Time for metagame thoughts! It's been a while since I've posted, so I want to talk about all the broken/interesting stuff thats popped up lately.
https://pokepast.es/995d6908af59b1d4
First lets talk about the Frog. Greninja is a great mon to have in the tier: Speed Control, a good offensive spiker ( in shambles), and a great tool for and against Offense. This thing just threatens so much while outspeeding everything. Notably, Greninja has the worst 4MSS syndrome I've ever seen on a mon in our tier. It wants Water and Dark coverage for and , Grass or Poison coverage for and , and Ice coverage to OHKO and . It also really wants Spikes and U-turn for utility. With different moveslot choices your frog is walled by different mons, but honestly just 4 Attacks Choice Specs might be the most broken set. Pivot Spikes is good, but Specs is just so immediately threatening that I'm not sure you need anything else. It's a bit too early to determine if Greninja is too much for the tier, but I'd keep an eye out for it. Also shout out to aiwla to pointing out that AV is a great Greninja check.
https://pokepast.es/cdb0296de291a0ae
This thing has been good for a while. Thundy is maybe the most insane Stall and Balance-breaker we have right now. doesn't really handle Nasty Plot as +2 Pummeling almost just OHKOs, and nothing else on Stall wants to come close to it except Spdef . Typical Balance cores like Spdef and a ground like or are also terrified of this thing. Pivot sets also just Volt Switch or U-turn on everything and can super easily chip down checks like and . Building defensively for Thundy is kind of a nightmare. Not sure that it makes it broken, but it is very, very good.
https://pokepast.es/51b32ca77c27e5b3
Hands is the trades master. This thing is just so ridiculously tanky, it can live hits it definitely shouldn't like Luster Purge. Generally you just need to outspeed and the rest of your EVs can be put into bulk or Attack. SD is definitely the better set, but Choice Band completely obliterates stuff like , , or thinking it can safely switch into SD. Hands can fit on Offense, Balance, Fat, pretty much wherever you want and it will always perform.
https://pokepast.es/42dcc17bc49d3a55
I don't know why we didn't ban this, but now with gone () Tspike Moth has gotten much better. There aren't many good Poisons right now to absorb, and our defoggers don't want to get near this thing (and also they don't really exist). Tspike + U-turn is almost impossible to fit, but being able to Poison and is pretty huge. Morning Sun/Tspike also is a really splashable Stall-breaker while being a good offensive presence. Booster Moth is fine and is getting better with Offense getting better, but is still only really usable on HO.
This thing is also very, very good. It generally only has one set, being Luster Purge + Flip Turn + Roost + Draco/Aura, but it does its job very well. Being one of the best offensive checks for , , AND , the utility this brings to Offense while being a great wallbreaker cannot be understated. Use this thing more.
A few other metagame thoughts. With the prevalence of these offensive threats, Stall isn't great right now. There are plenty of splashable breakers to use, so you shouldn't have an issue with a good team breaking Stall. The other big thing is that there are really no good Defoggers at the moment. is fine but hates getting Knocked and can't stay alive forever, and the same can be said of . Right now I think Offense is definitely the best playstyle, and we may see more Boots spam teams and Hazard Stack cropping up in the future.
All this being said, I like where the meta is at right now. I would keep an eye on Greninja, Thundurus-T, Iron Hands, and Iron Moth to see how they develop into this new meta. And if NDOU could graciously give us Moltres back, I would greatly appreciate that.
https://pokepast.es/995d6908af59b1d4
First lets talk about the Frog. Greninja is a great mon to have in the tier: Speed Control, a good offensive spiker ( in shambles), and a great tool for and against Offense. This thing just threatens so much while outspeeding everything. Notably, Greninja has the worst 4MSS syndrome I've ever seen on a mon in our tier. It wants Water and Dark coverage for and , Grass or Poison coverage for and , and Ice coverage to OHKO and . It also really wants Spikes and U-turn for utility. With different moveslot choices your frog is walled by different mons, but honestly just 4 Attacks Choice Specs might be the most broken set. Pivot Spikes is good, but Specs is just so immediately threatening that I'm not sure you need anything else. It's a bit too early to determine if Greninja is too much for the tier, but I'd keep an eye out for it. Also shout out to aiwla to pointing out that AV is a great Greninja check.
https://pokepast.es/cdb0296de291a0ae
This thing has been good for a while. Thundy is maybe the most insane Stall and Balance-breaker we have right now. doesn't really handle Nasty Plot as +2 Pummeling almost just OHKOs, and nothing else on Stall wants to come close to it except Spdef . Typical Balance cores like Spdef and a ground like or are also terrified of this thing. Pivot sets also just Volt Switch or U-turn on everything and can super easily chip down checks like and . Building defensively for Thundy is kind of a nightmare. Not sure that it makes it broken, but it is very, very good.
https://pokepast.es/51b32ca77c27e5b3
Hands is the trades master. This thing is just so ridiculously tanky, it can live hits it definitely shouldn't like Luster Purge. Generally you just need to outspeed and the rest of your EVs can be put into bulk or Attack. SD is definitely the better set, but Choice Band completely obliterates stuff like , , or thinking it can safely switch into SD. Hands can fit on Offense, Balance, Fat, pretty much wherever you want and it will always perform.
https://pokepast.es/42dcc17bc49d3a55
I don't know why we didn't ban this, but now with gone () Tspike Moth has gotten much better. There aren't many good Poisons right now to absorb, and our defoggers don't want to get near this thing (and also they don't really exist). Tspike + U-turn is almost impossible to fit, but being able to Poison and is pretty huge. Morning Sun/Tspike also is a really splashable Stall-breaker while being a good offensive presence. Booster Moth is fine and is getting better with Offense getting better, but is still only really usable on HO.
This thing is also very, very good. It generally only has one set, being Luster Purge + Flip Turn + Roost + Draco/Aura, but it does its job very well. Being one of the best offensive checks for , , AND , the utility this brings to Offense while being a great wallbreaker cannot be understated. Use this thing more.
A few other metagame thoughts. With the prevalence of these offensive threats, Stall isn't great right now. There are plenty of splashable breakers to use, so you shouldn't have an issue with a good team breaking Stall. The other big thing is that there are really no good Defoggers at the moment. is fine but hates getting Knocked and can't stay alive forever, and the same can be said of . Right now I think Offense is definitely the best playstyle, and we may see more Boots spam teams and Hazard Stack cropping up in the future.
All this being said, I like where the meta is at right now. I would keep an eye on Greninja, Thundurus-T, Iron Hands, and Iron Moth to see how they develop into this new meta. And if NDOU could graciously give us Moltres back, I would greatly appreciate that.