DUU's been really fun to play in my experience with it, it's a good change of scenery from DOU and gives a different pace. One thing I noticed though is that you guys value Trick Room
way too much, like yeah I get that it's good but Full TR teams aren't as great as people generally think them to be in this metagame. It's probably going to set TR at least once in a game, that's almost inevitable, but some people kind of treat it is the be-all-end-all, invalidating some pokemon while glorifying others. This shouldn't really be the case tbh, Full TR Trick Room is a playstyle that has numerous inherent issues stemming from its slow, condition-dependent nature which can be easily exploited. Stopping it from getting up initially should be manageable for a good number of teams, and most teams should be able to match-up handily even in the cases that it does go up (it happens once, at least), just a matter of minimizing losses and sucking it up. The metagame, with a good number of the "top" mons middling Speed, is also a bit more bulk-centric, the highest dense Speed tier being 100, so there's somewhat more taking hits compared to DOU; if you're still running frail stuffs here, you might face problems. There's a lot of middling and fast Pokemon in this metagame that are pretty good too, such as Salamence, XZard, Gene, Mega Aerodactyl, that are all capable of taking on the metagame but face a stigma since they're, well,
speedy.
Basically, Full TR is
way overrated. Personally speaking, it's decent at best, but it's
probably fine to run as long as you're not a pushover. On another note, SemiRoom is the best style in this metagame imo. In the first place, it's already pretty solid and sound, but this is a metagame where it can be really effective
and diverse since the metagame is bulk-centric and still mostly unexplored. It has good matchups all-around! With the metagame having a good combination of bulky and fast mons, a playstyle where you can dictate the pace sounds really good, and it's the kind of playstyle that has a natural defensive backbone due to having bulky pieces. Diancie, in particular, is a pretty strong attacker-slash-TR setter with a lot of good matchups that's also capable of ravaging faster foes in TR and razing slower teams outside of it. I can see shenanigans with Hoopa-U, P2, and Jellicent happening as well, but that's more uncharted territory with the former being vulnerable to physical hits and the latter two passive-ish.
Okay so now I'm now done with my tirade, here are some (controversial) noms!
Salamence to 1
With its high Speed relative to the metagame, stellar coverage and power, definitely serviceable bulk, and utility in Intimidate, Salamence is one of top Pokemon in the metagame. It has the coverage and power to break down if not KO
anything it wants, and it has the Speed to do it too, letting it smash majority of the metagame. It's not just a ridiculous offensive piece either; it has the typing and bulk to take a good number of hits, and with Intimidate it can even support its teammates with ease. This thing shouldn't even DUU jfc. It has good matchups too, excellent at taking onTangela and the
stupidly high amount of Fire-types in the metagame and effective at chunking (or KOing with chip) the likes of Diancie, (Mega) Blastoise, Hariyama... basically, it's stupid good.
Mega Metagross to 1
Now, this nom is more fifty-fifty-ish and, no, I'm not doing it because I have some weird infatuation with Mega Metagross. I'm doing this because it's one of the better attackers in the metagame, one with a unique combination of Speed and defensive applications that let it deal with majority of the metagame with ease. The low number of Steel-types in the metagame means that its Steel / Psychic coverage is p much free, and while it doesn't have that much super-effective coverage it's still capable of doing strong neutral damage to a lot. Its high Speed lets it pretty much dictate matchups in most cases since, often, it gets to dish out the first hit, meaning weakened foes have to tread carefully. This plays a good part in its matchups against the
stupidly high number of Fire-types in the metgame, all of which it outruns and hits for good damage except for Victini, one of the few things to resist both its STABs. Having a good matchup against the likes of Hariyama, Diancie, Latias, and Mega Aboma helps its standing too. It's by no means perfect--neutral hitting with Speed can only take you so far, the Fires in the meta denies it opportunities (fortunately, most teams only run one), TR can bend it somewhat (it can get away with bulking in)--but it's imo closer to 1 than 1.5.
Regigigas to 2
Before I go on with the nom, I would just like to make this clear:
Regigigas has a better DUU tour record than most players.
This isn't a meme. The above isn't a meme, either. Regigigas actually has competitive merit in DUU! With its 7-0 record in the DUU minitour and the metagame mostly unchanged since then, it's pretty much an injustice to leave this unranked. It's pretty much the Cresselia of DUU, capable of taking a lot of hits with its 110 / 110 / 110 bulk statline and capable of unleashing some nifty support moves in Knock Off, Thunder Wave, and Wide Guard. Its versatility, bulk, and access to good support lets it have a function in most matches as a general speed control guy, general support, pivot... etc. It's not like an opponent can ignore it too; while there's its support stuff to deal with, leaving it too long on the field will free it from Slow Start, turning it into a support pokemon that's also an a threat with a strong STAB Return in tow; in particular, after paralyzing stuff on the field, it can go ham with its high powered attacks after. Basically, for a supporter, it's not something you can just ignore or handle a bit passively. The lack of Protect isn't hurting it much, either, as it doesn't really need it ala-DOU Cresselia. Only thing holding it back is its lack of resistances, instant recovery, vulnerability to Fighting-types, and relative passiveness. Still, it's a pretty nifty supporter.
Rotom-C to 2
This is one of the better pivots in the metagame. It has good matchups in the metagame, a good answer to Mega Blastoise, Gastrodon, Crawdaunt and Diancie and in general effective at taking some hits for its teammates. Volt Switch and Leaf Storm is pretty neat, the former letting it gtfo from bad matchups such as from one of the
stupidly high number of Fire-types in the metagame. Neat support moves in Wisp and Wave too, and the favorable matchup against Tangela is p nice. This is at least as good as Rotom-H if not better; Rotom-H actually has some worse matchups all around tbh.
Mega Camerupt to 1.5
CONTROVERSIAL NOM MAIN EVENT. The thing I find with Mega Camerupt is that while it's a really destructive monster in Trick Room, it's basically just relegated to just that, a Trick Room attacker. It can't really afford as much to get out of TR and if it doesn't go up, it's mostly in an unfavorable position as it's free to getting beat down by almost the entire metagame. It's not even the best Trick Room mega; Mega Blastoise has that title since it has better matchups all around, isn't dependent on TR, and has better coverage, only losing out on the power side of things. For sure, it's the thing you do NOT want to face in Trick Room, but to a lesser degree that can apply to a lot of other things as well; however, outside of TR, it's the one thing you don't want to risk around with matchups and whatnot, making it 1.5 in my view.
Tangela to 1.5, Blastoise to 1
(Note that the two are separate noms, I'm just grouping them together as it's easier to explain if I do so)
The thing with these two is that they're kinda like Jirachi vs Amoonguss - DUU Edition; one of them is capable of taking hits all around, the other possessing better matchups and along with some other neat trick. In this case, Tangela is Amoonguss (obviously lol) and Blastoise is Jirachi. And similarly to their DOU counterparts, Blastoise comes out on top due to its having better relevant matchups all around, letting it take more hits than its bulk would suggest. When it comes to being redirector, having numerous favorable matchups is key as the more of those you have, the more foes you can take advantage of while supporting a teammate; Blastoise can take on the
stupidly high number of Fire-types in the metagame, Diancie, and most neutral attackers, while Tangela can only be really effective against strong physical hits, its SDef leaving it prone to getting shafted by special attacks, and its Grass-typing leaves it vulnerable to Fires. While Blastoise is criticized for being "passive", unlike Tangela and its access to Sleep Powder, this isn't really the case; its Scald and Icy Wind can definitely let it be annoying. Additionally, if a player is competent they can (and will) utilize FM to actually multiply the pressure a partner mon can apply anyway, rendering the point moot to a certain extent.
Blastoise, with its good typing and overall bulk in conjucntion with its many good matchups, lets it be a Tier 1-worthy Pokemon. Tangela would be decent enough to stay in 1; however, its typing and low SDef just leaves it open to too many threats for it to do its job at a Tier 1-worthy rate.
***
On that note: obligatory promotion of my RMT, STARDUST, which peaked #1
:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/stardust-semiroom-in-duu-peaked-1.3585466/