Looking back on an era: XY and ORAS UU (2024)

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Art by FellfromtheSky.

The Beginning: XY UU - Beta

The 6th generation of Pokémon brought with it many interesting new changes to the UnderUsed tier, and this was proven in the beta stage of XY, when many OU staples the previous generation were below the usage cutoff and dropped into the tier, including Kyurem-B and Keldeo, along with very strong Mega Evolutions in Mega Heracross among others, as well as some previous UU staples that had received big buffs such as Bisharp. This generation also ushered in the tier being tiered differently than other tiers, following what's known now as the kokoloko system, which sought to provide stability in a metagame which would be vastly different with the introduction of Mega Evolutions. The initial part of the beta ended up being highly dominated by the many offensive and defensive threats, including the aforementioned Pokémon.

Towards the end of UU Beta in March, the tier had undergone quite a few changes with tier shifts and the kokoloko system taking place. Notable changes happen to include the rise of Bisharp to OU; the quickbans of Kyurem-B, Manaphy, and Drizzle; the drops and quickbans of Landorus and Terrakion; the 5 bans that happened the day the first thread on the Generation 6 UnderUsed forum was made; and the March shift due to the changed tiering system. So by the end of the XY UU Beta, the metagame was dominated by strong offensive Pokémon, such as Hawlucha, Magnezone, Hydreigon, and Crawdaunt among others. The four mentioned above were banned in the final string of bans leading into the official UU metagame.

XY UU - Official Metagame Beginning

The beginning of the official XY UU metagame was subjected right away to the presence of Thundurus-T, as retests were immediately starting. However, aside from the suspect itself, the metagame was dominated by many bulky Pokémon that would prove to be some of the most influential Pokémon in the tier, and the ones the metagames were polarized around. Such Pokémon included Nidoqueen, Mega Blastoise, Suicune, Mew, Honchkrow, and Slowbro. Nidoqueen and Mega Blastoise formed an immensely powerful specially wallbreaking duo that also filled the purposes of entry hazard setter and entry hazard remover, respectively. Suicune was one of the sturdiest physical walls in the tier that proved not to be passive and could easily sweep unprepared teams with its famous CroCune set. Mew proved to be arguably the most versatile Pokémon in the tier with countless potential movesets. Honchkrow was an amazing cleaner that also had great wallbreaking potential. Slowbro was one of the best physical walls alongside Suicune, sporting both a better defensive typing and a better ability for the task. This was also the stage the well-known pink core of Generation 6 was formed in the combination of Slowbro, Mew, and Florges.

XY UU - Thundurus-T Retest

Thundurus-T was the first Pokémon to be dropped from BL to be retested. At a glance, the amazing offensive movepool with access to great coverage and STAB options, as well as setup moves coupled with its great offensive stats with a base 145 Special Attack and a base Speed of 101 meant it could run a variety of sets ranging from Nasty Plot variants to Choice Scarf variants. All these reasons made it almost impossible to counter, and it eventually got the boot by a unanimous vote.

XY UU - Mega Houndoom Retest

Mega Houndoom would initially appear to be a very threatening special attacker due to its high Special Attack and Speed stats with decent bulk for an offensive Pokémon coupled with good resistances and a Fire immunity alongside a potentially monstrous Fire-type STAB due to having Flash Fire pre-Mega. However, Mega Houndoom's test ended up in a unanimous vote in favor of it staying in the UnderUsed tier due to its multiple shortcomings. Its Speed stat was not as valuable as it was in the Beta because the then-recent tier drops shifted the metagame to have a lot of faster Pokémon rise in popularity, such as Starmie and Mega Aerodactyl. Its inability to OHKO a lot of the tier's walls, even after a Nasty Plot boost, meant it had a variety of checks on every team archetype. At the same time, the tier banned Tornadus-T and Zygarde to be retested at a later date.

XY UU - Tornadus-T and Zygarde Ban

When the post for the results of the Houndoom suspect was made, it was also announced that two influential Pokémon in the UnderUsed metagame at the time, Zygarde and Tornadus-T, would be banned from the tier for future retesting. Regarding Zygarde, it was a powerful Pokémon blessed with good stats, a nice typing, and a movepool suited for sweeping while being sound defensively. Tornadus-T, on the other hand, was an incredibly strong pivot due to its high offensive stats and Regenerator.

XY UU - Weavile Retest

Directly after the end of the Houndoominite retest, Weavile was chosen as the next Pokémon to drop from BL to get a retest. Weavile got a huge boost in Generation 6 due to the buff to Knock Off and Steel losing its Dark resistance. In the UnderUsed tier, it proved to be a very strong attacker due to its largely unresisted STAB combination and great Attack and Speed stats. Its access to Swords Dance and priority also made it a very threatening sweeper that punished many passive walls that would attempt to switch into it. For those reasons, it ended up being voted to remain in BL.

XY UU - Klefki Retest

The Klefki retest in XY proved to be quite controversial, as it received 7/12 votes to become UU but a 2/3 majority, or 8 UU votes, was necessary to put the Pokémon back into the tier. Klefki provided the tier with a Pokémon that had an amazing defensive typing with an amazing supportive ability in Prankster that greatly suited its movepool, which included amazing utility moves in Spikes, Thunder Wave, Light Screen, and Reflect to name a few. The council members were torn on Klefki; some cited it did its job as an offensive utility Pokémon too well, and others believed it was perfectly fine in the tier due to the many clerics and hazard removers the tier had.

XY UU - Hydreigon Retest

Hydreigon was an interesting retest, as it presented a strong wallbreaker with the ability to also act as a cleaner with a Choice Scarf. Its immense offensive movepool filled with great coverage options, such as Superpower and Iron Tail, meant a mixed wallbreaking set in tandem with a Taunt set could theoretically be able to break through every wall in the tier. However, the only sets that ended up being popular were ones lacking the use of Steel-type coverage moves due to the tier's Fairy-types having numerous checks, meaning Fairy-types were potent counters to Hydreigon. Hydreigon also provided the tier with a good check to top-tier threats in Chandelure and Mega Houndoom, giving the council more incentive to unban the Pokémon, which is what they ended up doing.

XY UU - Magnezone Retest

Magnezone was another interesting suspect test as, like Hydreigon, it was another strong special attacker. Magnezone separates itself from other special attackers by virtue of a combination of its great offensive and defensive typing, good bulk, and STAB Volt Switch. Its typing allowed it to hit a majority of the tier for neutral damage with its dual STAB, making it a potent Choice Specs user, especially when considering it had access to Analytic. Most Pokémon that were able to take a hit from Magnezone's STAB combination lacked solid recovery options. Furthermore, Magnezone's typing gave it resistances or immunities to 12 types, ensuring it had plenty of opportunities to wreak havoc. As a result, a majority of the council believed it overcentralized the metagame and made offense a lot more prevalent while balance usage declined. Thus, it got booted back to BL, although few from the council did vote for it to stay in UU, as they believed the abundance of Fire- and Ground-types in the metagame coupled with its low Speed stat limited it in its breaking capabilities.

XY UU - Crawdaunt Retest

Crawdaunt being suspected had a result most members of the community were anticipating from the second it was announced: Crawdaunt not dropping. While the Magnezone suspect provided the metagame with a glimpse of what it would be with a mostly unstoppable slow moving juggernaut that could wallbreak through most of the tier with ease, the Crawdaunt suspect gave a glimpse of what that metagame would seem like if that juggernaut was physically offensive, had Adaptability, got access to priority, and had the dynamic of being able to set up. Needless to say, Crawdaunt ended up being voted to remain BL due to the aforementioned reasons by 12/12 votes.

XY UU - Venomoth Retest

Directly after the Crawdaunt retest, the council immediately banned Venomoth from the tier despite it being in NU, two tiers below it, which had some of the members of the community questioning the decision. However, Venomoth was definitely a threatening Pokémon, as it had a fearsome Quiver Dance + Baton Pass + Sleep Powder set, as well as an offensive Life Orb + Quiver Dance set.

XY UU - Salamence Retest

The Salamence retest provided the closest vote after the Klefki retest. Salamence provided an extremely versatile Pokémon to the UnderUsed metagame that boasted two good abilities and amazing stats overall, as well as a great typing. Due to the many different tools at its disposal, Salamence was able to run a variety of sets ranging from defensive sets to Choice Scarf variants. At the end of the day, the council were split, with half of their members voting for it to stay BL while the other half wanting to drop it into UU. The former were citing its immense sweeping potential and versatility as reasons for it to stay in BL, while the latter believed it had an abundance of checks, meaning it could be handled regardless of the coverage it decides to use.

XY UU - June 2014 Tier Shifts

June marked the month where the first periodic tier shifts after the official UU metagame was established happened. The council allowed the metagame to play out for a two-week period before coming to a vote on what to ban to be later retested. The tier had a lot of changes, as Gardevoir, Manectric, Medicham, Quagsire, Smeargle, and Vaporeon rose to OU, with the first three being heavily influential Mega Pokémon, while UU gained Alakazam (and Alakazite), Blissey, Goodra, Infernape, Lucario, and Volcarona. Each drop found its place in the metagame for the two weeks before the vote with each one being quite viable in its own right. The results of the voting ended with Mega Alakazam and Volcarona as the only drops joining the BL list, with the former receiving a unanimous vote while the latter was voted to be BL by a majority of 7/12 voters.

The metagame from this point forward would be filled with multiple playstyles due to the viability of every playstyle being improved upon due to the tier changes. For instance, stall was vastly improved with the drop of Blissey, which helped form the new pink core alongside Mew, Florges, and Alomomola, while hyper offense was buffed vastly with the addition of two terrifyingly powerful sweepers in Lucario and Infernape. kokoloko's influential RMT Empire also came into existence around this time, which spiked the popularity of Froslass offense and Sharpedo.

XY UU - Staraptor Retest

XY UU - Tornadus-T Retest

Tornadus-T boasts an immense offensive movepool full of great coverage options and support options, backed up by decent bulk, an above average Speed, and great attacking stats. Due to its offensive stats, Tornadus-T wasn't limited to being only specially or physically offensive and could run sets of both offenses; even a mixed attacking set was viable. Finally, Tornadus-T gains Regenerator, which allows it to have a solid form of recovery that doesn't take up a moveslot and fits into Tornadus-T's arsenal very well. While many members of the community sought to have Tornadus-T reintroduced to the metagame permanently, the council had other ideas, as they came to the almost unanimous decision to keep Tornadus-T in BL due to its ability to outlast about all of its counters by virtue of Regenerator and its expansive movepool.

XY UU - Haxorus Retest

While on paper, Haxorus may seem like an extremely strong setup sweeper and wallbreaker due to its decent Speed and base 147 Attack, it didn't manifest itself as such into practice. On the contrary, Haxorus ended up having difficulties sweeping with a Dragon Dance set due to being easily revenge killed with rather average bulk. Choice-locked sets were rather mediocre because many Pokémon resisted or were immune to its STAB types. Swords Dance sets were only really being effective against defensive archetypes, so Haxorus was voted to be dropped into the UU tier with a majority vote.

XY UU - Venomoth Retest

While Venomoth may seem like quite an unorthodox ban due to it being NU at the time and seemingly presenting a lot less of a threat than various other UU Pokémon, this suspect test proved the community were wrong in assuming as such. Venomoth isn't a threat by itself, for the most part, but the ability to have such a successful Baton Pass set is because it has access to to Quiver Dance, one of the strongest boosting moves in the game; Wonder Skin, an amazing counter to Taunt and phazing; and Sleep Powder, which essentially temporarily shuts down many any Pokémon that could prevent the strategy from being executed. Needless to say, the council banned Venomoth.

XY UU - Volcarona Retest

Upon initial inspection, Volcarona may seem like a manageable threat considering the low physical bulk, immense Stealth Rock weakness, and weaknesses to two common attacking types in the tier in Water and Rock. However, Volcarona possessed many tools that made it an extremely formidable setup sweeper. Specifically, Volcarona had a good STAB combination, decent coverage options, a both offensively and defensively strong typing, and most notably access to Quiver Dance, one of the best setup moves in the game and one of the reasons it was deemed broken the previous time. After a couple weeks, Volcarona was voted to remain BL due to its aforementioned qualities ensuring it had limited checks on offensive teams, as the only Pokémon that could outspeed it after a boost were Choice Scarf users, and among those Pokémon in order to check Volcarona reliably they were forced into using Rock-type coverage moves, which were mostly inaccurate.

XY UU - Manaphy Retest

Although Manaphy may seem like a cute harmless Pokémon based on its design and the movie, it is in actuality a very fearsome sweeper that was able to break through every defensive core in the UnderUsed metagame during its short tenure in the tier. It was able to do this by virtue of having solid stats across the board, with a solid typing and especially access to Tail Glow, one of the better setup moves in the game that grants the user a whopping +3 Special Attack boost with each use. It came as no surprise to the community that the council did not allow Manaphy back into the tier.

XY UU - Hawlucha Retest

10 days before the September drops were to be announced, UU decided upon its next retest in Hawlucha. Many among the community at the time believed it would be a rather scary but welcome edition into the UnderUsed metagame due to its rather mediocre Attack stat and how its lack of bulk would make its setup opportunities few and far between. However, after a few days into the suspect test most of the community had changed their mind, as they realized Hawlucha was a fearsome cleaner that could ravage offense teams while also being able to hold its own against stall and balance due to its typing allowing it to have multiple setup opportunities against staples of all three playstyles, including Choice-locked Mienshao, Krookodile, and Alomomola.

XY UU - September Tier Shifts

Then came the September tier shifts. OU had taken three instrumental Pokémon in the development of the UU metagame in Slowbro, Heracross, and Mew, with Slowbro and Heracross being S-rank and Mew being A+ rank on the Viability Rankings at the time. On the other hand, OU had given UU a few familiar faces in Espeon, Smeargle, Vaporeon, and Quagsire. Two new Pokémon to the tier also graced it with their presence, Diancie and Togekiss. This tier shift also saw Scolipede having low enough usage to drop into UU, but because it was banned beforehand, Scolipede rejoined BL instead and would be eligible for retesting at some point. By the end of the periodic council vote, Geomancy, Smeargle, Victini, and Togekiss were given the boot.

Now, the metagame up to this point had a few rising stars that eventually made their way into becoming top tier in terms of viability, such as Mega Aerodactyl, Victini, and Hydreigon. Mega Aerodactyl had the ability to check a plethora of offensive threats by virtue of its Speed tier, which was unrivaled by any unboosted Pokémon, Victini was a versatile offensive Pokémon that could run a multitude of sets to function as either a cleaner or a wallbreaker, and, lastly, Hydreigon was a strong special attacker that could act as either a fearsome wallbreaker or a terrifying efficient cleaner. The Victini ban meant the tier lost yet another one of its most influential Pokémon, which is proven by its presence as a cornerstone of some of the tier's most successful teams up to this point, such as King UU's balanced VoltTurn and Bouff's Perilous Change.

XY UU - Smeargle Retest

Many of the community members had the idea Smeargle would be widely less successful in the tier due to the Geomancy ban, which restricted its ability to successfully pass amazing boosts to powerful wallbreakers, which is partly true. Geomancy's ban did help Smeargle become a lot more manageable in terms of stopping the Pokémon it passed stats to, but it did not fix the fundamental issue Smeargle brought to the metagame: Baton Pass chains. Smeargle was the cornerstone of the Baton Pass chain strategy that ultimately took skill out of the equation and made entire matches based solely on team matchup. It didn't take long for the council to accumulate enough votes to ensure this Pokémon remained BL.

XY UU - Victini Retest

Victini had been a mainstay in the tier for quite a while up to September, when it eventually got the boot to BL. Upon its reentry into the tier, many among the community had thought it would've been a no-brainer to let it back in. Unfortunately for them, the council thought otherwise, with every member either having not voted or voting for it to remain BL. This was due to Victini's extensive coverage options, which allowed it to run many sets viably and gave it the potential to get past any supposed counter it would have.

XY UU - Mega Alakazam Retest

Mega Alakazam, one of the Mega Pokémon most people feared would be receiving a suspect test due to its immense power and high Speed, was up next. Its Speed, Special Attack, and bulk increase definitely made it much more appealing on teams despite receiving a lot of competition from its non-Mega counterpart. It ran mostly similar sets to its base forme, with Calm Mind variants and all-out attacking variants being very common. At the end of the day, the council decided Mega Alakazam faced enough competition by virtue of being a Mega, coupled with the fact it wasn't too much better than normal Alakazam and had an abundance of checks, such as Choice Scarf Jirachi and Choice Scarf Hydreigon, making it an easy UU vote.

XY UU - Togekiss Retest

Togekiss brought to the table a rather unique typing in the UU metagame, which allowed it to be amazing defensively and not falter offensively, as it had resistances or immunities to many common offensive types in the tier, such as Dragon, Dark, Fighting, and Ground. Moreover, Togekiss was decently versatile, as it could run effective utility sets, Nasty Plot sets, and even a Choice Scarf set. Despite all those positives, Togekiss wasn't infallible, as it was weak to Stealth Rock and its best set relied on Thunder Wave to truly be effective, among other issues. While a few among the council attempted to bring Togekiss into the tier, ultimately it ended up remaining in BL, as it was very strong against every playstyle by virtue of its Nasty Plot variants and forced hard stall to use rather unorthodox options in order to deal with it, meaning it was highly centralizing.

XY UU - Zygarde Retest

When Zygarde was initially released, the UU community had actually taken a stance that was the same as the council's for once. Everyone at the time had thought it wasn't an issue and UU could let it in with open arms. Zygarde is a Pokémon that has an extremely good typing both offensively and defensively while boasting a decent movepool filled with good STAB attacks, decent setup moves, and even nice coverage and utility moves. However, the council thought that its best sets, SubCoil and Dragon Dance, had multiple stops within the tier, with unconventional means not being necessary to stop it from being a problem. Such stops include Ice Beam being a lot more common on bulky Water-types, the tier's main physical walls, the increasingly popular Toxic Spikes, and common Fairy-types like Florges and Aromatisse. By the end of the suspect test, the council had stuck to its initial consensus and allowed Zygarde to drop into the tier.

XY UU - Diggersby Retest

The Diggersby suspect marks the penultimate retest of XY. Diggersby is an extremely strong Pokémon despite its rather below average stats because of a few reasons. The first is Huge Power, which doubles Diggersby's Attack stat. Diggersby also has access to a good movepool that allowed it to function as a wallbreaker effectively. Access to Swords Dance allowed it to work really well without relying on a Choice Band. This overall proved to be much too strong for the UnderUsed metagame because it had almost no counters, leading to a very one-sided vote for the council to let this Pokémon remain BL.

XY UU - Scolipede Retest

Finally, the last retest of XY UU: Scolipede. Scolipede was quite an easy decision for the council, as it was pretty obviously broken in the short time it was playable. The reason was Scolipede could easily sweep through entire teams by virtue of its offensive Swords Dance sets but could also Baton Pass its boosts to any other Pokémon in the tier should it be unable to sweep itself, making counterplay extremely limited.

XY UU - Official Metagame Ending

By the end of XY UU, the metagame had seen many changes by virtue of Pokémon gaining more traction over the course of the few months before ORAS. Furthermore, most playstyles were fully viable within the tier thanks to the September tier shift, as well as the results of a few suspects either bringing light upon rather underrated Pokémon or being able to shine the light upon more facets of already popular Pokémon. A few Pokémon that were very prevalent towards the end of XY were Mienshao, Crobat, and Machamp. Mienshao was an extremely potent Choice Scarf user by virtue of Reckless ensuring its main STAB attack could nuke everything for quite a lot of damage despite the lack of an item that would boost its damage, and it could also run a successful Life Orb set that could act as a nice balance breaker; Crobat was one of the few good Defog users in the tier, which had limited options for entry hazard removal and provided teams of all playstyles with a slew of good resistances and an amazing Speed stat allowing it to be extremely viable; and lastly Machamp took up the mantle of Heracross, which left the tier in September of 2014, in being the tier's primary Fighting-type wallbreaker, as its Choice Band and Assault Vest sets gave it decent versatility between the two with the former fulfilling the role of wallbreaker while the latter was a potent tank that could take advantage of Dynamic Punch to break through Pokémon it normally wouldn't be able to.


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Art by FellfromtheSky.

Dawn of a New Era

As ORAS came around, not only were there new toys to explore in the form of new Mega Evolutions, the council had also decided to drop down some of the Pokémon residing in BL. As a result, Klefki, Staraptor, Volcarona, Salamence, and Togekiss were now part of the tier. In addition, Beedrill, Pidgeot, Sceptile, Swampert, Steelix, Sharpedo, Altaria, Lopunny, Gallade, and Diancie gained a large boost in their viability due to their newfound Mega Evolutions. Of these new Megas, Altaria, Lopunny, Gallade, and Diancie established themselves as the top dogs very quickly. Some old Pokémon also got new toys to play with, either in new abilities such as Adaptability for Dragalge or in new moves thanks to the return of the move tutors.

Of course, kokoloko's approach to UU's tiering meant that every Pokémon that was dropped from BL as well as several new Megas were being suspected to a council vote a few weeks into the lifespan of ORAS UU. Salamence moved to OU via usage before the vote happened; the usage it received while its Mega Evolution was legal was enough to push it up. Meanwhile, Klefki, Staraptor, Togekiss, and Volcarona were sent back to BL, having been deemed still too strong. Mega Altaria and Mega Diancie were also deemed too much and ended up in BL. The two Mega Evolutions that survived the suspect test, Mega Gallade and Mega Lopunny, were banned two weeks later in another vote. In the meantime, another Pokémon which had already shown its prowess in late XY established its dominance: Zygarde.

ORAS UU - Zygarde Retest Again

Zygarde was banned in UU for the longest time, but had been unbanned shortly before the end of XY. It immediately had a large impact on the tier, forcing a lot of bulky Water-types such as Suicune to run Ice Beam to beat it. Additionally, Mega Aerodactyl and Hippowdon often ran Ice Fang. The tier was struggling with finding ways to reliably beat it, and its Dragon Dance and SubCoil sets terrorized the tier. The latter was especially brutal, as a lot of Pokémon were incapable of breaking its Substitute after very few boosts. The metagame became centralized around Zygarde in such a way that whoever managed to set up Zygarde first won, so while it survived the initial council vote mid-December, it was banned alongside Alakazite in early January. Afterwards, things started looking peaceful, as UU seemed to have somewhat stabilized for the first time since ORAS's induction, and both Diancite and Medichamite were voted to remain BL in their own retests, yet this peace wasn't to last, as another potent threat emerged.

ORAS UU - Serperior Suspect Test

Just a few weeks into January, the hidden abilties for the Unova Starters were released. Emboar and Samurott gained Reckless and Shell Armor, respectively. They did, however, not have much of an impact. Emboar's newfound power was offset by its low Speed and the competition it faced in other Fire-types. Samurott's ability didn't help it at all. Serperior, on the other hand, gained an ability that boosted its power to enormous levels: Contrary. Leaf Storm suddenly didn't give it a huge power loss, and instead it functioned as a Nasty Plot that dealt huge amounts of damage. All of a sudden, Serperior's low Special Attack stat didn't hold it back anymore, as it could freely spam its strongest moves and become even stronger for doing so. Its access to moves such as Taunt and Glare, decent bulk and great Speed, as well as very low number of reliable switch-ins led the metagame to become centralized around it. Pokémon such as Goodra, Crobat, and Amoonguss saw a rise in viability as some of its better checks, while several faster Pokémon such as Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Beedrill could revenge kill it. None of these Pokémon held Serperior back from destroying teams, leading Serperior to be quickbanned in early February alongside Terrakion, which dropped a few days earlier alongside the immediately quickbanned Mega Pinsir. Speaking of new drops...

ORAS UU - February 2015 Tier Shift

Celebi, Diancie, Raikou, Jirachi, and Starmie rose to OU in the February tier shift, so UU found itself without some of its best Pokémon. Meanwhile, Heracross and Salamence as well as the aforementioned Mega Pinsir and Terrakion dropped. It took very few days for only Heracross and Salamence to remain, and while they weren't worthy of a quickban like their peers, both of them were very good. UU has always been a tier where bulky Waters take advantage of mainly one move: Scald. Heracross was not just a monstrously strong physical wallbreaker, it had one more characteristic that made it valuable in its ability. Guts allowed it to punish Pokémon such as Suicune or Swampert for clicking Scald and only very few Pokémon could take a Guts-boosted Close Combat. Of course, not everything was perfect, as Heracross did not have the best defensive typing and it had mediocre Speed, but it was a force to be reckoned with.

While Heracross broke down walls, including Fairy-types such as Florges, Salamence was sweeping. Not many Pokémon could reliably handle it after a Dragon Dance, and afflicting it with status was out of the question, as it often carried a Lum Berry. It did not even have to look hard for setup opportunities, as Intimidate provided plenty of those, and its typing and natural bulk meant it could even run Moxie if it so much desired. Moxie was far more popular with Salamence's Choice Scarf set, though, which allowed it to acquire boosts as it KOed its foes, making it a very effective late-game cleaner. It didn't stop there, as Salamence had yet more to offer. Even though it took a while to catch on, it ran very good defensive sets, as it could blanket check Fighting-types, had access to reliable recovery in Roost, and could carry Defog, allowing it to provide hazard control.

A little bit of time passed, and kokoloko stepped down as tier leader. With this announcement came something else, which had been promised upon Serperior's ban: UU's first public suspect test. Serperior was retested to see whether it should remain BL or not, and it was voted to stay in BL by a 73.5% supermajority. During Serperior's suspect test, another starter gained access to its hidden ability, though, although it took a while until it rose to prominence.

ORAS UU - Feraligatr's Arrival

Feraligatr now found itself with Sheer Force, boosting several of its moves and allowing it to reach new heights. The former NU Pokémon now had strong wallbreaking capabilities in its Swords Dance sets, and it could sweep using a Dragon Dance set. At first, it started running Substitute sets with 36 EVs in Special Defense so it could set up on Suicune without fearing Scald burns, but it did not take long for the meta to adapt and Roar Suicune sets to become the norm. This did not hinder Feraligatr much, as it instead opted to run a coverage move over Substitute and it still matched up well against large portions of the metagame.

As Feraligatr climbed through the viability rankings, another tier shift happened, bringing us two new Pokémon in Mamoswine and Mandibuzz. In exchange, Alakazam and Hippowdon moved up to OU. This tier shift represented a larger change in the UU metagame, though, as a lot of Pokémon that were formerly in RU rose: Heliolisk, Slurpuff, Abomasnow, Doublade, Cresselia, Slowking, and Whimsicott. Some of these acted as replacement for old Pokémon that left, such as Heliolisk for Raikou. Others were able to take advantage of specific trends.

ORAS UU - May 2015 Tier Shift, Part 1

Although it does not look very threatening, Slurpuff is not to be underestimated at any cost. With the rise of Salamence and the ability to take advantage of Hydreigon, this little cupcake found itself with opportunities to set up it did not have before. The combination of Unburden and Belly Drum is fearsome, as it allowed entire games to be turned on their head in the span of a single turn. The cupcake also really enjoyed ORAS as opposed to XY, as it now had access to Drain Punch, granting it valuable coverage and the capability of restoring its own HP. Despite this amazing ability to prey on Dragons, Slurpuff's main checks, bulky Steel-types, were still a common occurence, and a Forretress or Mega Aggron meant it could not set up until those were removed.

Similarly to Slurpuff, Abomasnow also capitalized on the presence of Salamence, as being able to revenge kill the dragon became invaluable. While Grass / Ice has never been the best defensive typing, it gave Abomasnow some key resistances, specifically to Water. As UU was the den of bulky Water-types, there was ample opportunity to wreak havoc. On top of that, it offered another check to Feraligatr, which was still running rampant. Exploiting metagame trends has been what Abomasnow excelled at since, and it has seen use whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Doublade capitalized on its typing, movepool, and bulk, which allowed it to check some very dangerous Pokémon such as CurseLax, Mega Aerodactyl, and Choice-locked Heracross. Swords Dance let it act as a wincon in many games on top of that, and it served as a very good pivot. While Doublade alone could do many things, it also had a great many weaknesses, such as an inability to beat bulky Water-types and Krookodile. Luckily, Hydreigon patched up most of these weaknesses, making Doublade very easy to fit on teams and benign for many different types of builds. Yet even then, neither Doublade nor any other Pokémon that rose from RU had the same impact as the one that fell from OU.

ORAS UU - May 2015 Tier Shift, Part 2

While it is a mediocre defensive typing, there is little left to be desired for Ground and Ice as far as offense goes. Very few Pokémon resist both types, and Mamoswine just so happened to carry both of them. With an incredible Attack stat and access to Earthquake, Icicle Crash, and priority in Ice Shard, Mamoswine could break all of the standard Fairy / Dragon / Steel balances, threaten most stall builds, and still do well enough against offense despite its average Speed stat. The few Pokémon that could potentially switch into Mamoswine, such as Bronzong and Porygon2, feared its additional coverage in Knock Off. Only Alomomola and Cresselia remained as surefire defensive answers, as even Suicune is forced into Rest and then relies on Sleep Talk rolls—and most Suicune did not even want to run Sleep Talk at the time because of Substitute Feraligatr. While its Speed and few chances to get in kept Mamoswine in check, it quickly became one of the metagame's defining forces.

As UU was evolving, before long, the council decided to hold the tier's second public suspect test. This time, the plan was to reintroduce a Pokémon from BL.

ORAS UU - Victini Retest

This Pokémon is one of the faces of BW UU, known for having great, strong coverage and good stats across the board. Victini was reintroduced into the tier for a period of two weeks to determine whether or not it would be a healthy addition. In addition to carrying V-create, it had coverage to dent everything in the tier, from moves such as Glaciate to Bolt Strike and Grass Knot. Its weakness to Stealth Rock and Pursuit as well as the stat drops from V-create were obvious faults that people took advantage of. Soon, the suspect test came to an end and a majority of the public decided that Victini was still too good for the tier, keeping it BL as everyone moved on.

ORAS UU - July 2015 Quickrises

Two former RU threats moved to UU in July: Cobalion and Reuniclus. Cobalion offered a lot of role compression, as it was a solid check to many different Pokémon, could set Stealth Rock, and could potentially run Taunt or Volt Switch while sitting at a good Speed tier. Its SubSD set was lethal for any stall team, as they had few ways to stop it from boosting, Salamence oftentimes being the only check. Another of its sets featured both Swords Dance and Rock Polish, letting it sweep many unprepared teams. Lastly, it could also run coverage moves to help it out in different stages of the metagame, such as Stone Edge for Zapdos and Gyarados and X-Scissor for Celebi.

While it may seem strange that another bulky Psychic-type rose when Cresselia and Slowking only rose a while earlier, Reuniclus offers something both of these lack in its ability Magic Guard. Able to put a heavy strain on bulky teams, as residual damage could not wear it down as it boosted, the best way of beating Reuniclus often involved hitting it with a strong super effective attack. Most of the Pokémon capable of beating it could not freely switch in on it, though, as Psyshock and Focus Blast could beat the likes of Heracross and Krookodile. Other answers such as Doublade had to be worn down, but considering how integral they were to any team's defensive core, that was not an unfeasible goal. There weren't many things holding Reuniclus from reaching its full potential, and not only Reuniclus was on the rise. Another Pokémon had reached the apex of its performance, growing into a bigger danger with each passing day, and was consequentially suspected.

ORAS UU - Mega Pidgeot Suspect Test

Mega Pidgeot does not appear to be a top-tier threat at first glance: its coverage is limited to Hurricane and Heat Wave, its best boosting move is Work Up, and its bulk is decent at best. While it sits at a good Speed tier, it is susceptible to Ice Shard and seemingly cannot touch Rock-types. Yet these tools were all it needed to succeed. Rock-types did virtually not exist in UU outside of Mega Aerodactyl, which was weak to Stealth Rock and did not enjoy switching into a Hurricane at all. Not many Pokémon did; Mega Ampharos, Empoleon and Rotom-H steadily rose in usage, as they were the best answers to Pidgeot, and, outside of RestTalk Ampharos, they were all worn down quickly. Outspeeding Pidgeot was also no easy task, so relying on that to beat the bird usually did not work out well. And while bulkier builds featuring Blissey seemed like a good answer at first, a set featuring Work Up, Roost, and Refresh emerged, beating even those. While there were answers to Pidgeot, what truly drove it over the edge was Hurricane's 30% confusion chance, as it gave Pidgeot a very solid chance of beating even its supposed counters. The amount of pressure it put on teambuilding eventually led the public to vote for its ban shortly before the UU Open IV began.

ORAS UU - The UU Open IV Metagame

During the UU Open IV, two Pokémon were commonly seen on many builds. Reuniclus and Florges both tried capitalizing on the same trend. Many teams had started running Doublade as their primary Florges and Reuniclus answer, and Doublade was easily worn down. This often opened ways for Reuniclus to win games, but what about Florges? Albeit being mainly known for Wish passing beforehand, a new addition to its movepool in ORAS made it possible to run a new set. Synthesis, as a reliable, one-turn recovery move, enabled the rise of Calm Mind Florges. While this set lost to pretty much every other bulky booster, be it Snorlax, Reuniclus, or Suicune, the combination of its typing and access to Aromatherapy allowed it to excel. It could still function as a cleric, yet its newfound ability to win games popularized it as more than just that.

Meanwhile, at the start of August, Gothitelle dropped from OU, but Shadow Tag had been banned from UU in XY. As it was hopelessly outclassed by other Psychic-types without said ability, it did not see any significant use. While this was the only drop from the tier shift itself, a Baton Pass nerf had happened shortly prior, so at the same time, both Smeargle and Venomoth were dropped into UU. While Smeargle did not manage to manifest a niche for itself, Venomoth saw a bit of usage. Access to Sleep Powder and Quiver Dance with very few actual Pokémon resisting it due to Tinted Lens allowed it some tools to be effective. Its mediocre bulk and power coupled with its bad defensive typing as well as only decent Speed did not give it big enough of a niche to remain in UU, though, so it also eventually dropped.

ORAS UU - September 2015 Quickdrop

Another Pokémon dropped in September, this one being a completely new addition, as it was only released in late July. Hoopa saw some initial hype surrounding it, as it had an incredible Special Attack stat and good Special Defense. It got a lot of interesting moves such as Nasty Plot and Trick Room, and its typing was vicious offensively. It managed to stay in the tier until February, as people quickly began to realize that its horrid 4x weakness to Knock Off and Pursuit were not a good thing, and its mediocre Speed tier and bad physical bulk did not help it at all. There were enough similar wallbreakers available so its best set was soon thought to be OTR, which was unreliable at best due to many teams featuring Pokémon that would outspeed it outside of Trick Room, as well as several that would outspeed it inside of Trick Room. On top of that, even a low health Doublade or a Toxicroak carrying Sucker Punch could force it out, leading to another realization: OTR Reuniclus is just better. Consequently, Hoopa fell into obscurity and saw barely any use.

ORAS UU - November 2015 Tier Shift

The metagame had stabilized and nothing has had much of an impact since the Mega Pidgeot ban shortly before UU Open started, and as the tournament came to an end, another tier shift happened. Only one Pokémon dropped, but this Pokémon had a significant impact for the six months it stayed: Zapdos. The electric bird offered the tier a new check to Fighting-types that could also Defog whilst being a great pivot with moves such as Volt Switch. Offensive sets with Choice Specs and Life Orb also saw use, as people now had an offensive Electric-type with enough bulk and the right typing to regain momentum. While it didn't have the greatest coverage, with only Heat Wave and Hidden Power at its disposal, it could still hit a large portion of the tier. Sets using Toxic and/or Discharge also became popular as ways of inflicting status, as the usual status absorbers did not want to switch in and Pressure allowed it to outstall many different threats. In response to Zapdos, Pokémon like Cobalion started running Stone Edge more often while Pokémon such as Crobat fell out of grace.

ORAS UU - December 2015 Tier Shift

Usually, tier shifts happen every three month. Only quick drops happen in-between, which have very different criteria. There was, however, one notable exception: in December of 2015, it was decided to tier base Pokémon separately from their Mega Evolutions. This meant that Diancie, Gardevoir, Sableye, and Metagross dropped to UU. Diancie had trouble establishing itself, and soon dropped further to RU despite serving as good check to both Entei and Hydreigon while being able to set Stealth Rock. The others left a larger impact.

It did not take long for Gardevoir to become the primary offensive Fairy-type. Its competition was Slurpuff, which needed to set up and acted as a sweeper, and Whimsicott, which was honestly very weak. Neither possessed the immediate power of Gardevoir, and neither had a secondary STAB attack that allowed them to break both physical and special walls. While its Psychic typing also meant that Gardevoir could not switch into Hydreigon's Dark Pulse, the other Fairies just could not match it offensively.

Sableye would be an utterly unremarkable Pokémon if not for its ability. While it does not have any weaknesses outside of Fairy, it is threatened by just about every neutral hit, as it lacks bulk. Yet access to both Prankster and Will-O-Wisp lets it cripple any physical attacker bar Mega Absol, and it can in turn invest into its Special Defense. Adding Taunt and Recover on top of that means it has effective ways of stopping setup of any kind, be it stat boosts or hazards, while wearing down the opposition. This also let it act as a Reuniclus check, a Pokémon that, at the time, sat near the top of the viability rankings. Knock Off, even from a Pokémon as weak as Sableye, still brought a lot to the table, as every Pokémon that was not a Mega was inconvenienced by losing their item. Stall teams had very few answers, and the most iconic stall team of the era has its own Sableye as a Sableye check, just with more Speed investment for a faster Taunt.

Although it seemed underwhelming at first, Metagross found its niche in UU a long time after dropping when Fairy-types became even more prevalent. Its ability to switch into Fairies, set Stealth Rock, and dish out hits courtesy of its high Attack stat and coverage options let it shine. Explosion could be used to deal one last strong hit before going down, which could either break a wall or trade one for one. It could also run Grass Knot and Hidden Power Fire to lure potential answers like Swampert and Forretress, and removing those to help out another Pokémon on the team like Mega Aerodactyl.

With these drops, the metagame would of course be in uproar, but another suspect test was on the horizon and another Pokémon would also soon drop and shake the tier.

ORAS UU - Crawdaunt Retest and January 2016 Quickdrop

Crawdaunt was being retested, as the council thought UU had changed enough for it to not be an issue anymore. With an Adaptability-boosted STAB Knock Off, not many Pokémon wanted to switch in at all. While it had bad bulk and low Speed, this could be offset by its access to Aqua Jet. Its Speed stat also still allowed it to outspeed many of the tier's standard walls such as Florges and Cresselia, unless they invested in Speed. On top of that, Swords Dance let it become a fearsome stallbreaker and necessitated the use of a very select few Pokémon such as Chesnaught and Tangrowth in response. Offense often dealt with it by either revenge killing it with a Pokémon resisting Aqua Jet, Hydreigon for instance, or using their own priority to beat it, like Infernape's Mach Punch or Vacuum Wave. As there existed enough counterplay, a majority of UU's playerbase felt Crawdaunt was not broken anymore, and it was thus allowed back into the tier.

The new year started UU off with yet another new Pokémon: Gyarados. It dropped a month after Metagross, Gardevoir and Sableye because its usage was still too high to quickdrop it at first, as its base form was sometimes used over its Mega Evolution. With access to Intimidate and a secondary Flying typing, Gyarados found itself with many useful tools that it could shamelessly take advantage of by setting up a Substitute and Dragon Dances. To beat its Waterfall + Bounce set, many teams resorted to running Protect or a variation on their Grass types, leading to Protect Tangrowth and even Protect Mega Sceptile becoming common occurences. Porygon2 saw another short spike in viability, as it could check both Salamence and Gyarados in one slot. A Pokémon once thought to be unviable by many, Milotic, was also thrown into the spotlight, as its access to Ice Beam and the combination of Haze and Recover allowed it to also beat both Salamence and Gyarados. More and more offensive threats loomed in the tier, and soon, an old terror would also return.

ORAS UU - February Tier Shift

The spoon-wielding magician, Alakazam, made its comeback in the next tier shift and had an immediate impact. Life Orb sets boasted immense power and could dent the whole tier. While its frailty would usually make Calm Mind seem unattractive, this is counteracted by the fact that it only needed a single boost to decimate many stall teams. If Spikes were up on the field, nothing could really switch into it, so the players went for the next feasible option: removing Alakazam as safely as possible via Pursuit. There were multiple problems with that, though, as Mega Aerodactyl's Pursuit failed to OHKO reliably if Alakazam stayed in, and it could KO Mega Aerodactyl back after Stealth Rock damage. Krookodile was slower, and its Scarf set was not particularly viable. Escavalier rose to prominence, but it still struggled with Zapdos as well as the many bulky Waters in the tier. On top of that, Pursuit users bar Escavalier as well as many offensive threats could lose to Alakazam if it ran a Focus Sash and Thunder Wave instead of a Life Orb.

ORAS UU - May 2016 Tier Shift, part 1

May soon rolled around, and it took a while for the tier shift to happen. It eventually occured around the middle of the month, and it brought rises as well as drops with it. Although it had only been here for half a year, Zapdos had integrated itself well into the meta and had become one of the staples of the tier; sadly, it had left back to OU. UU did not rest, though, as three new Pokémon dropped in Sylveon, Celebi, and Conkeldurr, all of them having an unprecedented impact.

Upon entering the tier, Sylveon brought a lot of tools with it already seen in Florges, having access to Wish and Heal Bell. Initially, the set that received the most hype had been the Choice Specs set, and while it is a strong wallbreaker, people soon realized that other qualities made Sylveon much more fearsome. Sylveon's cleric set became metagame defining, as it offered something no other cleric did: it wasn't passive. Uninvested Sylveon's Pixilate Hyper Voice hit hard enough to still threaten a majority of Pokémon, and a lot of Pokémon that resisted it lacked reliable recovery. On top of that, the larger HP and the resulting better physical bulk as opposed to Florges were great.

While Bronzong never rose to UU, despite sitting at 7% usage in the UU Open, it started being run as an answer to both Sylveon and the standard Nidoking and Nidoqueen sets. Not only was it one of the bulkiest Pokémon in the tier, it could set Stealth Rock and checked a multitude of Pokémon, from offensive threats like Aerodactyl to more passive Pokémon such as Cresselia. Despite all of this, it had one fatal flaw as a Sylveon check that would heavily cost any team relying on it too much, as another Pokémon exploiting just that weakness took the stage.

Krookodile had many attributes desirable in the new metagame. It stormed to the forefront because of its extremely spammable STAB combination of Earthquake and Knock Off, and it could carry Superpower to lure such threats as Hydreigon that typically liked switching into it. Yet its last move may be its most valuable, as Pursuit allowed it to wear down or beat many of Sylveon's best checks such as Blissey and Bronzong. Krookodile has always been a good Pokémon in ORAS UU, but it suddenly found itself in the limelight due to the new partner it gained, and due to another change. A lot of teams tried running Celebi as their check to Ground-types, and that of course did not enjoy eating a Knock Off.

ORAS UU - May 2016 Tier Shift, part 2

Although it did not like eating Knock Offs, Celebi was still faster than Krookodile. Not only that, it had access to some nifty tools that let it thrive in the meta. It could set up both Swords Dance and Nasty Plot and Baton Pass those boosts. The Swords Dance attacker set was viable, but seldom used. What made Celebi shine, for the most part, was its offensive Nasty Plot set. Between Giga Drain to not just deal damage, but also heal itself, and Psychic, a lot of the meta feared it. Yet what made the Johto legendary excel was its abundant coverage. Between Dazzling Gleam, Earth Power, and Shadow Ball, no Pokémon could claim to beat it safely other than Toxic Blissey and Escavalier. However, Toxic Blissey hated Leech Seed, and while Escavalier was a good Pokémon, the competition it faced meant it never became a prominent threat. What Celebi lacked in immediate power, it made up for with its bulk and defensive typing, as its resistances to Water- and Ground-type attacks were valuable, and it even survived Mega Aerodactyl's Aerial Ace from full.

ORAS UU - May 2016 Tier Shift, part 3

The last of the drops didn't do well initially. Conkeldurr is one of the best Pokémon in the tier now, but it wasn't regarded as that when it dropped. Two changes to the tier lent themselves well to it, though. Shortly after the May tier shift, Alakazam was suspect tested and banned from the tier. While it did not switch into Conkeldurr particularly well, it was still something that beat it. Alakazam was not the only thing under scrutiny, though, as shortly before UU Open began, a Salamence suspect test was started. Salamence had been in the tier for a year and a half, and there was ample discussion on it, but in the end, the majority of voters deemed it too strong for the tier and it ended up banned.

Salamence was also the premier Fighting-type check of the tier, and this opened up holes for Conkeldurr to exploit. While its Assault Vest set was favored before, as it allowed it to easily absorb Scald without fear of burns due to its Guts ability, the new sets that everyone was playing with were Choice Band Iron Fist and Guts Bulk Up. Its power with a Choice Band was unparalleled, as it not only commanded a ludicrously strong Hammer Arm but also wielded the strongest priority in the whole tier. Its Mach Punch was also vital to its Bulk Up set, but the combination of Guts and Drain Punch made it hard to defeat outside of resorting to extremely strong hits or Fairy-types.

ORAS UU - Hydreigon and Baton Pass Suspect Tests

UU was not done with suspect tests yet, and the May tier shift brought another thing into the spotlight: Hydreigon. Sylveon became the most used Pokémon, and it is a fantastic Hydreigon check; it is, however, not a counter. Many people discovered Hydreigon sets running Steel coverage, such as Choice Specs with Flash Cannon or Life Orb with Iron Tail, and realized how well the dragon could be tailored to one's needs. As it became hard to safely beat it, many people were in favor of a Hydreigon suspect test, and it happened. As there were plenty of viable Hydreigon checks, and there were enough ways of punishing a Choice-locked Hydreigon, or one that had lowered its Special Attack through Draco Meteor, the majority decided that Hydreigon was not too strong for the tier and it remained UU.

The next suspect test this time befell a move rather than a Pokémon. Many builds centered around Baton Pass emerged, all of which had varying degrees of success. One such build utilized Combusken to pass Speed to Pokémon that would otherwise not have the ability to boost it and were fearsome wallbreakers only held back by their lack thereof. And while old builds centered around Pokémon such as Togetic and Gligar passing into Yanmega or Mega Sharpedo respectively, Celebi's ability to pass effortlessly against many teams surfaced once more the underlying issues with Baton Pass.

One strategy revolved around a bulky Swords Dance Celebi, oftentimes with a Weakness Policy, Baton Passing into Mega Sharpedo. The shark had been a good Mega ever since its introduction, and Celebi was originally in the tier alongside it before rising shortly after ORAS started. As such, this strategy was anything but new, but it boosted Mega Sharpedo to new heights: it had been a strong wallbreaker before and could even boost its own Speed before Mega Evolving to clean up late-game. With a Swords Dance boost, it became nigh unbeatable, and this illustrated a fundamental issue with Baton Pass: games were often decided on Team Preview, as it came down to whether or not one could get off the Baton Pass. After a long discussion, the council therefore decided to ban the move altogether, as there were many uncompetitive strategies revolving around it and it continued to be an issue even after all of the nerfs it received.

ORAS UU - Klefki Retest

Pokémon Sun and Moon were nearing release, and the last tier shift happened. Only one Pokémon dropped, and said Pokémon was BL. However, with the metagame having changed significantly since the last time it resided in the tier, the council had decided to retest it. Klefki was supposed to revitalize hyper offense while offering a good check to some of the most fearsome threats such as Hydreigon and Sylveon. Its amazing defensive typing, access to Spikes, screens, status moves in Thunder Wave and Toxic, and, last but not least, Magnet Rise, allowed it to find its place in the tier quickly where it became one of the best support Pokémon. A week and a half after its release, the council held a vote and decided to let Klefki back into the tier, finishing ORAS UU with this new introduction.

ORAS UU - All Time Greats

Not all Pokémon became great over time, and with some of them, it is hard to tell when exactly they became dominant. A few examples would be Mega Beedrill, Mega Swampert and Mega Sceptile, which have been good for a large amount of time but have never absolutely dominated the metagame.

Mega Beedrill, as soon as it arrived, became the face of VoltTurn teams. It was often paired with Electric-types such as Rotom-H, Rotom-C, or Heliolisk and used its overwhelmingly strong U-turn to chip down the opposing team. While it didn't have much defensive utility, its blazing Speed more than made up for that. Poison Jab lets it act as a Fairy killer, which has always been appreciated, and it could either run Drill Run or Knock Off for coverage, though neither are going to dent its best checks, bulky Steel-types, hard. Sadly, it relied on Protect to safely Mega Evolve, leading it to frequently give out a free turn. It also suffered a bit from the omnipresence of Mega Aerodactyl, as that Pokémon could trap it with Pursuit and was, sadly, even faster.

Around the time of SPL 7, Mega Sceptile became a lot more common, as it synergized well with many popular offensive threats and could take advantage of bulky Water-types. Florges was still a good way of stopping it, but it needed to recover constantly and often gave a free turn to one of Sceptile's teammates. Just like with Beedrill, its Speed served it well, and the only Pokémon that outsped it without any boosts was Mega Aerodactyl. Its coverage left much to be desired but Focus Blast helped it punish Steel-types, which was all it needed to shine.

Last but not least is Mega Swampert. Its amazing typing left it only weak to the Grass type, and it could take advantage of its equally amazing bulk to run a good defensive set. Sometimes, it would run Curse, but usually it just opted to run similar moves to its non-Mega variant, letting it set Stealth Rock and spread Scald burns while still sporting a mighty Earthquake. Yet its best and most common set featured it setting Rain Dance for itself to clean. Access to Ice Punch enabled it to hit the Grass types it was weak to as well as Hydreigon. Not many Pokémon enjoyed taking on rain-boosted Waterfalls, and those that did usually weren't fond of Earthquake. Mega Swampert also offered defensive utility, as it could check Pokémon like Mega Aerodactyl that offense usually struggled against. Overall, it was a solid pick for many teams and has proven its prowess time and time again.

Conclusion

How will ORAS UU be in a few years? No one knows. If the retroactive ban of Chandelure in BW UU and other various modifications to old tiers are anything to go by, the metagame is far from over. There are still changes to be made, maybe several years down the line, and there is always room for improvement. Surely, not all strategies have been discovered, and some might never be. Having gone through many different stages and evolved as a consequence, the diversity and creativity that could be observed made Gen 6 UU memorable, and a journey I hope all of us will be able to fondly look back on.


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