But Arch is in Ubers………
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Metagame SV OU Metagame Discussion v4 [Volcarona Banned]
- Thread starter TPP
- Start date
Id say its deoxys-s. Not too many people here consider it an issue but it scored fairly high last survey and I think the council wants to double check its score this month. Which in my opinion would be a fair thing to do, just to confirm. There's only really 20-25 people frequently posting on this main forum its not a true indication of metagame sentiment.
I know about pokemon legends Z-A (I accidentally got spoiled by it on the forum but not by YouTube notifications, which is the opposite of what usually happens), but finch not only said that they wouldn't be dropping ubers, but also arch is in ubers so you can't play with it.
KamenOH
formerly DynamaxBestMeta
I coulda sworn they banned it in name only, because people were seeing it days after it was banned officially.
Well, if it ain't Arch again, its probably something like Ogerpon Base or something.
The servers just didn't update yet, that's what happened. Also occured with magearna where for a few days it was still in OU.
The processes usually take a while and can be anywhere from a day to a few.
The only thing I can think of has to be Deoxys-S being a large problem to the lead meta maybe?? I don't even know if I'd want anything else on the radar that isn't already deconfirmed lmao
Maybe dnite but that's a weird one I think.
Hey i have a question how Do You play around ogerpon-w? Im not playing OU these times so i'd like to have this info
Faster mons, dragon types, priority moves and hazards. Yes, it has play rough but unless your moon or it hasn't got to +2, which is easy enough to stop it getting, then you should be able to use dragon types to stop it. It also can't boost its speed unlike other boost sweepers, meaning pokemon naturally faster like serperior or booster mons such as valiant work. It also is decently weak to priority such as rillaboom's grassy glide and bolt's thunderclap, though you do have to chip it first. Finally, Waterpon is decently suspectable to hazard damage as it can't hold HDB, so stacking those up will help.
Waterpon is easy enough to play around as long as you don't let it set up, and unlike something like moon, you can always have the option of outrunning it.
*BONK*244 SpA Choice Specs Walking Wake Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Ogerpon-Wellspring: 316-373 (104.9 - 123.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
"I'm immune to hydro steam ill come in on wake every single time" ok buddy nice try
If you're looking for a catch all defensive answer, mandibuzz is probably the safest bet. If you come in on swords dance it only does 70% max with cudgel and you OHKO with foul play. If they crit thats unlucky but odds are 50% you survive the +2 crit and at least trade.
You are hereby notified to cease and desist any and all further unlawful defamation, slander and/or libel with regards to your actions and/or statements relating to Lokix. In accordance with law, it is illegal to provide a false statement, whether written or oral, of an individual's character and/or reputation, which consist of: 1. Any false statement, pictures or video intended to cause harm or damage another's character and/or reputation; 2. that is communicated to another either in writing or verbally; and 3. which the offending party is aware or should have been aware that such statement, pictures or video was false. THEREFORE, you are hereby requested to immediately cease and desist illegal defamation, slander and/or libel and within 10 business days, return the signed written assurance below affirming that you will refrain from any further acts of defamation, slander and/or libel with regards to my character and/or reputation. Failure to comply with this cease and desist request, and/or return of the signed assurance within the stipulated time, will leave me no other alternative but to pursue all available legal remedies, including but not limited to filing a motion for injunctive relief, monetary damages, filing fees, court costs and/or attorney fees.
Sincerely,
Just A Shroom God
Awesome analysis, loved reading it amidst all this survey guessing which I find quite boring.
Anyway, I loved the take on spikes stacking balance teams. Skarm I've found to be rather inconsistent as a check to most things tbh, it gets taken advantage of too easily. I've tried so many times to use it as Kingambit check, only to be worn down throughout the game or just straight up lose to it outright.
Which brings me to something I wanna discuss, I think Kingambit is the most straining issue on the builder atm. People have just gotten so used to stacking checks to it that it's become 2nd nature almost. Now obviously threats in the metagame have to respected and accounted for, but Kingambit asks for so much it's actually insane. So many good builds I've tried only to realize it can't check Kingambit consistently, leading to either scrapping the whole thing or slapping a Great Tusk, the best check, somewhere on the team where something else might have been better. Now obviously Great Tusk is the best mon in the tier so that's not exactly the biggest problem, but there have been so many times where a team would like a different ground type spinner like Excadrill or Iron Treads or just a different ground type in general like Gliscor or Lando-T. Whenever I build something that needs removal, Great Tusk is pretty much mandatory to be able to spin while also having a Kingambit check. In a way, it even exacerbates the hazard issue of this tier.
Ok guys before the survey drops let's all agree on what the values mean alright? Feel free to argue against some of the things I put but here's what I think every number is:
5: QB it immediately please get rid of it.
4: Needs a suspect, a qb would be fine though.
3: Can/Should be suspected, but shouldn't be qb'd.
2: Isn't really a problem rn... Could probably suspect something else ngl but idk.
1: No action lmao this thing isn't a problem in the slightest.
Did I get it right or...?
5: QB it immediately please get rid of it.
4: Needs a suspect, a qb would be fine though.
3: Can/Should be suspected, but shouldn't be qb'd.
2: Isn't really a problem rn... Could probably suspect something else ngl but idk.
1: No action lmao this thing isn't a problem in the slightest.
Did I get it right or...?
SV OU Tiering Survey is now live: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ou-tiering-surveys.3711911/page-2#post-10005722
In my opinion, a few Pokemon may necessitate tiering action. This is how I felt on the Pokemon included on the survey
is a 5/5 for me. Breaking Swipe sets are able to essentially handpick whatever checks or counters it. Scared of Ground moves? DD -> Breaking Swipe and they won't even 2HKO. Worried about Zama setting up on you? Tera Ghost and you eventually win the 1v1. Paranoid about Toxic Gliscor? Tera Poison or Tera Steel do the job. And then there are the offensive variants like Choice Band on Sun, which is able to dish out unreasonable amounts of damage without even needing to be attack booster. On top of all of this, DD Booster sets function perfectly well and have slim pickings for checks/counters, too. This Pokemon is just too much to account for right now.
is a 4/5 for me. I do not think it is healthy, but the tier is playable with it and I view Gouging Fire as more pressing. Three weeks ago I was the first person to bring this up for potential tiering action, so this is my victory lap as people were skeptical then while this is now a common stance. My guess is that it is not immediately suspected with other pressing things (such as Gouging Fire), but I think it will be eventually. I have been building a lot and it became increasingly apparent that covering Ogerpon-Wellspring was very challenging. Yes, things like Rillaboom and Serperior can exist as early game checks (barring U-turn), but other checks that are common are mostly circumstantial: Dragapult risks being OHKO'd by coverage (PR or Knock), Kyurem, Raging Bolt, and Dragonite risk Play Rough, and the combination of STABs hit the vast majority of other Pokemon. Hazards and revenge killing do limit it, so it is more of a breaker than a snowball sweeper, but Trailblaze can even help it sweep on occasion, too. Downsides exist with hazards, only being able to fit four moves, and so on, but it is a huge pain to account for.
, 
, and 
are 3/5s for me. Roaring Moon is pretty manageable with the abundance of priority, Rocky Helmet, forced pressure, and Tera interactions surrounding it. I honestly considered putting it at a 2, but it still does force (albeit more natural and multifaceted) some teambuildingenergy and it is incredibly strong. Raging Bolt feels incredibly strong and regularly is able to 1.5-for-1 or 2-for-1, but it lacks the snowball potential due to Thunderclap reliance and speed tier. Counterplay exists, but is limited and mainly in the form of checks; I do not think it limits teambuilding too much yet, but we should monitor it. Finally, I find Volcarona to be the most dumb of the three. It is also necessary for Fairy types and Kyurem to a degree, but I hate tiering like that. This is just an awkward dynamic and it is so versatile, but I do not think others rate it as highly as I do.
is between a 2 and a 3 for me. It is very good and the dynamic surroudning it is the same as before, but with a different cast of characters and different Tera types. It can snowball, but it can also be limited. I am keeping my eye on it, but do not view it as the biggest priority.
, 
, and 
are 1 or 2. All are very good and pose unique threats, but none restrict building more than those listed above or pose a dispraportionate threat.
probably also belongs in this discussion, but it may not be the most pressing option quite yet.
is a 5/5 for me. Breaking Swipe sets are able to essentially handpick whatever checks or counters it. Scared of Ground moves? DD -> Breaking Swipe and they won't even 2HKO. Worried about Zama setting up on you? Tera Ghost and you eventually win the 1v1. Paranoid about Toxic Gliscor? Tera Poison or Tera Steel do the job. And then there are the offensive variants like Choice Band on Sun, which is able to dish out unreasonable amounts of damage without even needing to be attack booster. On top of all of this, DD Booster sets function perfectly well and have slim pickings for checks/counters, too. This Pokemon is just too much to account for right now. is a 4/5 for me. I do not think it is healthy, but the tier is playable with it and I view Gouging Fire as more pressing. Three weeks ago I was the first person to bring this up for potential tiering action, so this is my victory lap as people were skeptical then while this is now a common stance. My guess is that it is not immediately suspected with other pressing things (such as Gouging Fire), but I think it will be eventually. I have been building a lot and it became increasingly apparent that covering Ogerpon-Wellspring was very challenging. Yes, things like Rillaboom and Serperior can exist as early game checks (barring U-turn), but other checks that are common are mostly circumstantial: Dragapult risks being OHKO'd by coverage (PR or Knock), Kyurem, Raging Bolt, and Dragonite risk Play Rough, and the combination of STABs hit the vast majority of other Pokemon. Hazards and revenge killing do limit it, so it is more of a breaker than a snowball sweeper, but Trailblaze can even help it sweep on occasion, too. Downsides exist with hazards, only being able to fit four moves, and so on, but it is a huge pain to account for., , and are 3/5s for me. Roaring Moon is pretty manageable with the abundance of priority, Rocky Helmet, forced pressure, and Tera interactions surrounding it. I honestly considered putting it at a 2, but it still does force (albeit more natural and multifaceted) some teambuildingenergy and it is incredibly strong. Raging Bolt feels incredibly strong and regularly is able to 1.5-for-1 or 2-for-1, but it lacks the snowball potential due to Thunderclap reliance and speed tier. Counterplay exists, but is limited and mainly in the form of checks; I do not think it limits teambuilding too much yet, but we should monitor it. Finally, I find Volcarona to be the most dumb of the three. It is also necessary for Fairy types and Kyurem to a degree, but I hate tiering like that. This is just an awkward dynamic and it is so versatile, but I do not think others rate it as highly as I do. is between a 2 and a 3 for me. It is very good and the dynamic surroudning it is the same as before, but with a different cast of characters and different Tera types. It can snowball, but it can also be limited. I am keeping my eye on it, but do not view it as the biggest priority., , and are 1 or 2. All are very good and pose unique threats, but none restrict building more than those listed above or pose a dispraportionate threat. probably also belongs in this discussion, but it may not be the most pressing option quite yet.
voted 5 on comp and fun and 5 on everything that isn't garg zama or bolt
fuck everything else
fuck everything else
Enjoyment: 4
I tried playing a few bulkier styles lately and the cancerous hazard pressure made it feel very frustating. When things went my way, nothing was more satisfying. Unfortunately, things rarely did.
Competitive 5
Meta is still a bit match-up fishy.
Terstallization restriction: Yes
Outright ban of Tera: No
Gouging Fire: 5
Bullshit mon, whether it be DD, Band in sun (when you have to deal with Walking Wake + Bolt on top of it), etc. Get it out of here.
Ogerpon-W: 4
Spikes weakness is a problem but it is very restricting to bulkier builds. It is too strong and too fast.
Roaring Moon: 3
Not too broken but IMO adds almost nothing to the meta.
Volcarona: 2
I haven't been swept by this guy too much, but there are positions where it feels like the most unfair thing ever.
Raging Bolt: 5
Extremely bullshit mon. I don't like running Ting-Lu / Clodsire on every bulky team just to deal with it
Kingambit: 2
Can be kinda bs sometimes, but I'm packing 2 checks on average to this guy. I like its presence in the meta on offensive structus due to its good defensive utility.
Zamazenta: 1
Ruh-roh raggy.
Gholdengo: 1
Mon is trash rn lmao. IDK why we keep including it on the survey. Just for the laughs? Big stall will never win!
Garganacl: 1
I'm not gonna pretend that this mon isn't bs when it gets its shit going since it still is. With Knock / Trick support, it can 6-0 bulkier teams with no sweat. However, fitting it onto a team in this hazard hell-hole is a nightmare since it gets completely fucked by spikes. This is worse for it than Woger since its aiming to play a bit of a longer game with Salt Cure. Its best partners are like, Tusk and Corv, both of which are somewhat inconsistent removal. Also, its defensive util vs Moon, Gholdengo, Dragapult, and Gouging is just too good in this metagame.
Other things to look into:
Spikes, Tera Blast, #FreeLugia
I tried playing a few bulkier styles lately and the cancerous hazard pressure made it feel very frustating. When things went my way, nothing was more satisfying. Unfortunately, things rarely did.
Competitive 5
Meta is still a bit match-up fishy.
Terstallization restriction: Yes
Outright ban of Tera: No
Gouging Fire: 5
Bullshit mon, whether it be DD, Band in sun (when you have to deal with Walking Wake + Bolt on top of it), etc. Get it out of here.
Ogerpon-W: 4
Spikes weakness is a problem but it is very restricting to bulkier builds. It is too strong and too fast.
Roaring Moon: 3
Not too broken but IMO adds almost nothing to the meta.
Volcarona: 2
I haven't been swept by this guy too much, but there are positions where it feels like the most unfair thing ever.
Raging Bolt: 5
Extremely bullshit mon. I don't like running Ting-Lu / Clodsire on every bulky team just to deal with it
Kingambit: 2
Can be kinda bs sometimes, but I'm packing 2 checks on average to this guy. I like its presence in the meta on offensive structus due to its good defensive utility.
Zamazenta: 1
Ruh-roh raggy.
Gholdengo: 1
Mon is trash rn lmao. IDK why we keep including it on the survey. Just for the laughs? Big stall will never win!
Garganacl: 1
I'm not gonna pretend that this mon isn't bs when it gets its shit going since it still is. With Knock / Trick support, it can 6-0 bulkier teams with no sweat. However, fitting it onto a team in this hazard hell-hole is a nightmare since it gets completely fucked by spikes. This is worse for it than Woger since its aiming to play a bit of a longer game with Salt Cure. Its best partners are like, Tusk and Corv, both of which are somewhat inconsistent removal. Also, its defensive util vs Moon, Gholdengo, Dragapult, and Gouging is just too good in this metagame.
Other things to look into:
Spikes, Tera Blast, #FreeLugia
MAGCARGO NOO BIG STALL WINS ALLL BAN DENGOOO!!!!
Who the fuck is losing to Garg????
so far from the past week of discussion, kingambit and roaring moon seem to be the tier’s biggest problem according the community, but the idea of testing raging bolt has most certainly been mentioned,
pokemon on the list include gouging fire, roaring no skill, kingambit, zamn, gholdengo, funny volcaronam dragapult!111 and garganacl?
Another piece of important news is that its been a hot minute since the mini cobalion craze back in january because people lost interest in the king of rng (including me and especially me) and theres lots of discussion about counters and checks
so lets get to work with the gimmick sets to counter these threats, descriptions will be short for now but detail will be added in edits
heres a cobalion set to check dd draggy and gouging, kingambit and zamazenta along with other physical attackers
Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Thunder Wave
- Protect/ flash cannon (to hit iron press zamazenta)
thunder wave is one of cobby’s best weapons, protect is for leftovers healing and stalling, iron press isn’t the most creative option but without it, it can’t check gouging fire with tera, iron press can even annoy garganacl (whats lil bro doing in the survey)
heres an extremely niche and stupid garganacl + wellspring counter + minor annoyance for raging bolt 3 for 1 gimmick set for troll teams, where cobalion fits best
Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Taunt
- Roar
taunt blocks recover and block from garganacl and swords dance from ogerpon (may block encore and taunt for safe iron defenses) and roar racks up hazard damage, tera grass is to remove salt cure weakness, wall ogerpon and resist electric moves to cause minor inconvenience to raging bolt and max defense boosted body press are infact going to hurt, even if draco meteor obliterates the barely above average special bulk of cobalion and sends this false OU saviour back to where its kind belongs
pokemon on the list include gouging fire, roaring no skill, kingambit, zamn, gholdengo, funny volcaronam dragapult!111 and garganacl?
Another piece of important news is that its been a hot minute since the mini cobalion craze back in january because people lost interest in the king of rng (including me and especially me) and theres lots of discussion about counters and checks
so lets get to work with the gimmick sets to counter these threats, descriptions will be short for now but detail will be added in edits
heres a cobalion set to check dd draggy and gouging, kingambit and zamazenta along with other physical attackers
Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Thunder Wave
- Protect/ flash cannon (to hit iron press zamazenta)
thunder wave is one of cobby’s best weapons, protect is for leftovers healing and stalling, iron press isn’t the most creative option but without it, it can’t check gouging fire with tera, iron press can even annoy garganacl (whats lil bro doing in the survey)
heres an extremely niche and stupid garganacl + wellspring counter + minor annoyance for raging bolt 3 for 1 gimmick set for troll teams, where cobalion fits best
Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Taunt
- Roar
taunt blocks recover and block from garganacl and swords dance from ogerpon (may block encore and taunt for safe iron defenses) and roar racks up hazard damage, tera grass is to remove salt cure weakness, wall ogerpon and resist electric moves to cause minor inconvenience to raging bolt and max defense boosted body press are infact going to hurt, even if draco meteor obliterates the barely above average special bulk of cobalion and sends this false OU saviour back to where its kind belongs
Maybe ask Vert? He lambasted the OU Council for not suspecting Garganacl in the pre-Home meta, and he hates Garg more than anybody else on the OU Council if history is reliable.
Tera good
every offensive mon except for Gholdengo and Gouging fire good
stall bad
ban garg, ban gougin, ban ghold
and before a stall player tells me "amm ummm aksually gholdengo ban buffs stall" shut up I'm willing to risk it I just wanna actually use corv and let it feel useful for once
every offensive mon except for Gholdengo and Gouging fire good
stall bad
ban garg, ban gougin, ban ghold
and before a stall player tells me "amm ummm aksually gholdengo ban buffs stall" shut up I'm willing to risk it I just wanna actually use corv and let it feel useful for once
DaRotomMachine
I COULD BE BANNED!
I'm not a stall player (I f*ckin hate it) but amm ummm aksually gholdengo ban buffs stall
Edit: actual all of those would buff stall
In order from most problematic to least problematic:
5/5
I think this one is pretty clear. Banded sets don’t have switch-ins while retaining some some unpredictability by choosing whether Proto boost goes to speed or attack. Bulky Breaking Swipe turns would-be checks into straight up liabilities. Excellent abuser of both defensive and offensive Teras with the bulk and raw power to support either.
4/5
The meta is pretty offensive right now, so I think the problems this thing causes are somewhat masked. SD + Grass STAB + Ivy Cudgel is all this Pokémon needs to dismantle bulkier teams by forcing Teras or netting KOs. The fourth slot is very flexible with extra coverage options like Superpower/Play Rough or support options like Encore, which can give it even more opportunities to set up. The dragons in the tier are holding it at bay somewhat, but they struggle to switch in more than once or twice.
4/5
This thing really only runs one set, but it is pretty damn effective regardless. It does have some flexibility with the Proto boost plus a 4th move slot that can be dedicated to coverage or utility. All of this combined means that it will usually net at least one or two KOs per game, even if it is not sweeping. It is definitely susceptible to priority and chip damage, but that doesn’t always limit its ability to effectively make progress.
3/5
I don’t think it’s that controversial to say the Kingambit is the single biggest consideration when it comes to teambuilding. This is thanks to Gambit’s insane breaking and sweeping power, which is further exacerbated by Supreme Overlord and access to Tera. As such, most teams, even offensive ones, require at least two checks to Gambit lest they risk being run down by it in the late game. With all that said, I do think this mon offers some useful aspects in building because it can check so much. Not a super high priority right now, but could become one (again) in the future.
3/5
This is another Pokémon that I think has some important niches in the tier thanks to its ability to blanket check fairies and steels. However, Volc is held back a little bit right now because it’s pretty much forced to run Tera dragon (and oftentimes, it is forced to use that Tera), which makes it a lot easier to check with stuff like Glowking or Heatran. That said, if some bans drop or the metagame shifts, I could see Volc being more of a problem. I also hate that it feels like some teams are forced into beating a +1 Volc with Gambit’s Sucker Punch. While this works right now, Volc could start running sub or WoW at any time.
3/5
I have been trending down on this Pokémon a lot in the past couple weeks. Bolt’s low speed and ground weakness means it has to rely on Tera and/or Thunderclap to make progress against a lot of teams, both of which are highly exploitable. It definitely does well into balance/bulkier teams, but it struggles for setup opportunities against more offensive teams, which is the best play style right now. I will be interested to see if people can innovate Bolt to be more effective in these matchups.
2/5
I don’t like that Body Press sets can sweep through certain team structures, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are a ton of splashable checks to this mon that fit on every archetype. Its lack of set diversity makes it a lot easier to plan for as well.
2/5
Cheese stick stocks are plummeting. Meta trends have been really unkind to Gholdengo, so it’s struggling in the current meta somewhat. On paper, its typing is amazing, but it’s actually a bit of a letdown in practice. Weaknesses to dark and fire force Tera in a lot of scenarios. Boots spam is also all over the place, so its ability to keep hazards up is less useful now.
1/5
Salt Cure is a supremely stupid move, but that doesn’t change the fact that Garg is passive and Tera reliant otherwise. No harm including it on the survey, but it is not a problem to me.
Other mentions:
I think an argument could be made for Dragapult being the best Pokémon in the tier at the moment. It has insane set diversity, with at least five different high viability sets and some other more gimmicky options at its disposal too. Not necessarily worthy of action, but worth keeping an eye on.
Terastallization:
At the start of the generation, I was in favor of a full ban, but I understand why a full ban is probably not in the cards anymore given that it would effectively mean starting the generation over. That being said, I still would like to see some effort to reign the mechanic in somewhat because it exacerbates a lot of the match-up fishing problems people have with the tier. I have no idea what a palatable solution looks like, but I plan to keep an open mind moving forward.
I think this one is pretty clear. Banded sets don’t have switch-ins while retaining some some unpredictability by choosing whether Proto boost goes to speed or attack. Bulky Breaking Swipe turns would-be checks into straight up liabilities. Excellent abuser of both defensive and offensive Teras with the bulk and raw power to support either.
The meta is pretty offensive right now, so I think the problems this thing causes are somewhat masked. SD + Grass STAB + Ivy Cudgel is all this Pokémon needs to dismantle bulkier teams by forcing Teras or netting KOs. The fourth slot is very flexible with extra coverage options like Superpower/Play Rough or support options like Encore, which can give it even more opportunities to set up. The dragons in the tier are holding it at bay somewhat, but they struggle to switch in more than once or twice.
This thing really only runs one set, but it is pretty damn effective regardless. It does have some flexibility with the Proto boost plus a 4th move slot that can be dedicated to coverage or utility. All of this combined means that it will usually net at least one or two KOs per game, even if it is not sweeping. It is definitely susceptible to priority and chip damage, but that doesn’t always limit its ability to effectively make progress.
I don’t think it’s that controversial to say the Kingambit is the single biggest consideration when it comes to teambuilding. This is thanks to Gambit’s insane breaking and sweeping power, which is further exacerbated by Supreme Overlord and access to Tera. As such, most teams, even offensive ones, require at least two checks to Gambit lest they risk being run down by it in the late game. With all that said, I do think this mon offers some useful aspects in building because it can check so much. Not a super high priority right now, but could become one (again) in the future.
This is another Pokémon that I think has some important niches in the tier thanks to its ability to blanket check fairies and steels. However, Volc is held back a little bit right now because it’s pretty much forced to run Tera dragon (and oftentimes, it is forced to use that Tera), which makes it a lot easier to check with stuff like Glowking or Heatran. That said, if some bans drop or the metagame shifts, I could see Volc being more of a problem. I also hate that it feels like some teams are forced into beating a +1 Volc with Gambit’s Sucker Punch. While this works right now, Volc could start running sub or WoW at any time.
I have been trending down on this Pokémon a lot in the past couple weeks. Bolt’s low speed and ground weakness means it has to rely on Tera and/or Thunderclap to make progress against a lot of teams, both of which are highly exploitable. It definitely does well into balance/bulkier teams, but it struggles for setup opportunities against more offensive teams, which is the best play style right now. I will be interested to see if people can innovate Bolt to be more effective in these matchups.
I don’t like that Body Press sets can sweep through certain team structures, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are a ton of splashable checks to this mon that fit on every archetype. Its lack of set diversity makes it a lot easier to plan for as well.
Cheese stick stocks are plummeting. Meta trends have been really unkind to Gholdengo, so it’s struggling in the current meta somewhat. On paper, its typing is amazing, but it’s actually a bit of a letdown in practice. Weaknesses to dark and fire force Tera in a lot of scenarios. Boots spam is also all over the place, so its ability to keep hazards up is less useful now.
Salt Cure is a supremely stupid move, but that doesn’t change the fact that Garg is passive and Tera reliant otherwise. No harm including it on the survey, but it is not a problem to me.
Other mentions:
I think an argument could be made for Dragapult being the best Pokémon in the tier at the moment. It has insane set diversity, with at least five different high viability sets and some other more gimmicky options at its disposal too. Not necessarily worthy of action, but worth keeping an eye on.
Terastallization:
At the start of the generation, I was in favor of a full ban, but I understand why a full ban is probably not in the cards anymore given that it would effectively mean starting the generation over. That being said, I still would like to see some effort to reign the mechanic in somewhat because it exacerbates a lot of the match-up fishing problems people have with the tier. I have no idea what a palatable solution looks like, but I plan to keep an open mind moving forward.
Last edited: