Metagame Analysis (Platinum) - Ubers Metagame
Platinum brought about a lot of changes to the Uber metagame and after playing it these past few days i've started to see some common trends appear amoung its inhabitants
Mewtwo
I've seen these occasionally, but not as common as one would expect from the "God of Pokemon". The most common set i'm seeing is the generic Calm Mind set with Aura Sphere and Ice Beam, but some interesting sets have started popping up like all special attacking Life Orbed Mewtwo as well as Physical walling sets. Imo Mewtwo still has a long way to go before people can decide which sets will work best in the Platinum metagame.
Mew
The only Mew I see are used as leads. People seem to have given up on the Baton Passer for a more generic Hypnosis, Explosion, Trick, Stealth Rock lead set. Nothing special but the addition of trick really helps it out at screwing with other common leads like Stealth Rock Dialga and Deoxys.
Lugia
Lugia is still very common as a means of handling the ever present Groudon and Rayquaza, where it has now taken to using a more Speed orientated EV spread to help beat Swords Dance Ray with Ice Beam before it is taken out with a +2 Outrage. Lugia got 2 decent additions in Earth Power and Trick but I still have yet to see anyone using them with any regularity.
Ho-oh
Haven't seen any Ho-oh at all. The threat of Stealth Rock just seems to be too much for the bird to handle.
Latias
Haven't seen too many of these. Maybe its because Outrage is everywhere or maybe its because Latias didn't get enough useful additions but it still stands that seeing one of these is a rarity.
Latios
see Latias.
Kyogre
Scarf Kyogre usage has all but dwindled down to a mere trickle, with Specs Ogre and the occasional Calm Mind Ogre being the most common sets. No new notable additions (not like it needed anything else) but still remains a very common threat.
Groudon
The common supporting sets from the D/P metagame seem to have disappeared in favour of more offensive sets. Rock Polish and Swords Dance Groudons are all very common and causing quite a lot of havoc as people scramble to try to find decent counters.
Rayquaza
Swords Dance is the first thing you think when you see Ray these days, and for a good reason as it is very common and quite destructive. Mixed sets are sometimes seen and can catch an unwary opponent offguard but are still in the minority. Even rarer than the mixed set is the Dragon Dancer. A few months ago people would have never thought the Dragon Dancer would drop so low in usage but it has and people aren't even preparing for it anymore.
I've seen only two of them and both times they decimated they're opponents team because he was overly prepared for the Swords Dancer, which shows DDance Ray is still a serious threat, but not much people seem to realise that at this moment.
Deoxys (All Forms)
Sash Deoxys -F seems to be the most common Deoxys form, used mostly as a lead with Stealth Rock and 3 attacks, I have only seen a few Life Orbed variants but they still cause a lot of problems for teams. Neither of the other Deoxys Forms I can say I've seen enough to really make a statement about them.
Garchomp
Scarf Chomp is a pest, not common but with it's excellent STAB attacks and equally impressive Speed it remains one of the best Uber revenge killers in the metagame.
Dialga
Despite the hype around Magnet Rise Dialga I have yet to see one at all as people seem to be using sets they are more familiar with. Bulk Up Dialga with Outrage as proved itself enough to be considered a top threat in the metagame, but as Outrage and Sleep talk do not work properly at the moment its potential is still limited. Scarf Dialga also seems to be picking up in popularity as a means of dealing with Swords Dance Rayquaza and Darkrai. Specs Dialga and Mix Dialga are both pretty rare but still do their job rather well.
Palkia
Scarf Palkia is still the most common set. Mixed and physical sets are being tested out but I haven't seen too much of them.
Giratina (All Forms)
So far people seem to be messing with physical Giratina-O sets mostly but there are a few special variants here and there. Giratina-A is just about as common, however people are still sticking to the generic Will O Wisp, Dragon Claw, Rest Sleep Talk set and not many users seem daring enough to try Outrage on the set so Giratina-A hasn't really changed much with Platinum.
Manaphy
Manaphy wasn't very common in D/P and Platinum hasn't done him any favours. I've seen two of them in the time that i've been playing and both were on the recieving ends of attacks which killed them. Not much to say about Manaphy.
Darkrai
On just about every team, with good reason. Nasty Plot, Dark Void, Focus Blast, Dark Pulse complimented by Darkrai's high speed has forced alot of teams to carry a Scarfed pokemon just to try to deal with this beast. Swords Dance sets are few, but still cause alot of damage, especially to those expecting the Nasty Plot set. Definitely one of the top metagame threats right now.
Arceus
Still unreleased.
Platinum brought about a lot of changes to the Uber metagame and after playing it these past few days i've started to see some common trends appear amoung its inhabitants
I've seen these occasionally, but not as common as one would expect from the "God of Pokemon". The most common set i'm seeing is the generic Calm Mind set with Aura Sphere and Ice Beam, but some interesting sets have started popping up like all special attacking Life Orbed Mewtwo as well as Physical walling sets. Imo Mewtwo still has a long way to go before people can decide which sets will work best in the Platinum metagame.
The only Mew I see are used as leads. People seem to have given up on the Baton Passer for a more generic Hypnosis, Explosion, Trick, Stealth Rock lead set. Nothing special but the addition of trick really helps it out at screwing with other common leads like Stealth Rock Dialga and Deoxys.
Lugia is still very common as a means of handling the ever present Groudon and Rayquaza, where it has now taken to using a more Speed orientated EV spread to help beat Swords Dance Ray with Ice Beam before it is taken out with a +2 Outrage. Lugia got 2 decent additions in Earth Power and Trick but I still have yet to see anyone using them with any regularity.
Haven't seen any Ho-oh at all. The threat of Stealth Rock just seems to be too much for the bird to handle.
Haven't seen too many of these. Maybe its because Outrage is everywhere or maybe its because Latias didn't get enough useful additions but it still stands that seeing one of these is a rarity.
see Latias.
Scarf Kyogre usage has all but dwindled down to a mere trickle, with Specs Ogre and the occasional Calm Mind Ogre being the most common sets. No new notable additions (not like it needed anything else) but still remains a very common threat.
The common supporting sets from the D/P metagame seem to have disappeared in favour of more offensive sets. Rock Polish and Swords Dance Groudons are all very common and causing quite a lot of havoc as people scramble to try to find decent counters.
Swords Dance is the first thing you think when you see Ray these days, and for a good reason as it is very common and quite destructive. Mixed sets are sometimes seen and can catch an unwary opponent offguard but are still in the minority. Even rarer than the mixed set is the Dragon Dancer. A few months ago people would have never thought the Dragon Dancer would drop so low in usage but it has and people aren't even preparing for it anymore.
I've seen only two of them and both times they decimated they're opponents team because he was overly prepared for the Swords Dancer, which shows DDance Ray is still a serious threat, but not much people seem to realise that at this moment.
Deoxys (All Forms)Sash Deoxys -F seems to be the most common Deoxys form, used mostly as a lead with Stealth Rock and 3 attacks, I have only seen a few Life Orbed variants but they still cause a lot of problems for teams. Neither of the other Deoxys Forms I can say I've seen enough to really make a statement about them.
GarchompScarf Chomp is a pest, not common but with it's excellent STAB attacks and equally impressive Speed it remains one of the best Uber revenge killers in the metagame.
Despite the hype around Magnet Rise Dialga I have yet to see one at all as people seem to be using sets they are more familiar with. Bulk Up Dialga with Outrage as proved itself enough to be considered a top threat in the metagame, but as Outrage and Sleep talk do not work properly at the moment its potential is still limited. Scarf Dialga also seems to be picking up in popularity as a means of dealing with Swords Dance Rayquaza and Darkrai. Specs Dialga and Mix Dialga are both pretty rare but still do their job rather well.
Scarf Palkia is still the most common set. Mixed and physical sets are being tested out but I haven't seen too much of them.
Giratina (All Forms)
So far people seem to be messing with physical Giratina-O sets mostly but there are a few special variants here and there. Giratina-A is just about as common, however people are still sticking to the generic Will O Wisp, Dragon Claw, Rest Sleep Talk set and not many users seem daring enough to try Outrage on the set so Giratina-A hasn't really changed much with Platinum.
Manaphy wasn't very common in D/P and Platinum hasn't done him any favours. I've seen two of them in the time that i've been playing and both were on the recieving ends of attacks which killed them. Not much to say about Manaphy.
On just about every team, with good reason. Nasty Plot, Dark Void, Focus Blast, Dark Pulse complimented by Darkrai's high speed has forced alot of teams to carry a Scarfed pokemon just to try to deal with this beast. Swords Dance sets are few, but still cause alot of damage, especially to those expecting the Nasty Plot set. Definitely one of the top metagame threats right now.
Still unreleased.
