Feliburn
RU Leader
Welcome to the much awaited new metagame thread! This thread will be used to discuss the new metagame changes we've experienced lately. Starting with...
Pokémon HOME has finally released. While this does not have any immediate impact on RU, we still need to be on the lookout for a massive metagame change in the next months, when everyone drops to their respective tiers. We also get to use a couple of NFEs in Sneasel and Qwilfish in their Hisui form.
Next up, let's talk about the June shifts! We finally got more variety in terms of removal options for the tier, but we have to address the elephant in the room before talking about those:
Staraptor has been quick-banned by the RU council!
Staraptor's raw power has been deemed too much for the current state of the metagame. Being able to 2HKO one of our premier physical walls in Altaria without the need of a boosting item, and just having great tools to handle the other tanks like U-turn for mons like Mudsdale who can take a second Brave Bird, or Close Combat for our steels that resists both of Staraptor's STABs, it becomes really hard to properly handle Staraptor defensively. Offensively it is pretty hard to revenge kill it properly as well, as Staraptor has a nice base 100 speed, putting it above a big majority of the available Pokémon, and this isn't mentioning it can comfortably run a Choice Scarf as an item to outspeed the entire tier bar the surprise Choice Scarf Salazzle, or anti offense moves like Quick Attack on potential Choice Band sets to prevent faster and frailer mons from properly revenge killing it. All of this just makes Staraptor too much of a threat for the tier to handle. While it feels weird to quickban it so close to HOME dropping, the power level made us feel like action was still needed. Tagging Kris and Marty to remove it from the tier, and thanks in advance!
Next we can move to the actual usable drops:
Starting with the long awaited removal options we've been needing. Toedscruel brings a lot of utility to the tier, being able to pretty much scare the big majority of the common rockers available. It has Knock Off for Bronzong (and good progress maker vs everyone in general), Earth Power for Copperajah and Coalossal, Grass STAB coverage for Krookodile, Naclstack, Mudsdale, etc. It even has other options like Spikes and Spore. It feels like it will be a very customizable Pokémon depending on the team it's used on, but it will be hard to limit yourself to 4 moves of all the available ones. Tsareena, on the other hand, lost a lot of options that made it a solid spinner in previous metagames, mainly Knock Off and Triple Axel. The good part about this is Tsareena still has other options to use, like Play Rough so you are not useless vs Altaria, or fighting coverage for the steels like Copperajah. Not to mention its naturally high attack stat paired with U-turn and the speed boosting Rapid Spin. I personally think the mon has potential, but similarly to Toedscruel, you'll really want more than 4 moves to not feel limited vs the current tier.
Three new additions to the tier. Typhlosion is pretty straightforward, honestly, it's just a decently strong but really annoying fire type. I think I've already seen people use it in sun teams, and I gotta say that tera fire Eruptions are insanely scary. I'm not sure how much more viable it makes this type of weather, but it's clear that people won't be able to ignore it for the time being. Samurott brings a lot of cool options to the tier. RU already felt like it was lacking solid offensive water resists, and despite us getting Tsareena, the issue stands that our offensive waters have amazing coverage for them. Samurott has both Megahorn and Ice Beam to hit grasses (and Altaria with Ice Beam) super effectively. It also has Knock Off, which is huge to have in the current generation. Swords Dance is also an option paired with Aqua Jet for sweeping weakened teams. It is perhaps the cooler drop of this list. Grimmsnarl drops, and I'm sure all the screens HO users are rejoicing. I don't have much to say about it besides it having Taunt, so it already becomes the superior Prankster Screens setter when compared to Klefki. I wonder if offensive options will be good, as Dark/Fairy/Fighting is solid coverage, and it's pretty strong naturally. Let me know your thoughts on Grimmsnarl!
Fire Tauros is finally back! In recent times, Arcanine has been seeing a huge increase in usage, so it really makes you wonder if Tauros will overtake it once again as the superior Intimidate Fire type. Arcanine has options like Play Rough (for Altaria) and Extremespeed (Priority) that Tauros lacks, while Tauros has a higher speed stat, and more set up potential. Raging Bull is also big if we are expecting screens to see more usage. It'll be interesting to see how it fits in the new RU meta, as it's way different from the meta we saw when Tauros was last usable in.
This is a lot to digest, but I personally like the turn the tier has taken with these new drops. Let me know your thoughts, and happy posting!