(No longer spoilers) Full Alolan Dex revealed: VGC17 analysis

[MagnusHexem]

Okay. No more excuses. I've put this on hold for two and a half weeks. I need to put out something. I'm not going to dawdle any more.

How I'm going to do this is analyze Pokemon from my point of view and experience. I am bound to be wrong on a few of these, so anyone can feel free to fill me in on something that I missed. This will mostly be my analysis, but I appreciate any feedback that is given to me. I will separate different groups of Pokemon. This post will be about what I think are the top Pokemon to expect in the format. Other sections will include things likes comeback Pokemon, Trick Room setup-ers and sweepers, support Pokemon, Pokemon that might not be useful if move tutors aren't allowed, etc.

Actually, about that last one. If the last 3 generations are any indication, move tutors will NOT return for Sun and Moon. This means that there will be certain moves that will be a lot less common than they were in the last 2 formats due to low accessibility. So the stuff that those British VGC players posted about moves like Tailwind and Icy Wind...I would take those with a grain of salt. Very few Pokemon in this format will get legal access to those moves. Keep that in mind. Of course, none of this is set in stone. But based on Pokemon's pattern, it is very likely that this will be the case.

Top-Tier threats:

Garchomp

Remember this big ol' baddy from VGC14? Heck, if you play metagames like Smogon OU and/or Battle Spot Singles, you still see it! There's no denying that Garchomp is one of the best Pokemon in most formats it's available in. None of its stats are disappointing in the slightest. Bragging good bulk is something that a lot of fast physical sweepers can't do. Garchomp's relatively superior speed to physical attackers, along with a high attack stat and STAB'd Earthquake, make it a great fit for teams who could still use a general physical powerhouse. What makes Garchomp a very popular choice is how easy it is to use and understand, and that it counters itself...a combination for a giant bandwagon.

Gengar

Ever since Gen2, Gengar has been a favorite in both design and battle. The addition of its mega and both of its STABs getting buffed offensively in Gen 6 only helped this thing get more love. Like Garchomp, Gengar is a fantastic and popular choice in just about every metagame. It hits hard and it fast, but it also has access to other support moves like Taunt, Will-O-Wisp, and Icy Wind, (albeit likely illegal this format,) which are considerably more useful on it due to the possibilities of other sets it can use...which leads to unpredictability. Although seeing a Focus Sash on it is predictable. Its frailty stops it from being too spooky, but it can still get a lot done with a Sash, and can put a dent in Pokemon weak to Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Will-O-Wisp...you get the idea. It's fast and has great options. You all know this by now.

Clefable and Clefairy

Small story: One of the particularly interesting things about VGC14 was the limited options to choose from. Of course is the case with a dex of only 300 Pokemon...but one area that the competitive area saw a strange limitation in was redirection. There were only so many Rage Powder Pokemon to choose from. Amoongus was there...but so was the incarnation of a new item: the Safety Goggles. Some Pokemon carried this specifically to counter it. As such, Follow Me became even more reliable than it already was in comparison to Rage Powder. But, our Follow Me options were also limited...to 3 Pokemon. Furret, Lucario, and Pachirisu. We know what happened with Pachirisu, but the truth is that Follow Me Lucario actually had some unspoken success as well. This should be a statement for how important Follow Me was. With no Clefairy-line or Togepi-line Pokemon legal, these inferior redirection-ers were the ones taking the spotlight.

But here we are in a new meta where we'll most likely see that change. Clefable and Clefairy were shown past 2014 to be very useful being bulky Follow Me users who also had some other great support options. To name a few, Clefairy's Friend Guard, Clefable's Unaware, Helping Hand, and Icy Wind. There's no reason not to expect both of these Pokemon as two of the top support Pokemon in the format. Clefairy is considered over Clefable sometimes due to its access to Friend Guard, and nothing else. So if Clefairy doesn't get its hidden ability in SuMo, we'll have to wait until the Bank update for it to see usage. Bulky Follow Me is enough for these 2 to be considered on any team in need.

Whimsicott

Still on the topic of VGC14, our options for Pranksters were Murkrow, Sableye, male Meowstic, Klefki, and Mega Banette. While none of these are bad by any means, they certainly aren't up to snuff as most of the rest of the Prankster users. Whimsicott's fairy and grass coverage alongside priority Tailwind already gives it an edge, but the sheer amount of Prankster-boosted moves it gets is more than just eyebrow-raising. I won't name them all, but there is just so much that you can do with this thing. I consider it to be one of the better support mons out there due to the insane amount of things it can do. Oh, and it's the fastest Prankster user, so it's not as easily baited by Taunt.

Slowbro/Slowking

With common Trick Room Pokemon like Cresselia and Gothitelle out, Slowbro and Slowking step up to the occasion as the new superior users of Trick Room. They are bulkier than the others that can learn it, they are super slow, and have access to the always useful Ice Beam and Scald. They also have Oblivious, which makes them immune to Taunt! Expect these 2 to be common Trick Room team tropes.

Politoed

"Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day." Well, I've got great news for you. None of the non-alolan Pokemon really have anything to take advantage of rain! No Mega Swampert, no Kingdra...and no Ludicolo. Thank Goomy. However, don't let this thing fool you. Rain is still the best weather condition, powering up water moves and weakening fire moves that threaten Pokemon who's biggest weakness are fire moves. Plus, the only other weather inducer in this format that we can see so far is Ninetales, so it will be harder to shut rain down, even if it is less threatening. I still think it's something to watch out for.


Weaville

Weaville didn't pick up much usage until 2015 due to its inaccessibility to the heavily buffed Knock Off in 2014. However, Weaville is still super fast and has access to Fake Out and STAB'd, physical Ice attacks that heavily threaten specific Pokemon, and occasionally even entire teams. Its fraility is barely a bother to it due to being able to do its job in the first few turns: disrupting the opponent with Fake Out, and taking out top-tier Pokemon with Icicle Crash. Just remember that Knock Off is unlikely to be legal again unless it becomes an egg move, so its utility might get limited. But it's still great nonetheless.

Talonflame

Yep. Talonflame is back. Kind of surprised it's in Alola considering they made a new bird for Alola. Talonflame's stats aren't that great, but we all know what its big draw is: one of the most powerful priority moves in the game. Combine that with a fast Quick Guard, STAB'd fire coverage, and one of the few [supposedly] legal Tailwind users, and you've got a Pokemon that can do a lot and put a lot of pressure on your opponent. However, it is important to note that Gale Wings is its hidden ability. If Gale Wings is not available in SuMo, then we won't be seeing Gale Wings being legal until Bank is updated. So there will be some down time of seeing almost no Talonflame. Because a bird Pokemon with only one good stat and no good ability...really isn't all that great. On another side note, there are new abilities and even a new terrain that block priority. This will put a damper on Talonflame, but I would still expect to see it a decent amount.

Sylveon

I hate Sylveon. I hate all eeveelutions, but Sylveon is different. Sylveon is "spam one move to win." With it being the only non-mega with access to Pixilate, and one gigantic Special Defense stat, Choice Specs Sylveon ran the early 2015 meta. It became predictable, and people came more prepared, so it went down in usage. But it was still something to watch out for, thanks to a very powerful spread attack that had great coverage against otherwise powerful Pokemon. However, this move was Hyper Voice. What's the significance? It is a tutor-only move. Again, if we are to believe tutor moves won't return once again...I don't see Sylveon being used on any teams at all. But it's worth mentioning in case I end up being wrong on how they handle tutor moves.

Arcanine

Arcanine's role in VGC in Gen 6 was seen more successfully as a support type of role, with access to Intimidate, Snarl, Will-O-Wisp, and decent bulk that most fire types didn't have. However, there are very few offensive Fire types seen in the Alolan dex to my knowledge, so I can easily see Arcanine stepping up to bat in its old role it had in singles. With access to a somewhat powerful Flare Blitz, combined with Close Combat and ExtreemeSpeed, Arcanine looks to be a powerful force against Pokemon weak to these 3 moves. Combine that will the fact that it can still run support moves, or use and Assault Vest decently alongside Intimidate, and Arcanine can be a little unpredictable in team preview, as it can serve many different roles for a team.

That'll be it for now! Next, I plan on covering Pokemon that I think will come back from years of underusage. After that, I'll go over Pokemon that are in the tier below the top one. Stay tuned, and I appreciate feedback on anything that I might have missed!