l0l nerd

title is also wip

:ss/xurkitree:
For months, Zeraora dominated Sword and Shield UnderUsed; its Speed tier let it outspeed the entire unboosted metagame, letting it find plenty of opportunities to threaten out opposing Pokemon. Knock Off let it wear down its own checks, Blaze Kick provided coverage for the tier's popular Regenerator Grass-types, and it had plenty of versatility between All-out Attacker, Bulk Up, and even Special sets. However, Zeraora rose to OverUsed by usage, leaving a tremendous gap. Would Xurkitree rise up to fill this vacancy?

No, it would not. After the loss of Hidden Power [Ice], Xurkitree has no way to hit Tangrowth and Amoonguss super effectively, and Regenerator enables them to shut down Xurkitree all game long. By contrast, the Thundurus formes can threaten them with Knock Off, U-turn, Psychic, and Sludge Wave; just to rub it in, they even have Nasty Plot and a much better Speed tier. And thus a Legendary Pokemon with an eye-popping base 173 Special Attack would fall all the way to RarelyUsed tier after having been banned from UU in the previous generation.

In RU, however, Xurkitree is a monster. It stands out due to its amazing Special Attack and the ability to threaten nearly all Electric-type resists; all of the tier's Ground-types fold to Energy Ball, and Dazzling Gleam scares off Zarude, the most common Grass-type. With Heavy-Duty Boots it can more easily stay at full health, letting it live one attack from faster threats like Zarude or Noivern and KO them back. Xurkitree finds plenty of switch-in opportunities due to the presence of Togekiss; once it gets in, teams are forced to desperately pivot around its coverage moves and usually end up sacking something. Alternatively, Xurkitree can put on a Choice Scarf and threaten to sweep weakened teams, though this is impeded by the fact that most other scarfers, like Mienshao, Zarude, and Heracross, outspeed it and stop its sweep. It may be shocking to see the Ultra Beast Xurkitree in RarelyUsed, but it sure makes the most out of being there!


:ss/suicune:
Suicune is not only one of the game's most aesthetically appealing Legendary Pokemon, it is one of the most infamous and storied sweepers, tearing through ADV OU, DPP OU, and ORAS UU with a wide variety of sets. From the classic defensive Rest, Sleep Talk, Calm Mind, and Surf set to offensive Calm Mind + 3 Attack sets to utility moves like Roar and Protect, Suicune has proven itself able to adapt to decades of metagame changes. However, this generation saw it fall to the new low of the RarelyUsed tier. What happened to the legendary dog?

Calm Mind Keldeo and Primarina are simply better at breaking past the ubiquitous Grass-types in UU. The high presence of Knock Off, status, and strong breakers make it unlikely that Suicune will be able to 6-0 teams with its Calm Mind sets, so immediate damage is prioritized over longevity. Keldeo's great Speed tier and the ability to run Specs or Scarf sets makes it a more immediate and unpredictable threat, and Primarina can more effectively sweep teams with its Calm Mind set due to the extreme longevity provided by Draining Kiss. There is little reason to use Calm Mind Suicune over these threats, especially Primarina, so it was relegated to RarelyUsed.

In what will soon become a common refrain, Heavy-Duty Boots Zarude is the bane of Suicune's existence in SS RU. Its access to Jungle Healing allows it to cure itself of Scald burns, forcing Suicune to run Ice Beam if it wants to make any progress against it. The prevalence of Water-immune Pokemon -- Gastrodon, Seismitoad, and Volcanion are all quite common -- also forces it to move away from its mono-attacking sets of the past. Although a set of Substitute, Calm Mind, Scald, and Ice Beam has some potential, it struggles to find opportunities to switch in due to this set's lack of recovery. The prevalence of Electric-types and Grass-types, both of which are on the majority of SS RU teams, also does Suicune no favors. Although its towering reputation leads it to receive significant use on the RU ladder, tournament players treat Suicune with contempt; in 149 games of the RU Premier League, the tier's most popular team tournament, Suicune was used only once. After decades of consistent success, Suicune's viability in Sword and Shield RarelyUsed might be the lowest it has ever been.


:ss/mimikyu:
Spikes-stacking hyper offense dominated SM UU, and Mimikyu was the smiling face of it; it found its way onto almost any hyper offensive team, joining forces with the omnipresent Scizor to sweep through almost everything but Stall. However, Generation 8 gave Mimikyu two major nerfs. First, its ability Disguise became less good; it now loses 1/8th of its HP when Disguise is broken, making it harder for it to stay healthy enough to live one attack or complete its sweep. Secondly, spikes-stacking became far less effective when multiple Pokemon on each team now carry Heavy-Duty Boots to become immune to hazards. This enables checks to Mimikyu to revenge-kill it multiple times without losing HP, preventing MImikyu from getting the chip that it needs to sweep.

After receiving these nerfs, Mimikyu fell to RarelyUsed. In RU, its mortal enemy is Heavy-Duty Boots Zarude, which can OHKO Mimikyu with Power Whip after its Disguise is broken, takes under 10% damage from Shadow Sneak, and can break Disguise with U-turn if necessary. Heavy-Duty Boots make it immune to the Spikes (and Stealth Rock) that helped Mimikyu be such an effective sweeper last generation; offensive teams try to make up for this by weakening Zarude with a Psychic-type like Heat Wave or X-Scissor Necrozma, a Water-type such as Sharpedo or Knock Off Seismitoad, or using Polteageist to form a double-Ghost core. Mimikyu remains a threat to teams without Heavy-Duty Boots Zarude, and cleverly constructed Mimikyu teams can find success against even those teams. However, it is by no means the inevitable sweeper that it was in Generation 7 UU; if you want to win with Mimikyu, you really have to work for it!


:ss/togekiss:
Togekiss has long been an UnderUsed staple, causing an untold number of rage quits after it flinched through entire teams in BW and SM alike. On the surface, the changes of Generation 8 would make its Choice Scarf set from SM UU even stronger; with no Z-moves or Mega Evolutions, nothing can block Trick, and Scarf Air Slash is as scary for offensive teams as ever. The loss of Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Manectric would also seem to do nothing but help it.

However, Togekiss failed to make it into Sword and Shield UnderUsed by usage for one reason: Salamence. This legendary Dragon- and Flying-type is one of the best Pokemon in the tier; its Hurricanes and Draco Meteors hit extremely hard, it checks a vast population of the tier with Intimidate and its typing and speed, and it can even surprise opponents expecting a strong Special attacker with Dragon Dance. Togekiss retains a slight niche as a defensive check to threats such as Salamence and a sweeper that can break through slower teams with Nasty Plot, but it is very much in the shadow of the mighty Salamence.

In RarelyUsed, however, Togekiss has been magnificent. It is at worst a top-3 Pokemon in the tier, and many consider it to be the very best. Unlike in UnderUsed, few defensive Pokemon in RarelyUsed can outspeed Togekiss. Thus, Nasty Plot sets can defeat nearly the entire tier, forcing one of Heavy-Duty Boots Xurkitree or Raikou onto teams in order to not immediately fold to its combination of Air Slash and Flamethrower. It can also perform many defensive roles successfully, supporting teammates with Wish, Heal Bell, or Defog while checking dangerous threats like Zarude, Noivern, and Mienshao -- all of which are among the metagame's most relevant offensive Pokemon. Togekiss is extremely dominant in the RarelyUsed tier, and any team that does not account for it heavily is simply not a good team. It seems to have fallen a great deal from its debut in Generation 4 OverUsed, but Togekiss has never been more successful or threatening than it is in Sword and Shield RarelyUsed.


:ss/regidrago:
If a DPP or BW player were told about Regidrago -- a Pokemon with a signature move stronger than Draco Meteor and an ability that boosts its Dragon-type attacks' power by an additional 50% -- they would probably pass out. Sadly, Fairy types were introduced since then, and this seemingly intimidating new legendary fell flat in higher tiers due to its utter inability to damage the Fairy-types immune to its strong STAB attacks.

In RU, Regidrago still struggles to stand out (except when you sort by HP stat in the teambuilder); Noivern is simply a far better special attacking Dragon-type due to its ability to fit on nearly any playstyle and fulfill multiple roles. However, Regidrago finds a slight niche through its Dragon Dance set, which fits best on teams with Reflect and Light Screen support. Thunder Fang can threaten the tier's most common fairy, Togekiss, and since Togekiss doesn't run a Fairy-type attack, it can often set up multiple Dragon Dances against it. Even then, however, it is still too slow and lacking in coverage to be a threat. It requires two Dragon Dances to outspeed common Choice Scarf users like Mienshao and Zarude, giving the opponent two chances to weaken it, and even a boosted Regidrago struggles against common Physical walls like Steelix and Rhyperior.

Regidrago doesn't have much to be proud of in its debut generation... but at least it ended up in a higher tier than its siblings Regirock, Regice, and Regigigas.