Metagame Metagame Discussion Thread v4

[BeardyBennett]

Something I like doing right now is running A-Muk without Pursuit, and instead opting for Brick Break and Shadow Sneak to go with the usual Jab and Knock. I know Fire Blast was popular on A-Muk, not sure if it still is. But back to my point of Break+Sneak.

I like Brick Break A-Muk as a great way to bop things like Heatran, Ttar, and Bisharp. It's unconventional, so not many people expect it when switching in those mons. All three of those are also semi-popular (not sure how great Sharp is nowadays, but it did hit OU usage). This also gives it a neat way to bop Ash-Gren. Sneak meanwhile gives A-Muk some nice revenge kill potential if threats have been worn down enough, and a good way to get additional chip if it's about to go down. I've had opponents bring in Latios thinking they can safely revenge my A-Muk, only to find themselves dropped by Sneak.

Sneak could probably be dropped, and I should probably drop it too, but I think Sneak can do some nice things depending on your builds. Break however is the real star, at least for me and how I've been dealing with the prevalence of things like Ttar and Heatran.

 

[Scarf Nihilego]

The only thing you'd be hitting with Brick Break is Tyranitar, considering Heatran takes nearly as much damage from Knock Off and Ash Greninja is hit by Poison Jab, so your set seems mediocre when special bulk + Pursuit trapping is the only niche Alolan Muk has in OU...
Shadow Sneak is weak and simply does not hit enough targets to justify running unless you really do not need something like Rock Slide for specific threats like Charizard Y or Volcarona. But the fact that Alolan Muk has the potential to beat these mons is, again, why you should be using it.

 

[ayman x]

Sorta funny how the metagame is somewhat shifting towards a few sets that were popular when SuMo started – Scarf Lele, Physical Koko, The Ash-ninja new toy syndrome, the popularity of rain as a playstyle, Bulu usage (this was inevitable with the Metagross ban), Kartana (scarf and z-move) – are becoming popular again.

People are also beginning to run more positive speed natures, such as on Bulu, Kyurem-B (Life Orb is gaining traction), Mew, Lele, Zapdos.

Dugtrio continues being controversial and offensive fire types (Zard Y and Heatran) have reached their potential in running the meta.

How do people feel about a) Specs Keldeo and b) Bulky SD Scizor?

 

[Meliodafu7]

Sorta funny how the metagame is somewhat shifting towards a few sets when SuMo started – Scarf Lele, Physical Koko, The Ash-ninja new toy syndrome, the popularity of rain as a playstyle, Bulu usage (this was inevitable with the Metagross ban), Kartana (scarf and z-move) – are becoming popular again.

People are also beginning to run more positive speed natures, such as on Bulu, Kyurem-B (Life Orb is gaining traction), Mew, Lele, Zapdos.
Dugtrio continues being controversial and offensive fire types (Zard Y and Heatran) have reached their potential in running the meta.

How do people feel about a) Specs Keldeo and b) Bulky SD Scizor?

a) I think the prevalence of Toxapex and Tangrowth really hurts Specs Keldeo, they can switch in, and you are forced out, giving the former time to set up toxic spikes or fish a scald burn in your switch in, the latter being able to spam Knock Off or pivot out, meaning you loss momentum, Also Fini can come in, tank the hit and then get a Defog off or dent your switch in with Nature Madness or dent Keldeo with Moonblast. However Pex and Fini must watch out for HP Electric, which can 2HKO both with a little chip, but still, really prediction reliant. I prefer the scarf set because, yeah you'll be forced out anyway, but at least you get the revenge kill in the foe.

b) Respect Scizor, in my opinion, the prevalence again of Toxapex, as well the rising of things like Heatran and M-Zard Y make nearly impossible pull out a sweep with this, needing a lot of support. Also Bulky SD Scizor is over reliant in Bullet Punch to deal with faster threats, meaning Psychic Terrain shut down any attempt of cleaning. I think the Defog set is the most viable in the meta giving teams really good role compression as well as great utility and deffensive backbone.

 

[Scarf Nihilego]

I still would not say Kartana is popular. It is certainly rising but I don't expect it to become prevalent.

Specs Keldeo is actually one of the more underrated picks in the meta at the moment. Considering most teams lacking Toxapex have something like Choice Scarf Latios as their best switch in to it, the combination of Hydro Pump and Secret Sword becomes extremely hard to play around. The fact that people are citing Tangrowth as a switch in to Keldeo indicates a basic misunderstanding of this game considering Specs Secret Sword is almost a guaranteed 2HKO after SR damage. Fini is also simply a subpar choice at the moment and it gets worn down easily regardless. Most teams in the meta that don't run Toxapex struggle to hard wall it, but the downside is that it is hard to fit given its speed tier and inability to break defensive archetypes on its own in the same way other breakers such as Tapu Bulu or Landorus-T can. Ash-Greninja is also far better at setting up its own sweep with Spikes and Water Shuriken. Nevertheless I think Specs Keldeo has its uses, and with its bulk it itself can check Ash-Greninja in a pinch.

SD Mega Scizor on the other hand is a waste of a Mega slot in my opinion. Offense has a multitude of countermeasures to it and with the likes of Celes / Tox / Mew on virtually every other playstyle you will never sweep a team anymore. Offensive Fire types are also better than ever which is obviously bad news. Tapu Lele is admittedly declining in usage but this trend is in fact caused by the prevalence of bulky Steels, most of which either shut Scizor down or, in the case of Magearna, simply sweep better than it with less support. Defog is Mega Scizor's only real niche and I wouldn't even consider it unless your entire team loses to Tapu Bulu or CB Zygarde.

 

[ayman x]

The fact that people are citing Tangrowth as a switch in to Keldeo indicates a basic misunderstanding of this game considering Specs Secret Sword is almost a guaranteed 2HKO after SR damage.

Main reason I want to toy with Specs Keldeo again is that Tangrowth became the tier's premier water resist and it gets 2HKO-ed after rocks, but when I think of it, Tangrowth is a reasonable enough pivot. i.e. take Secret Sword damage and double into a fighting resist. An in-game example: pivot Tang into sword and then go into Mew; however, Tangrowth takes good chip in the process which may support a Magearna sweep. So it can be effective against bulky offense and offense if played well, but may turn out to be deadweight in balance/stall match-ups (Toxapex, ugh).

 

[Sas]

I still would not say Kartana is popular. It is certainly rising but I don't expect it to become prevalent.

Specs Keldeo is actually one of the more underrated picks in the meta at the moment. Considering most teams lacking Toxapex have something like Choice Scarf Latios as their best switch in to it, the combination of Hydro Pump and Secret Sword becomes extremely hard to play around. The fact that people are citing Tangrowth as a switch in to Keldeo indicates a basic misunderstanding of this game considering Specs Secret Sword is almost a guaranteed 2HKO after SR damage. Fini is also simply a subpar choice at the moment and it gets worn down easily regardless. Most teams in the meta that don't run Toxapex struggle to hard wall it, but the downside is that it is hard to fit given its speed tier and inability to break defensive archetypes on its own in the same way other breakers such as Tapu Bulu or Landorus-T can. Ash-Greninja is also far better at setting up its own sweep with Spikes and Water Shuriken. Nevertheless I think Specs Keldeo has its uses, and with its bulk it itself can check Ash-Greninja in a pinch.

SD Mega Scizor on the other hand is a waste of a Mega slot in my opinion. Offense has a multitude of countermeasures to it and with the likes of Celes / Tox / Mew on virtually every other playstyle you will never sweep a team anymore. Offensive Fire types are also better than ever which is obviously bad news. Tapu Lele is admittedly declining in usage but this trend is in fact caused by the prevalence of bulky Steels, most of which either shut Scizor down or, in the case of Magearna, simply sweep better than it with less support. Defog is Mega Scizor's only real niche and I wouldn't even consider it unless your entire team loses to Tapu Bulu or CB Zygarde.

The point of Tangrowth, a Regenerator mon, is that it can switch in Keldeo to scout for the move that will be used, and switch out to Fighting-resisted mons if Keldeo is locked in Secret Sword

 

[Scarf Nihilego]

Why would Keldeo stay in to Secret Sword again? No human alive will sack a Tangrowth that can heal itself up for later use. Double into something that checks your opponent's logical switch in. If you see a Mew on the other team, are you really going to go to stay in to Secret Sword again? No, you send something to threaten that and/or set up on it. Alolan Marowak, for instance, is something that usually has trouble getting into battle but can hard switch into Mew. Heatran also doesn't want to risk a Knock Off or Earthquake by switching into Tangrowth but can become incredibly annoying behind a Substitute, which Mew lets it set up. And of course, plenty of Pokemon appreciate any sort of chip damage on Tangrowth regardless; at that range its ability to check Magearna is compromised and a sweep is potentially imminent. After just one Secret Sword Tangrowth isn't a good switch into much anymore, let alone Keldeo.

 

[Toshiro46]

Adding on to this thread, how does everyone feel about Physical Koko vs Special?

Physical koko is a pain at first, since much of the special set's defensive counterplay is hit hard by it (ex. AV Tang). After the initial reveal though, its pretty manageable, since it suffers from recoil on its moves and is still pretty damn weak, especially if it's mixed.

 

[Martin]

Scouting for the move it locks into is cool and all, but it doesn't change the fact that AV Tangrowth is not a particularly consistent Specs Keld answer at all. Given that Tang is often a team's primary stop to Scarf Keld, being able to deal 40-50%/50-60% with Secret Sword/Focus Blast is really fucking useful for leaving the Tangrowth player under pressure later on in the match, and generally speaking given how disgusting especially Focus Blast is you will often find yourself having difficulty taking it on repeatedly if you aren't carrying Toxapex, Amoonguss, bulkier variants of Roost Latias or something else in that ballpark. Hell, not even Slowbro can take it on consistently given that the analysis spread gets 2HKOed by Focus Blast after SR 40% of the time while obviously having its world rocked by HP Electric variants. If you know your opponent is going to switch out of Tangrowth then you still have the option to try to take advantage of the situation woth stuff like Tyranitar, Dugtrio, Weavile, or whatever else you may have which takes advantage of Keld's stops by doubling out expecting them to switch, allowing you to create mindgames later on. Specs Keld's main reason for not being the premier set just comes down to the fact that being one of the main Volca responses in the tier is absolutely huge (well, that and the Specs set's only real way of beating Pex involves either a teammate which can trap it such as Duggy/Groundium Heatran or locking itself into Hidden Power, hurting its utility as a wallbreaker to a minor extent), but what people seem to forget is that Keldeo is not only strong but is also very versatile despite its somewhat limited movepool due to its stellar stat spread and typing, and being reasonably unexpected has its own set of perks especially when its reason for being unexpected doesn't boil down to it being a gimmick.

 

[Ihceil]

Doesn't Keldeo's lack of popularity come down to simply Ash-Greninja being the premier offensive water type?

 

[Spoons of Justice]

Doesn't Keldeo's lack of popularity come down to simply Ash-Greninja being the premier offensive water type?

Ok, regarding this question, I have a few things to ask.

1) Where on Earth did you get the idea that Keldeo would be unpopular? Look all over the ladder and at the usage stats; Keldeo is receiving a fairly high amount of usage. I have no clue where you got this idea.
2) Another thing I'd like to say is that Keldeo, if anything, would derive popularity from Greninja-Ash's increased omnipresence. Reason being Keldeo does a good job of fighting off this demented frog. He wouldn't lose popularity as a result of Greninja-Ash's presence.

 

[Morkal]

Keldeo has actually been rather underwhelming for me, but that's because I already have a different answer to Ash Greninja, anyways, I'd like to talk about a set that's been coming in clutch for me as of late.

Scarf Lando-T

Landorus-T @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- U-Turn
- Rock Slide

I can't even begin to tell you how much momentum this thing gives my team and how much it's come in clutch in helping me deal with specific threats that usually Lando isn't able to handle. It's relatively anti-meta at the moment, and outspeeds and OHKOs key Pokemon that it normally wouldn't be able to handle such as Greninja-Protean, Tapu Koko, Char-Y, Char-X, and M-Pinsir. Earthquake is obviously your main STAB move, Knock Off is for general annoyance, U-Turn for momentum, and Rock Slide is what I've been running for specific threats (such as the previously mentioned Charizard-Y and M-Pinsir).

 

[QuickBH]

Infernape and Mega Tyranitar are some hella solid Pokemon that people often forget about. I get that there's a lot of Pokemon that give you more free kills like Zygarde and Z move Landorus-T, but these Pokemon are still really solid and should be given a shot. I could explain in a 20 page essay why I believe that is the case, but I think it's better off to just have me post replays.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-603809193
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-603994032
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-603986570
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-603968652 (The amount of pressure Infernape provided was amazing.)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-603018313
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-602712218
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-602576960
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-602638575
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-603013824
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-603210347

 

[Deleted User 400951]

Keldeo has actually been rather underwhelming for me, but that's because I already have a different answer to Ash Greninja, anyways, I'd like to talk about a set that's been coming in clutch for me as of late.

Scarf Lando-T

Landorus-T @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- U-Turn
- Rock Slide

I can't even begin to tell you how much momentum this thing gives my team and how much it's come in clutch in helping me deal with specific threats that usually Lando isn't able to handle. It's relatively anti-meta at the moment, and outspeeds and OHKOs key Pokemon that it normally wouldn't be able to handle such as Greninja-Protean, Tapu Koko, Char-Y, Char-X, and M-Pinsir. Earthquake is obviously your main STAB move, Knock Off is for general annoyance, U-Turn for momentum, and Rock Slide is what I've been running for specific threats (such as the previously mentioned Charizard-Y and M-Pinsir).

My main problem with this is that it's just so easily revenged by the common scarfers rn. In particular, Keldeo who IMO is THE best scarfer rn easily revenges this, and so does Scarf Gren. It also fails to beat a boosted volcarona, which is something every scarfer right now needs to do.
+1 252 SpA Volcarona Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 333-393 (104.3 - 123.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
"but just run it with another scarfer"
Fitting two scarfers on a team is not an easy thing to do. I mean, in particular you can't use Scarf Chomp. Keldeo and this overlap in terms of usefulness, because Keldeo can beat those very things you mention given that they're weakened enough (sans Pinsir Mega which 2hkos with Quick Attack). Scarf Gren also happens to beat those threats you listed. Scarf Gren is really specialized in general but both it and scarf lando just aren't that strong and it forces you to put another breaker or two when Lando is best suited for that as the best breaker in the meta and is honestly better off doing that.
I mean, don't get me wrong, Scarf Lando still isn't bad, but I just don't see a reason as to why I'd use this over other lando sets.
Also,

Scarf Lando-T

Landorus-T @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate

Rotom-fan much?

 

[Martin]

IMO Scarf Lando is viable on two types of builds: dual scarf builds and Mantine/Chansey builds. The biggest issue with it as a mon comes less down to its matchups versus other scarfers (especially when you are clicking U-turn a large chunk of the time to hop on a bit of momentum when your opponent goes to Ground resists) and more down to the fact that it can't RK Volcarona, which means you need to use another team slot on something that can deal with it despite the fact that you have already plugged a scarfer onto your build. Lando-T still functions as a good revenge killer in its own right, still being able to outrun and KO +1 Gyarados (next most relevant +1 Spe boosting sweeper), while not being a complete momentum sink every time it comes in due to the fact that it has the option to U-turn out instead of only being limited to the choices of 'STAB with immunities' and 'non-STAB coverage' like Garchomp is (while having a noticable power increase over it to boot). It has a lot more utility than quite a big chunk of other scarfers between Intim and U-turn while just being a bit awkward to build with, but I do feel like people paint it as a lot worse than it actually is over the whole Volcarona thing even though it is still very good speed control for builds which have no issues with Volcarona and despite how a lot of those same people proceed to praise Scarf Lele despite it sharing the attributes that people jump on Lando over (don't get me wrong; Scarf Lele is better in general, just that it's comparable in that sense). It certainly isn't the best pick, but it deserves a bit more slack than it gets in that respect.

 

[GnuGnu]

My main problem with this is that it's just so easily revenged by the common scarfers rn. In particular, Keldeo who IMO is THE best scarfer rn easily revenges this, and so does Scarf Gren. It also fails to beat a boosted volcarona, which is something every scarfer right now needs to do.
+1 252 SpA Volcarona Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 333-393 (104.3 - 123.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
"but just run it with another scarfer"
Fitting two scarfers on a team is not an easy thing to do. I mean, in particular you can't use Scarf Chomp. Keldeo and this overlap in terms of usefulness, because Keldeo can beat those very things you mention given that they're weakened enough (sans Pinsir Mega which 2hkos with Quick Attack). Scarf Gren also happens to beat those threats you listed. Scarf Gren is really specialized in general but both it and scarf lando just aren't that strong and it forces you to put another breaker or two when Lando is best suited for that as the best breaker in the meta and is honestly better off doing that.
I mean, don't get me wrong, Scarf Lando still isn't bad, but I just don't see a reason as to why I'd use this over other lando sets.
Also,

Rotom-fan much?

This argument doesnt really make any sense to me. If you're running scarf landorus, there's a very high chance you're running Mantine, which means lol scarf keldeo is the least of your worries. I don't see the point of listing Volcarona calcs. Yes obviously, scarf lando can't beat volcarona. But it's only used on builds that don't have issues with Volcarona so I think it's not really a strong point itself. While I still don't think scarf lando is the greatest set, I don't think your points are particularly valid (also personally I don't really care about being "revenge killed" by other scarfers cos no-one actually stays in and let themselves be killed, and because most people are running pretty bulky teams atm so almost any scarfer is pretty easy to switch into anyway)

I think scarf landorus is actually decent and becoming a bit more common recently. It dramatically improves its matchup with koko/manetric and provides momentum with u-turn. I don't think it's better than lele and definitely not landos best set but the fact that you're not as hard pressed to have a 101+ scarfer on your team anymore helps it out a bit. I don't think it's great on double scarf but personally I'm a weirdo who thinks if you're using double scafer, the slower scarfer needs to be really obscure.

 

[Zukrad]

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/...ration_VII#Pok.C3.A9mon_Center_Tohoku_Victini

Any thoughts on this event? This would make Victini the first Pokemon with acces to Z-Celebrate and STAB Stored Power (It comes with V-Create as well)

Will this be a viable Victini set? Or just a gimmick?

 

[QuickBH]

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/...ration_VII#Pok.C3.A9mon_Center_Tohoku_Victini

Any thoughts on this event? This would make Victini the first Pokemon with access to Z-Celebrate and STAB Stored Power (It comes with V-Create as well)

Will this be a viable Victini set? Or just a gimmick?

90% a gimmick just like every other +1 in every stat mon.

+1 isn't the best at being a lategame cleaner and since it's a Z move it's not consistent enough to be a consistent threat. Z Jirachi isn't that great for similar reasons.

 

[onlyheretocomplain]

Biggest problem is that you don't get Blue Flare or Bolt Strike, and V-create + Stored Power is a but unproductive.

 

[Dreadfury]

I don't feel like Z-Celebrate Victini is gonna be all that relevant. At +1 all its Stored Power is just a spammable base 120 Psychic STAB. It gets walled to hell and back by Chansey - something that Band/Mixed Victini sets don't struggle with - and really doesn't hit that hard elsewhere to compensate. It doesn't even get a guaranteed OHKO on offensive Lando-T variants after rocks, although those sets get guaranteed OHKOs on it in return. Tyranitar has a chance to not be 2HKOed by Energy Ball and always OHKOs with banded Stone Edge and OHKOs with Crunch after rocks.

Porygon-Z has the same gimmick and hits like a nuke from orbit, even being able to almost 3HKO Chansey with STAB Thunderbolt or Ice Beam after Z-Conversion. But that thing's a gimmick at best in today's meta due to the huge opportunity cost required to run it.

 

[The Active]

not only that but the one time set up move gives up a slot for crucial coverage on victini causing four moveslot syndrome.
It makes the already existing four m.s.s worse because you are forced to run celebrate of over some needed coverage like a grass move or something of the like making it more easily checked. In conclusion i think band tini and lure tini will always be the better sets in this case.

 

[Vengeance417]

I didn't really know where else to post this due to the Mega Evolution thread being locked, but Aggronite was just released not too long ago. Since it's not usable on Showdown yet, all I can really do is speculate, but I can see it having a niche in checking foes like Mega Pinsir (+2 Close Combat does 65% max while falling to Avalanche at -1 Defense the turn after), Tapu Bulu (it's rare to see an All-Out Pummeling set and even that doesn't OHKO with Adamant +2 if you run Impish nature and 24 Def EVs, while Jolly has no chance whatsoever), Mega Mawile, Scarf Tapu Lele, base and Mega Tyranitar, and Sub-Zero Kyurem-B while also being able to take at least one hit from the premier Ground types in the tier and retaliate with a base 120 Avalanche, which I feel is gonna be required. Banded Zygarde's Thousand Arrows doesn't even 2HKO, Tectonic Rage from Dugtrio does nothing, and +2 Earthquakes from both Garchomp and Landorus-T don't OHKO, just to demonstrate this thing's massive physical bulk + Filter. Defensive Lando-T isn't even a good stop to this since EQ does jack shit while -1 Avalanche 2HKOs back.

That's kind of where the good things end, though. It'll just fall to the Fire types that are littered everywhere in this tier and has no reliably recovery outside Rest which means it's whittled down pretty easily especially by Spikes. It's huge bait to VinCune which is rising in usage which will mean you have to decide on Roar as a potential move option. Mega Aggron also has trouble with some of the tier's defensive Pokemon such as Mew and Mega Sableye, which will Will-o-Wisp it and stall it out while being a deterrence to Stealth Rock thanks to Defog and Magic Bounce, respectively, Ferrothorn unless you run Fire Punch, Heatran unless you run Earthquake, Celesteela which uses you as Leech Seed fodder, Skarmory that'll set Spikes in your face, and Toxapex that just sits there and laughs at you. It's also pretty hard to justify running this as your mega mon when there are just so many better megas to pick from in the tier, even on the defensive side.

 

[Deleted User 400951]

I didn't really know where else to post this due to the Mega Evolution thread being locked, but Aggronite was just released not too long ago. Since it's not usable on Showdown yet, all I can really do is speculate, but I can see it having a niche in checking foes like Mega Pinsir (+2 Close Combat does 65% max while falling to Avalanche at -1 Defense the turn after), Tapu Bulu (it's rare to see an All-Out Pummeling set and even that doesn't OHKO with Adamant +2 if you run Impish nature and 24 Def EVs, while Jolly has no chance whatsoever), Mega Mawile, Scarf Tapu Lele, base and Mega Tyranitar, and Sub-Zero Kyurem-B while also being able to take at least one hit from the premier Ground types in the tier and retaliate with a base 120 Avalanche, which I feel is gonna be required. Banded Zygarde's Thousand Arrows doesn't even 2HKO, Tectonic Rage from Dugtrio does nothing, and +2 Earthquakes from both Garchomp and Landorus-T don't OHKO, just to demonstrate this thing's massive physical bulk + Filter. Defensive Lando-T isn't even a good stop to this since EQ does jack shit while -1 Avalanche 2HKOs back.

That's kind of where the good things end, though. It'll just fall to the Fire types that are littered everywhere in this tier and has no reliably recovery outside Rest which means it's whittled down pretty easily especially by Spikes. It's huge bait to VinCune which is rising in usage which will mean you have to decide on Roar as a potential move option. Mega Aggron also has trouble with some of the tier's defensive Pokemon such as Mew and Mega Sableye, which will Will-o-Wisp it and stall it out while being a deterrence to Stealth Rock thanks to Defog and Magic Bounce, respectively, Ferrothorn unless you run Fire Punch, Heatran unless you run Earthquake, Celesteela which uses you as Leech Seed fodder, Skarmory that'll set Spikes in your face, and Toxapex that just sits there and laughs at you. It's also pretty hard to justify running this as your mega mon when there are just so many better megas to pick from in the tier, even on the defensive side.

IMO it's gonna be just 100% unviable. Waaaaaaay too many Fire types, lots of spikes, no recovery but most of all, the competition this thing faces. You have Ferro, Magearna, Mega Scizor, Celesteela, Skarmory and Heatran for steels. They all have dual typings that negate their weakness to at least one of the 3 types steel is weak too. On the other hand, all this has is Filter. It's still gonna get worn down by SE hits anyways, and along with Spikes, SR and burn damage, it's not gonna last at all. IMO there's no reason to run this and it has no place in OU at all. That bulk is absolutely insane though.

 

[Zukrad]

I didn't really know where else to post this due to the Mega Evolution thread being locked, but Aggronite was just released not too long ago. Since it's not usable on Showdown yet, all I can really do is speculate, but I can see it having a niche in checking foes like Mega Pinsir (+2 Close Combat does 65% max while falling to Avalanche at -1 Defense the turn after), Tapu Bulu (it's rare to see an All-Out Pummeling set and even that doesn't OHKO with Adamant +2 if you run Impish nature and 24 Def EVs, while Jolly has no chance whatsoever), Mega Mawile, Scarf Tapu Lele, base and Mega Tyranitar, and Sub-Zero Kyurem-B while also being able to take at least one hit from the premier Ground types in the tier and retaliate with a base 120 Avalanche, which I feel is gonna be required. Banded Zygarde's Thousand Arrows doesn't even 2HKO, Tectonic Rage from Dugtrio does nothing, and +2 Earthquakes from both Garchomp and Landorus-T don't OHKO, just to demonstrate this thing's massive physical bulk + Filter. Defensive Lando-T isn't even a good stop to this since EQ does jack shit while -1 Avalanche 2HKOs back.

That's kind of where the good things end, though. It'll just fall to the Fire types that are littered everywhere in this tier and has no reliably recovery outside Rest which means it's whittled down pretty easily especially by Spikes. It's huge bait to VinCune which is rising in usage which will mean you have to decide on Roar as a potential move option. Mega Aggron also has trouble with some of the tier's defensive Pokemon such as Mew and Mega Sableye, which will Will-o-Wisp it and stall it out while being a deterrence to Stealth Rock thanks to Defog and Magic Bounce, respectively, Ferrothorn unless you run Fire Punch, Heatran unless you run Earthquake, Celesteela which uses you as Leech Seed fodder, Skarmory that'll set Spikes in your face, and Toxapex that just sits there and laughs at you. It's also pretty hard to justify running this as your mega mon when there are just so many better megas to pick from in the tier, even on the defensive side.

I wish Aggron could learn Slack Off, that would help it so much

But, as long as it doesn't has a good recovery and as long as the Fire types of the tier exist, Aggron is going to struggle a lot