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SS RU has been one of the most interesting RU generations. With such a constant change in the pool of available Pokémon, this tier felt like it went through 5 different metagames at the very least. This makes for the top titans thread to be the most intricate one yet, as we'll be going through all the different metagames, and we'll vote on all the Pokémon that excelled during their respective time in the battlefield.
The big question that we will try to answer with this thread is, which of all the Pokémon were the 10 most influential throughout Gen 8?
From June 1st to June 15th, you will nominate Pokémon that will be voted on for the top 10 most influential Pokémon throughout Gen 8. After that, you will all evaluate all the nominations and individually rank the Pokémon from 1-10 by vote. Of course, all the nominations will count as long as they're reasonable and fit the criteria. Please keep in mind that we're not ranking Pokémon based on how good they are, but we're ranking Pokémon based on how influential they've been. When nominating Pokémon, consider their influence not just in the current Crown Tundra format, but in the Isle of Armor, Home, and Pre-Home metagames as well.
Please use the format below to frame your posts, or we won't count them!
Enter your nominee's sprite here.
:ss/pokemon:
What effect did Pokémon have on the metagame?
Explain how the Pokémon effected the metagame as a whole, and how the metagame adapted around it. A brief description of which Pokémon it countered and which Pokémon it did well against would be good here as well. Be sure to consider their impact in previous iterations of SS RU as well, if they weren't removed.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
Explain why this Pokémon was used on a team more often than most other Pokémon, and what was it particularly used for? What made it so good at this role?
What caused it to have a significant impact?
What exactly made this Pokémon have such a large impact on the metagame? Was it its stats, ability, useful resistances, amazing synergy, or the ability to sweep most of the metagame very easily? Did a certain Pokémon cause it to become that much better when it was partnered with it?
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
What are the best checks/counters to this Pokémon? How does the metagame adapt to this Pokémon?
What effect did Pokémon have on the metagame?
We had him for like 2 months, and it was unironically used to trap and kill Pokémon like Steelix and Stakataka.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
Iron Defense + Body Press went brrrrrrrrrrr
What caused it to have a significant impact?
See above
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
You just hit it very hard
Please format your suggestions more seriously than this one, it's just an example to show off the format
You're allowed to reserve nominations, but make sure to finish them in 24 hours, or they will be back up for grabs! Also, you can only reserve one nomination at a time. This is to make sure that your reservation gets done before you finish another. If you pick a Pokémon that has more than one form, be sure to clarify which it is. Have fun!
Charizard had a long-lasting reign of dominance before the 1st DLC. When we had the Gigalith Sigilyph metagame, Charizard was the one breaker that made Sun as scary as it was back then. Then, once Home dropped, it became the prime removal for a while, thanks to its great coverage to threaten the rockers, and it's natural bulk and solid typing. It also picked up later when Rillaboom was so dominant, as it was a natural counter for it. Then in the last stretch of the year, it became a breaker in Sun teams once again, going full circle. Overall, Charizard was the most consistent Pokémon when it comes to performance, fitting in any team, and always doing what it was supposed to do just perfectly.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
It shared both the roles of a utility removal, with Defog and Toxic, as well as a Choice Specs breaker in Sun teams, thanks to sun boosted Weather Ball. As a removal, it fit in a plethora of teams thanks to its given utility by typing and coverage.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Not mentioning how useful this Pokémon was thanks to the addition of Heavy Duty Boots, allowing it to switch in multiple times without having to take half its HP due to hazards. Charizard was also a natural answer to all the common rockers, as well as being able to defensively check Pokémon such as Rillaboom, Passimian, and get past walls like Vileplume and Copperajah. As a breaker, it just nuked whatever had to take a sun powered Weather Ball from Choice Specs sets, as even Mantine had to be EVd in order to live 2 attacks from Charizard.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
Vaporeon dropping to RU was huge, as it threatened Charizard, and didn't care about getting hit with Toxic from it due to Heal Bell. A big weakness was also Rillaboom threatening it with Knock Off, as removing its Heavy Duty Boots would prevent Charizard from switching in and out for free. Rock Slide coverage from Pokémon like Passimian or even Drapion always forced Charizard to play it safe or risk the OHKO. Even Steelix started using Head Smash to catch Charizard by surprise. Defensively, people just had to rely on anti-weather mons like Gigalith or Mantine to live hits from Specs Zard.
I haven't been around very long (I only started playing after the Obstagoon ban) but what I’ve seen of Toad has been terrifying. I started using it after being swept by one, and it’s been on every team of mine since. Before me, however, ‘toad was very popular for threatening Galarian Slowbro, even rising to UU for a time. It also added to the viability of rain.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
‘Toad was known for its role compression. Not only could it be used as a bulky stealth rocker with two immunities and ways to threaten both of them back, but It was also a good rain abuser with swift swim.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
When Galarian Slowbro was in the tier, choice banded sets checked the scald sludge bomb variant, as well as threatened with Earthquake. Swift swim allows it to outspeed most things that aren’t Ninjask in rain. It also preformed admirably offensively, being the only water ground type in the tier to get power whip, allowing it to decimate unsuspecting Quagsires and Gastrodons, and even other ‘Toads. In combination with knock off and earthquake, it already threatened huge swaths of the metagame, but ice punch could be used on a correct read to chunk the grass types that would otherwise switch into it. It was bulky enough to take a +1 Flygon’s earthquake and retaliate with an ice punch that would always kill.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
Generally any grass type, however many arent bulky enough to switch into ‘Toad’s Ice punch if hazards were already up. Xurkitree’s energy ball also worked well, provided the player with ‘Toad didn’t correctly read the switch and Earthquake. Chandelure’s energy ball would also always kill, but was at risk from both knock off and Earthquake. What I personally have found is that another toad is the best counter, as power whip will kill if you outspeed.
Switching up order of questions, hope that's ok In what main roles was Pokémon used?
Reuniclus has two main sets in the DLC2 metagame that take advantage of Reuniclus' two best abilities (rip overcoat). It's less prominent set is Assult Vest Pivot with Regenerator, being able to take some of the strongest special hits from the likes of Celebi, Gardevior, and Nidoqueen. This set fit on more offensive teams as it is a good blanket check to a lot of the tier, even being able to take a hit from Chandelure and Mixed Sharpedo in a pinch. It also put lots of offensive pressure with its moves and massive 125 spa stat.
The other and more prominent set is as a Bulky Calm Mind Sweeper, relying on its bulk and Magic Guard to allow opportunities to set up. While it can be devastating in the end game, it has plenty utility early on being able to serve as status absorption, while also being able to wall the likes of Cobalion, Roserade, and Suicune. It's main benefit is winning 1v1s with a lot of the tier (if they lack the proper moves necessary, for example, Reun beats Golisopod 1v1 without leech life and beats Incineraor without SD).
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Regenerator is used with Assault Vest to help with chip damage and also general recovery since it obviously can't run recover. It's massive 110hp/85 SpD special bulk paired with the Vest allows it to tank very well. It's offensive support moves also make it great as Future Sight puts massive pressure on the opponent and knock off is the best move in the game. Natural Psychic resists weren't completely safe either as it often runs Focus Blast.
Calm Mind Sweeper fully utilizes Reun's ability Magic Guard, preventing Toxic amongst other chip as a way to stop it. It also uses it's respectable 110/75 bulk to prevent being overrun on the physical side while Calm Mind boosts the special side. Calm Mind, like AV, also used Focus Blast to scare off Dark and Steel types, but is also free to run other moves like Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, and Thunder as ways to pressure other psychics and bulky waters better.
What effect did Pokémon have on the metagame?
Assault Vest was more impactful early on in the tier as beasts like Thundurus and Volcanion were in the tier, but due to natural tiering processes, some of these massive special attackers have moved away. Calm Mind was way more impactful as it itself was subjected to a suspect where it was one vote away from being banned, one of the closest, if not the closest, suspect votes in RU history. Calm Mind was so threatening because many pokemon of the tier lose to it 1v1. The combination of Psyshock and Focus Blast covered almost everything in the tier, and Pokemon that use Haze like Milotic could lose to Thunder. This, in turn, forced a more offensive metagame as Reuniclus would simply override most fat teams .
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
Although Assault Vest could scare dark types with Focus Blast, most dark types, like Umbreon and Incineroar, are fine with switching in due their bulk and Focus Blast's accuracy made people prefer clicking more consistent moves like Future Sight or Knock. However, despite it's bulk, AV Reun can still lose to some of RU's best special attackers. Without Shadow Ball, Celebi beat Reun 1v1 due to its bulk and recovery, as Reun is set up bait for it.
Calm Mind could be dealt in a number of ways individually. Specific sets that beat CM Reuniclus include, SD Incin, Leech Life Golisopod, Dragon Tail Guzzlord, Cosmic Power Metagross, Haze Milotic, Poltergiest users assuming it is not itemless, Escav, and even Screech Umbreon has been seen as ways to beat CM. Other ways such Teleport Starmie into a breaker like Heracross or Obstagoon have also been used. However the main way to prevent a Set up sweep has been to simply play offensive and be the aggressor. Pre-Zarude rise, CM wasn't excellent due to the crazy Volturn options in the tier, so using Volturn negates it well.
Rillaboom had its humble beginnings as one of the tier premier Choice Scarf users alongside Passimian, though less popular, its Grass-typing meant it could U-turn risk-free in the Vileplume infested tier that was the beta / pre-Home metagame. Swords Dance + Acrobatics was also run to OHKO Vileplume but it was much less seen. It was much of the same old for Rillaboom until June when the hidden abilities for the starters were released through Home. Grassy Terrain was introduced to RU for the first time and Rillaboom enabled dangerous sweepers such as Drifblim and Hitmonlee. Rillaboom also diversified with Choice Band and Swords Dance sets becoming common and making it a devastating wallbreaker. It wasn't for long until Rillaboom got even better when DLC1 was released about halfway through June and it now got Grassy Glide. Swords Dance sets quickly became the go-to and were both difficult to wall and revenge kill not only thanks to priority Grass Glide but also the Defense boost from Grassy Seed, which it ran to get full-powered Acrobatics. Rillaboom wasn't the only one to get new toys with DLC1 dropping, Expanding Force Indeedee-M and Rising Voltage Raichu-A took the meta by storm (Raichu-A less so), and Rillaboom's Grassy Terrain got more important than ever. It could at the very least switch in once and could always come in and revenge kill them afterward. The meta was very much Terrain wars until the first drop of DLC1 where it rose to OU and the dreaded Steel-less meta was in full swing. Rillaboom's reign at the tippy top of viability didn't last long but it has throughout its time in the tier been a great-to-top-tier Pokemon.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
For the majority of its run in RU, Rillaboom was a revenge killer and offensive pivot with its Choice Scarf set. Its greater Speed, strong Wood Hammer for bulky Water like Vaporeon and Jellicent, and immunity to Effect Spore are what set it apart from its main competition in Passimian early on, and later on, it obviously had Grassy Terrain. Knock Off was just as important back then even if Boots spam wasn't the plague it's today, as you had the Crobat of the time in Charizard. During its last weeks, Rillaboom was primarily a sweeper, revenge killer, and wallbreaker with its Swords Dance set.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Grassy Terrain was huge. Unlike Psychic- and Electric Terrain, Grassy Terrain affected and helped way more Pokemon on your team. Weakening Earthquake, boost to Grass moves, and the passive recovery was a godsend for many Pokemon like Copperajah and Ninetales. And of course, it did enable the same sweepers as Psychic in Hitmonlee and Drifblim, and Rillaboom was a way better setter than Pincurchin. Rillaboom was one of the most splashable ways for a lot of teams to handle Indeedee and Raichu-A. RUSD I taking place around the release of Grassy Surge played a huge role in that players thought of every creative way to take advantage of Rillaboom and made the meta center around it and Terrain in general.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
Vileplume, Charizard, Salazzle, and any other faster Grass resist were the way to deal with Rillaboom throughout its entire history. Vileplume became less of a great answer later on with the popularity of SD + Acro and the Fires hated switching into Knock Off or a Ground-type move. Then you had like Goodra, then later Drampa, punishing Rillaboom locking into a Grass move with a KO. During the Terrain meta, Garbodor could take on unboosted Rillaboom or trade for a huge amount of chip in Rocky Helmet + Aftermath if it were to die to +2 High Horsepower. Indeedee, and later Scarf Indeedee-F, could always revenge kill a +2 Rillaboom with Expanding Force.
Vileplume has been viable in SS RU throughout the tier's entire existence, although continually becoming a more niche option on teams. In the beta stage and early pre-dlc1 Vileplume was a core part of the metagame, often used in conjunction with Mantine and Gigalith or Steelix. Vileplume was both an exceptional physical wall while also being a great sweeper due to Growth and good coverage in STAB sludge bomb and giga drain, additionally niche moves like Moonblast could be used to hit Drampa or Duraludon for more damage. These traits led to Vileplume's rise to S rank for a lot of that early metagame although it ended at A rank. In post dlc1 and post dlc2 Vileplume did much of the same although being more niche. Gaining access to corrosive gas has changed Vileplume's role lately though, as it now instead usually carries it as the 4th move instead of growth in order to remove the items from flying and steel-types.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
Vileplume was a physical wall with a great typing throughout the metas. The grass and poison typing gives it a bunch of useful resistances to strong fighting and electric breakers which have been so common throughout SS RU's all iterations. In pre dlc Vileplume also functioned as a great lategame sweeper with its growth set, being able to chip many of its checks through sludge bomb poisons.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Vileplume's impact was mainly caused by a combination of its amazing defensive typing and one of, if not the, best recovery moves in the game - strength sap. Strength Sap allowed it to 1v1 'mons that seem like counters such as Copperajah, exemplified perfectly in that one Feli game. After dlc2 Vileplume also got access to a psuedo knock off which furthered the utility it can bring to the table by being able to remove boots from Crobat or lefties from Registeel.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
The best counters to Vileplume in predlc was offensive fire types and poison types, Salazzle was definitely the best possible option as it could use Vileplume as set-up bait. Furthermore, Silvally-Steel could also use Vileplume as set up bait with either its work up or swords dance sets, although it had to be wary of effect spore. To beat Vileplume the meta also shifted towards more offensively inclined teams that didn't let Vileplume in as easily, as it could be chipped by volturn after getting its item knocked by the 'mons it wanted to check.
Without a shadow of a doubt the best glue this tier ever had, to the point of being extremely restricting and extremely reliable. You could honestly put the standard zarude set with Heavy-Duty-Boots and it will honestly always do something. It also had the effect of essentially making some mons unviable and some mons even better, like due to this pokemon like Cobalion and Togekiss were much more valuable and mons like Celebi were considered absolutely pointless. What a crazy mon to the point that it was annoying, always pulling its weight on every single game.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
The best set was mainly used as a pivot. Heavy-Duty-Boots set with the moveset: U-turn/Darkest Lariat/Power Whip/Jungle Healing essentially let it generate momentum versus absolutely any team, while also acting like a pseudo status absorber thanks to Jungle Healing restoring 25% of its hp while also healing of any status. Another set with choice items like Choice Band or Choice Scarf with a similar moveset by just replacing Jungle Healing with a coverage move like Close Combat, Rock Slide, or Iron Tail was very effective but the pivot set with the boots was the most effective one by far.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
It essentially ruled the tier in the sense that at the time it essentially nullified any other competition as a grass type. Its presence made you choose it over literally any other option. It is hard to explain but any RU player at the time would tell you that using another grass-type that wasnt Zarude felt pointless. Other grass-type choices like Celebi, Roserade, and even Dhelmise were rather decent and respectable choices but using any of these meant you most likely arent using Zarude or dealing with some teambuilding shortcomings. Same with bulky waters, with Zarude presence using pokemon like Suicune was pretty much impossible, the water-type had to be faster than it so in the meta were Zarude was present pokemon like offensive Starmie and Inteleon were better choices than Suicune, Seismitoad was just fine thanks to Knock Off. As mentioned on the beginning, the best glue pokemon the tier ever had in my opinion. It was unmatched in reliablity and how it covered A LOT of things by just being on the team. It also means you needed to modify item choices and movesets to nail Zarude, like Aura Sphere Raikou, and also the reason why Rocky Helmet was always the item in Cobalion at the time for example, or most of the time at least.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
Despite being crazy good, it still had its shortcomings ofc. The standard set was just used its STAB moves only which while covering a pretty decent chunk of things there were mons that essentially counter it. Pokemon like Cobalion and Galarian-Weezing were neat choices while using Rocky Helmet since they could switch into pretty much anything the main set did, while doing chip damage to it everytime Zarude used U-turn. Fairy-types like Zarude didnt fear anything from the standard pivot set either. However, one needs to be wary of the Choice Band which could effectively always lure its checks with coverage moves like Close Combat and Iron Tail, however this meant that the pokemon wasnt using Heavy-Duty-Boots so wearing it down through hazards and smart play was possible. Overall, had its fair share of counterplay but it really invalidated some mons so the choices were somewhat limited.
Steelix is the only Pokemon that has been RU since the very start (that one month of UU does not count), and it has always been great in every different metagame. With its amazing typing and ability to set Stealth Rocks, in limited metas it has always been a primary pick for a lot of teams. Even now however, Steelix has a lot of positive traits that make it a great Pokemon in current meta RU.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
As said above, in limited metas Steelix was an amazing sponge to fill on many roles, mainly covering the necessary Ground and Steel type that any team needs and the Stealth Rocker. Steelix on top was an amazing physical blanket check to most threats. It mostly covers the same role in the current meta.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Steelix in early metas used to be an actual threat. Iron Defense + Body Press used to be a very good wallbreaker and wincon that teams needed to respect. However with the release of new mons, Steelix needed different coverage to deal with different threats and that combo is harder to pull off.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
Since its a defensive sponge, Steelix will be pretty easy to chip down. Xatu completely counters Steelix, spinners such as Starmie give it an hard time, and Knock Off cripples it immensely. It also generally struggles to deal with strong special attackers.
I'll mainly be focusing on Xurkitree post Thundurus
What effect did Pokémon have on the metagame?
For a long time Xurkitree was considered an unhealthy and/or overbearing presence in VoltTurn combinations alongside the likes of Mienshao, Zarude, Crobat and Noivern. Forcing 50/50 situations between Volt Switch and its coverage moves against teams Ground-types like Flygon and Gastrodon, as well Grass-types and Specially Defensive Pokemon like Zarude and Registeel, Steelix was popular too as it blocked Volt Switch and wasn't instantly destroyed by coverage moves, though, it's 3HKOed by Grass Knot. Good chance people would've still run specially defensive Pokemon, Ground-types, and Steelix for their other good qualities anyways, but, Xurkitree pretty much mandated it for many teams.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
After Thundurus was banned, Xurkitree was no longer relegated to its Choice Scarf set and people began using Heavy-Duty Boots sets. These sets took over and effectively made Xurkitree a much better corebreaker, now switching to your Gastrodon or Assault Vest Reuniclus on the correct move wasn't necessarily enough, the Xurkitree could just Volt Switch or Energy Ball afterwards. Choice Scarf retained some usage here and there and has become stronger recently with the generally frailer more offensive metagames.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Xurkitree was in the tier while very powerful U-turn users in Mienshao, Noivern, and Zarude existed and for a long time considered unhealthy and even banworthy. It formed very powerful VoltTurn cores with them, Zarude and Mienshao would often lure in Flying-types like Crobat and Togekiss for Xurkitree, and Xurkitree could Volt Switch off the likes of Registeel, Assault Vest Reuniclus for their benefit. Noivern could take advantage of the Grass-type switchins like Zarude and Roserade for Xurkitreee. These VoltTurn cores were especially oppressive due to Heavy-Duty Boots, this meant even in worse case scenario they wouldn't be punished by hazards, making the VoltTurn cores hard to punish. Eventually, Zarude would rise to UU, which did remove an offensive check to Xurkitree as well a partner, but, Xurkitree remained problematic and considered by some banworthy while Mienshao was in the tier, however, Mienshao got banned soon after and another tier shift would hurt Xurkitree's viability. Nidoqueen dropped from UU and is pretty much the best offensive Xurkitree check there's and Specially Defensive sets on bulkier teams could keep Xurkitree in check for long. From then on Xurkitree became a strong wallbreaker, but, not an overbearing presence.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
The problem with handling Xurkitree is taking both Volt Switch and its other attacks, and Heavy-Duty Boots, and Mienshao. so let's just focus on Xurkitree. Teams would generally have a Ground-type + a specially defensive Pokemon or Grass-type like Umbreon or Roserade. Steelix is also an alright check, though, 3HKOed by Grass Knot.
I will be arguing in favour of including Togekiss as one of the RU Titans. In so doing, I will step slightly outside the recommended format. The original post asks us to describe the effect that our Pokémon of choice had on the metagame, to elaborate on why it had a significant impact, to explain which roles it filled, and to cover its main checks and counters. I will do all of the above, but I will go about it in a different way. My main reason for this is that the format provided in the original posts asks several questions which overlap to a large degree. This caused my initial attempt at writing this post to be rather repetitive, while the text was a bit all over the place. As such, I take the liberty of structuring my post in a slightly different way.
My post will be structured in two distinct yet connected parts. During part 1, I will make the case for why Togekiss deserves to be considered a titan. Next, in part 2, I set out to discuss Togekiss’ various sets in more detail. During both parts I touch on what to me is a very important aspect - metagame development. In so doing, I expand on the specific ways in which Togekiss shaped the metagame, and how this development in turn affected Togekiss’ usage, viability, and move sets. My short analysis is by no means exhaustive, but for our purposes it should be sufficient.
Part 1: Why should Togekiss be considered a titan?
Togekiss has been on top of the metagame ever since it entered the tier during the latter part of November 2020. It was immediately put in A+ in the VR and got 25% usage in its first full month. The effect it had on the metagame cannot be understated. Every single team was forced to have several good checks to it. Simply having a Toxtricity or a Steelix was not sufficient counterplay, as a +2 Togekiss would only need a single flinch versus either of them before Flamethrower picked them off. This was in part why mons like Raikou and Xurkitree were valued to a much bigger degree than Toxtricity. Up until that point, fast electric types had certainly been usable, but they were not dominant. Post-Togekiss, however, having a faster electric type became something of a necessity. Some teams did indeed forego this, instead opting for sturdy steels such as Steelix, Metagross, Registeel, or Stakataka as their primary Toge answer. However, they did so at their own expense, in several cases. Fat steels were certainly sufficient counterplay versus mono Air Slash Toge, but they could very well be broken by a Flamethrower or Aura Sphere Toge.
In any event, during the first half of 2021, Togekiss’ importance was almost unrivaled. From January 2021 until July 2021, Togekiss was either #1 or #2 in usage, while it was ranked as S in the VR. The only mon that came close to it in terms of importance was Zarude. Incidentally, while Togekiss made fast electric types almost mandatory, Zarude indeed promoted Togekiss usage, while the fast electric types in turn made Zarude even better. This self-reinforcing cycle led to a metagame that was extremely centered around Togekiss, Zarude, and fast electric types. Almost every single tour game revolved around these mons, while the ladder usage was through the roof, particularly in the cases of Togekiss and Zarude. Mienshao was at some point added into the mix, as it went from being underexplored to outright broken in just a matter of months, but Togekiss and Zarude still remained the most used mons on the ladder and in tour play.
It should be noted that Togekiss lost some of its influence during the latter part of 2021. Its usage decreased slightly while it dropped to A+ in the VR. This was partly caused by the departure of Zarude. Other important variables were the rise of mons such as Obstagoon, Cobalion, Durant, Heliolisk, Lucario, Diancie, Registeel, and Bronzong. Granted, Durant’s time in the limelight only lasted for a short while, whereas Lucario and Cobalion were not on their own sufficient Togekiss counterplay. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the metagame became even more offensive in nature. The slower builds that Togekiss loved to prey on were less common, while offensive volt turns with strong and fast breakers were everywhere. Mons like Obstagoon, Reuniclus, and Togekiss certainly played an important role in this regard, as they punished fat and slow builds and thus incentivized more fast-paced momentum-based teams. Ironically, then, Togekiss itself contributed to creating the conditions for its own downfall.
Nevertheless, during the entirety of its stay, Togekiss has remained an instrumental part of the RU tier. It has almost never been out of top #3 in terms of ladder usage, while it has always been either S or A+ in the VR. More specifically, Togekiss has had a significant effect on the metagame by punishing slower builds with lackluster flying resists, thereby forcing every team to pack either a hard counter or several solid checks to it, which in turn drastically increased the viability and usage of fast electric types and contributed to the marginalization of fatter builds. Thus, I believe that Togekiss is more than deserving of the title of RU Titan.
December 2021 #2 25%,
Jan 2021 #2 25%,
Feb 2021 #2 25%,
March 2021 #2 28%,
April 2021 #2 26%,
May 2021 #2 24%,
June 2021 #1 24%,
July 2021 #1 22%,
August 2021 #2 17%,
September 2021 #2 17%,
October 2021 #3 17%,
November 2021 #2 20%,
December 2021 #4 16%,
January 2022 #3 18%,
February 2022 #3 20%,
March 2022 #2 19%,
April 2022 #8 14%,
May 2022 #6 15%,
Part 2: A more detailed look at Togekiss’ main sets
A peculiar meta trend, at least in my opinion, was the initial popularity of mono attacking Togekiss. During the first part of 2021, sets such as Defog + Thunder Wave + Air Slash + Roost, Defog + Wish + Air Slash + Roost, Defog + Heal Bell + Air Slash + Roost, Heal Bell + Wish + Air Slash + Roost, and Heal Bell + Thunder Wave + Air Slash + Roost all saw a significant amount of usage, to my personal frustration. Such sets gave free switchins to fast electrics and fat steels, while being unable to beat most of the stealth rockers. Yet they nonetheless saw a lot of usage (and success) due to their ability to support Togekiss’ team members.
Togekiss’ best set, however, has always been Nasty Plot + Roost. Initially, some players tried to use the old gens set with Nasty Plot + Heal Bell + Roost, but this never really caught on. The sturdy steel types could withstand several flinches and still beat it, whereas the fast electric types took advantage of mono attacking Toge. Flamethrower, on the other hand, did significantly more damage to all of Togekiss’ checks and counters, while it also had a 20% chance of burning the target. For these reasons, Flamethrower was typically better on Nasty Pot sets, at least to begin with. As the meta developed, new mons such as Stakataka and Obstagoon rose to the fore, posing troubles for the classic Togekiss sets. Stakataka could take on NP Flamethrower reliably due to its defensive typing, while Obstagoon could proceed to outspeed Togekiss, comfortably tank an Air Slash, and 2HKO Togekiss in return. In response to this development, players increasingly started to use Aura Sphere on NP Toge to break Staka and ko Obstagoon.
Obstagoon’s rise also helped facilitate the rise of Scarf Togekiss. Granted, Scarf Togekiss had always been around. From the very beginning, Scarf Togekiss saw some usage on the ladder, while it was also used in tour play on a select few occasions. For the most part, however, Togekiss was utilizing boots as its item of choice. The main shift towards increased Scarf Togekiss usage probably happened after Lopunny Kicks’ many impressive wins with a team based around CM Ice Beam Suicune, Cosmic Power Metagross, and Scarf Togekiss. The team subsequently saw a great deal of usage in tournaments and ladder play alike. Additionally, its success shook up the meta and made many users adapt a more positive attitude towards Scarf Toge, which in turn helped induce a greater increase in Scarf Toge usage as other players built their own Scarf Toge teams. Finally, as the meta became more offensive with the rise of Obstagoon, Darmanitan, Flygon, Reuniclus, and many more, support sets fell fell out of favour, while Nasty Plot sets became slightly less effective. Meanwhile, this development was rather favourable for Scarf Toge, which has a much easier time now than it ever had during the much fatter and slow-paced state of earlier metagames.
Final thoughts
At the tail end of this gen, Togekiss is probably in the worst state that it has ever been this gen. Support sets are dead in the water. NP sets are no longer quite as effective as they used to be. Scarf is better than it used to be, but it comes at the cost of using a scarfer which is outsped by and dies to a +1 DD Flygon. Moreover, at the moment, people tend towards using Crobat rather than Togekiss as their main bird mon of choice. Consequently, during the last two months, it has failed to reach top three usage for the first time ever, except for an earlier outlier when it got #4 in December 2021. However, it would be disingenuous to imply that Togekiss is no longer an influential mon. The mon is still A+ in the VR and receives roughly 15% usage. If anything, the fact that this is the worst it has ever been only goes to show how incredibly influential it has been during the past 18 months or so.
What effect did Pokémon have on the metagame?
Crobat was introduced after DLC2, and ever since it dropped to RU it's usage has been increasing. It has been the prime defogger of the tier for a while now. Most notably, completely shutting down spikers such as roserade. As the fastest pokemon in the tier, it sets the benchmark for minimum speed control a team should have. It also enables volt turn to thrive with it's fast u-turns. Now, at the end of the gen, the special wall breaker set is also getting popular.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
Crobat was mainly seen as defogger and pivot. The introduction of heavy-duty boots was a blessing for crobat just like all other flying types. Not taking hazard damage in combination with a good defensive typing and high speed tier makes it a great defogger. The ability to u-turn out after and grab momentum also makes it an excellent pivot. To a lesser extent taunt and toxic (which works great because of infiltrator) are also used on crobat to annoy pokemon like sub/cm suicune/umbreon/gastrodon etc.
Last month(s) there has been a rise in special crobat as well. Nasty plot with 3 attacks or 2 attacks + roost is becoming more and more popular, especially in tournament play. The fast speed in combination with amazing coverage makes it incredibly potent as a breaker or sweeper.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
The impact of crobat is mainly because of its splashability. You can hardly go wrong with splashing on a crobat on your team, as it fits every teamstyle (defensive taunt/toxic for BO/balance/stall, u-turn pivot/defogger for BO/balance, and NP for BO or HO). Like mentioned before, since it's the fastest pokemon in the tier, it also defines the miminum benchmark for speed control. It's solid defensive stats and good typing (mainly being a good fighting, grass resist and ground immunity) means it takes almost any one unboosted hit.
One of the reasons it is so dominant in the tier, is that it can get past or take advantage of most of its checks. Rhyperior, steelix, registeel, gastrodon wall the brave bird variant (though it can still u-turn on them to get momentum), but do very little against the special set. Electric checks like boots xurkitree or raikou also get u-turned on and chipped down until they are eventually in range of brave bird.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
As explained above this depends a lot on which crobat set. Registeel, rhyperior and steelix and the most sturdy counters for the physical set. Furtermore all scarf electric types, likes rotom-mow and xurkitree check all variants of crobat and outspeed it. However, the most practical way to deal with crobat is often knocking off it's heavy-duty boots and pressuring it with rocks.
What effect did Pokémon have on the metagame?
Cobalion was a fairly late addition to the RU tier in generation 8, but very quickly established itself as a dominant presence in the tier. Essentially, Cobalion's extremely high speed as a steel and a rocker, coupled with move versatility and unique defensive attributes, led to it becoming a staple first on Bulky Offence teams, but very much a common sight on more offensive balances and hyper offences. Cobalion forced either extremely bulky responses to its threatening double stab and access to SD, or teams to push for more aggressive playstyles in order to get the jump on it. In general though, Cobalion was less a case of options being so limited, but rather it was such a perfect fit for the metagame that not using it was often irresponsible.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
Cobalion was a fantastic rocker, and could play the momentum game quite well, but its bread and butter was Swords Dance, with a surprisingly free moveslot. Stone Edge was obviously popular, hitting Chandelure especially and stuff like Crobat / Noivern more readily, but Megahorn hitting Celebi, Reuniclus, bulky Starmie ended up making it a common sight as well. Then you had options like Rocks, Taunt, Zen Headbutt even. Another boon was how amazing Cobalion was as a berry holder. Occa, Shuca, Chople, Lum, all had play for various reasons that played into what SD Cobalion excelled to do, and that's not mentioning other items like Life Orb or Helmet, or Air Balloon kek
Also Specs - Cobebi - was hot fire and I swear lead Steel Beam was viable.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Amazing speed, strong fighting Stab that could also hit fairies? Yea. Oh and it rocked too and was a splashable steel for offensive teams from balance to HO.
But seriously, a major point with Cobalion is that it arrived in the most disgusting boots metagame possible, and also happened to check popular mons. Zarude early on was big, but helmet Cobalion really made Uturning more difficult, especially as Coba was also a tough mon to get safely in vs. Obstagoon and Mimikyu were held in check pretty significantly while it was there, and even Crobat who is generally the top fighting resist hated SD and wasn't super comfortable vs rocks sets either. Its ability to chip uturn pivots was big, but Cobalion was also one of the few mons that wasn't very hampered by not running boots, due in large part to a four times resist to rocks. That liberated its moveslot like I alluded to before, and made it one of the very few mons that were allowed that luxury. Add that to its amazing attributes and its dominance, and sadly rise lol, were very expected.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
As much as Cobalion was ok handling rocks, Spikes were a different beast. Defog was kinda eh? Crobat not handling a few sets was certainly troublesome, and people just ended up running so much boots. Cobalion could hold down by absorbing knocks directed at boots users, but all of this meant it was chipped just as easily as it could chip others, and would eventually find itself in range of threatening mons.
Cobalion also happened to be a steel that struggled to be a RU steel. Registeel largely conditioned us to be able to run into pretty much every weak special attacker, absorbing passive waters fairly easily. Cobalion just... couldn't do that, but even worse, was largely at risk of losing to Togekiss, which was also a nightmare to check for most of Coba's time in RU. Iron Head could never ko Togekiss, and scarf had a very good chance of just beating it in two hits. Cobalion teams thus couldn't really bank on it being a bulky steel, so you had to adapt. Some people just used one with it, like Regi, others - more predominantly - used other types like electric, as Raikou and Xurkitree were very classic Cobalion partners due to their ability to come in on Togekiss and take advantage of bulky waters. Others just put Cobalion on HO and used its tools to either create opportunities for teammates or with berry to hold down vs a threat that could sweep them. Still, Cobalion required thought to use due to its rather unique capabilities, and as long as you did not put yourself at risk of a SD L, forcing it repeatedly in and trying to patiently outlast it was fairly doable. The rise of Jellicent near the end of its tenure exemplified that mentality.
Flygon was first discovered to be RU worthy back when Mienshao growing into the tier with its scarf set, and very similarly it also used a Choice Scarf in the Volturn heavy metagame. Then Zarude left, Mienshao got banned, which led to Flygon doing what Flygon usually does to any given RU metagame and take over. Defog was the next set Flygon used as it carried over from pre-Zarude as it reliably shut down rocks from Rhyperior. Soon after even more Flygon sets were used such as Choice Band, LO Pivot, and Dragon Dance which are all incredibly threatening to even the best of Flygon's checks and counters.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Flygon simply fit on every team due to its versatility. Even within each set, there are moveslot decisions the builder must decide. If CB, do they want to run First Impression? If defog, should they run lefties for general bulk, or run itemless to stop Golruk. It is also one of three viable ground types with recovery and seeing as the other two are the passive and slow in Gastrodon and Quagsire, Flygon easily served as a ground type with immense longevity. Its offensive sets, take advantage of Flygon's incredible movepool rocking the classic edgequake combo along with Outrage/Dragon Claw as Dragon STAB, U-turn to pivot, and toxic to chip away at its walls.
Edit: Forgot to mention Flygon's ground typing combined with its immunity to spikes made it difficult to chip without the use of Rocky Helmet. This is very crucial in Flygon's pivoting game as it does not need Heavy Duty Boots
What effect did Pokémon have on the metagame?
Flygon is one of the few remaining remnants of the Volturn happy RU, but it itself is one of the major reasons Volturn fell as it was a ground type that was neutral to grass and water coverage from Xurkitree and Raikou respectively. Flygon also contributed to the rise of many ground-immune/resistant pokemon naturally as Bronzong established itself as a reliable steel type that took advantage of its Flygon mu. Rotom-Mow also emerged as it could actually threaten Flygon with its Stab Leaf Storm. On bulkier builds, Rocky Helmet Levitate Gweezing emerged the best Flygon counter in the metagame. Flygon's rise also contributed to Crobat's rise as most sets cannot touch Crobat.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
Most bulky waters deal with Flygon well, namely Golisopod, but they are mostly bait for Flygon's U-turn as it gains momentum. Crobat is often used as a Flygon switch in as it can gain back momentum, but Flygon can scare the Crobat with Stone Edge. The aforementioned Bronzong and Gweezing can handle Flygon very well too, but also can give away momentum. Gardevior, in theory, is a good Flygon switch in as it traces Flygon's levitate and is immune to dragon STAB, but its low defenses make U-turn and Stone Edge score big damage. Some players have tried Shuca Berry on ground weak pokemon to lure Flygon in. Shuca Nidoqueen can OHKO Flygon with Ice Beam, Shuca Xurk can potentially OHKO with Dazzing Gleam, and Drapion will often run a Shuca Berry in tandem with Ice Fang. RU does not have many ice types so the best ways to take advantage of Flygon are with coverage, chip, and simply powerful attacks.
Gonna do a quick write up on Sigilyph since Crossbow could not find the time to do so.
What effect did Pokémon have on the metagame?
Sigilyph has been a part of Gen 8 RU since the tier’s inception and has remained viable ever since. At the very beginning of this gen, Gigalith was almost a necessity, in part because it functioned as a decent blanket check to special attackers, but also because it was the best response to Sigilyph. Yet even if Gigalith could consistently check the standard Calm Mind Life Orb set, it did still take roughly 31-37% from LO Psyshock, damage which could quickly rack up, especially if hazards were on the field. Sigilyph could therefore outlast Gigalith in longer games. Balance builds thus tended to use Vaporeon alongside Gigalith in order to heal status and pass wishes to the latter, but this did indeed force you into a rather fat, slow, and passive build, which in turn gave Sigilyph many chances to Calm Mind and Roost on Gigalith’s team members. Furthermore, as the tier developed and Vaporeon rose to UU, this was no longer an option. Shortly thereafter, the meta switched away from the passive Vap/Giga/Vileplume builds, and towards more offensive builds. Giga + Plume was certainly a common defensive core, but it was not quite as dominant as it used to be. This development happened in part because Sigilyph was so good at pressuring the slow and fat builds. Many a player came to the realization that relying on a sole Gigalith or a Coalossal as their main or sole counterplay simply was not sufficient. The better way of going about it was to have several offensive checks which could take advantage of Sigi, rather than vice versa.
In what main roles was Sigilyph used?
Sigilyph has alsways been a rather versatile mon. During its heydays, it primarily functioned as a breaker or a win condition with Life Orb Calm Mind sets, but it could also use Flame Orb with Calm Mind, Psycho Shift, Roost, and Air Slash/Psyshock, or, God forbid, the cursed Psycho Shift Cosmic Power Roost Stored Power/Air Slash set. Finally, it could even opt to use Focus Sash with 4 attacks on offensively inclined teams, or it could drop Calm Mind on the Life Orb sets and instead use 3 attacks + Roost. It could even be your hazard remover, if you so desired.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
The main reason for Sigilyph having a significant impact on the metagame in 2020 was that it was faster than most of the meta, unaffected by hazards, and had practically no real counters. The best we had during early 2020 where mons such as Gigalith, Coalossal, and Copperajah, neither of which had any form of recovery and were susceptible to getting chipped down by hazards. We did also have offensive counterplay such as Heliolisk, Inteleon, and Salazzle, but they all struggled to kill a Calm Mind boosted Sigi, while they all died to Life Orb Psyshock. In the middle of 2020 Rhyperior, Milotic, and Umbreon entered the tier, which helped a bit, yet it was evidently not sufficient as Sigi ended up getting banned in October 2020.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
Sigilyph was a pain to deal with during 2020 in particular, hence why it was banned. The main issue with this mon was that it could pick its own counters. Rhyperior, Gigalith, and Umbreon might be able to beat a Psyshock Heat Wave CM LO Sigi, but they would struggle with a Flame Orb Psycho Shift Calm Mind Air Slash Sigi. Coalossal could technically switch into any given Sigi set once per game, but due to its lack of recovery it was quickly worn down. Fat waters like Milotic and Mantine could keep boosting sets in check with Haze, but they were also rather passive and prone to getting worn down over time by taking strong Life Orb boosted hits or by taking chip from burn. Granted, lefties Milo could sit on Psycho Shift Sigi forever. It should also be noted that Sigilyph could run Energy Ball if it wanted to, in order to be more immediately threatening to Rhyperior and Milotic, which could indeed screw you over if these where your main answers to it. We also had fat normal types such as P2 and Snorlax, the former of which could switch in and Teleport out, the latter of which could switch in and beat most Sigilyph sets. Both of these mons did, however, take a significant amount of damage from LO Psyshock, which in turn forced them to recover or rest, thereby giving away free turns that the opponent could take advantage of. Furthermore, if hazards were up, and the Sigi user doubled into a mon such as Passimian or Virizion on the incoming fat normal type, the fat normal might well be in range of getting 2hkod by LO Psyshock the next time around. Finally, in terms of offensive answers, we did have mons such as Drapion, Espeon, Barraskwda, Heliolisk, Inteleon, Scarf Passimian, Lycanroc, and Salazzle. However, all these mons either got ohkod or 2hkod by Sigilyph, which meant that they struggled to switch into it, except for maybe Heliolisk after Sigi was revealed to be mono Air Slash or on a forced Roost.
Sigilyph’s influenced decreased over time, as new mons entered the tier. Due to power creep, Sigiyph no longer held as good of a speed tier, while we got access to a lot more offensive and defensive counterplay. Important additions such as Raikou, Xurkitree, Umbreon, Incineroar, Milotic, Mimikyu, Sharpedo, Obstagoon, and many more effectively pushed Sigilyph to the fringes, as many instead opted for other CM Psychic types such a Slowbro-G and Reuniclus. Nevertheless, it still remained viable throughout the entire gen, namely because it filled a similar role as Reunicus in terms of providing a status absorber + breaker + win con, while having a much better speed tier.
What effect did Pokémon have on the metagame?
At the beginning of the generation, Mantine was one of the best removal mons in the tier, if not usually considered the only one worth using at times. While Zard in theory could also do that role and do it well, it didn't quite have the defensive utility Mantine had and its matchup vs rockers was notable worse, as stuff like Rhydon would freely get on it but feared Mantine. It also at various points held down dangerous threats, like to an extent Centiskorch and Virizion, but most notably Barraskewda, who also ended up being banned.
This last mon is one of the niches I think made Mantine more noteworthy than you'd think as first. Mantine was a premier mon if you wanted to handle weather in a way almost nothing else could. At the beginning of the gen, Mantine alone could win vs sun, particularly with the rain dance set, but even defensive caused many issues, and rain had its struggles but was less viable in general. It went to the point where you honestly had to factor in Mantine with your weather teams to a degree that changed things drastically for the archetype. This made it actually unique as far as bulky waters went. Stuff like Vaporeon and Milotic could hold their own by stalling weathers, but could not actively threaten these teams to near invalidation by themselves.
In what main roles was Mantine used?
Mantine had two roles, defensive removal and weather cleaner. It was very good at the former early on, even going to UU near the first DLC, as powerful electric attacks rarely stopped it from doing its role. It also temporized a lot of the game, as stuff like Vileplume and Zard, generally hard mons to switch into, were uncomfortable vs its stabs, though Toxic once that came back was certainly annoying for it. Other fires like Salazzle and Ninetales were also held down very reliably, and with toxic it could technically stall out Drampa, as with a + spd nature Tbolt never ohkoed Mantine. On the other hand, Virizon missed the 2hko with Stone Edge from standard mixed build, and thus with a flying stab Mantine could switch into and ko one of the most threatening mons in the tier.
The weather set is uh, straighforward. You had Rain Dance Roost and two stabs, and that never changed. This Mantine couldn't realistically beat fat mons if they weren't weak to stabs, but the pressure it applied on offences, especially weather offences, was so immense it did not really matter.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
Defog is great in general, and so Mantine being the best option for it a lot of the time had to be factored in. The strength of sun teams and eventual issues of Gigalith within the metagame forced players to think about different ways of handling it. Feliburn winning like four games in Snake with it as we were saying "yo Rain Dance Mantine 6-0s" all week before the game was also something!
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
Strong electric types always had an advantage, obviously. Heliolisk being also immune to water helped, and Rotom's ability to NP on predicted switches was rough for a Mantine team. Raichu-Alola suffered a bit more, but could put immense hurt on defensive Mantine's teams on a good switch-in.
Rain Mantine was more tricky. Sun teams had to use very specific checks to handle that, as you could just run something like Toxic Ninetales, but it wouldn't necessarily win quickly enough and could be cleric'd away. The best and most hilarious in a good way tech I have seen was AV Dry Skin Heliolisk on Sun, which ungodly worked very well. Heliolisk tended to be Solar Power Specs on those teams since it basically broke any defensive mon you could think of, but that took so much from Mantine it could never come in on an actual attack or had to carefully monitor its health to not die to surf really quickly. That being said, Mantine was not invincible vs sun, if you played very aggro with switching your setters, the sun breakers could all threaten this set as it lacked any sort of defensive investment, which if you played well could easily lead to one or two kills with your weather, but ideally you would still have techs prepared for it as expecting that kind of playing to work is always a bit risky.
Necrozma was at the very center of a meta where Hyper Offense was just dominating. It was the mon that pushed HO builds to be as broken as they were back then. Screens + Necrozma meant you'd be trading at least 2 mons to it, already making a path for other members to set up and clean your team.
You didn't rlly know what set to expect, as both special and physical sets had their own strengths, and ways to get past answers to the opposing set, making checking this mon, in an already delicate matchup, insanely hard. The amount of Umbreon seen during this period was nuts, as it was a way to at least keep it low for another revenge killer to finish the deed, while not having to trade half your team.
In what main roles was Pokémon used?
This mon was mostly seen as a powerful breaker in Hyper Offense, whether it be Dragon Dance or Meteor Beam sets. But its versatility meant it could be used as a fatter rocker, or even keep the breaker set in bulkier teams.
What caused it to have a significant impact?
The meta shifted towards HO being way too viable, and Necrozma was right in the middle with all the possible sets it could run. From Autotomize Meteor Beam to Dragon Dance, pair this with screens and Necrozma's already high natural bulk, and you get insanely free set-ups that can just dent any team with ease. I'd personally say Necrozma made screens as viable as they were back before it got banned from RU.
How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in RU?
Guzzlord became a decent answer for Meteor Beam sets, but it folded to physical sets. It was also not an ideal mon to have out facing HO, as it gave other breakers free set-ups. Revenge killers like Golisopod also managed to KO it after some chip. Umbreon I'd say was the universal answer to Necro, as it handled special sets decently well, and Foul Play did a lot to physical ones. But overall, just having offensive pressure to limit set-ups was the best way you could handle Necrozma, and the archetype of team it was most used on.
For clarification, we're voting for #1 first and #10 last. This means that your vote for this week should be what you consider to be the most iconic SS RU Pokémon over the course of the 8th generation! Here are your options
You have till Tuesday, June 28th to vote for this!
[art goes here I suppose]
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