Doubles Suspect Stage 1 - Metagame Discussion

[-Tsunami-]

Resistances can definitely help, which is why I was running Pokemon such as Scizor on my team, but I more heavily relied on Intimidate and bulk from Hitmontop and just the bulk of Mega Kangaskhan since my team was so offensively-oriented. You definitely do not need resistances to build a solid team, although they cannot hurt. Immunities and bulk are just easier to come by, as stated by youngjake, especially when top-tier threats such as Mega Kangaskhan are bulky and others such as Heatran have immunities.

On another note, I combination I have both played on the ladder and then subsequently tried out is SD Blaziken + Follow Me Jirachi. I still like Follow Me Jirachi in this metagame, even though it is obviously worse than in BW thanks to the Ghost- and Steel-type buffs. Regardless, I feel like this combination can set up on a wide variety of threats, although in my limited Doubles experience, I may be wrong. They are both beaten by EQ, obviously, but Blaziken resists Heat Wave, which is the most common Fire-type move in the metagame. Jirachi can also tank the priority moves aimed at Blaziken, and is bulky enough to survive many of the hits that would be aimed at Blaziken to knock it out, making this still a potent combination. Blaziken's attacking power and coverage means that, even without a Swords Dance, it can pose a threat to opposing teams. After a Swords Dance, however, it becomes very deadly, and the opposition will be forced to take it out quickly, which is exactly what Follow Me stops them from doing. This combination could work with Togekiss as well; Jirachi is just what I have played against and tested out myself for decent results. Follow Me support obviously helps a lot of Pokemon, but I feel that Blaziken is one of the best options to receive this support.

 

[Laurel]

Having played nearly 70 games on the ladder to get reqs, I didn't find anything, poke, or playstyle to be over centralizing. Talonflame, Mega Kangaskhan, and Tyranitar were the pokemon that I saw the most. However, I think the strongest pokemon I played was Mega Gengar. There was sometimes nothing I could do against it but sit in and die.

I believe that in doubles the ability to trap whatever two pokemon you want and kill them is beyond broken. Pairing this Pokemon with something like Shaymin-S is extremely deadly and beyond overwhelming. Flinch + Sub first turn = RIP.

I don't really know what else to add to the discussion. I spammed a Blizzard team someone gave me (I think it was ArcticBlast) made for 5th gen, and just tried to pressure my opponent. I also used a VGC Trick Room team that had Talonflame, and Quickguard Scrafty among other things.

Rotom-W seemed to be really popular as well, but truthfully it was hard to tell because half my matches were against people using Vileplume and Tyrantrum.

Mega Blaziken was another pokemon I noticed that could be problematic but I didn't have too much trouble myself running a Jellicent... Rain seems like the strongest weather to me right now because it can play around the others pretty well, which made Jellicent really good. IMO the weather nerf didn't really effect doubles besides the fact I'd sometimes save Abomasnow to get hail back late game vs weatherless teams. Trick Room is still really strong.
Mega Charizard-Y is an absolute threat, so I guess that's why a lot of people run Heatran as stated.

In any event, I don't really know what should be suspected, but I think Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Gengar, and Mega Blaziken are all possibilities.

 

[Skore]

Mega Blaziken and Gengar have no "slow mode" and as such are vulnerable to trick room teams. Smart Gengar players get around this by using sub but Blaziken is hampered by it's ability making it extremely killable and even if Kanga doesn't invest in speed it's still too fast to function in Trick Room unless it relies on Sucker Punch.

While I haven't gotten around to getting reqs, my experience is that the only mon that gives me trouble is Heatran and ONLY the sub-Tran sets as the rest are treated like bulky attackers, and even Heatran's subs are much easier to break thanks to Steel losing it's resistance to Ghost and Dark making Heatran easier to muscle through than in previous generations.

If anything, Generation 6 was harsher to physical attackers overall as the accuracy increase of WoW makes it so much easier to neuter threats like M-Kangaskhan, Lando-T and Mega T-tar, the BP drop in special moves doesn't nerf them half as bad.

IMO nothing is suspect as everything can be dealt with and played around as long as your team meshes well together.

 

[Laga]

Since I will be putting up an individual thread for suspect discussions, refrain from speaking about suspects itt.

Just putting this out there guys...

I'd definitely say the metagame's main playing style is bulky offense atm with Heatran, Rotom-W, Mega Kangas, and CharY (kinda bulky specially at least). This is also just a quick comment.

Now to the main reason I am posting, I highly disagree with Mega Gengar and Mega Blaziken being as good as you made them seem Laurel, especially Blaziken.

Mega Gengar is not that powerful, and you have probably been experiencing problems with it because of your team's overall bulk vs Speed being terrible against a powerful base 140 Spe Pokemon. Mega Gengar cannot even OHKO a half-invested Trevenant with its STAB Shadow Ball, much less Pokemon not weak to the move. While it is a great attacker, I don't find it all that consistent due to its terrible bulk.

The exact same goes for Mega Blaziken; your team is probably an offensive team with a bunch of frail threats if i'm not mistaken, and that inbalance just happens to be super weak to powerful threats a bit faster than you.

Considering that they are both frail and have the inability to use Life Orb / Sash, I don't find them that fantastic, and def not broken

 

[Mizuhime]

As far as Mega Pokemon, to further branch from laurels post. I feel like absolutely none of them are broken. Kanga, Mawile, Zard-y and Manectric can be very annoying if you don't build your team right. While Scizor, Tyranitar, Abomasnow and a few others aren't to be over looked while team building. Gengar, isn't threatening apart from the fact that it traps, and Blaziken's main STAB's are risky to use, HJK you run the risk of hitting into protect far to often while Flare Blitz hurts your longevity.

 

[nyttyn]

i disagree. while the key to suscess in XY doubles is definitely bulk, who says the attackers have to be the bulky ones? Wide Guard and Follow Me suport are excellent ways to skirt around the requirement for bulk, and are just so good right now. though it comes at the cost of designating certain parts of your team to support, you can get sooo much more power out of letting Follow Me and co mons do the bulk heavy-lifting. Reflect and Light Screen I have also seen been used to considerable success this generation.

Also fire types are SOOOO good right now. not much resists them and they just take massive flaming dumps on most of the meta while packing useful resistances. Heatran is the largest testament to this fact, but imo Entei has been completely overlooked as a threat. Possessing 115/85/75 bulk, base 100 speed (that unfortunately usually has to be Adamant), and a whopping 115 Atk, it's a bulky, powerful, fast monster with access to the holy grail of Fire STAB - Sacred Fire.

Personally, I'm fond of this set.

Doge Tho (Entei) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed
- Stone Edge
- Iron Head

it's pretty damn straight forward. though many mons cannot utilize a choice item in doubs, Entei has so much power that it does not matter. Sacred Fire will savage even resists, dealing absolutely massive amounts of damage. Extreme Speed provides a useful priority option, for when you absolutely need a low HP mon picked off (and it still fucking hurts, 80 BP off of 115 maximized adamant CB is no laughing matter). use it with wide guard support (which conveniently uttely negates its weakness to most spread), and you have a ferocious monster on your hands. It's bulky as shit too - even TTar's EQ only does like 50%~ or so.

 

[Nollan]

Just putting this out there guys...

I'd definitely say the metagame's main playing style is bulky offense atm with Heatran, Rotom-W, Mega Kangas, and CharY (kinda bulky specially at least). This is also just a quick comment.

Now to the main reason I am posting, I highly disagree with Mega Gengar and Mega Blaziken being as good as you made them seem Laurel, especially Blaziken.

Mega Gengar is not that powerful, and you have probably been experiencing problems with it because of your team's overall bulk vs Speed being terrible against a powerful base 140 Spe Pokemon. Mega Gengar cannot even OHKO a half-invested Trevenant with its STAB Shadow Ball, much less Pokemon not weak to the move. While it is a great attacker, I don't find it all that consistent due to its terrible bulk.

Technically speaking Gengar-mega has base 130 speed. Aka Mega Manectric too fast for you. Not like it's relevant to the point but just pointing it out.

Also nyttyn you should probably EV Entei so it has just enough speed to move before Adamant Lando-T. There isn't much it else in that area it needs to out speed and every bit of bulk counts.

 

[nyttyn]

Technically speaking Gengar-mega has base 130 speed. Aka Mega Manectric too fast for you. Not like it's relevant to the point but just pointing it out.

Also nyttyn you should probably EV Entei so it has just enough speed to move before Adamant Lando-T. There isn't much it else in that area it needs to out speed and every bit of bulk counts.

eh, 252 speed to jump/tie with opposing entei since you don't really get THAT much more bulk from messing around (like less then 40 EVs). I know that it used to be policy to try and smart EV to maximize efficency, but speed creep sucks so badly that if it's a small amount of bulk, you might as well just max speed because the Joneses most certainly will, and we all know how important it is to keep up with them.

 

[Pocket]

Yeah, definitely. I've only seen like one other person on the ladder using stealth rocks. Anyways, a really good way that I've found to set up rocks is with: fake outter + deoxys-a. So far I've been using Kangaskhan as my fake-outter. What this duo accomplishes is usually severe damage with psycho boost and also stealth rocks after the -2 spatk.
The main boon of using kanga on rain teams as your fake outter is: 1)scrappy- to hit ghosts and the omnipresent TR threat for rain teams, 2) no flying weakness as opposed to many fighting type fake outters- often grass pokemon are found on rain, amoonguss, ludicolo ,(and even keldeo appreciates the support) and 3) kanga's base 100 outspeeds TR fake outers like scrafty and outspeeds sun/heatran fake outer hitmontop.

The exact sets I've been using:
Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Protect

My use of Jolly kanga exaggerates the rise in usage of kangaskhan and the need to outspeed it.

Deoxys-Attack @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Mild Nature
- Psycho Boost
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Punch
- Stealth Rock

I've noticed a rise in genesect, and thus fire punch. Also a rise in deoxys, and thus max spd to shadow ball first.

So all in all, as the metagame trends towards sun, and a rise in rain + SR should soon be following to counter the brightness.

lol i'm quite surprised to see many of you guys trying out Deoxys-A o.O If you really want to destroy opposing Deoxys-A (which aren't that common iirc) Knock Off would certainly get the job done much better than Shadow Ball, since it would negate Focus Sash. Knocking off items in general can come in quite handy IMO. Not to mention Knock Off inflicts notably more damage to specially-bulky Pokemon like Latios and Cresselia.

252+ SpA Deoxys-A Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 226-268 (74.8 - 88.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
vs
4 Atk Deoxys-A Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 282-334 (93.3 - 110.5%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO

Granted, Intimidate sucks for Knock Off ;x Still, removing berries, scarves, and vests can always come in handy.

nyttyn: You will most likely never face another Entei x_x;; I suppose max Speed could come in handy against Adamant Kangaskhan, but otherwise the extra bulk is always useful. If you're going choiced, I'd probably double up on STAB with Flare Blitz instead of Iron Head, for times when Entei needs the extra power. I would probably pair Entei with Breloom to take out clear Rock-types and Rotom-W for Entei. Azumarill also sounds like a nice teammate to pick off Dragon-types and Heatran in addition to Rock-types.

 

[Haruno]

lol i'm quite surprised to see many of you guys trying out Deoxys-A o.O If you really want to destroy opposing Deoxys-A (which aren't that common iirc) Knock Off would certainly get the job done much better than Shadow Ball, since it would negate Focus Sash. Knocking off items in general can come in quite handy IMO. Not to mention Knock Off inflicts notably more damage to specially-bulky Pokemon like Latios and Cresselia.

While I do agree that knock off has obvious uses since it can remove items, you're woefully incorrect on how knock off works. If knock off itself would trigger an item effect like focus sash or weakness policy, then the items effect will take priority over knock off's item removal effect. So knock off doesn't ensure that you beat opposing deo-a (which aren't common to begin with.)

 

[termi]

i disagree. while the key to suscess in XY doubles is definitely bulk, who says the attackers have to be the bulky ones? Wide Guard and Follow Me suport are excellent ways to skirt around the requirement for bulk, and are just so good right now. though it comes at the cost of designating certain parts of your team to support, you can get sooo much more power out of letting Follow Me and co mons do the bulk heavy-lifting. Reflect and Light Screen I have also seen been used to considerable success this generation.

Also fire types are SOOOO good right now. not much resists them and they just take massive flaming dumps on most of the meta while packing useful resistances. Heatran is the largest testament to this fact, but imo Entei has been completely overlooked as a threat. Possessing 115/85/75 bulk, base 100 speed (that unfortunately usually has to be Adamant), and a whopping 115 Atk, it's a bulky, powerful, fast monster with access to the holy grail of Fire STAB - Sacred Fire.

Personally, I'm fond of this set.

Doge Tho (Entei) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed
- Stone Edge
- Iron Head

it's pretty damn straight forward. though many mons cannot utilize a choice item in doubs, Entei has so much power that it does not matter. Sacred Fire will savage even resists, dealing absolutely massive amounts of damage. Extreme Speed provides a useful priority option, for when you absolutely need a low HP mon picked off (and it still fucking hurts, 80 BP off of 115 maximized adamant CB is no laughing matter). use it with wide guard support (which conveniently uttely negates its weakness to most spread), and you have a ferocious monster on your hands. It's bulky as shit too - even TTar's EQ only does like 50%~ or so.

Problem with that Entei set is that it is hardwalled by Heatran. I'd run Bulldoze over Iron Head for that, although then again, I'm not quite sure whether Entei is even viable in doubles.

 

[BlankZero]

While I do agree that knock off has obvious uses since it can remove items, you're woefully incorrect on how knock off works. If knock off itself would trigger an item effect like focus sash or weakness policy, then the items effect will take priority over knock off's item removal effect. So knock off doesn't ensure that you beat opposing deo-a (which aren't common to begin with.)

Not sure if Weakness Policy would activate first or not. I know I've knocked off several from Aegislash and Dragonite, and I don't remember it getting the boost (Aegislash obviously). Might need some quick testing to see if the item removal takes priority.

 

[finally]

Doge Tho (Entei) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed
- Stone Edge
- Iron Head

wait a second. how did entei get on the top. jk
but on the note about legendary dogs, i've seen a rise in suicune because of 1) suicune's bulk and 2) suicune being a non-flying pokemon who can summon tailwind. i also think that suicune's rise in popularity signals how people are trying out the teamstyle of tailwind. other surprise setters that i've seen are char-y, articuno (freeze shock though), shaymin-s, mew, honchkrow (wut is an offensive honch).

Most people run a set like this
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 96 SAtk / 80 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald/ Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Tailwind
- Protect
set takes 2 crunches from mega-ttar iirc, and takes like 75% from char-y solar beam. the alternative to this set is the stall oriented suicune, which would match up with the aforementioned statement on how good doubles teams are leaning towards more bulkiness.

Suicune @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 96 SAtk / 80 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Snarl
- Tailwind
- Rest
usually this set is played by: 1) tailwind unless trick room setters. 2) be annoying.

 

[Haruno]

Not sure if Weakness Policy would activate first or not. I know I've knocked off several from Aegislash and Dragonite, and I don't remember it getting the boost (Aegislash obviously). Might need some quick testing to see if the item removal takes priority.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/battle-mechanics-research.3489239/page-39#post-4949885

As far as in game is concerned, if knock off triggers an item then the item will activate before knock off can activate. So if it does differently on the sim then it's a mistake on the sims part.

 

[nyttyn]

Problem with that Entei set is that it is hardwalled by Heatran. I'd run Bulldoze over Iron Head for that, although then again, I'm not quite sure whether Entei is even viable in doubles.

There's not much you can do about Heatran hardwalling Entei to be honest. You can smack it reasonably hard with Stone Edge though. Using Bulldoze is a bad idea since being locked into a 60 BP mov that also hits your patner and also lowers their speed = very bad idea.

 

[termi]

There's not much you can do about Heatran hardwalling Entei to be honest. You can smack it reasonably hard with Stone Edge though. Using Bulldoze is a bad idea since being locked into a 60 BP mov that also hits your patner and also lowers their speed = very bad idea.

true, but then rises the question: How viable is Entei, really? I mean, what does it have over its competition? (ie. Arcanine and Victini).

 

[nyttyn]

true, but then rises the question: How viable is Entei, really? I mean, what does it have over its competition? (ie. Arcanine and Victini).

Better bulk then Arcanine (without factoring in Intimidate), doesn't have a suicidal attack (unlike Flare Blitz and V-Create), faster, higher base attack then Arcanine, doesn't have a secondary typing weighing it down (Victini), 50% burn chance, has Extreme Speed over Victini.


seriously use it you will not be disappointed.

 

[hyperbeem]

I have to agree with whoever said Fire types are dominant atm. Some dude with a mono-fire team was hitting around 1900 on the ladder. More seriously, Heatran and Talonflame are huge MVPs atm. I used Heatran do a great degree of success, and I watched others use Talonflame just as well.Cockblocking Sylveon is a notable bonus as well.

I don't really think anything is actually broken atm, but I plan on laddering more so maybe something will come up. Doubles seems to be all about checks>counters, and every Pokemon has at least a couple checks. Mega-Gar might be broken, but strangely I saw it used only once (poorly) on the ladder.

 

[youngjake93]

I have to agree with whoever said Fire types are dominant atm. Some dude with a mono-fire team was hitting around 1900 on the ladder. More seriously, Heatran and Talonflame are huge MVPs atm. I used Heatran do a great degree of success, and I watched others use Talonflame just as well.Cockblocking Sylveon is a notable bonus as well.

I don't really think anything is actually broken atm, but I plan on laddering more so maybe something will come up. Doubles seems to be all about checks>counters, and every Pokemon has at least a couple checks. Mega-Gar might be broken, but strangely I saw it used only once (poorly) on the ladder.

More surprising to me was that a good rain team completely destroys sun. I saw finally really high on the ladder proving Toed still has it.
Also, idk what this says about the meta, but I was battling 4 ppl at a time and finishing battles in 8 turns or less by just Heat Wave spamming while I was still on the low half of the ladder.
Regular Sun teams are too archetypal imo, they get beat by TR, Rain and Sand. But like Tyranitar you can use Charizard on a team that isn't necessarily a "sun team"

 

[Bughouse]

Thoughts from the ladder:

Sun is quite good and used a lot. Fire types in general are quite good since Charizard Y is a bit of a pain to take out if you don't have something like CB Talonflame or Scarf Rock Slide (and even those could be wide guarded or quick guarded). Though I think getting rid of Sleep Clause wouldn't break doubles, I think it potentially could in the case of Venusaur on Sun. Amoonguss et al aren't threats when it comes to no Sleep Clause. It's just Venusaur I would be worried about, but I think even that might merit unbanning.

Some have suggested using things like Garchomp or Dragonite to beat the sun onslaught, but the problem lies in the popularity of Icy Wind. A good sun team should probably pack something to beat these Dragons anyway. And it doesn't even have to be Cress. Tornadus is a very obnoxious Icy Wind user as well. Alternatively Deoxys-A packs Ice Beam. Using Dragons to beat Sun is a shaky proposition for these reasons (and because Venusaur can just sleep them).

As youngjake93 just said above, Rain is still good as ever. It is the most reliable way to beat full on sun assault, which quite honestly is too easy to play. No monofire team should be able to get to the top 10%(?) of the ladder, but someone did. I'd be tempted to say Charizardite Y could merit a suspect, but Rain is a quick reminder that Sun may not even be the best weather in the meta. A balanced Rain team (aka Politoed, Kingdra, and 4 other good mons to deal with common threats) like finally was running is exceptionally dangerous and works well against just about any team type you want it to, since you still have 4 teamslots for flexibility.

I guess my main conclusions are that nothing is truly overcentralizing, except maybe Charizardite Y, but I'm not sure even that makes the cut. In terms of things that haven't proven over-centralizing but are still very good, Kangaskhanite again has proven to be very obnoxious. While it's basically impossible for Mega Kangaskhan to sweep as easily as it did in OU, it's an insanely good supporter. It's by far the best Fake Out user in the tier. Though it lacks Hitmontop's Intimidate, it makes up for it in being able to Fake Out a ghost before it has MEvoed and also for having much better bulk (and pretty decent power) after MEvoing as compared to Hitmontop. This is especially evident when paired with Deo-A as leads. If not properly predicted, that lead pair decimates a lot of opposing pairs. While Kangaskhanite doesn't make Kangaskhan broken as a sweeper, it might as a supporter. It buys so many free turns for its team, it's ridiculous. I could maybe see suspecting Kangaskhanite too.

But really it's a pretty balanced meta without even touching anything.

As to my team experiences specifically, I can confidently say speed control is by far the most important aspect of this meta. I barely had any "doubles" strategies going on (aka Mat Block, Wide Guard, Quick Guard, Follow Me, Rage Powder, etc). I only had Helping Hand Cress. However, my team had a Scarfer, three priority users, two T-wavers, Electroweb, Icy Wind, and two Protect users. Being able to get the jump on things in many different ways is essential since it's a pretty fast meta right now. Also, CB Talonflame is amazing.

 

[Mizuhime]

Well looking at the usage stats from the month of December it's no surprise that Zard-y is on 15% of teams. The bigger surprise to me was the fact that Greninja, a pokemon I think is very bad, is so high on the list, coming in a surprising 3rd. The meta currently is filled with fire pokemon and I don't feel like Scarf Ttar is getting the love it deserves, it completely destroys zard and every other fire Pokemon v_v

 

[BlankZero]

Well looking at the usage stats from the month of December it's no surprise that Zard-y is on 15% of teams. The bigger surprise to me was the fact that Greninja, a pokemon I think is very bad, is so high on the list, coming in a surprising 3rd. The meta currently is filled with fire pokemon and I don't feel like Scarf Ttar is getting the love it deserves, it completely destroys zard and every other fire Pokemon v_v

I've run Scarf TTar and DDance TTar on like 95% of my teams. I get raged at when Tar outspeeds my opps ChariYard and get called a hacker.

I feel you.

 

[nyttyn]

Scarf T-Tar is my bloody bane, but I agree that is is incredibly anti-meta of a mon right now. It also can pretty comfortably soak up Heatran's heat wave, so long as it doesn't get nailed by a burn, and still does a decent chunk of damage. It also can nullify sun, which is always incredible.

I would also disagree that, necessarily, speed control is the most important aspect of the meta. Nay, support itself is the most important part of the meta, and something I don't think enough users on the ladder are getting that beyond basic gimmicks like TerraCott. All-out attacking simply isn't terribly viable in this meta, both from personal experience, and from observations upon the ladder. Even so much as a single Tailwind or Follow Me pokemon can make all the difference in the world.

also can we please delete focus sash from existence smh random focus sashes are the most obnoxious thing.

 

[Magcargo]

The bigger surprise to me was the fact that Greninja, a pokemon I think is very bad, is so high on the list, coming in a surprising 3rd.

Greninja being third in usage isn't surprising at all if you look at the mindset of newer players. Getting STAB on every attack in the game and a protect that shields both your Pokemon the first turn Greninja comes out would look appealing to a less experienced Doubles player.

 

[Darkmalice]

I fought that mono-Fire type team on the ladder, I initially mistook it as a gimmick team, and it gave me a tough match.

I agree with nyttyn about support being the most important aspect. Many Pokemon this gen provide support whilst serving roles other than support, including sweepers and I see less straight-out offense sweepers that provide little team support - Kyurem-B didn't even make the top 100 usage! Mega Kang can sweep and provides Fake Out support. Unsuprisingly, Fake Out is more common this generation, with many teams having either Mega Kang, Top, or Scrafty, and they do more than just Fake Out. Intimidate is even better this generation with the shift of physical attackers, and it shows with the popularity of Landorus-T (and Scrafty's more popular too) who also does more than just Intimidate support. There are lot of Zard Y + Venasuar combos, both acting as sweepers but also also provide support in sun and Sleep Powder respectively. And Cress with her multitude of support options is still awesome.

Well looking at the usage stats from the month of December it's no surprise that Zard-y is on 15% of teams. The bigger surprise to me was the fact that Greninja, a pokemon I think is very bad, is so high on the list, coming in a surprising 3rd. The meta currently is filled with fire pokemon and I don't feel like Scarf Ttar is getting the love it deserves, it completely destroys zard and every other fire Pokemon v_v

To be fair, Greninja is actually a good Pokemon - definitely not top 3% ranking. It can screw over a lot of Pokemon depending on its moveset.

252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Hidden Power Rock vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 390-458 (130.8 - 153.6%)

Take that MegaZard!