What's New in XY?
A lot of things are new in XY. There are Mega Evolutions, change in game mechanics, new pokemon, the rise of several lower tier Pokemon, the drop of several pokemon that were deemed Ubers in BW2 and much more.
Mega Evolutions
Mega Evolutions was the single biggest change that was introduced this Gen. These Mega Pokemon have have had a noticeable impact on the current meta. Despite not having the ability to hold items such as Life Orb, many of the Megas have abilities and moves that compensate for the lack of an item. Such as Mega Charizard X's Tough Claws or Mega Pinsir's Aerilate compensate for the lack of Life Orb. Mega Venusaur does have access to Synthesis for its Recovery and Mega Mawile has Huge Power to skyrocket its attack.
New Pokemon
With a new generation of Pokemon, there are always Pokemon that will come out on top and have their respective impact on the OU metagame.
Talonflame had a major impact on the early meta forcing people to scramble to find good Flying resists such as Rotom-W, Tyranitar and Thundurus to help keep Talonflame in check. Its impact didnt stop there, it also created an emphasis on the use of priority in this metagame and the reduced number of scarf users.
Aegislash thrives in a metagame where Ghost resistances are scarce. With great bulk and multiple of sets its able to run, it quickly found its place as one of the most used Pokemon so far in OU. Having changed from commonly running only a Swords Dance set to a Mixed Shadow Ball set, and now the rising popularity of SubToxic, Aegislash's role is constantly evolving.
Former Ubers
With every new generation, many of the previously banned Pokemon are given a chance in the OU metagame. The nerf weather to permanent weather granted a second chance to Excadrill, Thundurus-I, and Manaphy have all dropped down to OU. Each now being considerably less broken then they previously were in BW. Thundurus and Manaphy don't have easy access to Rain as they did and Excadrill misses out on Sand to abuse Sand Rush.
On the other hand Deoxys-Speed and Deoxys-Defense are now a bit weaker due to the changes in Defog. Having great speed and amazing coverage, Deoxys-Speed has now taken the role of a revenge killer that beats more Dragon Dance users and every relevant scarf user. Deoxys-Defense has not changed one bit from its role in BW2. It still sets up hazards with great success and only faces Defog users as trouble. However pairing Deo-D with a Defiant user such as Thundurus-I or Bisharp, you can easily pressure Defor users to not defog and make them pay for going for the Defog.
New Threats
Several pokemon that saw little use in OU last generation, are now having their moments in the limelight, including Bisharp, Clefable, Mandibuzz.
Bisharp greatly benefits in the current meta, considering how common Defog has become. If hit have Defog, Bisharp receives a +2 in Atk and can easily dent at team with Knock Off being only resisted by Fighting types, Dark types and Fairies, who fear its Steel STAB). Bisharp has found its niche on Hyper Offensive teams to punish Defog users and as a Pursuit trapper for Keldeo and Zard Y.
Clefable received a retyping this generation. Now being Fairy type and getting some fairy STABs, Clefable steadily rose from RU to be a asset for Stall, Balance and Semi-Stall teams as a cleric or an Unaware Calm Mind sweeper. Providing great utility and solid bulk it has solidified itself in the OU tier.
Weather Nerf
Probably the second biggest change in XY was the reduced emphasis on weather control. This was mainly due to permanent weather abilities being nerfed from infinite weather to only 5 turns or 8 turns with the appropriate weather item. While this has deterred players from using weather as often, it still is a very potent playstyle, specifically rain.
Your Opinions
So, what do all of you think and feel about this? What has been working for you, both in terms of the new threats and in terms of stopping them? What interests you that you want to try? What Pokemon have fallen out of flavor from BW2? Don't restrict yourselves to what I've talked about here either. Feel free to discuss new things I might have overlooked!
Discuss.
A lot of things are new in XY. There are Mega Evolutions, change in game mechanics, new pokemon, the rise of several lower tier Pokemon, the drop of several pokemon that were deemed Ubers in BW2 and much more.
Mega Evolutions
Mega Evolutions was the single biggest change that was introduced this Gen. These Mega Pokemon have have had a noticeable impact on the current meta. Despite not having the ability to hold items such as Life Orb, many of the Megas have abilities and moves that compensate for the lack of an item. Such as Mega Charizard X's Tough Claws or Mega Pinsir's Aerilate compensate for the lack of Life Orb. Mega Venusaur does have access to Synthesis for its Recovery and Mega Mawile has Huge Power to skyrocket its attack.
New Pokemon
With a new generation of Pokemon, there are always Pokemon that will come out on top and have their respective impact on the OU metagame.
Talonflame had a major impact on the early meta forcing people to scramble to find good Flying resists such as Rotom-W, Tyranitar and Thundurus to help keep Talonflame in check. Its impact didnt stop there, it also created an emphasis on the use of priority in this metagame and the reduced number of scarf users.
Aegislash thrives in a metagame where Ghost resistances are scarce. With great bulk and multiple of sets its able to run, it quickly found its place as one of the most used Pokemon so far in OU. Having changed from commonly running only a Swords Dance set to a Mixed Shadow Ball set, and now the rising popularity of SubToxic, Aegislash's role is constantly evolving.
Former Ubers
With every new generation, many of the previously banned Pokemon are given a chance in the OU metagame. The nerf weather to permanent weather granted a second chance to Excadrill, Thundurus-I, and Manaphy have all dropped down to OU. Each now being considerably less broken then they previously were in BW. Thundurus and Manaphy don't have easy access to Rain as they did and Excadrill misses out on Sand to abuse Sand Rush.
On the other hand Deoxys-Speed and Deoxys-Defense are now a bit weaker due to the changes in Defog. Having great speed and amazing coverage, Deoxys-Speed has now taken the role of a revenge killer that beats more Dragon Dance users and every relevant scarf user. Deoxys-Defense has not changed one bit from its role in BW2. It still sets up hazards with great success and only faces Defog users as trouble. However pairing Deo-D with a Defiant user such as Thundurus-I or Bisharp, you can easily pressure Defor users to not defog and make them pay for going for the Defog.
New Threats
Several pokemon that saw little use in OU last generation, are now having their moments in the limelight, including Bisharp, Clefable, Mandibuzz.
Bisharp greatly benefits in the current meta, considering how common Defog has become. If hit have Defog, Bisharp receives a +2 in Atk and can easily dent at team with Knock Off being only resisted by Fighting types, Dark types and Fairies, who fear its Steel STAB). Bisharp has found its niche on Hyper Offensive teams to punish Defog users and as a Pursuit trapper for Keldeo and Zard Y.
Clefable received a retyping this generation. Now being Fairy type and getting some fairy STABs, Clefable steadily rose from RU to be a asset for Stall, Balance and Semi-Stall teams as a cleric or an Unaware Calm Mind sweeper. Providing great utility and solid bulk it has solidified itself in the OU tier.
Weather Nerf
Probably the second biggest change in XY was the reduced emphasis on weather control. This was mainly due to permanent weather abilities being nerfed from infinite weather to only 5 turns or 8 turns with the appropriate weather item. While this has deterred players from using weather as often, it still is a very potent playstyle, specifically rain.
Your Opinions
So, what do all of you think and feel about this? What has been working for you, both in terms of the new threats and in terms of stopping them? What interests you that you want to try? What Pokemon have fallen out of flavor from BW2? Don't restrict yourselves to what I've talked about here either. Feel free to discuss new things I might have overlooked!
Discuss.
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