it's finnaly time for me to Shine in my favorite tier, NU. Time to discuss what I think about this New Meta.
This thing going out means we got even less fairies going on, which means... more things to Fighting Types to rampage into. Speaking of Fighting Types...
This thing is even more of a monster. First it gets Defiant, Slowbro and Diancie leaving means two less counters, and now it gets in a JUICY angry panda for it to WRECK. it is probably the best speed control that provided offensive power to any team. Honestly, Monkey is Busted. From already amazing to giant threat to BROKENESS. This is a Mon that deserves it's use in every team; Scarf Pass is definitely a force to be reckoned with.
My little bro unfortunately got gone, and now it's in place of people using a different Water. Here's examples of "Generic Bulky Water"s that now replaced Slowbro since it's gone.
This thing having Dragon Tail means it's a Valuable phazer for a team. Slowbro, it's biggest competition, being gone and thing having it's typing means it's not as dead weight as it was in Slowbro Meta.
Toad is fantastic rn. With it's typing, Water Absorb, ability to setup Stealth Rock, Slowbro gone to lose a EQ/EP switch in, Grass types decreasing in usage, and it's stats its an amazing Bulky water. Slowbro being gone also helped with the fact it competed directly to Toad because Bro had higher defensive stats and regenerator, but now Bro is gone, and now Toad can be even more free to be slapped in any kind of team looking for a Bulky water and rocker in one slot.
This is probably my favorite Bulky Water right now. With it's high SpD and immense HP, having a 110 SpA to not become complete setup bait, Fire Types rising, Grass types decreasing usage, Wish support to help Balance/Stall teams (and as I mentioned before, It has a Immense HP stat, so most of the time it's wish will heal a lot of health). Heal Bell is also fantastic for this Mon. Especially for Balance, as most balance builds have powerful wallbreakers i.e. Specs Heliolisk or Specs Sceptile as it heals status of all the mons in your side (except Soundproof ones, but then again you won't run Soundproof in lots of your mons). This is especially useful for mons that hate Status like the aformentioned Sceptile and Heliolisk (although Heliolisk doesn't hate them as much due to Para Immunity). Sure, no ability to instantly heal itself without wasting a turn with Protect and passiveness is not good but Vaporeon is still quite good. Honestly, it's my favorite Eevee by far (outside of Espeon) and definitely one of the best Bulky Waters in the tier. I'll continue with the Bulky Waters later.
Time for Xatu. This Mon actually surprised me. With TSpikes setters Garbodor and Weezing hard rising in their usage alongside Diancie Banned, Xatu is becoming even more of a meta-defining threat. Sure, the rise of Two rockers, Rhydon and Regirock, is certainly not a good thing, Xatu can still deny their Rocks (not to mention you usually get a Defogger/Spinner to pair with Xatu) and weaken them with Toxic. Plus, the fact that Slowbro is gone means you lose an answer to Xatu even further (Xatu ran toxic at that point so it was a half answer half bad MU.). Now that Diancie is gone, you get even further Threats to Xatu removed from this tier. Tbh this Mon is amazing rn.
This thing is on Totem Forme coz I want to show off how of a Mixed bag it became. First off, Diancie and Bro being gone and Panda appearing means it got less threats to take care of AND a threat to it to die. On the good side, it's a Scarfer that actually Outspeeds the rising Passimian, and thus can avoid a CC if you get lucky with a instant para AND a full para in the same turn, or U-Turn directly on it if you don't have luck. It's SpD set still checks 50% of the things in the tier that are Specially Based. Examples being Vaporeon (which Toge hard counters. Bulky waters in general except Toad tbh.), Sceptile (unless you switch into a Focus Blast or if it's LO), Neckboi (unless Flamethrower switch in), Ice Types not named Piloswine, and etc. It became even more of a Mixed bag now that it's both Buffed and Nerfed with the tier shifts.
Time for the fire types, which got even better with two of their counters are GONE. Incineroar especially, as SD variants wreck teams now. This is the ultimate staple of every team, something that you're FORCED to prepare for and you MUST take it into account with the fact that once your check is gone, you're going to get WRECKED. About Delphox, it's CM set rose in usage with Diancie and Slowbro's departure. Dazzling Gleam is now free to spam where there's a SD Roar running around your team. +1 Delphox can shut down a lot of the metagame, including the ever present Heliolisk, with its High speed, Special Attack and Coverage. The way to deal with Delphox now that you don't have Slowbro or Diancie, is now the Juicy King Slowking. It's still very dangerous once boosted, and you can still run Grass Knot to dent Rhydon, Seismitoad and the lesser common Regirock and Gastrodon.
Magmortar, however, is a Fire Type that Wallbreaks immediately instead of setting up. Electrium Z variants are near impossible to stop once you killed those Rhydons and Seismitoads (you even have the option of Running HP Grass on that set), you easily break through every single Mon in the tier (bar AV King which is starting to actually get Juicy). AV, on the other hand, has the ability to deal with Special Fire Types Like Delphox and Opposing Magmortar (even Typhlosion lol) with Earthquake and your Massive Special Defense with AV. The flaw with this set is that it is slower than base 80s and can't check Incineroar, the best Pokemon by far.
Talk about a Rapid Spinner that got better with Bro's departure. Blastoise is passive, sure, but boy, is it good right now. Scald burning a Mon like Passimian and the newly-introduced Pangoro is huge if you manage to do it. Most mons that don't care about scald gets crippled by Toxic, too. It can even Z-Refresh for a one-time recovery move AND heal status in one turn. Especially useful when you get Toxic Poisoned. This Mon is also very durable as a Spinner; while it can't take SE's well (why would you stay in on them anyway), it takes some hits quite well. Especially useful if mons like Mismagius and Rotom bopped their Z before. Definitely good water imo.
NFE Bat. This guy surprised me too. With Both Diancie and Slowbro gone, Golbat gets even more opportunities to support it's team with Defog and Super Fang. Poison/Flying typing means it was weak to them STABs. Now, they're gone, and now Golbat takes Less SE hits than before. It's probably one of, if not THE, best Defogger in the tier.
As for Pangoro, I am... Not sure. Pangoro, at first glance, it's pretty unhealthy for the tier, with access to Swords Dance, ability to use Choice Band, useful abilities and Typing, and the surprising Parting Shot defensive set. However, it has some downfalls. Broken Monkey's prevelance in the tier made Pangoro cry on it's dancing, and the fact that it is 4x weak to Fairy AND the fact that it's slow, makes it hard to fit into offensive playstyles. I personally find Pangoro to be found best in Balance teams or Stall/Semistall with its offensive sets or Parting Shot defensive. It's low speed is certainly huge, as it loses to SD Incineroars by 2 Base Speed points. This, combined with its weakness to Dazzling Gleam Speedy Xatu's makes this unnapealing. However, Pangoro has its merits on a team. With its insane attack (more attack than passimian), a insane offensive typing (somehow defensive too, but it's 4x weak to the aformentioned fairy types), access to good coverage in Gunk Shot to hit fairies, Thunder Punch to hit Braviary and other stuff, Ice Punch for Grass type Walls (i.e. Vileplume), STAB Knock Off, Priority Bullet Punch, and etc. It's Defensive stats are not that great, so don't expect it to wall everything in sight. Overall, Pangoro, in my opinion, is a great offensive presence on the tier.
That's all I have now. See you later, NU Bois.
