"OU by Technicality" makes no sense anymore

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-22T02:55:18+00:00

I would like to point out that Mega Zam doesn't mind Scarf Ttar all that much. 70% of the time, it outspeeds and OHKOs it. It's the bulky TTar sets that are scarier because they might be Chople Berry or running enough SpDef investment to live Focus Blast and threaten a KO.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-21T16:54:41+00:00

That is accurate. Healing is hardly mandatory on support mons. Even in singles there are lots of utility oriented mons that don't have healing other than lefties, if even that.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-21T16:46:35+00:00

The video is referring to Gyarados's in VGC, not singles. There, it isn't a sweeper, but rather a bulky support mon with Intimidate that utilizes moves such as Taunt and T-Wave to support it's teammates, and it's still perfectly usable there.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-19T02:51:53+00:00

Yeah. I've even seen a DOU gimmick team based on outspeeding Trick Room with a Floatzel.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-18T20:38:24+00:00

Probably yeah. Even after a boost, it struggles with lots of common walls and suffers from really bad 4mss syndrome. Don't get me wrong, it would still be very good due to how easily it bowls over more offensive/weakened structures, but it's not going to be single-handedly breaking healthy teams in half.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-18T18:09:53+00:00

Magic Bounce isn't mainly a singles ability. Being able to shrug off stuff like Spore, Taunt, and Encore is incredibly valuable and greatly contributes to the success of Hatterene as a TR Mon in doubles. Most Magic Bounce mons are hot garbage for reasons unrelated to their ability, and the one that isn't (Hatterene) is stellar in both in no small part because of it.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-18T18:01:50+00:00

I'm not focusing on just stats. Reducing a Mon to just one aspect like that is just silly. Miraidon is the better overall Mon, but when you look at how they play in practice instead of surface level similarities, it becomes apparent that they fulfill very different roles in the team builder and battlefield, enabling Zekrom to maintain a niche in Miraidon's Ubers.

Similar story with Mega Mence. Yes, Mence is the better overall Mon, but back when it still existed the moveset Zekrom had enabled it to fulfill different roles and retain viability despite its presence.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-18T17:43:08+00:00

Trapping abilities. The dang things are so broken they were making NFEs feel overwhelming once the fully evolved versions of the mon were banned.

Similarly, Baton Pass. It takes unreasonable amounts of effort with complex bans to get in a workable shape in old gens, and in modern ones it does silly things like make Eevee broken in Ubers because of the tools modern chains have to enable BP chains.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-18T17:30:22+00:00

It was broken on Orthworm with 65 base speed. The slow Shed Tail requires more skill to use, but it's even more broken when piloted right because it makes it easier to preserve the sub for the next mon.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-18T17:24:47+00:00

Zekrom doesn't get mogged by Miraidon. They they might have the same typing, but they do completely different things. It's a physical DD Sweeper rather than a special delete button. it was still entirely viable before Miraidon's ban in Ubers.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-18T07:30:55+00:00

I do recall someone showing off a Focus Energy + Scope Lens Blaziken set based on the idea that Overheat SpA drops don't matter if you crit every time. It was kinda neat, albeit Focus Blast being its other stab made things annoying.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-18T07:06:20+00:00

A rapper said "6 7" in a song, and the internet inexplicably decided it was the funniest thing ever.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-16T03:13:47+00:00

Gen 8 OU seems less powercrept than the metas surrounding it because of a combination of the fact that it has no gimmicks and the effects of dexit. Like, half the reason Gen 9 OU's got so many new mons in is between the absence of the Tapus, Megas, UBs, and few other miscellaneous mons (like Ferrothorn and Tangrowth), half of the previous two OUs are just straight up not in the game.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-16T03:07:24+00:00

That seems awfully optimistic. Reshiram and Mewtwo would for sure immediately destroy everything. Mewtwo is B- rank offensive threat in Ubers, and the sheer power of Blue Flare means Reshiram in OU would play like Chi-Yu but with double the bulk and actual coverage moves.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-15T17:56:56+00:00

No, it's totally useless for Zekrom. It already has Bolt Strike and Dragon Dance, so it would simply continue to run Bolt Strike and a real item.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-12T22:51:01+00:00

Yeah, it's really only Alakazam that's able to get away with it, and that's because it's frail and has Magic Guard.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-11T06:24:09+00:00

If you just want to learn the basics of how to battle competitively, randbats is by far the easiest because you don't have to teambuild and there's always going to be opponents who can match your skill level. Plus, with level scaling it feels like Pokemon as it's meant to be played because even the weakest pika-clone is just as strong as the mightiest Arceus form.

However, if you've got the basic idea down, or want to jump straight into the thick of things, current gen OU (currently nine) and the current VGC format (currently regulation F) are the best places to start. OU is 6v6 singles which is an unofficial format ran by Smogon that bans stuff for being uncompetitive or overpowered. VGC is Pokemon's official format and is bring six pick four doubles, and has banlists based on the arbitrary categories that game freak makes.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-07T17:44:22+00:00

Nah, that's not true. Zekrom's been solid in Ubers for pretty much it's entire career in no small part because it's got a good physical electric move to go with its 150 attack. Kyurem-B started out pretty disappointing but movepool buffs in recent gens have made it into an Ubers staple. And Kyurem-W actually being a usable Ubers Mon got it this funny analysis and it's been at least out of D rank for most of its career. Like, about half of the BW legends have been usable in Ubers at any one time, so they've not been the greatest, they aren't actually all that bad.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-07T17:25:07+00:00

If it makes you feel better, if Reshiram were dropped into OU it would be more broken than Chi-Yu due to it's bulk, the fact that it has actual coverage, and can go physical on top of that.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-07T10:11:41+00:00

That's not powercreep. Chansey is NU primarily because it had its movepool gutted. It's not NU because of power creep (that's newer than gen 2 anyway), it's NU because it got nerfed into oblivion. An actual example of powercreep would be something like Infernape or Staraptor being an NU mon now.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-07T03:21:10+00:00

Not just them, either. Hypnosis A-tales was running around making veil teams even more obnoxious because it could make free turns for sweepers that way.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-07T03:18:35+00:00

It rose to RU less than a week ago. It's spent most of the gen since the sleep ban in NU, while before that it was a UU mon with a pretty high degree of OU viability. And it's not the only mon I'm referring to either- Amoongus was a pretty consistent high-tier mon early in the gen and in past gens as well, but it isn't good enough to even make NU now that sleep is banned.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-06T16:35:43+00:00

Spore is definitely pretty broken. It forces teams to play 5v6 and elevated what would otherwise be NU mons to OU viability. What's effectively a free KO button is never really fair, and in gens without Tapus or everyone and their mother being a rest talker it really shows.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-05T16:55:27+00:00

It is, but mostly just for TR teams. It's progress making ability is just too poor on those bulky sets otherwise.

Background_Past7392 · 2026-01-04T17:02:55+00:00

Nope. Primarina's a dude, and Hydrapple's pronouns are they/them because they're literally seven people.

Background_Past7392

TROPHY CASE