Metagame NP: Stage 1 - Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (Florges Ban Post #47)

[Easter Bliss]

Haven’t been too active on the forums but I’ve still been playing NU and given that we’re getting shifts I’d just like to leave some final thoughts on some relevant things in the current meta before we (potentially) see some big changes.

Eelektross

There are times where coil will still feel silly but I think the metagame has definitely adapted to it to the extent where I don’t think immediate action is really necessary right now. Tera Fairy being as good as it is has probably been the biggest hindrance to this mon. While Tera Fairy is also very good your opponent doesn’t always want to dedicate their Tera to answering Eel and being able to force your hand only contributes to what the eel can do. One of the scariest wincons, still a fire glue, best mon in the tier through the offensive and defensive roles it fulfils.

Bruxish

It’s very solid as a breaker but I also don’t think it’s too obscene right now. Scarf is really good at limiting offensive counterplay and Band does have some absurd breaking potential but I think the choice lock can be pretty crippling given how prominent wishtect is on umb + vapo and it’s a problem when water and psychic immunes are basically guaranteed on every team. At the bare minimum you’re usually going to have to guess around a bit and defensive teras also a nuisance. My favourite set is probably some variation of SD. I think Taunts a generally nice option on SD and Sub is also cool, the latter of which I brought to an NU Swiss game v slice to nice results.

Zoroark

The synergy it has with so many mons makes early game v this thing such a headache. It’s honestly pretty impossible to reliably check it in the early game between illusion and how heavily you can be punished for getting a decision wrong. Maybe wouldn’t go as far as to call it outright problematic but I think a suspect (depending on shifts and meta trends ofc) is really not out of the question long term.

Bear :3

This one saw a notable rise on the VR and for pretty good reason. The Monoattacker Tera Fairy Prough set is really hard to shut down late game and is one of the scariest wincons around right now and can set up on and muscle through a lot just by virtue of the raw bulk. I’ll say though that at times the mon can feel somewhat exploitable when you’re relying on solo prough. Something else I think worth mentioning is also the guts trailblaze set. It’s actually a very nasty breaker and potential Tera ghost can force some really hellish situations in-game. Imo x10 the guts breaker zangoose will ever be.

Dudunsparce

CM Dudunsparce is the least fun thing to build with ever but in light of the rajah rise I can’t convince myself that this mon isn’t crazy. That aside, the set I’ll talk about is actually physical Dudunsparce. Physical Dudun has actually been a bit easier for me to fit all things considered because the para support is actually pretty good for a lot of teams. Coil is cool in that it can (similarly to Eelektross) dtail out opposing set-up and shuffle things around with hazards up. I’ve liked Tera Poison as an option to void poisons from things like Muk as of late as that’s one of the more reliable ways to shut down a sweep.

Scyther

One of the best pivots in the tier and it has only gotten better over time as it has received more exploration. Defog especially has become a cool option that many have picked up that works as a surprisingly serviceable offensive pivot w/ good utility to it. All of that is to say nothing about the threat it poses offensively in its own right w/ SD. Initially I was a bit surprised to see Scyther jump to A+ on the VR but after using it more myself personally I’ve come to respect it a lot more. Hattrem is also kind of fire with non boots variants and you’ve got versatility with the bug.

Lurantis & Appletun

These two have benefitted a lot from tiering changes over time (Especially the disappearance of Copperajah) and it’ll be interesting to see how they fare long term. Appletun is actually a great option right now and is super annoying to swap into while providing a super nice defensive role. Thick Fat in tandem along with Tera is are also good tools at its disposal. Lurantis makes super good use of Tera offensively to give itself actual coverage to pose a strong offensive threat in addition to the main selling point of being a bulky fogger. Lurantis was another mon I was a bit apprehensive about first but it has definitely cemented itself as a very respectable defog option. Synthesis is also just really good as the competition doesn’t really have super consistent ways to maintain themselves. Strength Sap is by all means a good move but I feel like over time Drifblim has been exploited more and more to the point where Swalot is a valid option. Chansey carrying an attack other than mono seismic also feels pretty bad when SSap heals nothing and over time that damage really starts to stick, especially if you ever have to take a knock. Blimps still good but less exploitable hard recovery is something notable Lurantis has over it.

With incoming tier shifts and RU tiering decisions a lot of this could change over the next few months and I’m interested to see how it all plays out. With NUPL on the horizon I’m sure we’ll see a lot more meta development with new shifts and I’m excited to see how things shape up.

 

[Swagodile]

We gained Indeedee (Male) and Whiscash. That's it.

 

[Oathkeeper]

May Tier Shifts

Gained:
Lost:

Not a very eventful shift for us. We gained the male counterpart for Indeedee with its auto-setting ability for Psychic Terrain, and Whiscash which now has Stealth Rock and Spikes starting this gen. An biggest unfortunate loss for both Indeedees is Expanding Force which did a considerable amount of damage to whichever had the misfortune of being on the recipient's end of it. It can still put the Terrain to good use though. Whiscash, however, can prove to be a great addition to the meta with its bulk and 1 weakness typing (Grass). Its abilities aren't exactly mouth-watering, but we could always use another spiker. Losing Floatzel hurts rain teams to be sure. A mon with a great speed tier has moved back up to UU to serve rain teams there instead. I don't foresee any action on these 2 additions to the meta, but we shall see!​

 

[Stories]

​

With NU Swiss top cut and NU open around the corner, the NU Council has voted a 6/8 super-majority to quick-ban Indeedee-M with the plan to resuspect it back into the tier at a more stable time. tagging Kris Marty to implement, thank you in advance <3

Indeedee-M is obviously similar to its female counterpart, but the small differences between the two make a big impact. Indeedee-M boasts a higher Speed stat than that of Bruxish, Passimian, and Rotom, with what would appear to be simply an okay attacking stat, but has access to Psychic Surge to boost its Psychic moves to absurd power levels. Although Indeedee-M doesn't have Expanding Force this generation, the overall power level and defensive responses in NU this generation are equally less potent.

Counterplay to these powerful Psychic attacks definitely exists; bulky resists and immunities like Perrserker and Umbreon, and of course the unwavering Chansey, but Indeedee's combination of coverage, utility, and benefits from Terastallization raise some concerns. Trick or a proper Tera Blast (which serves as powerful STAB even without Tera) can take checks like AV Perrserker and Umbreon out of commission. Calm Mind with Tera Draining Kiss can turn Dark-types into setup opportunities, and Psyshock nukes special walls like Eelektross and Chansey. Beyond benefitting from Psychic Terrain itself, Indeedee-M also aids potential teammates that were already questionably "broken" like Bruxish or Medicham by boosting their STAB moves as well as blocking common priority moves like Sucker Punch from Cacturne or Shadow Sneak from Muk.