Yeah so my first post in this thread was pretty retarded and got deleted so I'll add something relevant to conversation.
I feel like the most interesting additions to this metagame would be the allowance of Gems. In Gen V, Gems were used fairly often in all tiers; the most commonly seen Gem was the Flying Gem which, used in conjunction with Acrobatics, allowed for a high powered Flying-Type attack that still hit at a fairly hard 110 BP after the gem was consumed. This was especially helpful for Unburden users such as Sceptile (though he didn't get STAB on it, obviously), but was seen at times on the likes of Tornadus and Thundurus (whom had no other physical Flying STAB to work with.). Other Gems that saw use in OU were the Fighting Gem (Breloom) and the Normal Gem (Explosion users, primarily Mew).
I feel like XY brought some cool new abusers of the Gems, most notably Hawlucha and Talonflame.
Talonflame, as well all know, has access to Gale Wings, meaning it gains priority on every Flying-Type move. This means that TFlame has access to a STAB, Flying-Gem boosted Acrobatics hitting at +1 priority. With access to Swords Dance and Bulk Up, Talonflame can boost and hit hard with a Flying STAB that doesn't dish out large amounts of recoil, such as with Brave Bird. This means that it can more easily take out neutral opponents without resorting to Flare Blitz or BB and taking all that recoil, which can be problematic if unable to clear hazards before bringing it in due to TFlame's 4x weakness to Stealth Rock.
Talonflame @ Flying Gem
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def (Idk what spread Talon runs)
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Flare Blitz / Will-O-Wisp
- Roost / Flare Blitz
Hawlucha is unique in that it gets STAB on Acrobatics as well as access to the ability Unburden, which doubles the Pokemon's speed if they lose their item. This makes Lucha Bird's good base 118 speed nigh impossible to outpace. While its base 92 Attack isn't the highest, Lucha has access to very strong STABs in High Jump Kick and Acrobatics and the ability to boost its Attack with Swords Dance. Like many Flying Types, it gets access to Roost, allowing it to take advantage of switches it can cause to recover HP. It also gets access to Encore, which makes it easy to set up on walls. It's also neutral to SR, which is great for something with Flying STAB.
Hawlucha @ Flying Gem
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- High Jump Kick
- Encore / Roost / Substitute
On an unrelated note, Custap Berry makes its appearance once again. Some may say that suicide leads in Gen V like Custap Skarmory and Forretress wouldn't be able to fly due to the advent of the buffed Defog, but I think it is just another way for Bisharp and other Defiant users to get their kicks. I definitely look forward to testing Custap Skarmory out again. Custap Wobbuffet is a thing again, but a lot of new priority is afoot, meaning it could potentially be beaten down before it could do its trapping job effectively. On top of that, Knock Off is a thing now, which removes Wobb's Berry and renders the strategy moot. However, it can still trap plenty of physical and special attackers alike and almost guarantee a kill.
