Hi everyone! I haven't yet made a post in this thread, so I figured I'd finally test the waters and give some of my thoughts regarding the current metagame! I really like the way the tier is looking right now and honestly think that Bisharp has been a great addition since its reintroduction. There are a few trends I've picked up on that I think can largely be connected to its new presence in the tier, so I'd like to talk about those a little bit and maybe share some of my thoughts on some stuff that I think is a little underrated. Hope you enjoy reading! :)
To start, I'd like to talk about some of the
upward trends in some types of Pokemon and archetypes I've been noticing recently.
One of my personal favorite things I've seen lately is
increased exploration with Fighting-types. I think that in a way, Bisharp's drop emphasized how solid a lot of other offensive Dark-types are since they fit well on the same hazard-based builds that Bisharp can excel on, which is why we've seen rises in Pokemon like Crawdaunt and Mega Sharpedo lately. This is where
Chesnaught comes into play, having responded extremely well to the increase usage of these Dark-types while also checking other portions of the metagame well thanks to its typing. It's a great spiker since it can threaten the popular Ground-/Water-type cores used on a ton of balances nicely while also checking a ton of prevalent offensive mons, and I've really enjoyed seeing it further solidify its place in the tier both by a large amount and in a short period of time in recent weeks.
Lucario has also risen a lot in relevance and I think part of this too can be attributed to how well it takes advantage of some of the currently popular Dark-types. Its Nasty Plot set is already an amazing stallbreaker on its own, but its typing provides teams with a strong check to Bisharp and a Pokemon that punishes Hydreigon, Krookodile, and Crawdaunt really well if it can catch them locked into their Dark-type STABs. Its ability to OHKO all of the aforementioned Pokemon with a boosted Vacuum Wave also relieves fear of being easily revenge killed seeing as how Hydreigon and Krookodile are two of the more common Choice Scarf users running around lately, while its other advantages over Cobalion, including being able to break past the Slowbros, having more immediate power, and having more set versatility, have been showcased really nicely as well.
Mienshao is another Fighting-type that's seen a huge resurgence lately, largely due to Hydreigon being the best it's ever been and the Assault Vest set being able to sponge hits from it consistently throughout a match. Between Knock Off, Fake Out, and U-turn, Mienshao is really annoying to deal with and provides a lot of offensive utility to teams it's fitted on, especially since with Regenerator it has a surprising amount of self sufficiency. All three of these Fighting-types have seen pretty large increases in relevance, and I think that in time they'll easily be regarded as standard Pokemon in the metagame that every builder should regard when constructing a team.
Another thing I've noticed is that
Spikes offense is increasing in both usage and exploration. Bisharp abuses Spikes extremely well as is, but as I said before, I feel that its re-entry brought along the increased presence of a lot of other Pokemon that can take advantage of them well too, most notably Mega Sharpedo and Crawdaunt and Mamoswine to a lesser extent. The variation in Spikes setters used is something that I think is at an all-time high, which is really interesting and, imo, reflective of how much room we have for creativity in this metagame!
Klefki still does what it always has done, acting as a nuisance to just about anything thanks to Prankster, its ability to spread status, and reliably setting Spikes because of the free switches it can get on stuff like Hydreigon, Latias, and Choice-locked Dark-types. I already covered what
Chesnaught does and why it does it well, but I think that at this point it's certainly cemented itself as being tied with Klefki as the tier's best spiker, thanks to its several defensive benefits.
Roserade is a super interesting option that I think a lot more people should get behind and try using. Its frailty and bad Speed discourage a lot of people from using it but in reality it's super powerful and mostly has all the coverage it needs to take on a lot of the metagame. Leaf Storm can OHKO Mega Slowbro even after a Calm Mind boost which is pretty bonkers, while Sludge Bomb and Tech-boosted Hidden Power Fire largely take care of the majority of popular Grass-type switch-ins in the metagame, like Moltres and all the bulky Steel-types running around. It doesn't have a lot of longevity but its offensive presence is really understated and allows it to force a lot of switches to get Spikes on the field. Absorbing TSpikes and being able to switch in on Scalds without caring about burn too much are also some pretty solid benefits it has over its main competitors.
Froslass takes on the role of a suicide lead, which I know also discourages some people from giving it a try, but in the times I've seen it used it's really put in a lot of work. Taking on Hydreigon as a Ghost-type if you need it to is pretty impressive, while the utility it brings with its spinblocking capabilities, Taunt, and options like Destiny Bond and Will-o-Wisp is pretty cool. It's super customizable and can provide to your team beyond just setting Spikes, and I absolutely think that if the meta continues favoring Spikes offense it could see even more usage moving forward. Overall I just love that we're seeing so much variation in just one play style, and that this definitely speaks to the offensively-inclined element of the metagame's nature that's been growing some since Bisharp joined us.
This is getting long because I can never keep things short ;-; Anyways, with that out of the way I'd just like to quickly cover some of the
downward trends I've seen a few Pokemon suffer from recently, since honestly I think we've seen a surprising amount of former staples fall off a fair amount in only the last few months.
I feel like all of the Pokemon I have listed here had pretty significant spots in the metagame that are now either not needed or are taken up by something else with better responses to trends we're seeing, making them fall off a fair amount recently.
Alomomola still has a decent place in the metagame, but I've found it harder to justify when Slowbro and its Mega Evolution are further increasing their presence as defensive pivots and are oftentimes fulfilling the same role Alo will on stalls and balances. Blissey is also sort of starting to outshine it on some balances. It's still a great option, but it isn't nearly as large a staple or as mandatory on any build as it used to be, I'd say.
Chandelure and Gengar are both just super awkward to use right now. It's hard utilizing either to their full potential when Krookodile is still super prevalent and can stop them dead in their tracks if it can just get into play, but the prevalence of Pursuit on other Pokemon like Aero, Bisharp, and Scizor also burdens them a ton. Chandelure is in a particularly bad spot just because it's harder for it to work around Hydreigon being so good right now, though I do think CM sets still have some merit thanks to Ghostium being able to break past stuff like Kommo-o decently.
Heracross is really hard to justify over most other Fighting-types right now it seems, mostly in that it really doesn't the same reliability. It's still devastatingly powerful, but its Speed tier, typing, and struggle for moveslots are all just really awkward problems to work around and in a metagame with a lot of great Dark-types, it really doesn't offer the same defensive utility that options like Lucario and Cobalion do that partially allows them to shine.
Alolan Muk used to be the premier answer to the majority of the tier's special threats, but it's in a really awkward spot right now as well. It's not very splashable, faces a lot of competition from trappers like Bisharp and Krookodile which provide more to teams they're fitted on, and is super easy to take advantage of with several top threats in the metagame, like Terrakion, Krookodile, and Cobalion among a few others.
Swampert has taken a huge nosedive lately which hurts my heart to have to admit. It's still a decent blanket check to a lot of physically offensive threats but Hippowdon and Gligar are edging it out on a lot of builds as much more capable Electric-type checks and general physical sponges due to their more convenient typings and recovery. Its typing simply just became much less suited for the metagame than in past iterations, which ended up being a pretty significant nail in its relevance coffin.
That was a lot longer than I thought it'd be, but I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing! I think that this may be my favorite iteration of gen 7 UU simply because of how much room for innovation there is and how balanced the viabilities of several different play styles are. Let's hope for an increasingly exciting metagame
and a Keldeo drop! Thanks for reading :)