Project Top 10 6th Gen NU Titans

erisia · Oct 15, 2016

Approved by erisia (coolest user)
Adapted from Shiba's UU Titans thread.
Banner by sanjay.

Generation 6 has been an interesting one for NU, with many Mega Evolutions spending some time wrecking the local populace during their brief stays, and one, Mega Audino, eventually calling the tier its own for good. With the arrival of ORAS in November 2014, many NU/PU Pokemon received Mega Evolutions, and due to the lack of a formal process regarding this at the start of the metagame, these Pokemon were all still legal in NU for a short time. Mega Lopunny, Mega Sceptile, and Mega Beedrill terrorised the tier with their insane attacking stats and speed tiers, while other offensive threats such as Mega Altaria and Mega Pidgeot were also free to terrorise teams. New Pokemon such as Slurpuff, Pangoro, and Dragalge enjoyed their time in the tier, receiving access to new tutor moves and hidden abilities upon the release of ORAS, making them vastly more threatening and ultimately too much to handle. On the other hand, other additions such as Mega Audino, Barbaracle, Vivillon, and Malamar and have become balanced and valuable additions to the tier. Meanwhile, old staples such as Feraligatr and Typhlosion also received new buffs that let them terrorise the tier. However, the NU metagame largely managed to settle by the end of 2015, and with Pokemon Sun and Moon approaching within weeks, now seems like as good a time as any to have a retrospective look and discuss which Pokemon influenced this tier the most! Everyone loves Top 10 lists, so we'll be having a discussion and eventual vote on the top 10 Pokemon that had the most influence over NU.

From 15th-29th of October, you'll have the opportunity to nominate Pokemon that you think are worthy of the title of titan, discussing what sets they ran, how they could be checked / countered, what teams they appeared on, and so on and so forth. After this nomination period, we'll then vote sequentially on these Pokemon for the 1-10 positions. All nominations will be included on the slate unless they are obviously terrible (looking at you, Sandslash); these Pokemon don't necessarily have to be usable in the current metagame to be nominated, as these banned threats (such as Sawk) can often hold the most influence during their time in the tier. That said, please refrain from nominating Pokemon that weren't NU for long enough to actually influence much or distinguish themselves as threats (so this includes things like Mega Glalie and Mega Lopunny). Objectively speaking, the nominated Pokemon should have stuck around for at least 3 metagame stages. Mega formes shouldn't be included in your nomination for a base forme (e.g. Mega Steelix), but if the Mega forme was around for long enough feel free to make a seperate nomination for it. These stages can be found in the list below, as well as all of the viability rankings threads for different points in Gen 6 NU:

The first one: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/xy-nu-viability-ranking.3509494/
The second one: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/oras-nu-viability-rankings.3523692/
The third one: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/oras-nu-viability-rankings-under-construction.3545276/
The fourth one: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/oras-nu-viability-rankings.3553680/
The current one!: http://www.smogon.com/forums/posts/6518168/

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.

Here's a recommended post format:

Nominating [Pokemon]

Enter sprite or animated model here.

What effect did [Pokemon] have on the metagame?

Explain how the Pokemon effected 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 NU?

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

All remaining nominations can be seen below, along with the placed winners! You can still nominate new Pokemon during the voting rounds, but they can't be voted on until the voting round after, so this is only really advisable if you want to nominate stuff for the lower ranks.

#1:

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#10:

Have fun!

etern · Oct 15, 2016

Nominating Xatu

What effect did [Pokemon] have on the metagame?

Xatu has always been a standout Pokemon from its arrival to present time thanks to the amazing ability 'Magic Bounce". Throughout the many metas of Gen 6 Xatu has comfortably sat in the A to A+ range, even having a brief stint as an S ranked Pokemon due to its influence and ability to warp hazard setting and spike stacking around itself. Its presence alone creates mindgames from team preview and turns otherwise reliable hazard setters such as Ferroseed, Steelix, PhysDef Mesprit, and Torterra into liabilities. This has lead to adaptations such as Sheer Force Steelix and Offensive Garbodor being innovated in an effort to get hazards past Xatu. However, Magic Bounce doesn't just let Xatu dictate hazard wars, but also act as one of the most terrifying stallbreakers in the tier due to its ability to deflect any status moves and phazing attempts. The pressure Xatu (in particular its Calm Mind set) puts on Stall, Semistall and even Balanced teams forces specific Pokemon such as Choice Band Pursuit Liepard and Crunch Skuntank to be used as a way of preventing it from running wild. Furthermore, Xatu has also arguably been a major propellent to issues the tier has faced with Baton Passing thanks to its access to Magic Bounce, Stored Power, and reliable recovery with Roost which made it an awesome partner for Combusken. (this ultimately lead to Baton Pass + Speed Boosts being banned.). Even today, new ways of abusing Xatu's great synergy with Baton Passers sprout up, for example the rare but menacing Cosmic Power pass of Lopunny.

The most common ways of dealing with Xatu include Dark-types (particularly pursuit trappers such as Skuntank), Rock-types such as Rhydon and Aggron, and offensive pressure in general from the likes of Rotom, Haunter, Pyroar, etc. Though, given the opportunity to set up, Xatu can be extremely difficult to break through.

In what main roles was [Pokemon] used?
Sets:

Calm Mind
Pivot
Offensive

Xatu is generally used as a bulky pivot that can switch into common hazard setters and act as a stallbreaker should it be the CM variant. Offensive Xatu also fits well on HO as a powerful special attacker that can act as a soft form of hazard control and nail typical switch ins with its unique coverage.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Xatu's impact is attributed to its fantastic ability "Magic Bounce" which has allowed it to warp hazard walls around itself. This is compounded by its useful 4x resistance to Fighting-type moves, access to great coverage, Calm Mind, U-turn, and reliable recovery in roost. Basically, Xatu is able to fit on any team archetype and performs consistently in all its roles.

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

Xatu is usually dealt with by either immediate offensive presence from powerhouses such as Archeops and Tauros, Pursuit Trapping from the likes of Skunk and Liepard, or just general advantageous type matchups. (though Colbur Berry is a common item on Xatu, and it can be hard to break after it has a couple of Calm Minds set up.) Stall has also adapted to deal with Xatu through stuff like Skill Swap Bronzor, Clear Smog Gastrodon, and Acid Spray Skuntank.

Jisoo · Oct 15, 2016

Nominating Mesprit

What effect did Mesprit have on the metagame?

Mesprit has been a versatile Pokemon for quite some time now, sporting almost 105 stats all along the board, only missing out on Speed and HP, with 85. Mesprit has always been a top ranked Pokemon, having an S rank in this meta and being around the A rank for the majority of its time in ORAS. With its wide movepool, several sets have been discovered and have been used to great results. With a more recent set in Choice Specs being used, is has brought niche Pokemon like Bronzor to the forefront, with Eviolite boosting its already passable Special Defense, and Psychic/Steel typing 4x Resisting Psychic, its main STAB. With its unpredictability with all of its sets, there is no set-and-stone counter to it.

In what main roles was Mesprit used?

There were 4 main sets that Mesprit used

Stealth Rock Defensive
Choice Specs
Choice Scarf
Life Orb AoA

All of these sets were usable on almost every playstyle with maybe the exception of stall, where Mesprit doesn't have enough utility to be a top Pokemon there. The defensive set was a great answer to many fighting types, namely Hitmonchan, who got punished for attacking Mesprit. The Choice Specs set was a fantastic wallbreaker for offense, with switch ins being close to nonexistent on some teams. The Choice Scarf set was for sure less common, but with the above mentioned unpredictability of Mesprit, it was hard to tell what Mesprit set it was, and it could potentially let Mesprit pick off foes it couldn't before, like Swellow or Tauros.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

What made this Pokemon have a significant impact in my opinion is its movepool and unpredictability. It is sometimes very difficult to tell Mesprit's set from team match up when its paired with another potential Rocker like Rhydon, because either Mesprit could have Rocks and Rhydon could be the DualDance set, or the Rhydon can have Rocks and the Mesprit could have a more offensive set. Mesprit's movepool allows you to cover a myriad of Pokemon, with none really being a guaranteed switch in all of the time (i.e Mesprit could run Shadow Ball to 2HKO Bronzor (252+ SpA Life Orb Mesprit Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Bronzor: 172-203 (54 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). Anyway, every set is threatening and always has the potential to do good in a match.

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

The metagame definitely adapted to Mesprit after how threatening it became along with Jynx, another fellow Psychic type. One thing that rose in popularity is Bronzor. Bronzor checks every single Mesprit set with ease bar the rare Shadow Ball set. The metagame has become more suited to trapping Mesprit with Pokemon such as Skuntank and being able to pivot around Choiced Mesprit
~
Overall hope you guys liked this post!

skies · Oct 15, 2016

reservjng combusken

erisia · Oct 15, 2016

To clarify how Megas work; please nominate Mega Evolutions separately to base formes. I think this is only relevant for Mega Steelix but yeah. Mega Steelix and Steelix existed in different metagames so obviously they had different influences even if they did largely similar things.

Earth also wrote up his Tauros post but it got deleted, so I won't delete his nomination after 24 hours but that's the only exception.

pancake · Oct 15, 2016

Nominating Jynx

What effect did Jynx have on the metagame?

Jynx's amazing offensive typing, wallbreaking abilities, revenge killing abilities, and ability to sweep has resulted in its popularity throughout 6th Gen NU. Its very respectable speed tier has created a "benchmark" speed tier throughout the generation; it's especially important to have a mon that outspends Jynx on most teams. Its typing let it be an offensive check to stuff like the many Fighting types in this tier. It's popularity resulted in the popularity of checks like Bronzor, and it has always been important to have a Pokemon that can take a +2 hit from Jynx or a way to revenge it on your team. In addition, Jynx's ability, Dry Skin, let it be a soft check to Waters and Aqua Jet users. Despite the many other Psychic types that have graced this tier, Jynx has managed to stand out from all of them due to these characteristics.

In what main roles was Jynx used?

Jynx's main sets for most of its time in NU have been a Focus Sash set with Nasty Plot, a Lovely Kiss + 3 Attacks Sash set, and a Choice Scarf set. Recently, a Sub + Nasty Plot set has been gaining popularity. It is used as a powerful wallbreaker or sweeper, and the Scarf set is a great revenge killer.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

The main reasins why Jynx has had a large impact on the metagame is due to its amazing offensive typing and ability to sweep a weakened or unprepared team. The opponent must play very well to preserve their Jynx checks as common teammates for Jynx weaken these checks. In addition, Jynx fairs well against a large number of playstyles. Scarf can sweep through a weakened offense team, SubNP destroys stall unless you have Bronzor, and Lovely Kiss NP has a great matchup against balance.

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

Many common checks to Jynx have an issue with certain sets that Jynx runs. For example, Mega Audino can easily take hits from Scarf Jynx, but unless if it's CM, if can't beat NP variants. There are a few guaranteed jynx checks, like Bronzor. However, Jynx is very susceptible to revenge killing by Choice Scarf users and faster Pokemon. After Jynx's sash is broken, it can easily be revenged by stuff like Tauros, Choice Scarf Rotom, Mach Punch from Hitmonchan, Bullet Punch from Hariyama, and other priority moves. Steel types in general are also decent switch-ins to non-Focus Blast Jynx, although the most common one, Steelix, is weakened by Ice Beam.

Pokedots · Oct 15, 2016

What effect did Rhydon have on the metagame?
Rhydon has been one of the premier Stealth Rock setters (and the premier one after Seismitoad left) due to its combination of incredible bulk with Eviolite, excellent STABs and Attack stat, and useful defensive typing. It has always been one of the most splashable tanks in the tier due to its ability to check and counter Pokemon such as Tauros, Archeops, Scyther, Garbodor, Typhlosion when it was in the tier, Swellow, Kangaskhan, Skuntank, Scarf Rotom, among others. It's one of the main reasons Hidden Power Grass is universally run on Fire-types, and it has led to the creation of new sets and Pokemon adapting their movements such as people using Iron Tail on Tauros, Hex Rotom, Seed Bomb Garbodor, Surf Mega Audino, Earth Power/HP Grass/Aqua Tail Archeops, and Aqua Tail Kangaskhan.

In what main roles was Rhydon used?
Rhydon was most commonly used as a bulky Stealth Rock setter. It had a lot of variety in its last moveslot, as it only really needed SR and dual STABs, so it could run Megahorn to hit the likes of Claydol and Mesprit harder and become a Malamar check, or it could run Swords Dance to help it break bulky setup sweepers such as Mega Audino and Musharna and just generally hit things exceptionally hard with a boost. Its EV spread was also experimented with a lot, running either 252 HP / 16+ Atk /240 SpD, which helped in checking Pokemon such as Typhlosion and be able to take strong special hits in a pinch, or more Speed and Attack, usually paired with Swords Dance, in order to break Pokemon that otherwise checked it such as Vileplume, Gastrodon, Mega Audino, Gurdurr, Ferroseed, and Hariyama.

The other common set was as a Rock Polish sweeper with Earthquake, Stone Edge, and either Megahorn or Swords Dance in its last slot. This set made Rhydon into an excellent sweeper and wallbreaker while still retaining the ability to check Normal and Flying-types. As a result, it was hugely threatening to balance and offense alike. Its existence led to the rise of Pokemon such as Tangela in XY and Gourgeist-XL and Quagsire in ORAS as stall staples, in addition to the likes of Lanturn and Hariyama running more speed in order to outspeed it. Its popularity fluctuated a lot over the course of the generation, but oftentimes the set could surprise an opponent expecting the tank set, which made it especially dangerous.

What caused it to have a significant impact?
I feel like I already said this and this is rather long

How did you deal with this Pokemon?
Bulky Grass- and Water-types such as Vileplume, Gourgeist-XL, Quagsire, and Gastrodon were the best ways to deal with Rhydon, with certain other Pokemon such as Gurdurr and Piloswine checking it well, too. Fire-, Flying-, and Normal-types adjusted their movesets to exploit its weaknesses to Grass, Water, and in the case of Tauros, Steel. Rhydon is rather slow, its Special Defense isn't fantastic, and it has weaknesses to common attacking types such as Water, Grass, Ice, Fighting, and Ice. As a result, faster attackers such as Lilligant, Samurott, Jynx, Sawk, Specs Mesprit, Aurorus, and others could take it on, though they often struggled to switch in.

PS someone please nominate Seismitoad

Take Azelfie · Oct 16, 2016

Nominating Typhlosion

What effect did Typhlosion have on the metagame?

Typhlosion was the leader that made Fire spam such a prominent playstyle in the tier since Choice Specs Eruption 2HKOed almost the entire tier outside of a couple things like Prinplup, Mantine, and Hariyama. On top of that it had such a great speed tier which became overwhelming since very little without a choice scarf could actually revenge kill it. Typhlosion was the main reason you ALWAYS needed some sort of fire resist to risk not getting blown back.

In what main roles was Typhlosion used?

Choice Specs was the main set since it 2HKOed most of the tier with Eruption. You could also use stuff like Extrasensory and Hidden Power Electric to lure / weaken
typical Fire checks like Hariyama and Mantine. It also could use Choice Scarf to act as a revenge killer and avoid taking any damage so you still have high powered Eruptions but this set wasn't as good specs since it lost a lot of firepower (hah). There were lastly Charcoal sets which allowed it run lures more effectively like Earthquake and Hidden Power Electric.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

It has always been a huge threat but what really pushed it over the edge was when Mega Camerupt joined the tier (who was also suspected alongside it.) Mega Camerupt pretty much bodied / weakened all the Typhlosion checks and then you end up cleaning with Eruption thanks to its speed. Eruption was also a huge factor since it made it possible to break past typical fire checks with just that extra bit of power.

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

Hariyama was a staple to most teams. You could also use Mantine to switch in a few. Fast Water-types like Floatzel and Aqua Jet Feraligatr / Samurott helped to check it offensively. Prinplup could come in a few times. You wanted to keep hazards up to so it couldn't come in as freely since it would drop Eruption's power. You could run your own Typhlosion to switch in on Eruption. Pignite was also godlike.

erisia · Oct 16, 2016

As a reminder please edit your nomination into your reservation post if you have one. I'd rather not have to delete posts. All current reservations apart from Pokedots' have lapsed so these are all available if you post before the original reserver updates their post. Bouff in particular has withdrawn his nomination of Sawk so someone else should take that.

Kiyo · Oct 17, 2016

Nominating Sawk

What effect did Sawk have on the metagame?

Sawk defined the offensive playstyle for several stages of the NU metagame, and remained a constant threat through favorable and unfavorable metagame changes. Sawk shaped the way offensive teams responded to and dealt with entry hazards, both in the teambuilding stage and throughout the course of a game. Sawk gave offense a reliable way to handle both balanced and defensive teams alike due to it's powerful STAB and perfect coverage moves that hit even foe's that resisted its attack's hard. Sawk's presence greatly contributed to the popularity of bulky Poison-types such as Garbodor and Weezing, as well as Ghost- and Psychic-types carrying Colbur berries such as Gourgeist, Uxie, Mesprit, Musharna, and Xatu. Sawk's effect on the metagame can still be felt stages after its ban as teams continually try to emulate its wallbreaking capabilities and continue to center their playstyles on abusing powerful Fighting-type Pokemon and removing their checks with strong Pursuit users.

In what main roles was Sawk used?

Sawk was most known for its Choice Band and Choice Scarf sets, with the former being its most common and most threatening. Choice Band Sawk had few reliable switch ins and restricted balanced and defensive builds team structure's greatly. Choice Scarf was able to clean the offensive teams the metagame favored near the end of Sawk's tenure.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

A powerful STAB move in Close Combat backed by a 120 base Attack and a better than average 85 base Speed allowed Sawk to have a significant impact on the metagame. An equally if not more important point is the Knock Off buff that made Sawk a threat to even the most physically bulky Ghost- and Psychic-types. These two characteristics along with an insane coverage movepool consisting of Earthquake, Stone Edge, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Zen Headbutt, Poison Jab, and Reversal among others, made Sawk a nightmare to prepare for.

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

Bulky Poison-types capable of tanking at least one of Sawk's great coverage moves were extremely popular, the most notable of which are Garbodor and Weezing due to their ability to set spikes, toxic spikes, dodge earthquake from non-mold breaker variants, and spread burn with Will-O-Wisp, respectively. Bulky Ghost- and Psychic-types were also extremely popular but often needed to supplement their bulk the Dark-type damage reducing Colbur Berries. The majority of these Ghost and Psychic types also attempted to deal with Sawk through either status inducing moves such as Thunder Wave and Will-O-Wisp or by setting Stealth Rock in an attempt to break Sawk's sturdy for their teammates to handle it. Rocky Helmet users were extremely popular tools used to break Sawk's sturdy and frequently saw use on the aforementioned Pokemon.

Shadestep · Oct 18, 2016

Nominating Garbodor

What effect did Garbodor have on the metagame?
Garbodor has always been one of the tier's best hazard-setting Pokemon. It's super-easy to fit on a plethora of teams, may it be Hyper Offense, Balance, Bulky Offense, or whatever. Garbodor would always fit on there. Garbodor marks the land for one of the most dominant team archetyps in Hazard-stacking offense teams, with teammates such as Rotom and Tauros as great partners, in combination with a bulky Stealth Rock-user. Garbodor's main appeal is that it blanket-checks a huge amount of physical attackers, just by its awesome defensive stats. Aside from that, it can abuse the tier's greatest spinner (Hitmonchan), and continue to lay up more Toxic Spikes and Spikes on it. Garbodor also created the team-archetype 'KangaSpikes', which is basically Kangaskhan + Garbodor + Spinblocker + Hazard Abusers / Pokemon that pressure Hazard Removers.

In what main roles was Garbodor used?
Garbodor's main set is a physically defensive one, with Gunk Shot, Double Spike, and a filler move. The filler move used to almost always be either Drain Punch or Seed Bomb, but ever since Steelix dropped down to NU again, people started using Focus Blast as the filler. While unreliable, it could heavily chunk Pokemon such as Rhydon and Klinklang, as well as the aforementioned Steelix. However, due to Garbodor's insane movepool capabilities, people started to expand from the standard Physically Defensive set, experimenting with Offensive sets, Specially Defensive, and mainly messing around with different Lure-moves, like Thunderbolt, Psychic, and Rock Blast.

What caused it to have a significant impact?
The main reason Garbodor is and has always been so popular is that it's so incredibly easy to splash on teams. It's not restricted to any Team Archetype and can easily fit on whatever team you'd want it to be on. Not a lot can prevent it from getting up hazards easily and in teambuilder, you always need to prepare for Garbodor, by having something to immediately threaten it, like Xatu or Mesprit. This, combined with Garbodor's customizability caused it to move up to S-rank on the Viability Rankings, not too long ago. It has always been one of the most popular Pokemon in NU as shown by [thread=nu-open-v-usage-stats.3579223/]the most recent NU open usage stats[/thread], for example.

How do you deal with this Pokemon in NU?
The easiest answer would be Xatu, in this case. Xatu is the most popular Hazard-deterrent Pokemon in NU and is basically designed to take on Garbodor. It can bounce back any Hazards it tries to set up, and doesn't take much from Gunk Shot. However, Xatu does need to be wary of offensive Garbodor sets that can outpace and 2HKO it with a strong Gunk Shot. Gunk Shot poisons in combination with a Pursuit-trapper like Skuntank or Tauros work great in combination with Garbodor, as they constantly force the Xatu-user to play aggresively to prevent getting trapped, which means Garbodor can take it on once its health has lowered a bit. Other Pokemon that deal with Garbodor well are Mesprit, Special (Defog) Skuntank, and bulky Ground-types such as Rhydon, Steelix, and Piloswine. Weezing deserves a special mention here as, besides a Lure Psychic set, Garbodor can not do anything to it and Weezing can easily Taunt it to prevent Garbodor from setting up too many hazards while also crippling it with Will-O-Wisp in the proces.

Disjunction · Oct 18, 2016

Nominating Hariyama

What effect did Hariyama have on the metagame?

Hariyama has been the tier's premiere special tank since the start. Hariyama's useful set of resistances with Thick Fat, coupled with its offensive presence, has allowed it to adapt and become the saving grace for teams throughout several stages of NU. Hariyama has been able to combat a number of problem Pokemon throughout the history of NU, such as Sneasel, Glalie, Mega Camerupt, and most notably Typhlosion, while still functioning as a general check to a plethora of common special attackers, such as Aurorus, Lilligant, Ludicolo, Magmortar, and Pyroar. Hariyama is famous for being able to compress a lot of defensive roles into one slot which makes team building significantly easier.

In what main roles was Hariyama used?

Hariyama's most common set is an offensive tank with Assault Vest, the moves Fake Out, Bullet Punch, Knock Off, and Close Combat, and the ability Thick Fat. Hariyama is able to fit on semi-defensive through offensive teams because of its unique ability to reliably check both Fire- and Ice-types, be bulky enough to act as a general check to most special attackers, and still exert a relatively high amount of offensive pressure through its high-powered STAB move, great coverage, and excess in priority. Hariyama is also able to make use of its other ability, Guts, to take advantage of common checks like Rotom, Weezing, and Mismagius that try to subdue Thick Fat Hariyama with Will-O-Wisps. Additionally, Hariyama is not restricted to a tanking role, as a Choice Band set becomes a difficult struggle to switch into between Close Combat, Knock Off, Earthquake, and Stone Edge.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Hariyama being the sole, reliable, Fire- and Ice-resistant Pokemon in the tier that was able to stay offensive is what made this Pokemon as splashable as it has been throughout the entirety of 6th Gen NU. No other Pokemon has been able to fill the extremely comprehensive niche Hariyama fills because of its insanely useful bulk and resistances that made it so easy to tag onto teams. Hariyama has fit beautifully into bulky, balanced cores with partners like Steelix, Vileplume, and Xatu that take advantage of one another to create resilient synergies. Additionally, offensive teams make great use of its resistances, powerful offensive pressure, and its ability to soft check opposing offensive threats with its combination of Fake Out and Bullet Punch. Even after Typhlosion, the Pokemon most responsible for Hariyama's rise to notoriety, left the tier, Hariyama has remained very relevant by playing off these important niches.

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

Bulky Psychic-, Ghost-, Flying-, and, most importantly, Poison-type Pokemon have been reliable answers to Hariyama since day one. Bulky Psychic- and Ghost-type Pokemon, such as Musharna, Mesprit, Mismagius, Gourgeist-Super, and Rotom, are commonly known for running Colbur Berry to combat Hariyama's Knock Off and can generally take down the standard Thick Fat Assault Vest set between super-effective coverage and Will-O-Wisp burns, respectively. Bulky Flying-types, such as Scyther and Pelipper, rarely have nothing to fear from the common Hariyama set, aside from the stray Stone Edge, and can break it down with super-effective Flying-type attacks. However, bulky Poison-types, such as Vileplume, Weezing, and Garbodor, have always had a great matchup against Hariyama because of their ability to sponge most attacks Hariyama will commonly throw their way. Garbodor should be wary of Earthquake coverage, but Hariyama is otherwise setup fodder for its Spikes. Additionally, due to Hariyama's low Speed and relatively lacking Defense, it has found itself consistently pressured by strong, physical attackers, such as Kangaskhan, Torterra, and Tauros.

Punchshroom · Oct 19, 2016

Nominating Sneasel

What effect did Sneasel have on the metagame?

Sneasel started off as a sleeper threat; it was present since the beginning of the tier, but it wasn't given very much attention due to the new toys people had to play with. Eventually players realized that Sneasel's incredible Speed tier, respectable power, and marvelous dual STABs made it one of the best immediate attackers in NU. It massively threatened most offensive teams with its Dark and Ice coverage, particularly with Knock Off being both a great KOing move and a tool to cripple its checks. Sneasel enforced its prominence with moves such as Pursuit and Ice Shard to further boost its attacking efficiency, and it was ultimately deemed too powerful of an offensive presence to remain in the tier.

In what main roles was Sneasel used?

Sneasel primarily served as an immediate attacker equipping either Life Orb or Choice Band, using its blistering Speed and good power to pummel foes with its Dark- and Ice-type STABs, which have such incredible neutral coverage on the tier that any non-STAB coverage was often unnecessary, though Low Kick was often considered to damage certain bulkier opponents. Sneasel even offered utility with Pursuit and Ice Shard to pick off an additional variety of threats. Sneasel could attempt an Eviolite Swords Dance set for sweeping potential, though it is usually less consistent compared to immediate attacking sets.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Sneasel was one of the fastest Pokemon in the tier, exceeding the base 110 Speed tier. Unlike most Pokemon that also outsped base 110s, Sneasel didn't suffer from being weak, having inaccurate moves, or lacking in coverage; in fact its dual STABs were perfect for picking off a large majority of offensive Pokemon in the tier, and were difficult to resist, making Sneasel a fearsome attacker that was hard to offensively check. Knock Off was such a drawback-free attack for Sneasel in that if it didn't outright KO its target, it'd have crippled the switch-in instead, whereas Icicle Crash offered a chance to flinch the foe, which works well with Sneasel's high Speed. Sneasel also has Pursuit to pick off fleeing threats as well as Ice Shard to finish off weakened ones, and these two moves often served to induce mindgames for most fast, frail Pokemon, while the majority of other Pokemon are slower and are usually at the mercy of Sneasel's fast Pursuit should they find themselves sufficiently weakened. Simply put, Sneasel was a tad too good at KOing and pressuring things.

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

Sneasel was incredibly frail, especially on the physical side, so it's a matter of simply hitting Sneasel with nearly any neutral attack, as even uninvested blows were likely to leave a huge dent. It's not too difficult to find Pokemon that can withstand Sneasel's attacks: bulky Pokemon with recovery usually did the trick as they can easily take repeated Knock Offs. Unfortunately, many defensive Pokemon were weak to Sneasel's attacks, so the list dwindles down to a handful, such as Milk Drink Miltank, Roost Pelipper, and Weezing and Mawile with Pain Split. Many other Pokemon without recovery, such as Hariyama, Carracosta, Granbull, and Garbodor, can withstand Sneasel's attacks and retaliate for a KO, but Knock Off makes it so that these Pokemon won't be outlasting Sneasel in the long run, especially if they were intended to check additional threats aside from Sneasel. There's also the factor of Pursuit, which can sometimes make it impossible to deny Sneasel its intended KO.

Shuckleking87 · Oct 28, 2016

Uh this looks dead like me but saw this yesterday and there's alot of great mons that have been missed out on. If I am motivated enough in the next 2 days ill write up a nomination for either feraligatr or uxie

erisia · Oct 28, 2016

I'm coming back from my holiday tomorrow so the deadline for new nominations is now Sunday. There's a ton more good mons to pick so don't be shy. :)

pancake · Oct 30, 2016

We can't have top 10 Titans with only 8/9 mons! Come on guys. I can't do Feraligatr, Uxie, or Sceptile but they definitely all need noms :v also probably Tauros.

Plaessy · Oct 30, 2016

I would do if I had time, willingness to do effort and knowledge about nu stages :F

erisia · Oct 30, 2016

Nominating Sceptile

What effect did Sceptile have on the metagame?

Sceptile was barely around for three stages of NU (including its own suspect stage) but almost completely dominated the tier for the entirety of its duration due to its excellent Speed and Special Attack stats alongside a wide mixed offensive movepool. Sceptile's main impact on the tier was making other fast offensive Pokemon far less viable as a result; even standout offensive Pokemon such as Archeops and Tauros were more difficult to justify due to their poor matchups against Sceptile, and Floatzel was almost nowhere to be seen with its niche being completely usurped. Even today the ramifications of this Pokemon's appearance can be seen; Garbodor was one of the best checks to non-Earthquake sets and has since become one of NU's most popular and useful general tanks partly due to its popularity in the Sceptile metagame. Other Poison-types such as Weezing and Vileplume were also extremely common during this stage for their ability to tank its Grass-type attacks somewhat reliably, although they could still be overwhelmed by Overgrow Leaf Storm and Hidden Power respectively. The ubiquity of Sceptile made Water-types such as Samurott and Lanturn less appealing due to their poor matchups against it. Choice Scarf Jynx became more popular during this metagame as it had both the Speed and power to revenge kill Sceptile effectively while also being diffocult to switch into thanks to Lovely Kiss and Trick. Sliggoo also arose as one of the best defensive checks to Sceptile due to its immunity to Leaf Storm and lack of vulnerability to Sceptile's coverage moves. Grass-spam became a common archetypes as other Grass-types such as Shiftry and Abomasnow could lure in checks to Sceptile or vice versa, while others such as Lilligant appreciated Sceptile's wallbreaking support and coverage to give them more sweeping opportunities. Generally speaking, there was almost no downside to running Sceptile on practically any team archetype, as it was both a standout offensive threat and a good offense breaker for more balanced teams due to its absurd Speed tier.

In what main roles was Sceptile used?

Sceptile was of course an offensive Pokemon but it had a multitude of different sets that had different checks and counters. The most common and arguably best set was a specially based Life Orb mixed set, using Leaf Storm and/or Giga Drain to pound most frail targets while using coverage moves such as Focus Blast, Earthquake, Rock Slide, and Hidden Power to get around specific checks such as Miltank, Garbodor, Scyther, and Ferroseed. Substitute + Life Orb was also a highly dangerous set, using Substitute to self-trigger Overgrow and let Sceptile fire off an insanely strong Leaf Storm or heal back with Giga Drain so it could make more Substitutes later. An Unburden Swords Dance set with Acrobatics, Leaf Blade, and either Earthquake or Rock Slide was also used, being able to run lots of HP EVs and using an Adamant nature while still outspeeding all threats at +2, dealing with Choice Scarf users and Swellow that outspeed the other sets.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Base 120 Speed outspeeds all other offensive Pokemon outside of Swellow, which has a significantly smaller offensive movepool and is much more vulnerable in general, meaning that Sceptile was objectively the best offensive Pokemon around. This in combination with Leaf Storm let it beat some offense teams single handedly, if they lacked Choice Scarf users or relied on the abusable Sucker Punch for priority. Overgrow also rewarded Sceptile for switching into attacks and taking damage, as its Giga Drain would then have enough power to secure KOs on even bulky targets and would recover most of the lost health. Combined with a decent Grass-typing and passable special bulk, this meant that Sceptile even had more defensive utility than most of its rivals, making it by far the most common offensive Pokemon around during its stay.

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

Swellow and Choice Scarf users could outspeed Sceptile so long as Unburden hadn't triggered. Priority attacks such as Shiftry's Sucker Punch, Kangaskhan's Fake Out, and Piloswine's Ice Shard also dealt heavy damage to Sceptile. The most common defensive checks were Poison-types due to their resistance to both Giga Drain and Focus Blast, with Weezing and Vileplume being particularly good checks due to their ability to handle Earthquake. Sap Sippers such as Miltank and Sliggoo were also solid checks, although the former died to Focus Blast. If Sceptile lacked Rock Slide, then Charizard and Scyther were also decent checks on balanced teams.

Take Azelfie · Oct 30, 2016

Nominating Rotom

What effect did Rotom have on the metagame?

Rotom is undoubtedly the best spinblocker in the tier and debatably the best Electric, Scarf, and Ghost-type in the tier as well thanks to a combination of good offensive and defensive presence through typing alone and wide range of utility options such as Will-o-Wisp, Substitute, Pain Split, and Trick. All of these qualities made it much harder to perform against since most of these tools let it get around some Pokemon it should have checked before. As well, I previously mentioned it is the best Spinblocker in the tier had a huge impact on Spike stacking teams. Rotom is also one of the main reasons KangaSpikes as a playstyle developed since it provided so much support for Kangaskhan such as a revenge killer and Fighting-type switch ins. Overall all of Rotom's pros made it have a huge impact on the meta. Also it made Skuntank want to run Lum Berry more often so it could be useful throughout the rest of the match after potentially trapping Rotom

In what main roles was Rotom used?

Choice Scarf

Probably the most common of all Rotom's sets this was mainly used as a revenge killer for Pokemon like Jynx and Swellow while also not forfeiting momentum often despite both its STABs having no effect on Normal- and Ghost-types. This set was also one of the better spinblockers as well because it could potentially prey on Hitmonchan switching out.

Spell Tag Hex

This set was mainly used to break down bulkier teams at a fast pace with a combo of Will-o-Wisp + Spell Tag boosted Hex. This caused a lot of disruption and took free advantage of the free turns it got when coming in on Pokemon like Tauros, Primeape, or Scyther. You could also run Discharge for another way to punish fast builds by sometimes inflicting a paralysis which then also boost Hex.

Sub + Hex

Another stallbreaker set that takes a much more defensive and safer approach allowing it get a free Substitute on Pokemon like Weezing and Steelix. Again using Will-o-Wisp + Hex to boost through the opponents and team and Discharge to fish for paralysis on Pokemon that Hex won't do much to.

There were also some other sets like defensive sets with Pain Split, Choice Specs, and Life Orb with Sub and Pain Split.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

As I've said earlier, the combination of all the tricks up its sleeve let it form into a really good glue mon. Choice Scarf being such an easy to set to use made the quota for Rotom checks to be based around scarf but because of its other sets that let it disable stall, bulkier archetypes, and most importantly Choice Scarf Rotom checks let it become very hard to deal with if you weren't prepped enough for its best set. Also the fact that it is the best Spinblocker and one the best Fighting checks lead to a lot of role compression for very important things to have on your team.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in NU?
Lum Berry Skuntank sticks out as one since it could check all of its sets pretty well but it had to watch out for Electric moves. Assault Vest Hariyama and Lanturn could check its Choice Scarf sets pretty well granted it didn't end up getting tricked. You could use priority like in Sucker Punch from Shiftry or Kangaskhan which could threaten all of its sets but they had to be weary of Will-o-Wisp or Substitute if they were to go for the Sucker Punch. Special attackers like AV Magmortor, Pyroar, and Aurorus also worked very well especially these three in particular with Magmortor being able to sponge a few hits, Pyroar being naturally faster and having an immunity to Ghost and Will-o-Wisp, and Aurorus who gave no fucks about Substitute if it was Refrigerate.

Take Azelfie · Oct 30, 2016

I'll do Tauros

pancake · Oct 30, 2016

we still need maudino feraligatr and uxie tbh

Nominating Archeops

What effect did [Pokemon] have on the metagame?

Explain how the Pokemon effected 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.

Archeops has been one of the most influential Pokemon of the entirety of ORAS and XY NU, being in either A+ or S for its entire stay on the viability rankings. This partially stems from its large support movepool, threatening STAB, decent offensive typing, and amazing speed tier which made it faster than threats such as Pyroar and Scyther. Despite its Defeatist ability, having an Archeops check on your team has been almost mandatory for the entirety of at least ORAS and XY NU, as it is a difficult Pokemon to revenge kill and has a hard STAB combination to check. Pokemon such as Rhydon and Mega Audino partially became popular as a result.

In what main roles was [Pokemon] used?

Archeops tends to have a few main sets. These are:

A Suicide Lead
Offensive with Acrobatics and Roost
A Bulkier Set with Defog and Roost

Mostly, Archeops fits better on Offensive or Balanced teams due to its ability to revenge kill and threatening power. Its suicide lead set fits very well on hyper offense teams due to its access to Taunt, Stealth Rock, and Head Smash.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Its amazing Attack and speed tier allowed Archeops to outspeed and KO many potent threats in the NU metagame. It also has a great offensive typing, access to great coverage moves such as Earth Power, powerful STAB in Acrobatics and Stone Edge, and a decent support movepool including Taunt, U-turn, Roost, Stealth Rock, and even Defog. As a result, Archeops became popular despite its hindering ability.

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

Steel types, such as Klinklang and Bronzor, bulky Rock-types such as Regirock and Rhydon, and generally bulky Pokemon like Mega Audino tend to be the best checks to Archeops. Because of its speed tier, Archeops is difficult to revenge kill, but faster Pokemon such as Floatzel and Choice Scarf users like Jynx and Rotom are good offensive checks to it. Finally, Archeops suffers against priority, such as Hitmonchan's Mach Punch, because its lead set is threatened to be KOed and an Archeops in Defeatist can't do a ton either.

AJB · Oct 31, 2016

Nominating Feraligatr

What effect did Feraligatr have on the metagame?

Since the glory days of XY, Feraligatr was an omnipresent threat in the NU metagame. With its high Attack stat and access to boosting moves such as Swords Dance and Dragon Dance along with incredible bulk for an offensive Pokemon, Feraligatr was one of the most dangerous and consistent sweepers in the tier. Feraligatr was always seen as a balanced and healthy mon, until it received its hidden ability, Sheer Force. Sheer Force boosted all of Feraligatr's main attacking moves (Waterfall, Ice Punch etc) bar Aqua Jet, and with a Life Orb was simply too powerful for the NU metagame to handle. Both offensive and defensive Grass-types such as Lilligant and Vileplume respectively were used to check Feraligatr, along with bulky Waters such as Seismitoad and Lanturn.

In what main roles was Feraligatr used?

Feraligatr was almost always used as a Sweeper, usually running Waterfall, Ice Punch / Return, Aqua Jet, and either Swords Dance or Dragon Dance. Both boosting moves have their benefits, Dragon Dance allowed Feraligatr to bypass offensive checks such as Lilligant and Sceptile and increased its sweeping capability vs offense, while Swords Dance allowed Gatr to more easily break through Pokemon such as Vileplume, Lanturn, and Seismitoad and increased its wall breaking prowess. Gatr faced slight competition from Samurott as a sweeper which could go either Physical or Special and boasted a wider arrange of coverage moves, however Gatr's superior power and bulk made it the more often used sweeper.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

~~Block + DD was broken and underused.~~ Feraligatr had such a large impact on the metagame even without Sheer Force, but when it did receive its Hidden Ability, its old checks such as Quagsire, Vileplume, Lanturn etc could no longer handle it, as it suddenly had the influx in power to simply run through these pokemon. Aside from Sheer Force being incredible, Mono Water typing is really handy especially for when Fire-types such as Typhlosion and Pyroar were at their peak.

How do/did you deal with Feraligatr in NU?

Feraligatr was an incredibly difficult pokemon to check due to its ability to run DD or SD, but as stated earlier Fast Grass-types such as Lilligant and Sceptile could check SD (from a high amount of HP at least), while pre Sheer-Force, pokemon such as Seismitoad, Lanturn, and Vileplume could check Swords Dance when at 100% HP. Even Torrent Gatr had means of choosing its checks and counters, as it often ran Frustration to do huge damage to bulky Waters expecting just Water and Ice coverage.

erisia · Nov 1, 2016

Okay I'm going to open voting for the top spot on this list. Please vote for the #1 slot by Wednesday at 18:00 GMT. I'm also going to let people make nominations during this period since Tauros still needs to be nominated (and a few other things would be nice). Here are the Pokemon that have so far been nominated and are eligible for voting:

Good luck!

Bouff · Nov 1, 2016

honestly gonna go with xatu but it's kinda difficult to decide

The Idealistic · Nov 1, 2016

Typhlosion

It was a centerpiece of the tier up until its ban, forcing heavy fire resists in the team-building phase (such as Hariyama and Mantine) in order to not be left in the ashes by its absurdly powerful Eruptions and Blaze boosted Fire Blasts (at low health). What's more, it had a great speed tier of 100 for something that hits that hard.

Project Top 10 6th Gen NU Titans

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