Project Top 10 Titans of the XY/ORAS PU Metagame

I stole most of this
The Top 10 Titans of 6th Gen PU


By virtue of many bans, tier shifts, game mechanic changes, and policy changes, the gen 6 PU metagame has been a very volatile one in its roughly two years of existence. This thread is being made to take a look back on our metagame and remember threats that at one point or another have been very metagame-defining.
Out of all of the amazing and influential Pokemon, which ones can we say were the top 10 most influential? What Pokemon had the biggest impact on the metagame? What Pokemon forced every team to run specific Pokemon to handle them? What Pokemon SHAPED the metagame? All of these questions needs to be asked in order to determine an accurate top 10 list.

I'm only going to allow Pokemon that have been in the tier at some point during ORAS. This discounts the following Pokemon:​
  • Samurott​
  • Lilligant​
  • Pangoro​
  • Musharna​
However, this does not mean that the time before ORAS came out should be ignored, as many Pokemon that were PU for a long time had significant impacts on the XY PU meta that shouldn't be discounted.

From September 14th - September 24th you guys will nominate Pokemon to be voted on to be placed as candidates for the Top 10 Titans of 6th Gen PU. On September 24th, we will evaluate all the nominations and begin to individually rank them from 1-10 by vote. Most nominations will be added to the slate, but I will not include nominations for Pokemon that I don't think are nearly qualified enough. For example, while a lot of the Pokemon currently in A rank and lower have a big affect on today's PU, that doesn't mean this has always been the case. PU has had a lot of dominant Pokemon that have left the tier at some point or another, so I expect a decent portion of the list should end up being Pokemon that are no longer in PU.

Keep in mind that we aren't ranking on how good a Pokemon is, we are ranking on how influential the Pokemon has been this generation, and how much of an impact it has had on the metagame itself. This is very important when nominating a Pokemon, so please keep that in mind.

Also there is a limit for reservations of 8-10 hours before it "expires" so that every important Pokemon gets done and nobody johns.
Of course if you show to be working on it by for example posting it in parts by editing the post we can wait a little more but those really do not take too long

Here is an example format on how I want your nomination's to look like:
Nominating [Pokemon]

Enter sprite here

What effect did [Pokemon] have on the metagame?

Explain how the Pokemon affected the metagame as whole, and how the metagame adapted around it. A brief description of which Pokemon it countered and which Pokemon it did well against would be good here as well.

In what main roles was [Pokemon] used?

Explain why this Pokemon was used on a team more often then most other Pokemon, 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 Pokemon 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 Pokemon cause it to become that much better when it was partnered with it?

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

What are the best checks/counters to this Pokemon? How does the metagame adapt to this Pokemon?


Make sure they look EXACTLY like this, or else I wont count them. Make sure they are also very informative, factual, accurate, and detailed. For the example nomination, here's an entry written by Gary2346 in the BW OU thread for Politoed:

Nominating Politoed.

What effect did Politoed have on the metagame?

The effect that Politoed had on the metagame is hard to put into words. Politoed was given an amazing gift from the Dream World in the form of Drizzle, which permanently summons rain for the entire battle once it comes out into the battlefield. It's impact was so huge that it basically changed the OU tier from weatherless to weather wars. The sheer presence of this thing has made so many Pokemon better in OU, while also making a lot of previously good Pokemon drop out of the tier itself. It created an entirely different playstyle that branched into many other playstyles such as HO rain, rain stall, and balanced rain. It pretty much shaped the OU metagame into what it is now. Hydro Pump now becomes 50% stronger due to the added rain boost, Thunder and Hurricane now have 100% accuracy, and to top it all off, any Pokemon with Swift Swim could now outrun most the entire unboosted tier. Unfortunately for the Toed this strategy was banned, but that didn't stop Politoed from still being an amazing team member.

Politoed forced very bulky Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Jellicent, Rotom-W, and Amoonguss to get a lot more usage to help counter the sheer amount of threats that Politoed created with its permanent rain ability. Gastrodon, who was formerly an NU Pokemon, now finds itself one of the most anti-metagame Pokemon in OU thanks to its Storm Drain ability. Tentacruel and Vaporeon can now take advantage of rain to become outstanding support Pokemon. Offensive Pokemon such as Feraligatr, Sharpedo, Toxicroak, Tornadus, and Moltres that were once stuck in the lower tiers now find themselves comfortable in OU when partnered with Politoed, taking advantage of its ability to increase their Water-type moves to outrageous levels and making Tornadus' and Moltres' STAB Hurricane 100% accurate.

In what main roles was [Pokemon] used?

The answer to that is quite simple; to make it rain. Politoed's ability lets it summon rain for the entire battle, letting its teammates take advantage of it for every single turn. Pokemon like Thundurus-T and Tornadus can now spam Thunder and Hurricane to their hearts content with no drawbacks. Pokemon like Keldeo who are already powerful now become almost impossible to handle, because its Hydro Pump now becomes incredibly powerful. There are many reasons to use Politoed on a team, but it all depends on if Politoed benefits the team more than without it. For example, Toxicroak is a rather lackluster sweeper, but in the rain its ability Dry Skin allows it to restore a ton of health each turn, letting it gain more health each turn then it loses form Life Orb. Thundurus-T can potentially become an extremely dangerous sweeper with a 100% 120 BP STAB Electric move, but it needs Politoed in order to help it sweep more reliably. You can't just slap Politoed on any team and expect it to be good, but when paired specific teammates that depend on the rain support, Politoed is always a valuable asset.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in OU?
When playing in a metagame that includes Politoed, the metagame itself has to adapt to not just Politoed, but the playstyle it creates. Teams are forced to become bulkier in order to keep from being mauled by rain boosted Hydro Pumps or never missing Thunders/Hurricanes. Bulky Grass and Water-type Pokemon are a valuable asset to almost every team. Still, one must not underestimate Politoed itself. Its Specs set looks gimmicky, but in battle, it's terrifying. A Specs rain boosted Hydro Pump can deal a huge amount of damage to even the bulkiest of walls, and it really puts pressure on a lot of teams that lack a Pokemon that not only has high special defense, but also resists it.

There are two Pokemon that come to mind that have helped keep Politoed's rain of terror at bay, and that's Ferrothorn and Jellicent. Ferrothorn's amazing bulk and Grass-typing allow it to switch into a lot of attacks that are normally found on rain teams, such as Thunder, Hydro Pump, and Hurricane to an extent. It can also threaten Politoed and company with a powerful Power Whip, or threaten to setup hazards on them. Jellicent is probably the BEST counter to most Water-types that are commonly found on rain teams. Keldeo can't 2HKO Jellicent with any of its moves, and thanks to Water Absorb, Jellicent can freely switch into even the most powerful of Water attacks without a care in the world. It also has access to Recover to get back any lost damage. Rotom-W is another great anti-rain Pokemon because it counters Tornadus with little effort. Amoonguss, although RU, is actually one of the better counters to rain as well. It can counter both Thundurus-T, Politoed, and Keldeo with the proper EVs. Celebi is in a similar boat, but it must watch out for Scizor, who is commonly seen on rain teams because of its decent synergy with Keldeo. Checking Politoed is not that difficult, as powerful STAB Grass or Electric attacks can deal with it quite easily. Breloom, Rotom-W, Jolteon, Celebi, and Thundurus-T are all great Pokemon that can check Politoed with relative ease. Don't underestimate its bulk though, because it's rather bulky.

Current Nominations:



Current List:
1. Poliwrath
2. Garbodor
3. Sneasel
4. Rotom-F
5. Carracosta
6. Machoke
7. Throh
8. Stoutland
9. Piloswine
 
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A lot of our playerbase hasn't been around since the tier started (which is only natural given that at the beginning of the gen we had a dedicated playerbase of like 8 people), so I'm going to make a special note here:

When voting, I highly recommend that you read all of the nominations of the Pokemon that you aren't familiar with. I also strongly recommend going back and looking at some of the old NP threads, as they can be interesting reads and give you a good idea of how the old metagames were. It's okay to not vote if you didn't play any of the metagames where these Pokemon were in the tier. This isn't to be mean or anything, but it's to ensure that our list is as accurate as possible. Thank you for reading and have fun!
 
Nominating Sneasel



What effect did Sneasel have on the metagame?

Sneasel was honestly a Pokemon that stayed PU for far longer than it should have. As evidenced by the fact that it is currently a very good Pokemon in RU, Sneasel was a ridiculous threat in XY and a lot of early ORAS PU. For a very long time, Sneasel was the threat to prepare for on any given team. If you didn't have one of a select few Pokemon on your team, you were going to get absolutely ripped to shreds by it. The main reason it stayed PU for so long was that its best counter was also the most common Pokemon in the tier, but that certainly didn't stop it from being absolutely ridiculous for the entire duration of its stay in PU.

In what main roles was Sneasel used?

The main way Sneasel was used in PU was as a fast Life Orb attacker that could break through most defensive Pokemon in the tier. It also ran a Swords Dance set with Eviolite that was surprisingly bulky and still quite strong even without a Life Orb.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Two main factors contributed to Sneasel's dominance: its nearly unrivaled in early PU base 115 Speed, as well as its incredible stab combination that gave it access to amazing neutral coverage, super effective moves on a lot of the tier, and a very spammable move in STAB Knock Off. Its blazing Speed meant that very few offensive Pokemon could beat it 1v1, and it was capable of revenge killing tons of threats, especially given its access to Knock Off.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

Sneasel had very little in terms of safe switch-ins. The best and certainly most important of these was the very common Poliwrath, which wasn't 3HKOed by any move that Sneasel learned and could OHKO it with priority Vacuum Wave or even set up a Rain Dance on it. Aside from Poliwrath, there were a few common Pokemon that could switch into Sneasel once or occasionally twice. These included Garbodor (before it was banned), defensive Carracosta, Throh, Pelipper, and Prinplup. However, these were easily worn down (aside from Throh) and took tons of damage in the process of switching into Sneasel. Finally, revenge killing Sneasel with Pokemon that could take a Life Orb Ice Shard was a common way to take it down. Examples include Zebstrika (which initially became popular in order to deal with Sneasel specifically) and Choice Scarf Tauros, Rotom-F, Haunter, and Simipour, among others.
 

MZ

And now for something completely different
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Nominating Rotom-F

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What effect did Rotom-F have on the metagame?

It hasn't really been broken or anything so dramatic, but this is the baseline mon in so many respects and has been for the entirety of ORAS. If you want a scarfer, better consider the mon that's been the staple from day one. If you want to work with VoltTurn or general offense, this is always a top choice. If you want to check Electric or Ice types, better make sure you also handle Rotom's unique coverage. How about an Electric that can beat Piloswine and Stunfisk and Golem? Or a special wallbreaker that can cripple Audino fairly effectively? It's always been a constant relevant presence, never dropping below A since Musharna era, and that basic association between Rotom-F and gen 6 PU makes it deserving of a spot on the list.

In what main roles was [Pokemon] used?

It's been one of the most dominant and scary wallbreakers for a while, not to mention one of the most splashable scarfers. Through most of the generation every team has always had to handle this Pokemon's unique and powerful coverage or be obliterated by SubWisp or SubSplit. It makes Electric checks a lot less simple than slapping Stunfisk on a team and makes Ice checks a lot more important since all the other ones are pretty slow. Also it's been basically the best scarf user for the entirety of ORAS, Mr. Mime gives it some competition but really this is the standard for scarf users despite being the slowest common one thanks to its offensive utility with Volt Switch, coverage, ability to cripple stuff like Clefairy with Trick, and the way it pairs with certain Pokemon like Zebstrika and Monferno.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Put very simply, it has just the right stats and typing. STAB BoltBeam is just that hard to switch into, and has always required pretty exceptional defensive Pokemon to handle it. Volt Switch has been pivotal (:D) in making this Pokemon not just a nigh uncounterable wallbreaker, but one that also can chip away at its few counters, and the added problems of Will-O-Wisp crippling almost every switchin and Trick-Scarf crippling every defensive switchin really lets Rotom-F put pressure on opposing teams. Its great, strong STAB coverage is also huge in making it the best Choice Scarf user, there's no need to fiddle with lots of coverage moves when 3 slots gives it everything it could possibly need.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

Rotom-F has always been just barely manageable. It currently has a slew of checks including Clefairy, Audino, AV Bouffalant, SpD Muk, and Grumpig, and Choice Scarf sets have always had the issue of needing to predict correctly around common Electric immunities and Ice resists. It's also not impossible to check it offensively with Fire- and Fighting-type coverage being relatively common from Pokemon such as Rapidash, Monferno, Mr. Mime, and Zebstrika while Choice Scarf sets can be worn down quickly by Stealth Rock and outsped by other common scarfers like Mr. Mime and Chatot.
 
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ShuckleDeath

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Nominating Roselia



What effect did Roselia have on the metagame?

Roselia has always had a significant presence in PU, keeping many Pokemon in check thanks to it's great typing and bulk, which is boosted with Eviolite. Roselia along with Poliwrath kept Pokemon like Floatzel at bay until the metagame shifted in such a way that Pokemon that threaten Roselia started to become very common, like Monferno, and Pawniard. Than and even now Roselia has really effected the viability of certain Pokemon and often times turned games into wars of hazards and control.

In what main roles was Roselia used?

Roselia was commonly seen as a defensive behemoth, mostly on the special side. Checking Water, Electric, Fairy(Clefairy mostly), Fighting, and Grass types quite effectively. On top of that it was for quite a while the number one choice of Spikes / Toxic Spikes setting, being able to set on much of the tier(Poliwrath, Zebstrika[after healing off Overheat damage], other defensive Pokemon, ect). It is also no slouch offensively ether, Having a good dual STAB combination in Leaf Storm / Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb. It is commonly seen as a sleep supporter on offensive sets as it does a fantastic job in beating the grass resits and powder immune Pokemon wanting to switch in on it.

What caused it to have a significant impact?
Roselia has the perfect amount of attributes to make it impact the tier, having good bulk and typing, fantastic STAB, wonderful support movepool and excellent synergy with much of the tier. Roselia not only cores with a lot Pokemon to make its attributes shine even further(Carracosta, Poliwrath, Golem, Relicanth, Stunfisk) it even has the ability to push some Pokemon to the next level as it's spike stacking capability helps offensive and defensive teams a like, it also pairs very well with physical attackers as it threatens there checks and counters greatly(Relicanth, Solrock, Gourgeist for example).

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

Roselia is dealt with differently depending on the set it is running, but typically specialy bulky Pokemon are able to handle it quite well. It is also weak to a few common attacking types in fire, flying, ice and psychic. It's STABs are resisted by poison(which can absorb its toxic spikes) and steel and is a bit frail on the physical side making it quite easy to revenge kill. As for it's hazards Defog and Rapid Spin can you deal with them, especially if your opponent does not take measures to stop them in team building.
 
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Nominating Vigoroth



What effect did Vigoroth have on the metagame?

Post-smasher meta, after Carracosta and Barbaracle (the biggest normal resists and threats to Vigoroth) were eliminated, Vigoroth was in an ideal position to tear up the metagame. Vigoroth placed tremendous strain on teambuilding with just one set: Bulk Up. Bulk Up Vigoroth completely invalidated the possibility of using stall in PU with the ability to click Taunt or Substitute on virtually every mon, start Bulking Up, and just win. The meta got to a point where if your team couldn't stop Vigoroth from setting up or continually break Vigoroth's Substitutes, you automatically lost.

In what main roles was Vigoroth used?

Vigoroth was used as a extremely bulky Bulk Up user. It excelled at this roll due to its speed, great bulk with Eviolite, and near inability to kill after several boosts. However, the true reason it was the perfect mon for the roll was the ability to boost on virtually any offensive or defensive mon, with plenty of special bulk for offensive special attackers and enough speed and physical bulk to Bulk Up on physical attackers.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Taunt and Substitute, both equally viable support moves, along with Bulk Up and reliable recovery in Slack Off completely changed how PU teams could be made. Taunt, paired with Vigoroth's great speed for a bulky Pokemon, gave it a way to completely shut down nearly all status users, one of the main ways of crippling a Vigoroth. It also prevented opposing boosting, the only way to overpower Vig, and healing moves, letting Vig outlast opponents instead of breaking them quickly. Substitute also blocked status, but also prevented Vigoroth's Eviolite from being removed by Knock Off and blocked any critical hits breaking through Vig. Either support moves in combination with Bulk Up created a sweeper that could hardly be stopped: the Attack raise enabled Vigoroth to break teams, the Defense raise meant Vig became virtually unbreakable, and the support move it chose created situations where the only way to beat it was to prevent it from ever getting a chance to set up.

How did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

The main ways of dealing with Vigoroth were fast Misdreavus, inflicting status somehow, or huge amounts of offensive pressure. Usually, super effective coverage actually wasn't enough to beat Vigoroth, since it could repeatedly Bulk Up or Substitute versus Pokemon using Close Combat/Superpower and win 1v1 with either enough defense drops to OHKO with its attacking move or enough attack drops to Slack Off and set up. Even against Machoke, with Dynamic Punch not lowering any stats, Vigoroth could pp stall is out of a few attacks and then switch, and if the Machoke ran out of Dynamic Punches, it became setup fodder.
 
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pancake

movement and location
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this is kind of not amazing but hey it's done

/me farm likes

Nominating Machoke



What effect did Machoke have on the metagame?

Originally, Machoke's effect on the metagame was not huge. Before Throh was banned, it was outclassed in every way, shape and form, and even after its ban it only rose to about A- on the viability rankings. Near the end of the Vigoroth / Exeggutor meta and during the meta in which they were banned, Machoke's true niche was found. Before it was banned, it was THE mon to prepare for. You had to have at least two checks to it on your team. It was a blanket check to many of the the threats in the tier, and it fit on literally every playstyle- offense, balance, and even stall.

In what main roles was Machoke used?

During the times that Machoke was broken, it was due to a defensive RestTalk set, which acted as a blanket check to many of the tier's top threats, such as Golem, Rotom-F and Floatzel. It caused "competitive" 50/50s using No Guard Dynamic Punch confusion, sometimes resulting in the death of its checks (see replay vs. ShuckleDeath here: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/pususpecttest-395166449). There were not many true checks to Machoke because of this, and Machoke itself checked a lot of the meta. There was an offensive Guts set too but that set was bad. It was really the defensive set that made Machoke broken.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

The fact that it could be used on many teams of different playstyles, check most of the metagame, and be a threat itself were the three characteristics of Machoke that caused it to have the impact on the metagame that it did. Since it was "the threat" to prepare for at its most used point (after vig/eggy meta) teams really had to be built around the knowledge that it was in the meta- it was very oppressive to teambuilding.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

In order to beat Machoke, most teams had to run two checks to it, which is a lot for one Pokemon in the tier. Common checks included Colbur Berry Grumpig, Gourgeist-XL, and Swanna. Flying-types and Psychic-types like Mr. Mine and Dodrio were pretty good ways to pressure it offensively, even though none could switch in. It could be revenge killed by some mons, like the flying types and psychic types previously stated. However, it was not easily worn down by chip damage or status due to Rest. As a result, if your team did not have enough checks to Machoke, it could actually just lose to it.
 
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Nominating Poliwrath



What effect did Poliwrath have on the meta-game?


Anyone that has been around PU for a while should agree that Poliwrath was easily the most influential PU Pokemon of all time. What made Poli so special was its ability to perform as a blanket check for most of the tier’s top threats while still putting on decent offensive pressure. The biggest reason Poliwrath was so good was that it kept broken mons from being broken. Without Poli in the tier, huge threats such as Sneasel, Tauros, Carracosta, Barbaracle, and many others would have simply been too much for PU to handle. Also this Pokemon was so splash-able it could literally fit on any play-style be it stall, balance, bulky offense, or even hyper offense. It had viable sets that could easily mesh with each archetype.

In what main roles was Poliwrath used?

Poliwrath was mainly used as a blanket check to many of PU’s threats. Those threats included water types such as Carracosta and Barbaracle (Poliwrath was so good Floatzel was virtually never used when it was around), dark types such as Sneasel and Pawniard, normal types like Tauros and Kecleon, ground/rock types such as Golem and Piloswine, and fire types such as Rapidash and Monferno. Also, Poliwrath could also function as a deadly standalone Rain Dance sweeper with Rain Dance, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and Focus Blast. Aside from this, Poliwrath also fit well on stall with its defensive set consisting of Circle Throw, Scald, Rest, and Sleep Talk. At one point a physical attacking set with Substitute, Waterfall, Focus Punch, and Ice Punch was relatively popular as well but lost popularity in favor for the special attacking set (Scald/Hydro Pump, Focus Blast, Ice Beam, Vacuum Wave). It’s pretty important to note that the special attacking set ended up being the most commonly used set on most teams, with Choice Specs sometimes being used on it as well.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Ultimately, it was Poliwrath’s splashability that caused it to have such a significant impact on PU. Its water+fighting typing and Water Absorb ability gave it access to a multiple value resistances. This along with solid all-around stats allowed it to fulfill many roles whether they were offensive or defensive. Also it’s move-pool served as nice tool for Poliwrath especially the tank set consisting of Scald, Focus Blast, Ice Beam and Vacuum Wave. All of this combined gave Poliwrath unparalleled role compression and made it difficult to not use it on just about every team.

How did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

Poliwrath wasn’t very powerful overall so switching in a mon with solid SpDef such as Roselia, Grumpig, or Mr.Mime was usually pretty safe as they could easily force it out. Also, more bulky answers such as Pelipper and Togetic served as reliable switch-ins to Poliwrath and were able to defeat most sets 1 on 1. When Serperior was around, it too could take advantage of Poliwrath and didn’t fear a relatively weak Ice Beam or Ice Punch from it too much either. Poliwrath generally just got worn down from trying to check multiple threats on a team until you finally decided you didn’t need it anymore and it was best to just sack it.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/pu-230000450 Poliwrath does a lot for both teams here
 
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TJ

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Nominating Monferno



What effect did Monferno have on the metagame?

Monferno has been a top tier threat throughout the ORAS PU metagame. In the current metagame its combination of Fire and Fighting STAB is almost entirely unresisted in the tier. Monferno also has good priority in STAB Mach Punch, which allows it to revenge kill a large amount of threats. Monferno's offensive prowess is so strong that most people try to speed creep it in order to check Monferno better. Overall, Monferno is just a very versatile Pokémon that affects teambuilding even though there are a number of checks by forcing people to always have an answer to it or else risk being pressured and swept. It's always been a constant relevant presence with how versatile it is, and the association between Monferno and the ORAS PU metagame makes it deserving of a spot on the list.

In what main roles was Monferno used?

Monferno's main roles mainly consist of Swords Dance, and All Out Attacker. Monferno's All-Out Attacking set is pretty straight forward. Most Monferno sets run Eviolite or Lifeorb, Jolly All-Out attacking Monferno enabes momentum for it's teammates, and allows you to also check psychic types such as Grumpig with U-turn. Adamant All-Out Attacking Monferno allows it do deal the maximum amount of damage output it can provide. Swords Dance makes Monferno function as a mid to late game sweeper. After a plus two attack boost, Monferno's dual stab becomes even stronger, while preserving its priority Mach Punch allows it to pick off faster threats. Other Monferno sets include lead, and special defensive. Lead Monferno is an anti lead that can get up rocks and be used as utility. Special defensive Monferno is used to check things like Cacturne.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Monferno's Dual STAB significantly impacted it throughout the metagame. As mentioned earlier, it is hard to switch in to the combination of Fire and Fighting STAB, even though it has a fair amount of checks. Swords Dance being used late game is really threating after you weaken most checks. All out attacking Monferno with uturn provides teams with momentum and also works as good glue. So overall Monferno's versatility causes it to significanty impact it, and the meta.

How do/did you deal with this Pokémon in PU?

I dealt with Monferno by using defensive and offensive checks. The best defensive checks to Monferno are, Altaria, Clefairy, Gabite, Lumineon, Misdreavus, Cro-Muk, Pelipper, Politoad, Prinplup, Rotom-Fan, Solrock, Stunfisk, Vullaby, and Lastly Vibrava. All these Pokémon can almost switch in for free, or force Monferno out. Offensive checks include, Arbok, Articuno, Basculin, Dodrio, Dusknoir, Floatzel, Mr.Mime, Ninjask, Simipour etc. Offensive checks can revenge kil Monferno and even use it as setup fodder. Pokémon that speed creep Adamant Monferno are Jolly Stoutland, Dragon Dance Altaria, Arbok, and Grumpig. As you can see, Monferno is a Pokémon that has a lot of checks, however can also be threating to the PU metagame.
 
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Akir

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Nominating Stoutland

Stoutland_XY.gif


What effect did Stoutland have on the metagame?

Stoutland has been a staple wallbreaker for PU for literal years now and is the reason why almost all serious PU teams are forced to run some sort of Normal resist regardless of team archetype. With Scrappy Return, Superpower, and Crunch, Stoutland's switch-ins are almost entirely situational with a bad read possibly leading to your Stoutland switch-in's death. Stoutland even is risky to burn as most run Facade. Stoutland is so effective at its wallbreaking job that the only 2 mons that are GSI switch-ins are defensive Tangela and defensive Mawile, as all other walls run the risk of being 2hko'd by the appropriate coverage. Stoutland is one good read away from getting a KO or breaking down a wall every time it comes out, and has remained a top-tier threat for a very long time because of it.

In what main roles was Stoutland used?

Stoutland has done one role almost exclusively for as long as it has been in the tier: Choice Band Wallbreaker. This let Stoutland easily break teams wide open, as most teams can struggle to reliably take hits from a Stoutland. Scarf sets have also been toyed with, but largely saw success as a punish for people predicting a Band.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

A lot of factors went into Stoutland becoming a threat. First off, PU is notably lacking in Stoutland switch-ins due to higher tiers taking all of the good Steel and Rock types. As stated before, the only pure GSI switch-ins are defensive Tangela and Mawile. This leads to Stoutland's STAB to be largely uncontested, which makes bringing in Stoutland and just clicking Return a high-reward-low-risk scenario. Even weakening Stoutland's very predictable switch-ins can be incorporated into a team strategy so Stoutland only needs to weaken walls to do its job. Stoutland's base 80 speed and 85/90/90 defenses are also pretty good. All of this leads to a wallbreaker that can 2hko or ohko almost every single mon in the tier that is also just fast and bulky enough to sometimes present a challenge to revenge kill. Just clicking Stoutland's Return is an extremely safe move in PU that can have a huge payout in the current meta and past metas as well.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

There aren't a lot of switch-ins but there are the two that can beat Stoutland 1v1: Tangela and Mawile. Gourgeist-Super can also scrape out a win 1v1 if the Gourgeist doesn't burn the Stoutland. If a player doesn't have those then there are also a good number of offensive checks to Stoutland. Monferno is 1 base speed faster and has STAB Fighting moves to revenge kill Stoutland, and mons like Dodrio or Mr. Mime who are faster and provide a strong punch can also revenge kill reliably. However, having only offensive checks to Stoutland is risky as you will have to sack something every single time Stoutland comes in just to bring in the offensive check in safely...which actually gives Stoutland a ton of offensive pressure that it wouldn't have otherwise. Historically, there have also been mons like Carracosta and Barbaracle who could use a Choice-locked Stoutland as setup fodder and therefore created risk in the form of 50/50s for Stoutland to reconsider just clicking Return.
 
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TONE

I don't have to take this. I'm going for a walk.
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Nominating Garbodor



What effect did [Pokemon] have on the metagame?

When Garbodor graced PU, it was easily the best spike setter in the entire metagame. Not only was it good at setting hazards, it was also versatile enough to slap on pretty much any team due to its typing, overall bulk, and ability to check Physical attackers such as Scyther. Garbodor also had a diverse movepool, such as running Thunderbolt to potentially OHKO Pelipper after Stealth Rock meaning it can lure in potential checks and counters and take them by surprise.

In what main roles was [Pokemon] used?

Garbodor was mainly used as a bulky physically defensive spike setter normally running Rock Helmet along with Aftermath to punish Physical attackers such as Scyther and Throh, but its versatility and Speed allowed to also function as a suicide lead for Hyper Offense teams while potentially crippling Defoggers such as Pelipper with Explosion, allowing a free switch for a teammate.


What caused it to have a significant impact?

Garbodor's versatility, bulk, utility with Spikes, Toxic Spikes and Haze made it a reckoning force in the metagame and allowed it to fit on any team. While Garbodor's lack of reliable recovery was an issue, (Pain Split is an option, but still unreliable), it was still a dominating force and it aided teams in so many ways due to its diversity which allowed Garbodor to function on pretty much any team.


How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

Garbodor was an issue when I faced it especially when it got an opportunity to get a layer of Spikes up. Normally for me, Taunt Misdreavus limited the number of Spikes Garbodor can set while also being able to cripple Garbodor with Will-O-Wisp. Piloswine was also a good response to Garbodor as its natural bulk thanks to Eviolite and resistance to Poison made it good response despite the fact that is dislikes the potential poison chance from Gunk Shot or switching in with Toxic Spikes up plus it had to be cautious of Drain Punch/Seed Bomb which were seen on Garbodor as coverage moves. Golem also falls under the same category however Seed Bomb can do tremendous damage and the fact that Garbodor normally ran Speed to outspeed Golem means that it can't safely switch in. Beheeyem and Musharna had the bulk to take a Gunk Shot and retaliate with Psychic, but dislike being poisoned. The same held true for Metang as it is immune to Gunk Shot, but has to take repeated damage from Rocky Helmet + Aftermath due to Zen Headbutt making contact with Garbodor.
 
Nominating Linoone



What effect did Linoone have on the metagame?

Linoone's esclusive use in the metagame was as a set-up sweeper and, for the short period of time between people realizing how good it was and the moment of its ban, it was seriously good at it. The combination of Belly Drum + Extremespeed allowed Linoone to become extremely threatening in just one turn while also making it extremely hard to deal with using the most conventional means of handling the other setup sweepers: Choice Scarf users and Priority.
Linoone's defensive stats and typing are quite disappointing so it required a lot of support to work the best and that could easily be provided by adding a Memento user (such as Jumpluff) so that it could pull the Belly Drum off. Once that happened the poll of Pokemon able to handle it was reduced to faster Ghost-types, and a select number of Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon, and the specialized revenge killer Focus Sash Kadabra, depending on the specific moves it ran. This lead to the creation of specific teams based on removing or weakening the checks to Linoone, via Pursuit and lures, and then creating a chance for it to set up. These teams dominated the metagame for their effectiveness and because of that the council decided to vote and ban this monster.

In what main roles was Linoone used?

Linoone's was used as a late game setup sweeper, able to end the match after certain conditions were met. Its main set looked somewhat like this:

Linoone @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Pickup
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Def / 40 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Extreme Speed
- Shadow Claw
- Seed Bomb / Rock Smash / Dig / Gunk Shot

Shadow Claw was used to hit Ghost-types immune to Extremespeed such as Misdreavus and Gourgeist forces super effectively and could also hit Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon neutrally, which can be helpful if they were weakened already and Linoone had no better move to hit them. Seed Bomb was the main coverage move since it hit the most common Normal-type resists at the time in Golem and Relicanth while also dealing more damage to Stunfisk, which is able to take a +6 Extremespeed if physically defensive for less than 90% of its HP. Rock Smash and Dig had use as well to handle Pokemon such as Probopass and Pawniard, who could take a hit from full health but they were generally mediocre options compared to Seed Bomb since those were handled better by a Magnet Pull Probopass of your own or a Trapinch. Gunk Shot had niche use for its ability to OHKO Tangela (and Meganium).
This set in particular runs a lot of bulk to ease setup but of course faster variants able to Speed creep other Linoones or deal with more or less uncommon threats at the time such as fast Misdreavus were played as well.
The final mention goes to the Choice Band set, which ran max Speed and a Jolly nature, an anti-meta set able to revenge kill most Linoone variants with its (sort of) strong Extremespeed

What caused it to have a significant impact?

The combination of a boosting move (Belly Drum) + a strong priority move (Extremespeed) is extremely effective in this game as shown by two prominent threats in OU (and DOU) that are Azumarill and Talonflame. Linoone's movepool and stats were just good enough to do it well and the fact that Pokemon like Jumpluff were in the tier as well just made it effective. It was very easy to support and use and could sweep teams easily, no wonder it was so good.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

It is better to try and stop Linoone before it sets up and for example playing around Memento by switching out to a status user or a slower Foul Play user (or something else that could ignore Memento like a (p)hazer) when you predicted it to be used was a quite effective solution, but hard if you also want to follow your gameplay.
After it has set up the best switch in to Linoone was physically defensive Tangela, full stop. Running Gunk Shot really had its downsides in terms of sweeping power and Tangela just doesn't care about any other move Linoone could throw at it. It is also impossible to trap and even after being Knocked Off can still take Extremespeed reasonably. Probopass and Lairon were two other good answers since they can take any hit from Linoone but Dig (which can be played around), but the fact that they can be trapped easily made them less effective answers. Final mention to Metang which can take a Shadow Claw from full but struggles to deal much damage back.
As far as revenge killers go Kadabra is quite reliable. It can take any single hit thanks to Focus Sash and Foul Play or Psychic for the KO of Linoone has taken some minimal damage but is quite prone to Pursuit trapping.
Ghost-types could be decent answers as well: Gourgeist-XL can take a Shadow Claw if no hazards are up and OHKO with Foul Play or Will-o-Wisp Linoone and faster Misdreavus variants can do the same without having to take a hit; Choice Scarf Gourgeist-Small can outspeed any variant and OHKO with Foul Play or Explosion but is a very niche option and is prone to Pursuit trapping as well; finally Dusknoir can a lot of damage with Sucker Punch (not quite enough to kill a healthy one) before going down to a Shadow Claw.

For absolute madmen the best answer was Chilan Berry, that halves the damage from Normal-type moves and can take even the most hardcore player by surprise
 
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Also I didn't speak with Magnemite about this but I think he will agree and I am going to limit reservation to 8-10 hours before it "expires" so that every important Pokemon gets done.
Of course if you show to be working on it by for example posting it in parts by editing the post we can wait a little more but those really do not take too long

yeah ok -mag
 
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Nominating Piloswine



What effect did Piloswine have on the metagame?

Piloswine effect on the meta was really heavy, because of its special mix of good natural bulk (due to eviolite, but not extremely dependent of it), a really good defensive ability on Thick Fat, amazing Offensive Dual STABs, the coveted Stealth Rock and even a STAB Priority that discouraged the use of some of the few hazard removers like Vibrava and Vullaby, which increased its viability as a hazard setter.

The meta then used a LOT of Pellipers to remove hazards just because it was one of the defoggers that could switch kinda easily on Pilo thanks to its ability to withstand the Ice - Ground dual STAB, while burning it with Scald and Roosting. That time also popularized Grass moves on A LOT of Electric Types (Grass Knot on Raichu, HP Grass on Zebby and Trode), just to smack Pilo with a SE Move.

Sadly for Pilo, it also had two amazing stops on Poliwrath and Throh, that were pretty much annoying for it with Scald - Knock Off and their Fighting STABs since they also were bulky enough to make it run for it's money (even if they couldn't stop it from getting Rocks Up most of the time).

In what main roles was Piloswine used?

Just one and only (but pretty effectively), a Tanky SR setter. It's main set were something like this:

Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Icicle Crash

With that Spread, Piloswine usually pressured heavily a lot of the meta and then got SR when they flee to a check, making it stay healthy until it was needed to get again on the field, to check an electric type or to set up SR again.

Another decent or surprise options for it were the use of defensive spreads, especially with RestTalk to avoid burns or just using Toxic instead of Icicle Crash, to cripple Pelipper. Another option in that regard was Freeze Dry, which could heavily dent that disgusting threat.


What caused it to have a significant impact?

The combination of so many good traits was more than enough to keep Piloswine as a huge threat on PU metagame, until NU took it. For those that didn't catch it at the beggining of the post, those traits are:
* Decent bulk, getting even better due to Eviolite.
* Good Defensive Ability on Thick Fat (Allowing it to have neutrality to Fire and Resistance to Ice).
* Amazing Dual STAB for offensive purposes (Ground + Ice was pretty much unresisted on the meta besides Rotom F)
* STAB Priority on Ice Shard.
* Stealth Rock.
* Ability to threat a lot of spinners - Defoggers.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

The common answer to Piloswine were Special based Water Types... Thanks to Piloswine, Floatzel and Simipour got a LOT of usage, since they were able to deal with it using a Specs and Life Orb respectively with their strong Hydro Pumps. Also Pelipper Countered it quite nicely in all senses, unless it got hit with Toxic or Freeze Dry.

Another soft answers for Pilo were Misdreavus, Speed Invested Dusknoir and Rotom F, because they could all burn it and start racking burn damage while Pilo barely scratches them, and Special Monferno that was viable just because of the OHKO with Focus Blast and its ability to pick it up when weakened due to Vacuum Wave.

Another Options were just luring it with some Electric Types (or Dodrio) and attacking it with Grass Moves, because while they were not strong enough to deal with Pilo in one hit, at least they chipped valuable health, making it easier to deal with using another team member.

I Hope you like it guys!

P.D.: Can someone help me with the Sprites on my post? I need one for the Begininng and one for the set... I'm having A LOT of trouble with my PC and my Phone... U_U
 
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Anty

let's drop
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Nominating Throh


What effect did Throh have on the metagame?

Throh was arguably biggest reasons as to why balanced builds were extremely successful during the start of ORAS and up until it got banned. Its popularity pretty much forced all offensive teams to run something strong that could KO it from near full although Pokemon with type advantages weren't too common at the time. In addition, Throh could destroy defensive teams with the right set so forced them to run one of few Pokemon to have a hope of KO'ing it. Throh was one of the most important threats during teambuilding even before it was considered broken or S-rank because it was it was hard to fit enough reliable checks to it.

Throh caused an increase in Flying- and Psychic-types, such as Dodrio and was a big reason why Jumpluff got popular. Additionally, Pelipper's became much more popular than Avalugg as a hazard remover, and it would start using Flying coverage more. Other defensive answers such as Tangela and Togetic which had high usage prior to Throh getting popular got even more usage. Though Throh was hard to lure, players started to use stronger wallbreakers such as Specs Auroras to try to bait it in and 2HKO. Most notably Throh caused a shift in playstyles making balance and bulky offense the most popular.

In what main roles was Throh used?

Throh was mostly used as a tank, as its high bulk and few weaknesses allowed to be a blanket check to plenty of offensive Pokemon such as Zebstrika and Simipour. Restalk + Storm Throw + Knock Off was the most successful tank set, as it could recover off chip damage and didn't have to rely on leftovers for recovery which was often Knocked Off. The EV spread would vary depending on if the team needs Throh to better check physical or special attackers, or to give it more of an offensive presence. More offensive sets such would often drop Restalk for Taunt + Toxic or Ice/Thunder Punch + Toxic, allowing Throh to more easily get passed some of its defensive checks. These sets could still function as a tank however had to avoid getting warn down too quickly. Choice Band was a very effective wallbreaker, as the few Pokemon that could take a Superpower would often fall to its coverage. Specially Defensive Rest + Bulk Up was much less common than the aforementioned sets, however if it could successfully set up, then most defensive or balanced builds could not stop it.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

The tier at the time lacked very solid Fighting resists, and with Throh being one of two viable Fighting-types, it naturally rose to the top of the tier. Throh's amazing defense stats along with its typing allowed it to check S-rank threats like Kecleon and Tauros, while being one of the two good Sneasel switch ins that fit on offense. There were very few Pokemon that could actually OHKO Throh from full, so even the strongest wallbreakers would have to sack themselves in order to heavily weaken it. Throh's attack stat provided good use for its great coverage and it could use several support moves effectively, meaning there were no 100% counters. Knock Off is especially useful for any Pokemon to have, especcially for Throh given that plenty of defensive Pokemon relied on Eviolite for their bulk.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

As stated earlier, Flying- and Psychic-types like Dodrio and Mr Mime were great ways to offensively pressure Throh, however none could reliably switch in. Often offensive teams would just sack a Pokemon in order severely weaken Throh down and then apply pressure to prevent it from Resting. When it was still in the tier, Garbodor was an excellent response as it could switch in to almost anything and freely set up Spikes. Pelipper and Togetic could both counter non CB sets and threaten Throh with their STABs, though plenty of other defensive checks like Gourgeist couldn't really do much in responce so would get outstalled by Restalk. The next best responce for bulkier teams was to try to utilise a defensive set up sweeper like Carbink or Clefairy which could avoid the 2/3HKO from Throh.
 
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Can we do more than one nomination? Cuz there are also a few HUGE things that haven't been mentioned a lot, like Musharna, Haunter, Kecleon, Aurorus, Torterra, Scyther, Serpreior, Eggy, Victreebel, Tauros, Carracosta and one that I was especially fond of... Barbaracle!
 
Can we do more than one nomination? Cuz there are also a few HUGE things that haven't been mentioned a lot, like Musharna, Haunter, Kecleon, Aurorus, Torterra, Scyther, Serpreior, Eggy, Victreebel, Tauros, Carracosta and one that I was especially fond of... Barbaracle!

See ya!
As I said in the OP, Musharna wasn't in the tier long enough, but yes you can. Also Aurorus was nowhere near good or influential enough to make this list lol
 

ShuckleDeath

They call me the kign of typos
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Nominating Floatzel



What effect did Floatzel have on the metagame?

Floatzel's reign really took off after the loss of Poliwrath, where it's offensive water typing combined with it's blazing fast speed tier was really able to threaten the majority of the metagame. With Floatzel being able to either outspeed or 2HKO the majority of the tier, depending on it's set, it really forces teams to have both a water resist and an offensive check rather it be a scarfer or one of 3 faster unboosted Pokemon(Ninjask, Electrode, Zebstrika). So all and all, Floatzel keeps water types and Pokemon that check water types super relevant, as well as making the 115 base speed tier an important benchmark, which can be rather difficult as very few overpass it and the only other Pokemon that reaches 115 base speed is Persian, an overall mediocre Pokemon.

In what main roles was Floatzel used?

Floatzel is mostly seen as an offensive juggernaut, being able to run special, physical, or mixed sets well. It can be seen running any of the three choice items, Life Orb, and niche items such as Splash Plate and Expert Belt. It is also able to run a bulky Bulk Up Baton Pass set with leftovers.

Choice sets have recently fallen out of favor to mixed and Life orb set's but I still feel deserve to not go unnoticed.

Floatzel @ Choice Band
Ability: Water Veil
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Ice Punch
- Frustration / Pursuit / Switcheroo

Banded Floatzel makes good use of it's above average base 105 Attack Stat. Hitting anything that doesn't resist water for solid damage. Ice Punch hits Grass-Types for good damage 2HKOing Pokemon such as Roselia and Gogoat. Aqua Jet is reliable STAB priority picking off weakened faster threats like Ninjask. Frustration does good damage to opposing bulky Water-Types, even scoring the 2HKO after rocks on 200 HP EV variants of Politoed. Frustration is used most of the time as hitting Lapras and Politoed is important, but it is also able to Pursuit trap Ghost-Types and weakened Pokemon, it can also use Switcheroo to cripple walls wanting to come in but this is really better done by other sets.


Floatzel @ Choice Specs
Ability: Water Veil / Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast / Hidden Power [Electric] / Hidden Power [Grass]
- Switcheroo / Hidden Power [Electric] / Baton Pass

Choice Specs makes good use of it's powerful Hydro Pump, 2HKOing all but the Pokemon resist it, or very specially bulky Pokemon. Ice Beam hit's the Grass-Types wanting to come in on Hydro Pump. Focus Blast hit's Lapras and Audino for the 2HKO, and also damages other opposing Water-Types. Hidden Power Electic OHKOs Pelipper and Swanna, and HP Grass hit's Chinchou and Seaking as hard as Focus Blast with out worrying about the miss. Switcheroo cripples Audino, Clefairy, or other special walls, it can also choose to run extra coverage or use dry Baton Pass.


Floatzel @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Water Veil / Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Switcheroo / Baton Pass
This set faces competition from Simipor who usually does it better, but this is still not completely outclassed. While it is a touch slower and loses out on a bit of the coverage options simipour has, it is much more likely to get a suprise kill, while still being effective out side of that, and it can make use of Switcheroo or Baton Pass to cripple walls or gain momentom.


Next, I will post the more seen Mixed sets, although I really won't get into the sets like I did on the choice sets, as they are similar but can be used to threaten an EVEN larger range of Pokemon.


Floatzel @ Life Orb
Ability: Water Veil
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Waterfall
- Frustration
- Ice Beam
- Aqua Jet

this set might not hit Politoed as hard but still does a solid amount and is easy to weaken it enough to get in range, it also still has access to it's priority, and now threatens physically defensive Grass-types like Quiladin and Gourgeist-XL much more, Frustration also 2HKO's Roselia after rocks.


Floatzel @ Life Orb
Ability: Water Veil
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive / Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam / Ice Punch
- Focus Blast / Hidden Power [Electric]
- Aqua Jet / Taunt

This set makes use of Hydro Pump as well as Aqua Jet, but also lures in the likes of Roselia if running Ice Punch. You can also run full special + Taunt which stops Pokemon like Roselia and Clefairy, from switching in healing up and setting hazards.


Floatzel @ Life Orb
Ability: Water Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Ice Punch / Frustration
- Power-Up Punch

PuP Floatzel is used more as cleaner, being able to punish your opponents sack getting up to + 1 Attack than hopefully being able to clean up with coverage, takes a bit more support than the other set's but is still devastating for teams that are unprepared fo it.


What caused it to have a significant impact?

I feel Floatzel really impacted the tier due to its versatility and speed. It is a big part of why offensive teams have dominated the latter metagames of PU, being one of the biggest threats to prepare for, and being tough to prepare for all of the Floatzel sets, it has reigned as one of PU's top Pokemon for the better part of a year, this alone really shows how much it has impacted the tier as a whole. having very few unboosted Pokemon to outspeed it, it really forces the use of Choice Scarf Pokemon, or powerful priority, which even itself has access to.

How do you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

Floatzel is dealt with by Water resist and faster Pokemon that can revenge kill. While it is very difficult to send you walls in right away as switching in Gourgeist-XL in on Floatzel's Ice Beam can be devastating it can switch into Choice Band without to much trouble so also knowing and scouting the set with said water resists are crucial in handling Floatzel. Fast Electric-Types like Zebstrika, Electrode, and Choice Scarf Rotom-F can easily outspeed and OHKO Floatzel.
 
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pancake

movement and location
is a Contributor Alumnus
someone do Carracosta, Tauros, and Leafeon pls. Like seriously. anty wanted misdreavus too



Nominating Golem

What effect did Golem have on the metagame?

If you're looking for a Normal resist, Stealth Rock user, Electric immune, Fire check, or priority, why not use a mon that has been here all of sixth gen? Golem's high-powered EdgeQuake STAB make it difficult to check, and the fact that it is popular on both offense, BO and Balance mean that it is a mon that you definitely have to prepare for. While it has never been a mon that has been like "THE MON" to prepare for, it has been a great mon for the entirety of sixth gen and ORAS.

In what main roles was Golem used?

Throughout its time in the tier, Golem's most used sets have been a Lead Set with Weakness Policy or Custap Berry, and a Tank Set with a lot of SpDef investment. Its ability to run both offensive and defensive sets, and ability to be used on offense and balance caused it to become a staple in much of the gen 6 pu metagame.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Golem's ability to be on both offense and balance was one of the main factors that lead to its large impact on the metagame. Another one of the factors was Golem's role compression. Having a Normal resist, Electric immune, SR user, priority, and Fire check all in one mon is super useful. Having naturally high Physical bulk and Attack helped it too, because it could still hit hard / take hits without investment.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

The fact that it is weak to Water, Fighting Grass, three very common types with mons like Poliwrath, Roselia, Floatzel, Monferno, Throh, etc. being metagame defining threats made it easy enough to deal with. However, it is difficult to switch into Golem's STAB combo of EdgeQuake, so having a Grass-type or a mon on your team that at least resists Earthquake is helpful.
 
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5gen

jumper
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Nominating Leafeon



What effect did Leafeon have on the metagame?

Before Cacturne came along, Leafeon was the physical Grass-type of choice. It's mix of power, bulk, speed and moveset versatility made it fairly hard for teams to deal with but splashable in it's own right. With emerging threats like Golem, Floatzel, Simipour, and defensive pokemon such as Stunfisk, Clefairy and Audino, Leafeon had a niche in checking strong threats and also breaking down defensive cores with Knock Off or Swords Dance/CB. Leafeon has withstood countless metagame trends and continues to shine in the current one.

In what main roles was Leafeon used?

Leafeon brings some invaluable roles to offense and has it's uses on balance. It's a blanket check to a wide range of mons, most notably Golem, waters (with Yache), and anything slower than it (i.e Grumpig). Leafeon could also fill other roles, such as acting as a wincon through SD, breaking with Choice Band, revenge killing with Scarf or sheer power and speed. Other lesser seen, viable sets include Baton Pass and Toxic Synthesis which maintain momentum or cripple switch-ins.

Really what made Leafeon so good at these roles was the immediate power and speed it brought, as well as not relying on Eviolite like Grass-types Tangela or Roselia for bulk. If you tried to switch into Leaf, it usually had something for you in Knock Off, SD, Toxic or simply Baton Passing out.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Leafeon had a few aspects that caused it to have a significant impact. For one thing, it hits really hard. 110 attack alongside STAB Leaf Blade and Knock Off, Frustration/Double Edge, and X-Scissor for coverage is difficult to switch into. If Leaf is packing Choice Band or Swords Dance it's all the more easy to dent stuff. Can revenge kill pretty well with it's Choice Scarf set and CB Quick Attack. Decent bulk (65/130/65), pure Grass-typing and reliable recovery in Synthesis allows Leafeon to switch in fairly easily. If it runs Yache then it can also act as a water check (one of it's main attractions). Leafeon also finds itself with a decent match-up vs a ton of mons. For example it takes on common rockers like Golem, Stunfisk and Knocks Off switch-ins such as Vullaby, Tangela, or Rapidash. Also checks things like Monferno, Stoutland, Grumpig and non-Scarf Frostom/Mime/Chatot with it's CB set.

Leafeon's ability to break and switch into common pokemon made it an ideal partner for pokemon like Monferno, Pawniard and Raichu.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

Offensive checks include Rapidash, Scarf Frostom, Rotom-Spin, Dodrio, Scarf Chatot, Simisear etc. Basically anything faster that can hit it super-effectively or has a strong special attack can deal with it. Inflicting burns or paras heavily cripple it, so Colbur Gourg-XL or Wisp Rapidash are handy checks. Other pokemon like Jumpluff, Intimidate Arbok, Muk, Tangela and Monferno can safely switch in and 1v1 Leafeon.
 
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Nominating Tauros



What effect did Tauros have on the metagame?
Tauros was a very big contributor to offense's dominance in early PU. After Musharna was banned, it had a distinct lack of defensive answers while also having the tools to do very well against offense. Tauros was a staple of PU throughout its stay in the tier and was always an incredibly scary threat when you saw it in team preview (until it missed).

In what main roles was Tauros used?

Tauros had two sets: a Life Orb wallbreaker set with only one move that didn't miss every other time you used it and a Choice Scarf set.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Tauros had a fantastic combination of fantastic Speed and ridiculous power. Most offensive Pokemon in the tier were both slower than it and OHKOed by either Rock Climb or a coverage move. Thanks to Fire Blast, Tauros easily beat most common Normal checks, including Tangela, Gourgeist-Super, and Avalugg. This made it a great Pokemon on Normal spam teams with Pokemon such as Stoutland. While Life Orb Tauros was a fantastic wallbreaker, Choice Scarf Tauros was a great revenge killer thanks to its ability to outspeed almost everything it needed to even with Adamant and its very strong STAB Double-Edge.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

wait for it to miss lmao

For a while, Tauros had a hard counter in Musharna. After Musharna was banned, physically defensive Misdreavus was by far the best counter as it was immune to Tauros's STAB and the best it could do was 3HKO with Iron Tail. Physically defensive Carracosta was another great check as it took little from Earthquake and could retaliate back. However, it lacked recovery outside of Leftovers. Piloswine was a decent answer, but Iron Tail variants, which were rising in popularity in the weeks leading up to Tauros's ban, could 2HKO it. Throh and Poliwrath could take a hit and KO it back, but they both took a lot of damage from Zen Headbutt. Tauros had very few defensive checks throughout its stay in the tier, which was a huge part of the reason it was banned. Revenge killing it with Pokemon such as Kecleon, Sneasel, and various other priority users such as Poliwrath was another common way to take it out.
 
I'll do Barba (and probably Costa) in a while! :3

Nominating Barbaracle



What effect did Barbaracle have on the metagame?

Barbaracle was part of the Terrible Smash duo with Carracosta, tearing teams apart just after one turn of setup. Barbaracle Advantages were Tough Claws to further boost its physical attacks, better special bulk than Carracosta (discounting Solid Rock) and a much better speed tier that allowed Barbaracle to have lower investment in speed than Carracosta to sweep at +2, enabling also the use of an Adamant Nature.

Just because of Barbaracle prowess at setupping in one turn, Fire types were almost inexistent at the moment and those that were used, almost always carried Grass Moves (EBall Ninetales), Priority (Vacuum Wave/Mach Punch Ferno) or at least WoW (Rapidash) to cripple it. However the presece of two bulky Fighting Types on Throh and Poliwrath that were almost everywhere, kept Barba from being overly broken on the meta, while Rose at its best moment also hurt its chances previous to setup.

Another Huge influence from Barbaracle in the meta was the presence of some kinda fast mons using Scarf, just to be able to break through a +2 Spe Barbaracle, being Raichu, Zebstrika, Floatzel, Simipour, Simisage and Sawsbuck the principal examples.

In what main roles was Barbaracle used?

The scariest Barbaracle set for most people was usually Shell Smasher, which looked like this:

Barbaracle @ White Herb
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: Varies... 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def for Lazy People
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Razor Shell
- Aerial Ace/Earthquake
- Shell Smash

While the moves on the set were pretty much the same, with Aerial Ace for Super Effective Damage on Roselia, Throh and especially Poliwrath or with just Earthquake to avoid some annoying contact abilities like Stunfisk Static and Rapidash Flame Body; the Spreads were pretty much variable, depending on the needs of the team. 68 SpD EVs could be used to handle Scarf Raichu Thunderbolt without previous damage, and 196 (221 Speed, since offensive Roselias used 220 Speed), +188 (240 Speed, Speed ties with Max Speed Base 60 but more importantly, outspeeds and smacks Scarf Sawsbuck at +2), +220 (249 Speed, to outspeed Scarf Simis at +2), +232 (252, To outspeed max speed Roselia at +0) and +252 (258, for lazy people or paranoic people against Scarf Rapidash I guess) were useful numbers for Speed, with as much Attack as possible and any possible excedent in Defense.

While for some people wasn't worthwhile, for some others Ice Beam was a decent option to 2HKO Physically Defensive Tangela at +2 (which could handle almost anything else from Barbaracle) even without investment and a lowering nature, while also giving Barbaracle a better tool at getting past through Jumpluff without relying on Stone Edge Accuracy and a way to break through Gourg XL after a Burn.

Also if you just disliked the prospect of a setup sweeper, Barbaracle was versatile enough to run two other sets: Scarf/Band and Stealth Rocker, both being pretty similar to the Shell Smashing Set, with Max Atk and Spd, four Attacks on Scarf/Band and Rocks instead of Smash, using Life Orb or Focus Sash on the Lead set (while SRocker, could also have a defensive spread, wasting Barba's attacking prowess was just plain bad).

While those sets were not as useful as Smash Barba, they had the advantage of the surprise factor, being faster/stronger than expected letting it handle a few 1 on 1 that usually couldn't (non scarf Zebstrika, Raichu, Simis for Scarf Barba and having a Slight Chance for OHKOing Defensive Stunfisk, Standard Pilo and Slow Grumpig for example) or its ability to setup SR while having more than decent Defensive Synergy with the premier spiker at that time, Roselia.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Basically what caused Barbaracle to have a significant impact was the combination between its access to arguably one of the best setup moves in the game (Shell Smash you dummies), its ability Tough Claws to make it even more powerful, the movepool to abuse that Ability, and having decent defensive typing/stats to allow it to scare a few things or handle some attacks and setup easily, while also having enough speed to beat A LOT of scarfers at +2, drastically reducing its checks.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

The perfect pokémon that kept Barbaracle at bay always on PU was the absolute gluemon "Poliwrath". Poli resisted both of Barba's STABs and could receive one +2 Aerial Ace (with some defensive investment though) and then Phazing it with Circle Throw, Smacking it with Focus Blast or trying to burn it with Scald.

After the Poliwrath rise, the usual counters for Barbaracle were Bulky Grasses like Tangela and Gourgeist XL, with the first one being able to even withstand two +2 Adamant Tough Claw Boosted Aerial Aces and OHKO Barba with Giga Drain and the second one, being able to handle the first Aerial Ace and then Burning Barba and start recovering health with Synthesis while racking Burn Damage or just plainly defeat it with Seed Bomb. However both of them would hate Ice Beam even uninvested (it does 53% minimum on Gourg, meaning the Burning way doesn't work, and 64-76% on Tangela which means that it can break through it if it's weakened enough).

Another checks for Barba were Scarf Raichu/Floatzel/Zebstrika/Electrode which could deal decent damage while Outspeeding a +2 Barba or just plainly Priority like Vacuum Wave Monferno or SPunch Pawniard/Mightyena to beat it after being weakened. Finally, Barbaracle were pretty much Screwed by status. Misdreavus, Gourgeist and Dusknoir all loved to Burn Barbaracle, while Clefairy, Volbeat and Murkrow could paralyze it and make it less of a threat.

Then, let's also do Carracosta! :3

Nominating Carracosta



What effect did Carracosta have on the metagame?

Carracosta was the second part of the Terrible Smash duo with Barbaracle, tearing teams apart just after one turn of setup. Carracosta advantages over Barbaracle were Solid Rock, which combined with a higher physical bulk, allowed Carracosta to setup against almost any physical attacker ad also letting it hold a Life Orb for increased power, while having a much better Special Attack that could destroy typical switch ins to Barbaracle like Tangela and Gourgeist with a boosted Ice Beam.

Carracosta like Barbaracle, made Fire types almost unused just because it could absorb a lot of its STAB moves and setupping easily, making then a huge nuisance for the whole team. However Thanks to that massive defense stat, Carracosta also easily used Normal and Flying types as setup bait, making some usually dangerous pokés like Dodrio and Stoutland really annoying to use as choiced mons.

In what main roles was Barbaracle used?

Like Barbaracle, the most used Costa set was the Shell Smasher, which looked like this one:

Carracosta @ Life Orb
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet
- Ice Beam / Zen Headbutt
- Shell Smash

While Barbaracle could use various spreads for a Shell Smashing set, Carracosta was actually pretty straightforward. Max Speed ensured to be as fast as possible, especially because non boosting Carracosta's low base speed will let it be outsped by a huge margin of competitive pokés, mainly the Simi Trio, Kadabra, Raichu, Rapidash, Jumpluff, Ursaring and Ninetales which could all deal huge damage with Fighting/Electric/Grass moves or by burning it with WoW.

Also, since Carracosta has decent physical bulk and Solid Rock to handle some priority at -1, and having its own priority move on Aqua Jet, Life Orb can be used to even increase the damage dealt, at cost of some life points, meaning that between setup and Life Orb recoil, Carracosta might not be able to deal with a whole team, but at least will maim a few members to make the match pretty easy to go.

Ice Beam and Zen Headbutt were both options to deal with bulky Grasses and bulky fighters respectively, usually with Ice Beam if used with Barbaracle (Since Aerial Ace Barbaracle could pretty much soften both Machoke and Poliwrath for Costa to pick them up) or Zen Headbutt if you used Carra with another answer for grasses.

This Smashing set could also use a Special Spread, with Hydro Pump as a Water STAB, however while it can catch a few physically bulky things off guard, it doesn't have priority like Aqua Jet, meaning that Carracosta can be easily picked off by Zebstrika and Electrode.

Like Barbaracle also, Carracosta has some other options, but the only other that was viable on PU meta, was a defensive SRocker set like this:

Carracosta @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock / Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD or Def
Sassy or Lax Nature
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge / Ice Beam

Another mix of defensive EVs could be done, depending on which threat Carracosta should handle, (like 96 SpD EVs to make Carracosta handle Specs Zebby TBolt, 36 Def EVs to handle Ursaring Close Combat at +2, 212 to Handle the same attack after rocks, ad whatever the team might need), but usually going with a complete defensive side, will let you know which kind of attacks you might resist with Costa. It's moves are pretty much staples for defensive sets, with Scald burning things while hitting decently hard thanks to STAB, Knock Off for removing items, especially eviolites and Stone Edge / Ice Beam depending on what you might like, a stronger STAB move for smacking some things that it should block like Normal / Flying pokés or something to smack Tangela and Gourgeist on the switch to force them to heal.


What caused it to have a significant impact?

Basically because of the same thing as Barbaracle... Having access to Shell Smash while having next to no trouble setting it up thanks to Solid Rock and marvelous physical bulk that could make Fire, Normal and Flying pokés to run in fear. Also having tools for reliable removal of things like Tangela and Gourgeist due to a powerful Ice Beam and removal of faster scarfers like Zebstrika and Raichu with Priority Aqua Jet, made the duo of Smashers TOO much to be handled without Poliwrath running around.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in PU?

The best counter for Carracosta was always Poliwrath. Like on Barbaracle's case, Poliwrath usually could live through any of its STABs and Ice Beam (+2 LO Zen Headbutt will bop it though) and Phaze it, burn it or kick its butt with Fighting moves (Heck, Specs Vacuum Wave dealt 59,1% minimum, which were more than enough to deal with an usually weakened Carracosta). Another bulky fighter that gave Costa some troubles was Machoke, because it could use a spread to avoid the OHKO from +2 LO Zen Headbutt, confuse Costa with Dynamic Punch and force it to receive two rounds of Life Orb Damage instead of just one in the worst case.

If Costa didn't run Ice Beam, Gourgeist XL and Tangela countered it with ease. Since Costa doesn't have any ability boosted Super Effective attacks on the physical spectrum to hit neither of those two, they could come in with relative ease and scare it, recovering health in the process to keep it at bay along the match.

Zebstrika and Electrode were also decent answers because they needed to receive more than one switch on rocks to be dealt reliably with +2 LO Aqua Jet, while still outspeeding Costa at +2 and smacking it with STAB Electric moves.

Finally, Floatzel, Simipour and Simisage all get a special mention as checks, since with a Scarf, they all could handle Carracosta thanks to their access to Focus Blast for the former two (Or Hidden Power Grass) and Grass STABs on the second one, while also resisting Aqua Jet, making it a meager 12,7% chance for a 2HKO after Rocks in Float's case and 1,2% chance for a 2HKO in Simis cases.


I Hope that you enjoy both of this noms!

See ya!
 
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Could I do Cacturne? Even though he is present for a little time, he certainly has affected drastically the meta since then and I'd like to comment about it.
 

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