already decent defensive typing and increases the range of defensive threats it can check. A solid (though not foolproof) check to the likes of Meowscarada, Scizor, Alakazam and Gengar. It just happens to experience extreme competition from Moltres and Talonflame when that was legal. Tyranitar is in the same boat as Moltres and its presence alone has made stuff like Alakazam and Gengar a bit more manageable (though thanks to Tera, it is by no means a foolproof check). Despite being a recent drop, it has already gotten decent usage during the tour which is a testament to its prowess. Offensive Ttar is also a viable option - very few teams like switching into Band and Scarf can surprise fast ghosts and psychics.


Honourable mentions to Wo-Chien, Zarude, Mega Sharpedo and Mega Absol who also saw notable usage during the tournament.


( )

Heavyweights and Lightweights
Common Fighting Types included Heracross-Mega, Keldeo, Cobalion, and Terrakion. However, there are plenty of Fighting types that got less usage than anticipated. Again, this could have been influenced by Latias dominating the tier.

Slither Wing experiences stiff competition from Heracross Mega but makes up for it thanks to its speed and access to First Impression. It also gets utility options such as Morning Sun, Will O' Wisp and Thunder Wave to further differentiate it from Heracross. Conkeldurr saw usage early on but this didn't translate to the later stages of the tour when teams started leaning more offensively. Tera Normal Guts Facade and Tera Fighting Mach/CC both crush slower teams. This mon doesn't do counters so the best recourse for many teams is to rely on out-offensing it. Breloom is in a similar boat thanks to Choice Band Tera Fighting CC denting resists for a 2HKO. One set that could be explored more is the Poison Heal set. Chesnaught is an adequate defensive fighting type. One of the funniest things about this Pokemon is that it wall common Gengar sets thanks to Bullet Punch and (if they carry sludge wave) Tera Steel. It's also an okay check to Terrakion and Zydog. Lucario is a very out-there offensive Pokemon but it is the best Dragonite clone this tier has to offer with SD and Tera Normal Extreme Speed. Unfortunately, Gengar can stuff this thanks to Lucario's reliance on Meteor Mash (over Bullet Punch) and it does have competition with a host of strong priority attackers. Mienshao is an excellent offensive pivot thanks to Regenerator and Choice Scarf. However, it does feel one note at times and doesn't want to stare down Talonflame + Mega Altaria.

Both Tauros forms are viable by default since they check Scizor. However, I'll give Aqua the edge for its better offensive typing despite Water/Fighting having stiffer competition than Fire/Fighting. Blaze gets Will O' Wisp though so don't count it out! Gallade is a tad slow for this metagame but Banded Sharpness boosted attacks give it immense firepower to cleave slower teams. But when just about every Fighting type can claim the same, it gets harder to differentiate Gallade from its peers - many of whom carry priority. Infernape didn't like the direction the metagame went with Latias dominating the charts. It remains niche and underexplored, but Infernape is probably the most viable it has been since Alpha.




Last Weather Standing

With the nerfs to Rain, Sun and Hail, the underdog weather now reigns supreme. With Tyranitar and Hippowdon, RU sand is probably the best it has been for a while. Last generation and indeed most RU metagame after gen 7 had to contend with the flawed Gigalith as a sand setter and Stoutland as the go-to sweeper. Here, you get two excellent, multi-faceted flag bearers plus a ridiculous threat in Dracozolt. However, Dracozolt is not an essential fixture on Sand. You can easily go more defensive with a Sand Balance or take a page from Gen 5 and run Alakazam or Reuniclus. That's not even mentioning the viable rock types in this tier who appreciate a sand special defence boost such as Terrakion, Nihilego and Mega Aerodactyl. It's possible to go all-out offensive with sand builds, but generally, you appreciate a sturdy backbone with pivots like Amoongus and Mandibuzz.



Common Cores

Scizor and Friends
Featuring Meowscarada, Nihilego, Tapu Bulu, Sandy Shocks, Swampert, Mandibuzz, Keldeo, Alakazam

Scizor garnering ~30% usage means that it's likely you're going to see it being partnered with many Pokemon. The tour statistics reveal something interesting regarding what Scizor is partnered with. Partners like Meowscarada, Sandy Shocks, Swampert, Mandibuzz and sometimes Keldeo can form a solid volt-turn core. Scizor also synergises defensively with Pokemon like Nihilego, Tapu Bulu, Swampert and Mandibuzz. Finally, Scizor can be the lever to get your scary threats into battle with Power Herb Nihilego, Keldeo, SD Tapu Bulu and Alakazam all appreciating the support. Scizor's versatility and multi-faceted partnerships are the reason why 11 of the 25 top cores consist of Scizor.


Mega Altaria and Nihilego

Classic overloading core. Scizor checks both Pokemon but putting both together can help you overwhelm it. This principle also works for checks like Cobalion and Mega Aggron.


Meowscarada and Sandy Shocks

Not much to say other than that it's a powerful volt-turn core. The added benefit this core has is that both Sandy Shocks and Meowscarada can lay hazards, and Mewoscarada's Knock-Off helps wear down both its and Sandy Shock's checks.

Rotom-Heat and Hippowdon

An unexpected core that saw usage. Part of this may have been a knee-jerk response to find Scizor checks but I think Offensive Rotom-H could pair well with Hippowdon. One obvious weakness is water types so something like Tapu Bulu (keep the Earthquake interaction in mind since Terrak could become a major thorn in the side) or pivots like Thundurus and Slowking should be additions. Overall the premise is sound: Hippowdon doesn't like Grass and Ice-type attacks from the likes of Mamoswine, Meowscarada and Tapu Bulu which Rotom can pivot into; Rotom-Heat doesn't like Rock-type attackers like Mega Aerodactyl, Terrakion and Nihilego which Hippowdon can stave off.

Most of the top cores revolved around Scizor meaning that there wasn't much to discuss in the first place. The remainder had cores that included Latias and Moltres, or cores that were extremely niche (Sun) / used by a handful of players.

News

I'll take a second to shout out the Good Cores thread which has an RU section. The council already has a few cores in mind, but we encourage the community to contribute as well.

In related news, do look out for the tier shifts tomorrow and the upcoming resources. We have been busy as of late but we'll endeavour to get this done sharpish. Let's hope NDUU is graceful enough to not drop a Manaphy-level threat or hog a valuable metagame component (*cough* Swampert *cough*) given certain trends on the Nat Dex UU ladder.

Tribute

Now that we're at the end of this post, here's a visual list of all the Pokemon that got snubbed in the tournament. Some of these were considered broken at one point whilst others are diamonds in the rough.

 

[skippergamez]

| 1    | Scizor            |   62 |  29.52% |  54.84% |
| 3    | Latias             |   36 |  17.14% |  55.56% |

“Mom, why do have to wait until SMUU has a ladder next month to play it”
Mom: “We have SMUU at home”
SMUU at home:

Edit: where did Scizor go?

 

[Melons-N-Soda]

Gardevoir-Mega moved from NDRUBL to NDUU
Latios moved from NDRUBL to NDUU
Meowscarada moved from NDRU to NDUU
Scizor moved from NDRU to NDUU
Tyranitar moved from NDRU to NDUU

Iron Leaves moved from NDUU to NDRU
Magnezone moved from NDUU to NDRU
Manectric-Mega moved from NDUU to NDRU
Orthworm moved from NDUU to NDRU
Polteageist moved from NDUU to NDRU

NatDex UU sheds off 2 of its D-ranks (Orthworm would've headed there cause Shed Tail got banned from OU NatDex) while taking several top mons in the tier, most notably Scizor and T-tar, but Meowscarada is a notable loss as well. Could Zarude make a comeback?

 

[georgebowserjr]

Gardevoir-Mega moved from NDRUBL to NDUU
Latios moved from NDRUBL to NDUU
Meowscarada moved from NDRU to NDUU
Scizor moved from NDRU to NDUU
Tyranitar moved from NDRU to NDUU

Iron Leaves moved from NDUU to NDRU
Magnezone moved from NDUU to NDRU
Manectric-Mega moved from NDUU to NDRU
Orthworm moved from NDUU to NDRU
Polteageist moved from NDUU to NDRU

NatDex UU sheds off 2 of its D-ranks (Orthworm would've headed there cause Shed Tail got banned from OU NatDex) while taking several top mons in the tier, most notably Scizor and T-tar, but Meowscarada is a notable loss as well. Could Zarude make a comeback?

Zarude could make a comeback, i think its a decent mon. Could use like bulk up jungle healing maybe or even choice scarf. (and i get to steal it from NU so thats nice).

 

[Runo]

nah screw Bulk Up sets


Zarude @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Leaf Guard
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Darkest Lariat
- Power Whip
- Close Combat

We're getting stupid in this joint

 

[MachJacob]

The day has come. Scizor is gone. While the door remains open for the return of the king, it's time to deal with the fallout and answer the threats previously held back by Scizor's stranglehold on the meta.


All powerful sweepers held back by their weakness to Bullet Punch. Mega Aero and Altaria cannot Terastallize or hold a Babiri berry, and while Terrakion can, its strongest set typically involved a Z-crystal and denied both options. Now these threats are completely free, and while Terrakion is still held back by Breloom's Mach Punch, the mushroom is far less splashable than Scizor was.


They're fast, they're powerful, and they're frail. Whether they ran Nasty Plot or Specs, these very little can actually wall these two, especially since Tyranitar left. Their horrendous bulk allowed Scizor to serve as offensive counterplay, and the shared Pursuit weakness made them easy pickings for our favourite metal bug.


More powerful attackers that share a weakness to Steel, set flexibility opens up to these three, plus any Ice, Rock or Fairy types.


This is an unpopular opinion, but I don't think Talonflame was ever "good" here. It's no Moltres and never will be. It did its job in punishing U-Turns and Bullet Punches, but its bulk is not up to the power level of the rest of the tier. If Scizor was Protective Pads or Tera Fire it would fold eventually, not to mention the fact that Scizor can knock its boots off, leaving you with a defogger that takes 50% switching in. We have better hazard removers, and we have better pivots, so I expect Talonflame usage to plummet.

 

[Velcroc]

Thought I might weigh on Scizor's departure from the tier as well as go through the other drops briefly (which nobody seems to have done).





Funny how these two show up exactly when Scizor heads on to UU! I don't think they would have instantly made Scizor A-OK but they would have contributed to it being less controversial in the tier.

For what it's worth, Mega Manectric is a nice offensive pivot to have in the metagame and a fairly above-average Mega Evolution overall. Nonetheless, I'm not a fan of that Mega Aerodactyl match-up even with intimidate. There's also the classic HP Grass / HP Ice dilemma with the former hitting the Water/Grounds and the latter being reliable for Tera Grass Sandy Shocks and Gligar. Finally, Mega Manectric does compete with Zeraora for the offensive electric + speed control slot on a lot of teams, and a Mega Evolution slot by default.

Magnezone is less solid on paper but I don't think it's by any means a bad addition to the tier. The trapping set is gonna need some adjustment given that there aren't many defensive steels to trap. One adjustment could be to run Scarf or Chople instead to help against Cobalion, Durant and any other fast Steel type that pops up. Another would be to exploit more passive steels like Registeel and Aggron-Mega with Charge Beam and/or IronPress. Specs could instead run Analytic and serve as a nice breaker and pivot. Assault Vest doubles down on the pivot aspect to help check stuff like Malt (pray and click tera in case of EQ!). Iron Defense sets can exploit its nice bulk, good defensive typing and newfound ability to fly.

I expect both of these electric types to be modest yet effective additions to the metagame.




This was a Pokemon that I always anticipated us having since Jan. It does face stiff competition as a steel type in this tier but the utility of being a mono Steel type immune to Earthquake is insane. Bronzong exists but the dark/ghost weaknesses are far more exploitable here. Another interesting option it gets is spikes which give it an edge over the likes of Mega Aggron and Registeel. I expect this to be a niche defensive option to help stave off Mega Aerodactyl and Physical Mega Altaria sets. I don't expect this to become super relevant but it will have a legitimate place here




I have no idea how this will pan out. Terastalisation could legitimately make this broken, though I highly doubt it. Obviously, it will click Swords Dance at some point but what will the other moves be? I expected something like SD / Psyblade / Lead Blade and coverage in Tera Blast Fire and Close Combat. Items are going to be either Booster Energy, Heavy Duty Boots or Z-move. I'd pay to see Lefties + Synthesis Iron leaves 1v1 Sandy Shocks sometime. These are all good attributes in a vacuum but it gets a lot of competition from Zarude who could probably do everything I just said with slightly better typing and a bit more speed. I could also see this in Electric Terrain spam but I'm not sure how consistent that strat is gonna be.

In a metagame with Meowscarada gone, I'd definitely give this thing a shot.

Rises



Speaking of which, we lost Meowscarada. This is a pretty big absence in the tier but it's the least impactful of the ones we've had this month. We've lost a versatile Grass/Dark-type meaning Zarude finally has a shot at shining here. If anything, the biggest impact this thing leaving has is how much slower the metagame becomes and how much faster Alakazam seems now.




Tyranitar leaving is disappointing but expected. Tyranitar did the rare feat of being a Pokemon that could pull off several sets and still be considered healthy. This thing could feasibly run 10 sets and each could be teched with a certain move, Tera type or EV to beat a check. Not to mention that it was probably the best argument against an Alakazam and a Gengar ban. However, I am relieved that it left with Scizor instead of staying here. It wasn't broken, but it'd be pushing it without Scizor. Plus, it could still be overwhelmed by Gengar and Alakazam thanks to Z-moves, Tera and the deep move pools those two get, so it wasn't a fool-proof counter.




Losing Scizor in this tier is like losing a key on my keyboard. It's not the end of the world but it is really annoying finding a replacement. Scizor did stave off quite a few admittedly broken threats like and . Nevertheless, the more you start to pick at this thread, the further down the rabbit hole you go. I found 41 threats and counting that become easier to manage by Scizor's mere existence. And I am not talking about Scizor countering them, checking them or even necessarily handling them (although it does to all of those to some degree). I am talking about absurdly powerful Pokemon becoming an afterthought in the builder just because Scizor exists in this metagame and occupies the brain space of anyone playing this tier. I'll get to that in a moment.

As for Scizor itself, it was considered by everyone to be the best Pokemon. Period. Now, it wasn't always the best Pokemon for the tier's existence but from the middle of March to the beginning of May it was the clear frontrunner. I'd be beating a dead horse if I could tell you all the things that Scizor did but I will simplify this Pokemon's impact in a single sentence: this Pokemon caused the rise of Talonflame in a span of one week just because the former best check Moltres rose to UU.

The Future of National Dex RU

Yeah, Scizor's getting 2 sections. I mentioned the rabbit hole of things that become harder to manage with Scizor gone. A lot of the hubbub surrounding Scizor concerns the "Big 4" and Mega Aerodactyl which lose their most splashable check. However, that's not the only way Scizor affects metagame trends. Scizor thanks to its innate attributes and the power of Tera Steel Bullet Punch outcompetes a lot of otherwise threatening Bug types, Steel types and priority-wielding Pokemon. There's also the interesting phenomenon where the Big 4 keep a lot of stuff from running rampant themselves. That's what I mean when I said Scizor's mere existence keeps stuff in check.

Below is a list of things Scizor is responsible for curtailing. Keep in mind that a lot of these Pokemon could potentially beat Scizor with Tera, one of their sets or even all of their sets. But Scizor's presence in the tier means that, for one reason or another, these Pokemon lose their oomph. A handful of these Pokemon were broken even with Scizor and some are potential suspects. However, most of them are in flux right now and whether or not they end up being broken depends on how the metagame pans out.





I'll go through some of these:


Should be fairly obvious. Nihilego could tera out of the Scizor MU but Scizor did restrict a lot. Lycanroc Dusk, Bulu and Mamo hit Scizor hard on the switch but are forced out. The first 4 are already on the radar. An interesting thing to note is that a ban on the first three brings down the speed tiers and makes the 330 - 349 benchmarks far more valuable. The next four could end up being banned depending on how the metagame progresses. Action on Tapu Bulu is unlikely since there's a lot available in the current metagame to check it.



All checked by Mega Altaria either defensively or offensively. Don't get me started on Mega Heracross but count our lucky stars the meta is offensive enough and we have a handful of "checks" and "counters". Keldeo is another big threat that deserves an examination regardless of Scizor or Mega Altaria leaving. Mega Alt is an okay check to Haxorus since it forces Pjab on every set. With Malt and Scizor gone, Haxorus could be an issue but that hinges on the metagame not having space to fit the stuff that would otherwise handle it. The rest should be fine given that other things check them or they're slow like Breloom.

Dragon Dance ():
Hail ():
Shell Smash ():
Swords Dance ():
Snowball Sweeprs ( ):

HO threats rambling

All sweepers you'd find on HO become trickier to deal with now that Scizor is out of the equation.

Several Dragon Dance sweepers become harder to manage now that they aren't reliant on Tera to block Scizor. Iron Thorns and Zygarde-10% could still beat Scizor in the 1v1 but neither liked taking a BP (especially at low health). Necrozma is probably the most unreasonable to deal with from this selection (that I haven't already discussed), but that's more so due to its set diversity being able to flip match-ups with Cosmic Power, DD, CM and Automatize.


While Hail has been significantly hampered by the departure of Alolan ninetales, it becomes significantly improved with Scizor gone. I doubt it is broken at the moment but only time will tell.


Shell Smash / Quiver Dance sweepers are occasionally seen on Psychic Spam thanks to the priority blocking effect. If anything, Tera is the culprit pushing these things to be broken - with the exception of Bugnium Z Venomoth ig.


There's also a sizeable amount of Physical and Special sweepers that have the capacity to snowball without Scizor as a safety net. Resisting Tera Normal Lucario Extreme Speed and Lycanroc-Dusk Accelrock is a huge boom for any team. Not that Scizor was a fail-safe check to any of these: Lokix being the prime example as it can overwhelm it +2 sucker punch. Scizor also matched up really well against Power Herb Nihilego and Necrozma sets as well as the Belly Drummers - the most relevant they've been since the light clay ban.

There are quite a few HO threats the council is eyeing but the vast majority of this list have existing defensive and offensive countermeasures. In fact, some of these may end up being quite bad once the dust settled. But they all share an appreciation for Scizor's departure as they lose an automatic check on most teams.



If you wanted a Physical late-game sweeper with priority, a Choice Band Pokemon, or an offensive Steel or Bug Type, Scizor was the name of the game. These aren't completely out-classed by Scizor per se, but if I am building an offensive team and I want something for the last slot to clean teams up, I would think of Scizor over something Diggersby and Lucario. Durant, on the other hand, is effectively outclassed by Scizor.


Miscenallous threats that Scizor helped check through Choice Band Tera Steel Bullet Punch. Mega Pidgeot actually lives 1 tera steel BP from full (max roll is 99.6%) but getting chip on Mega Pidgeot is free in 90% of the games you will end up playing. Staraptor has to play dice rolls with Tera Steel Bullet Punch as well. Primarina and Azu are neutral to BP (and can tera into resisting it) but Scizor places significant constraints on them running free. Azu, for instance, is outgunned by a lot of Scizor sets that go max speed or hit the 200 speed benchmark. As for Primarina, even Bold sets have to click the Tera button lest they get 2HKO'd. Scizor can eat a Specs Boomburst from Swellow and punt it with Bullet Punch, contributing to its fall from grace.

A Turning Point for Terastalisation in RU

I don't usually discuss Tera in these threads outside of associating it with specific Pokemon. My opinion on Terastalisation has been that it is something that changes the way we tier metagame and is a mechanic that would lead to a healthier metagame if gotten rid of. This is a more moderate pro-ban position compared to other users and other tier councils, and more in line with the attitudes you see with current-gen players. However, this perspective doesn't come through in most of my discussions for a very simple reason: the vast majority of the bans from this tier are independent of terastalisation as a mechanic. Of the 21 Pokemon we have banned (23 counting the instant UUBLs Mega Mawile and Espathra), only Polteageist, Salamence and arguably Latias were pushed to the edge thanks to Terastalisation. In fact, a few were made a bit more manageable thanks to Tera. A good example of this in effect is Mega Gallade which dislikes something like Slowbro being able to become a pixie at a moment's whim.

However, we are at a stage in this metagame where Terastalisation becomes a core reason why Pokemon are ending up being banned. The first Pokemon marking this shift is Scizor itself. Scizor has been centralizing for multiple generations but this is the first time where its effectiveness has pushed it to the edge with its ability to 2HKO Steel neutralities and even a few resists. Even though something like Terrakion would still be too much for the tier regardless of Scizor, it does get me thinking if Terrakion is made more manageable with Scizor in the tier and Terastalisation out. Going through all the stuff that appreciates Scizor's absence helps consolidate this view. There's a lot of stuff there that I could see getting axed outside the big four that most people bring up.

The goal of the NDRU council for this generation has been to create a healthy metagame where multiple strategies can flourish with as small of a ban list as possible. I believe this was fulfilled successfully in the last generation. On the other hand, it became harder to achieve following Dondozo's ban (which is 100% justified, this thing is broken in UU too!). A metagame with Magnezone and Mega Manectric dropping and Scizor, Meowscarada and Tyranitar staying would have been relatively stable. But this begs the question: if a metagame needs 5 specific Pokemon to develop properly, could it be said to be balanced to begin with? With Scizor gone, the future of National Dex RU becomes more chaotic and uncertain - that alone should be obvious. If terastalisation stays in National Dex, then the RU council is forced to change this vision and this will be reflected in a further uptick of bans. I'm sure the majority of the player base (both competitive and casual) would be fine with this, but I feel like it would be best to highlight how the development of the metagame will pan out in the future for the sake of transparency.

Questions to the Playerbase/Bystanders

I'm sure we'll hone this into a Google form later on but I really want a bit more activity on this thread outside of massive posts which could intimidate newcomers.

1) How do you feel about the new drops (Mega Manectric, Magnezone, Orthworm and Iron Leaves)? Did I overrate or underrate them?

2) What Pokemon do you feel is overwhelming for the metagame? Does Scizor leaving affect your opinion on this? Is Terastalisation a key factor in making these Pokemon broken?

3) Is there anything in the list that you disagree with? Is there anything else that should be added to the list?

4) Are there any Pokemon you find broken in the current metagame but see little discussion on?

5) How do you feel about Terastalisation in National Dex RU?

6) Do you agree with the tiering philosophy of the tier? What would you change with how National Dex RU is tiered?

Feel free to answer number of these questions in any order. Just make sure they aren't one-liners.


TL;DR
left the tier and this has pretty significant consequences for RU.

dropped. I think all of these will have a niche even if they're not a mainstay within the RU metagame.

Scizor leaving drastically alters the fate of many Pokemon positively. Some of these become broken whilst others have a constraint lifted off their shoulder.

We're at a point where terastalisation will play a defining role in the bans. 19/21 banned Pokemon would have been too much with or without Tera but from here on out expect to see more "Thanks to Terastalisation" in the ban summaries.

Questions to the playerbase. Have your say on the tier!

 

[MachJacob]

1) How do you feel about the new drops (Mega Manectric, Magnezone, Orthworm and Iron Leaves)? Did I overrate or underrate them?

2) What Pokemon do you feel is overwhelming for the metagame? Does Scizor leaving affect your opinion on this? Is Terastalisation a key factor in making these Pokemon broken?

3) Is there anything in the list that you disagree with? Is there anything else that should be added to the list?

5) How do you feel about Terastalisation in National Dex RU?

6) Do you agree with the tiering philosophy of the tier? What would you change with how National Dex RU is tiered?

A great writeup! To answer most of your questions:

1) I like them all, and your points are all valid. Orthworm might be overrated, but the niche is undeniable and if it takes a place in the meta, will definitely keep DD MAlt in line.

2) The main four I'd say are broken right now are Gengar, Alakazam, Terrakion and Keldeo. Scizor helped keep the first three in line, but I believe they were too strong regardless.

3) I don't think the Shell Smashers are strong enough to be competitive in NDRU right now. Even at +2 with a +speed nature, both Cloyster and Barbaracle fall short of one of the best scarf users in the metagame: Gengar. Two threats I would consider adding are Oricorio and Frosmoth. While their power level in general is pretty low compared to the rest of the tier, Tera + Quiver Dance is a very potent threat.

5) I like Tera. I feel the flexibility and freedom it provides to teambuilding is beneficial, and well worth the cost of having to ban more Pokemon. Yes, there is a lot that can go wrong with the mechanic, but the fact that it can grant Pokemon viability where it previously wasn't, allow something to check what it couldn't, force its way past something that might normally stop it, all contribute to the decision making. There are battles where a well-timed Tera can immediately win the game, but that's far from unique to Pokemon. Any setup sweeper can reach this point, but it takes skill to maneuvre everything so you can get into that situation, Tera or not.
Tera is fun, and I feel the decision-making it creates, both in the builder and the battle, are fun. While I am open to most of the proposed Tera restrictions such as Tera Preview, I would rather see Z-Moves be banned from National Dex than Tera.

6) How you've outlined the tiering philosophy of the council is something I largely agree with. More bans will need to happen if Tera stays, but I see that as a larger fault of National Dex than anything else. Last gen I was somewhat critical of the large banlist, comparing the 7 SS RUBL with the 28 SSND RUBL. While there are still bans there I disagree with (free Tangrowth), there is good reason the list is four times larger than its non-National Dex counterpart. The power creep inherent to the addition of new Pokemon will create such a huge list of Pokemon that it's unreasonable to check them all.
One change I would like with the council is that I would prefer more transparency on when action is going to be taken. I'm not a fan of hearing constant whispers of "ban soon" without knowing how soon.

 

[I am New]

A great writeup! To answer most of your questions:

1) I like them all, and your points are all valid. Orthworm might be overrated, but the niche is undeniable and if it takes a place in the meta, will definitely keep DD MAlt in line.

Orthworm isnt perfect malt answer at all cost it takes so much damage from fire blast. DD fire blast might become an option on altaria[joking]. Mixed special and bulky malts almost always run fire blast. now tbf the most threatening and broken set is dd and worm does check it. But its far from a perfect answer. It also gives free setups to the incredebly dangerous oricorio[which is STILL underrated as hell. I would call it broken].