marriland is better than smogon because they utilize the points system
The poor washing machine didn't deserve to be tossed out of discussion. :(
Anyways, we pretty much know a lot about who got buff with Zygarde's banishment, but what about the (incredibly minor) nerfs?
Pretty much every Aurora Veil team almost always required Zygarde due to bolstering it's already good bulk and setup potential. With it gone, though, the "archetype" (pseudo-archetype?) lost practically a staple to its team. Not all hope is lost, though, as Aurora Veil can still utilize other various setup Pokemon like Mega Mawile very well. Dual screens kind of fits in this category too, but Tapu Koko has its differences.
One of Avalugg's main purposes is down the drain, leaving it as a much more niche pick for stall. Ironically, stall got better with Zygarde gone, but I feel like it will be harder to justify Avalugg on stall teams. It still does have its perks such as great physical defense and ability to switch-in to Landorus-T, Gliscor, and the like, but, in my opinion, its negatives still hold it down. Mono-Ice-type is a really bad defensive typing, and weakness to Stealth Rock while being a spinner is quite unpleasant. With Zygarde gone, it'll be hard to fit in stall teams when most physical walls can already take care of what Avalugg's meant to counter.
Hidden Power Ice
A lot of Pokemon ran Hidden Power Ice just to make Zygarde less comfortable on the field. With it gone, it has a use in...hitting Landorus-T and Gliscor. Yeah, the move's nerf isn't really big a all considering it's still really useful for hitting the Pokemon mention. With Zygarde gone, however, it won't feel as pressuring to not include Hidden Power Ice on a moveset. Landorus-T still needs to have it in order to beat other Landorus-T, though, just a small pointer.
Not a surprise all of these nerfs involve Ice, considering Zygarde was 4x weak to it. I also kinda rambled here, so sorry if some points don't make sense.
Anyways, which Pokemon got nerfed with Zygarde's ban? Curious to see what you got.
I'll answer your nerfing q after mentioning veil a little so here it is:
I do some rating in Trainer's School on PS! pretty much every day. A couple days ago (the 20th or 21st if i remember correctly), someone wanted a veil team rated, so I decided to pop in and see what I could do...basically to sum up the disaster it was...
Imagine sample veil with less Zygarde and more DDance Flygon
So basically I fixed the dudes team and it ended with DDance mtar and some other minor changes, etc.
That being said, I ended up spending a couple hours (no life I know stop msging me on PS saying that im a loser) trying to figure out how to actually build veil and it be decent now that Zygarde has left.
So first off, i'd like to first point out to any newcomers that Veil isnt just alolan ninetails+5 settup mons. It's a more offensively-inclined build with Alolan Ninetails to set Aurora Veil and then your typical full offense team with rapid spin support, etc.
Now that Zygarde is gone, however, we must pose the question of what sweepers can viably work on Veil teams, or will Veil just drop off kinda like webs did? I'll suggest a few here and leave you all to decide if there are more that need to be added or taken away, etc.
Starting off, we have my Gen 1 homeboy Dragonite:
Dragonite @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Fly
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
This mon might take Zygarde's place somewhat as both act as semi-bulky ddance sweepers (tho zyg could do alot more). Free Dragon Da- I mean Multiscale is pretty nice, allowing it to even run weakness policy effectively. However, this would require more team support, as rocks basically remove Dragonite's bulk with Multiscale.
Next on the list is Normal and Mega Gyarados (only using normal sprite tho)
Gyarados @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Bounce
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Substitute / Waterfall
Zygarde leaving opens up a slot for Gyarados considering it's not really prompted to run Ice Fang anymore. Yea, hitting Bulu with Mega might be nice, but at this point, Substitute and Waterfall both provide more usability in general, allowing Gyara to still hit Landorus / Gliscor for good damage, but with STAB and less missing.
Finally, this one is less noticeable than the others, but Azumarill has caught my eye recently.
Azumarill @ Normalium Z / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off / Superpower / Waterstab
With Zygarde leaving the tier, this has opened up the door for Azu in a small way: not fearing Glare or Toxic from Zygarde. While small in the whole mass of OU that makes this thing less then stellar, not having to worry about stray Toxics and Glares improves this thing on a smaller scale, giving it better chances on a veil team.
That being said, every mon here is not without its downfalls, so please refrain from flaming me to high heaven about these 3 mons. However, discussion about the future of Veil is what this post is intended to encourage, so feel free to discuss Veil.
also appreciate the Crystal sprites
they look so bouncy and fun!