Metagame - NP ZU Stage 7: Como La Flor - Heat Rock and Venomoth banned, Vulpix free #19 (2024)

Banworthy Pokemon

Malamar

Malamar has stood out to me as a unhealthy presence in the tier. The one Pokemon that has been able to consistently stand up to Malamar so far has been Spiritomb, but Malamar can run options such as Tera Blast Fairy to potentially get around this. Outside of that, Malamar is very difficult to answer with great bulk and Terastallization allowing it to shed its awful typing and Superpower to boost with Contrary. Knock Off in its arsenal additionally makes it able to cripple its answers on the switch, making it more difficult to answer.

Frosmoth

Frosmoth is a really dangerous Pokemon in the metagame. Quiver Dance makes it a threatening setup sweeper in a tier where Ice-resistances are limited to Steel-types like Orthworm, a Pokemon with horrible Special Defense and one Frosmoth is able to hit via Terastallization along with Fire-types that Frosmoth can also deal with similarly. So far, checks have included Muk and Passimian, the best being Muk being able to beat it 1v1 while Passimian can only switch in if its at full health. These answers still aren't fool proof either however, as Frosmoth has Tera Ground additionally to beat Muk and Passimian is not a long term solution, only being able to either switch in once or revenge kill with Scarf when Frosmoth is at +1.

Vulpix

Vulpix has Drought which enables Pokemon such as Scovillain, Victreebel, Shiftry and even more to break open the tiers defensive walls. Fire-types are relatively difficult to answer in general within the tier due to a lack of bulky Water- and Dragon-types available, meaning steamrolling teams can be fairly easy to do once weather has been setup. It is just really difficult to deal with in general and overwhelms defensive answers quite quickly.

Metagame Staples

Passimian

Passimian stands out as one of the best Pokemon in the tier thanks to its amazing movepool with options such as Knock Off for crippling its answers and U-turn to pivot out of it's poor matchups. Additionally, it has amazing stats, with particularly great physical bulk and attack allowing it to take hits and fire off strong attacks at the same time. Overall, a very splashable and great Pokemon in the tier to use.

Rotom

Rotom boasts a great defensive profile with it's Ghost-typing allowing it to check Fighting-types like Passimian while also being potent offensively with a great STAB combination of Electric/Ghost and a movepool which gives it a way of spreading status in Will-O-Wisp for Pokemon like Rhydon and Muk, boost its offensive stats with Nasty Plot, or Trick a Choice Item onto a Pokemon it is walled by, such as Arboliva. It makes for a great VoltTurn pair with Passimian as well, with Passimian additionally being able to threaten our resident Ground-types in Rhydon and Toedscruel.

Muk

Muk functions very well as a blanket special wall in the tier being able to take on Pokemon like Pyroar, Rotom, Arboliva, and many more. It's movepool is also excellent with tools such as Knock Off to punish Pokemon like Orthworm or Rhydon for switching into it. It also has boosting options such as Curse meaning it can work as a wincon lategame as well. Definitely a contender for best Pokemon in the tier with how splashable it is and how much it offers in one slot.

Orthworm

Orthworm has an amazing typing and ability allowing it answer Ground-types like Rhydon and Piloswine and other Pokemon such as Sneasel and Morpeko. Orthworm can be quite threatening itself if it gets opportunities to setup with Coil and leveraging its good bulk and Substitute to take advantage of Pokemon such as Muk and Dipplin. It's access to hazards such as Stealth Rock and Spikes is also great, as hazards are quite powerful in this metagame.

Toedscruel

Toedscruel has an incredibly vast movepool with options such as Knock Off, Toxic, Rapid Spin, and Spikes which it can offer to your team along with amazing special defenses and a decent typing allowing it to take on Electric-types like Rotom. The hazard removal it offers to teams is crucial for many balance teams and unlike spinners such as Quaxwell, Toedscruel has ways to pressure Ghost-types through Toxic and Knock Off on defensive sets or going Offensive with its decent offenses. Overall, very good.

Rhydon

Rhydon has excellent stats alongside Eviolite making incredibly bulky while also hitting quite hard, making it function quite nicely as an offensive tank in the tier, answering Pokemon like Muk and Rotom. Additionally, it has some great coverage to hit Grass-types like Toedscruel in Heat Crash which can also chip down Orthworm for a bit of damage, but unfortunately not too much due to Orthworm weighing quite a lot in comparison to Orthworm.

Toxicroak

Toxicroak has a lot of set diversity which makes it quite difficult to answer, making it potentially banworthy but I thought I would exclude it for now because there are at least Pokemon like Spiritomb and Poison-types like Muk can give somewhat give it trouble. However, it is still probably the best breaker in the tier just thanks to how you are not sure of what set it is before it reveals itself and both are equally quite strong. It's no slouch defensively as well, checking Passimian, Poliwrath, and Basculin quite well additionally.

That will be it for now from me. Are there any Pokemon that you think I missed out?
Make a post, I would love to hear your thoughts on the metagame!​