In later gens, it's kinda taken for granted that you can use a lot of lower tier Pokemon because of how small gap between the official Ubers and everybody else is. Adv came before a lot of that power creep but, surprisingly, there is still quite a large amount of non-ubers Pokemon that can do excellently in the meta. However, the metagame is quite unexplored or, at least, that exploration is mostly undocumented and lost to time.
So, let's fix that by talking about lower tier Pokemon that have potential in the Ubers metagame.
I'll keep a list and short description here of each Pokemon mentioned in this thread so that it can serve as an easy reference point.
Stops Lati@s and many other Pokemon. Supports team with Wish, screens, status. Can go offensive with CM.
Spins, Spikes, Booms. Also does steel things like check Lati@s and eat Shadow Balls.
Only Steel-type with a spammable STAB. Good stats lets it check tons and hit like a truck. Can even Pursuit Deo-A if needed.
Like Rayquaza, but has Intimidate for large physical bulk. Can do Wish if that's your kind of thing.
Resists BoltBeam, has strong STAB Thunder, traps Steels.
lol special attacks
Basically Blissey with Pursuit and good physical defense.
Blocks spin, can boom, can wisp.
Can revenge kill Psychic-types and Baton Pass Swords Dance and Speed Boost.
Can spinblock and check CM Psychic-types decently well.
Looks cool
CM, STAB Thunders, outspeeds Lati@s
Trolls Kyogre, annoys with SubSeeds, and is pretty good at dancing.
Can switch into anything Groudon uses and eats Steel-types for breakfast.
Reliable blanket check to CM mons and can hit hard with his high base Attack and access to boom.
Reliable blanket check to CM mons and can hit hard with Thunder and STAB Ice Beam coming from a solid Special Attack stat.
Checks the ever popular BoltBeam abusers without fearing the occasional Fire Blast. It can also be difficult to switch into with the threat of STAB EQ from 110 base attack as well as STAB, Rain-boosted Hydro Pumps.
Can Spike and hard stops most physical attackers in the metagame.
Super tanky boombot
Cleans after steels are gone, can also Spike or Explode if needed
Another CB rain cleaner. It trade Spikes, Boom, and Shadow Ball for Rapid Spin, Double Edge to 3HKO Groudon, and a mildly useful typing.
Groudon check and Booming Statusbot
Is fast in Sun with access to CB Shadow Ball and Explosion.
An alternative to Aggron? Poor guy is kinda left behind by the fact that the other Regis are good and he doesn't really have a noticable niche...
Can Pursuit CB Deo-A locked into Shadow Ball as well as hit really hard once every other turn
Pursuit support mon with solid stats and an interesting typing as well as a way to disrupt unwanted weather
One of the few Rapid Spin users that is also a Ground-type. Can check CM Jirachi, semi-check Groudon, and can Boom when no longer needed. Access to Shadow Ball insures Gengar can not Spinblock it as well as avoiding giving Lati@s free switch-ins.
125 base Spatk, STAB Thunders as well as a typing that allows it to safely check Rayquaza, Lugiass, and CB Ho-Oh under rain. Can also check Groudon without Rock Slide and switch into Metagross fairly well. Substitute + Metal Sound ensures that it bypasses Blissey and can even beat out Lati@s that were paralyzed from switching into Thunders one too many times.
Fast as fuck and can be a royal bitch when abusing Encore with SubSeeds and Sleep Powder.
Super fast CB mon with a moderately useful typing
Has Swift Swim Megahorn and stylish frills
One of the few Ground-types that isn't weak to Ice Beam (although it's Special Defense is lacking for it to be a solid Lati@s check) and MONSTER Physical Defense. Between CB EQ and Rock Head Double Edge it has very powerful moves that can be difficult to switch into. What those don't cover, Rock Slide hits and when you don't need him anymore you get to take a free life with his Explosion.
Sweep's waifu is good in this generation with the trademark super-fast and super-strong Hydro Pumps as well as just enough Special Attack to threaten the Lati twins with Blizzard. Has a useful typing and also doesn't desperately fear Ho-Oh Sacred Fire burns as a Special Attacker. For the games where it can't clean things or pump out damage, it can simply drop layers of Spikes to justify its use anyways.
The rarity of Tyranitar and the fact that Spikes are not super dominant as well as easily spin-able makes Shedinja actually a candidate for use. What's more, it checks the amazingly powerful CM Lati@s AND Kyogre as well as quite large number of other Pokemon. Just watch out for those handful of Pursuit users. Still too support reliant to be commonplace, however.
So, let's fix that by talking about lower tier Pokemon that have potential in the Ubers metagame.
I'll keep a list and short description here of each Pokemon mentioned in this thread so that it can serve as an easy reference point.
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