Hello again, fancy seeing you here. The ORAS ZU survey has now ended so I guess its time to present the results. But before that I just want to thank the 16 users who filled out the survey! Your feedback was valuable and will help steer ORAS ZU in the right direction going forward. Now without further ado onto the results!
On a scale of 1-10. How much do you enjoy playing the current ORAS ZU metagame?
On a scale of 1-10. How much do you enjoy building in the current ORAS ZU metagame?
On a scale of 1-10. How competitive do you find the current ORAS ZU metagame?
Which statement most accurately describes how you feel about Regigigas in ORAS ZU?
Reasoning for your choice on Regigigas
The reasoning for the support of tiering action for Regigigas was largely due to its strain on teambuilding. Its ability to Subsitute on a large part of the meta due to its fantastic natural bulk and completely invalidate passive teams was seen as unheathy and warping the tier into a offensive playstyle to keep it in check. Tailored defensive counterplay does exist however, such as Rest, Iron Defence Carbink and Gourgeist-Large. But this is where another problem arises with its moveset variance, Power-up Punch has been picking up steam recently,allowing Regigigas to break through Carbink whereas Toxic Regigigas can win vs Gourgiest-Large. Giving non consistent counterplay. Its utility moves in Thunder-wave and Knock off were also seen as concerning nothing can safely switch in was seen as problematic when Regigigas forces you to switch to check it immediately to prevent it from setting up. Lastly a number of responders just though it was really annoying an unfun to face taking their enjoyment out of the tier.
On the other hand, reasoning for not having tiering action on Regigigas included the mon being tricky to actually build around, and needing team support to function as you usually want to preserve its heath as much as possible. It was also seen as balanced in a tour environment. Which is consistent with the respondents wanting tiering action. Nobody was arguing Regigigas is broken, it doesn't auto win if you use it, and isn't as good as other threats/wincons. The general general consensus is that tiering action should take place as it is seen as unhealthy for the tier.
Which statement most accurately describes how you feel about Simisage in ORAS ZU?
Reasoning for your choice on Simisage
The general consensus on Simisage is that whilst it is a fantastic breaker, with huge set variety and coverage moves, none of the sets are too strong on their own. Simisage cant run all its coverage moves it wants on the same set so it has to pick and choose its matchups. Leading to sufficient counterplay options. On top of that, being somewhat frail and pure grass type means it can sometimes be hard for Simisage to get onto the field as it provides little to none defensive presence. The arguments for having tiering action were mainly how on versatile Simisage is, with concerns that scouting its sets was seen as too hard and risky given the fact you could be giving Simisage a free Nasty Plot or just losing a mon if predicted the wrong set.
Which statement most accurately describes how you feel about Simipour in ORAS ZU?
Reasoning for your choice on Simipour
Simipour was generally seen as the less threatening monkey with a larger number of defensive checks and counters such as Politoad, Dustox, Servine, Gogoat and Meganium. In addition to a bunch of offensive meta stables in Electabuzz, Purugly, and Jumpluff. However thanks to its better typing in pure water it does have an easier time getting on the field and more setup opportunities than Simisage. Simipour's reliance on Hydro Pump and Life Orb for a high damage output were also seen as limiting as well. Pro tiering action responses included once again that set variety could be problematic as well as that Simipour does have the coverage tools in Ice Beam and Hidden Power Grass to break through its Grass and water type checks once weakened.
Do you have any thoughts on retesting any of the current Pokemon in ZUBL?
If so, which Pokemon do you believe should be addressed and why?
For this question it was unanimously decided that Fraxure should not be retested. Fraxure is just too Strong for ORAS ZU with not enough counterplay. Simisear had a handful of responses stating they would be open to a potential retesting with responses including that they don't see how its better than the other Simis and with removal not being great, Steah Rock weakness could keep it in check. The majority of respondents however felt it should be kept ZUBL, with reasonings such as it would furthermore increase the strain on teambuilding, that its just a better Magmar and that its broken and unbalanced in general.
Are there any Pokemon not already mentioned you would like council to look into, and if so why?
Overwhelming majority of people thought nothing else needs to be looked into. Purugly was mentioned twice, with reasoning mainly due to its great speed tier, access to Knock off coupled with Defiant making the hazard war difficult. Electabuzz also had a mention, stating that its ability to break through Ground-types was problematic.
If tiering action is planned for any of these Pokemon, which methods would you prefer?
-
Thanks again to everybody who responded and making this survey possible and worthwhile! There has been an overwhelming amount of support for tiering action on Regigigas with over 70% of respondents, so look out for that in the near future. As for the tiering method, voters based off tournament success will definitely be included and be the majority of the voting pool, as justified by the survey results. However, there were some concerns that because of the lack of recent tournaments (none since August 2021) newer players are missing out on having any input. Currently ORAS council are thinking that players who made Semis or higher in ORAS Cup or played in at least 3 games, whilst winning at least 1 in ZUPL in the past 2 years will get voting requirements. We are open to and encourage feedback and discussion, so let us know what you think about this proposal.
Voters (15): 5gen, a fruitshop owner, Aaronboyer, Alkione, DnB, Drud, gorex, Haund, missangelic, S1nn0hC0nfirm3d, Thiago Nunes, Toto, TWiTT, Watashi, zS
(read: the few ORAS ZU tournaments of the past years)
: While it doesn't have many means of sweeping apart from Work Up or Cotton Guard sets for stall, Furfrou's combination of offense, defensive utility and a good speed tier can better shine as a premier Normal-type while not dedicating an entire team to fit. If you're some of the few that miss "Para spam" or general status spread, this can also fill that role pretty well. It lacks Knock Off and Earthquake, of course, but it can easily be paired with the elemental monkeys or Krokorok while bringing U-Turn pivoting to the table.
: This like Furfrou lacks tools like Knock Off to bring the exact same utility to the table, but can bring unique features like Whirlwind, absurd bulk with Eviolite and sweeping with Curse sets. Thick Fat also really helps this thing, helping it check non-Choice Specs Magmar and Ice-types that have grown increasingly popular.
: If you're looking for just a pure disruptor, there's always Lopunny. Klutz Sticky Barb is an ok nuisance, and it has tools like encore and Healing Wish for something like a late game Huntail or Swoobat to sweep. I wouldn't clamor to Will Smith-slap this on a team, but I guess it's not the worst option for you.
: This was something that I believe either Aaronboyer or TWiTT talked to me about. We already got a little out there with Lopunny, but let's shine a light on a spicier choice. Watchog on paper may not seem that great. Its highest stat is its 85 Attack. So then, why am I including it? A couple of things, mainly Analytic. It's the only Pokémon outside of niche NFEs to have the ability. And with a decent enough Attack coupled with move pool options like Fire Punch, Low Kick, Knock Off, Pursuit and Seed Bomb, it can end up being a major pain for teams to proper switch in and check. Of course, it competes somewhat with Krokorok, who boasts an amazing STAB Combo, an amazing move pool and two fantastic abilities. The big difference between the two for me is the ability for Watchog to freely afford Life Orb and to switch up its moves, but maybe someone else out there nutter than I am can attempt to make this work.
: 
UR -> C (DPP)
A+ to S: Running Purugly with pretty much any spiker means you give your opponent a choice between three options:
A+ to A: I fully admit that this might be partially due to team choice but uh, I rarely ever see Magmar do a whole lot. Because of other factors, teams generally tend to have mons that do well vs it on their team already. Having to choose between hp grass for waters and hp ice for dragons is a pain and even then you'll run into random spdef walls like Scraggy, Munchlax, Frillish and Duosion. It has coverage for some of its answers like Psychic for Pignite or Focus Blast for Gigalith, but this makes choiced sets hard to pull off while Eviolite sets are more easily outsped or walled. And of course you can always run into lamp and give it a free turn. The only reason I'm not dropping this even lower is because of its potential set variety like Thief or Belly Drum.
A to B+: If you get past the point of "wow omg a ground type with defog and levitate so cool", you'll see that it's really bad at almost everything it tries to do. It's not hard to see why it's common, the role compression offered is tempting but it's only really good at one of these:
C+ to B+: Lampent is massively underrated. Its stab combo is virtually unresisted and with sub cm dual stabs you can find a lot of setup opportunities. Common mons like Whirlipede, Magmar, Dustox, Meganium, Wigglytuff, Sawsbuck and Pignite all give it excellent openings. Repeated Calm Minds + Eviolite allows it 1v1 a variety of common sights, especially on webs (where it shines).
C+ to B-: Natu takes care of a lot of passive hazard setters and/or those that rely on taunt/toxic to make progress. It can also provide slow pivoting and has decent defensive utility. Definitely better than the stuff in C+.
C to B: Magcargo has seen tour success and while it has its obvious weaknesses, those aren't as crippling as they appear. Obviously waters and Pignite annoy it the most but depending on the coverage it can beat those. It can also run Recover to prevent chip + prio from taking it out and running it on webs or finding an opportunity to smash twice bypasses the common scarfers that beat Magcargo.
UR to B-: I'm surprised Sandshrew went under the radar for so long. Not only is it a spinner that beats the most common rockers but it can also set them itself while not having to sacrifice your own hazards. Its natural bulk allows it to be useful even in games without an electric or rock on the opposing team. I also cannot understate how valuable it is to be able to remove hazards without triggering opposing Purugly while keeping your own (and by extension, your own potential Purugly pressure) intact.