New Pokemon:
Unlikely to stay in UU (S Rank if they do stay, BL or even OU):
It hasn't been receiving much usage in OU so far, but 97/101/89 bulk coupled with Prism Armor, access to reliable recovery, Calm Mind and Stored Power should be a massive pain for UU to deal with. It also gets some other interesting options in Stealth Rock, Autotomize (alongside usable offensive stats) and Swords Dance. Honestly, this has to be one of the weirdest Pokemon introduced in Sun & Moon and, at least for now, it's pretty hard for me to tell where it's gonna end up or which one of its sets is going to be the most threatening/reliable.
This, my friends, is what happens when you put a Diggersby and a Furfrou in a Day Care and force them to breed until a new Pokemon comes out. Excellent offensive typing (which only misses out on Ghost-type Pokemon), insane physical bulk, courtesy of its ability (which is basically Fur Coat with an added Fire-type weakness) and access to moves such as Swords Dance, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch and Shadow Claw means that if this Pokemon ever drops from OU, it's either going to dominate UU in a hilarious fashion or will end up stuck in BL. For what it's worth, Mega Aerodactyl's Wing Attack fails to 2HKO Bewear, which can then proceed to knock Aerodactyl out with a Choice Band-boosted Hammer Arm. In spite of this, I think it'll be fun to see how this Pokemon interacts with the rest of the metagame if it ever drops.
Likely to become staple Pokemon in UU (High A Rank):
Primarina has a godlike typing, which basically makes it UU's best Hydreigon counter (assuming Tapu Fini doesn't end up dropping, which would be pretty stupid), incredibly high Special stats and a respectable movepool. A Choice Specs set with a Water-type move of choice between Hydro Pump and Scald, Moonblast, Psychic and Energy Ball is likely to put in work against UU balance and bulky offense, with Empoleon being the most reliable answer. Besides that, it can also run bulkier sets such as Rest + Sleep Talk, Perish Song (too bad it doesn't get Whirlpool, or else this would be ludicrous), or even a similar set to what Escavalier currently runs, using Assault Vest or Leftovers + Protect with offensive investment to take on some of the most common threats.
Even though it doesn't look spectacular on paper, it is able to consistently grab a Swords Dance boost pretty much every game, thanks to its ability, which makes it immune to the first attack that the opponent uses on it. Swords Dance / Play Rough / Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak should be nearly impossible for offense to deal with, considering that it fares pretty well against the most common revenge killers (Choice Scarf Hydreigon and Choice Scarf Mienshao), is naturally faster than Pokemon like Krookodile and Lucario and has unresisted coverage on top of that. Who would've thought that this generation's Pikachu (literal) ripoff could end up being so unique (and good too!)?
Even though it's pretty sad that this Pokemon's best Fighting-type move is Sky Uppercut, Kommo-o still has a lot going for it and should easily become one of UU's staple Pokemon. For starters, 75/125/105 bulk is incredibly good and Kommo-o has a lot of tools to help it making use of its bulk, including its above-average offensive stats, Bulk Up, Swords Dance, Autotomize, Dragon Dance and Belly Drum. As far as its viable sets go, I could see something along the lines of Bulk Up / Dragon Tail / Rest / Sleep Talk working when paired with a solid Fairy-type lure. Choice Specs is a no-brainer considering Kommo-o's signature move and Dragon Dance / Autotomize / Swords Dance should all be viable in spite of this thing's lack of an incredibly good Fighting-type move. Substitute + Belly Drum + Reversal + Salac sounds like a hilarious gimmick though.
Likely to be valuable Pokemon in UU (Low A Rank or high B Rank):
Probably the most unique out of all starter Pokemon, which is saying a lot, considering that they're all awesome in their own different way. Basically, Decidueye's signature move is a relatively strong Ghost-type move that allows it to trap whichever Pokemon it hits, which can be exploited thanks to this Pokemon's access to both U-turn and Baton Pass. Besides that, it also gets good offensive stats, Swords Dance, Sucker Punch, reliable recovery in Roost, Feather Dance, Haze and most importantly, Defog, which is easily one of the most valuable moves in competitive Pokemon right now. Has to directly compete with Dhelmise (which I'll get into in a bit) for a team slot, but at a glance it seems like both of them have their merits.
Too bad that this thing's ability doesn't make it immune to Water-type moves, but it's still an unique and strong Pokemon with above average physical bulk, sick Special Attack (paired with an equally sick offensive typing) and reliable recovery. Checks Mega Aerodactyl, Electric-type Pokemon and most Fighting-type Pokemon nicely and pairs up well with many common Pokemon such as pretty much every Water-type and Hydreigon.
Yeah, another dual Grass/Ghost-type Pokemon. The plot twist? This one also gets pseudo-STAB on Steel-type moves! yay! That aside, the main selling point behind this thing is its ability to use Rapid Spin while also being able to hit insanely hard, which allows it to scare pretty much every other Ghost-type Pokemon out. Pretty similar to Decidueye in a way, except that it packs way less utility and is more about killing shit. A bulky offensive set with HP and Attack investment, Leftovers, Power Whip, Phantom Force, Rapid Spin and either Heavy Slam or Gyro Ball sounds OK on paper, although Assault Vest could work as well depending on what the person using this Pokemon needs from it (although Decidueye is probably better if Special bulk is required).
Likely to have a niche in UU (between B and C+):
Not having Sleep Powder or Tinted Lens is unfortunate, but this thing's typing is infinitely better than Venomoth's, so it can use Quiver Dance just fine, being able to abuse Choice Scarf Hydreigon locked into a STAB move or just -2 Hydreigon in general. Quiver Dance / Moonblast / Polen Puff / Hidden Power Ground with either Lum Berry or Life Orb sounds like an usable set on paper, but it might be better off dropping its Bug-type STAB move for Energy Ball.
After chatting with dodmen about this one, we've come to the conclusion that it pretty much needs Z-moves to work in UU, considering how miserable its movepool is outside of Rock-type moves. However, it's still a Pokemon with access to Swords Dance and Rock-type STAB priority, making it both unique and dangerous at the same time. With that said, it's probably gonna be seen using Swords Dance sets with Accelerock, Stone Edge and a coverage move of choice between Brick Break, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang or Crunch, which sound (and is) terrible on paper but can be used to lure common checks by equipping Lycanroc with the appropriate Z-Crystal.
Good Ability, Speed and Special Attack. Similar to Heliolisk in a way, except that it has literally no coverage options aside from Hidden power and Dragon Pulse, which is unfortunate. Probably one of the best Pokemon within this "rank", but getting eaten alive by Mega Aerodactyl and having no bulk at all doesn't do it any good.
Fun approach to the whole defensive Fairy-type Pokemon archetype, considering its insanely high Speed stat coupled with Taunt and U-turn. Aside from that and Triage/Natural Cure it isn't too memorable. Lack of Moonblast kind of sucks too, I guess.
It could be a lot stronger if it didn't have such an inconvenient ability, but having good bulk and a decent typing, access to the newly buffed Leech Life, Bulk Up, priority in Sucker Punch and Aqua Jet can make it worth running on some teams and an absolute beast if supported properly.
Probably the most awkward Pokemon released this generation, with a grand total of 2 ways of directly hurting opposing Pokemon. The problem? Both of those are Z-moves and this thing's offensive stats aren't even good! However, it gets randomly colossal defenses, Unaware and a nasty supportive movepool, which includes options such Recover, Toxic, Soak, Curse, Baton Pass and Taunt. On top of that, mono Water is a sick defensive typing, so this thing could definitely do a lot of damage in UU, and could even become the face of UU stall teams, which would be pretty hilarious in a way.
Quite frankly, I have no clue about how good this thing is gonna turn out to be. On paper, it's a mini Arceus with 18 different forms, but the truth is that it lacks all of the options that make Arceus a Pokemon worth calling a god. It's not even a matter of having lower base stats than Arceus, but more about not having a reliable recovery move, not having Extreme Speed, not having Calm Mind, its memory items not boosting Multi-Attack like Plates boost Judgment and so on. However, it still gets Swords Dance, Parting Shot (!) and solid base stats across the board. I could see one or two of its forms (probably Ghost and Normal with a Fire-type Z-Move) becoming reasonably good in UU with a Swords Dance set.
Too bad that it gets an actually usable Special movepool with no real way of abusing it though. Ignore this last bit! It can use Z-Move Heal Block to grab a +2 Special Attack boost. Still unsure about how good it'll be though.
Obviously gimmicky in a way, but this thing is such a dangerous Shell Smash user that it's impossible to overlook. Substitute to activate its ability, White Herb to remain fairly bulky after a boost and to power up Acrobatics at the same time and it should be good to go. Earthquake rounds off the set by hitting Steel-type Pokemon. It's a very one-dimensional Pokemon and requires some support to functional, but I could see it paying off in the long run in a similar fashion to how Slurpuff works.
Interesting Pokemon that are unlikely to stay in UU:
Interesting probably isn't enough to describe this Pokemon. The ability to completely destroy Celebi while also being able to Throat Chop the hell out of Sylveon isn't bad at all, and Incineroar should be able to run a decent Choice Band set with Flare Blitz, Throat Chop, U-turn and a filler move of choice. However, not having Pursuit, Sucker Punch or access to its hidden ability is unfortunate and heavily compromises its viability in UU. At least we finally got a bulky dual Fire/Dark-type Pokemon though!
A weird hybrid between Choice Band Conkeldurr and Swords Dance Abomasnow. Ice Hammer + Iron Fist should be a pain in the ass for slower teams to play around, but the lack any of defensive utility or strong priority move whatsoever should make it way too one-dimensional to work consistently in UU.
This Pokemon has to be one of my personal favorites (flavor-wise at least) of this generation for sure. Monstrous base stats, courtesy of its ability, U-turn and a decent typing (excellent defensively but questionable as a standalone offensive typing) should give this a niche as a Choice Band user (Waterfall / Earthquake / U-turn / Return or Sleep Talk sounds sweet on paper), but its movepool doesn't give it much room to work with, which is unfortunate. Maybe this will be changed once there are move tutors in Gen 7?
Two sweet abilities, respectable base stats and access to U-turn on top of that. Could see some usage on Spikes stacking teams as a Choice Scarf user in a similar fashion to Primeape in lower tiers, but that's most likely the extent of this Pokemon's viability in UU.
Very interesting ability coupled with some awesome options, including Rapid Spin, Swords Dance (and priority in Sucker Punch) and U-turn. It's most likely not going to end up affecting UU at all, but I still found it worth mentioning based on its unique traits.
Bruxish a.k.a. Brexit: The Pokemon
A Swords Dance set with Psychic Fangs, Ice Fang and Aqua Jet doesn't sound half bad on paper, but being a frail Psychic-type Pokemon that gets outpaced by Hydreigon and speed ties with Krookodile doesn't do it any good. Pretty much a poor men's Mega Sharpedo, although not bending over to Conkeldurr and not taking up a mega evolution slot is sort of interesting. All in all, it just isn't looking too good for White Queen's new favorite Pokemon.
Choice Specs sets will hit insanely hard, but Hydreigon, Kommo-o and even Kyurem should be superior choices for the most part due to their higher defensive utility and speed. It should be able to always get 1 kill per game if used correctly though, considering its ability and passable bulk.
