The impact of Gen 7 buffs on lower tiers

Immediately when many of the new nerfs/buffs were revaled, people began to speculate about how these types of things would play out in OU/UU/RU for Pokemon like Pelipper, Mantine, Gengar, Talonflame, etc. While we saw a huge boost in viability for the former two, and a significant hit to viability to the latter, the point remains that they still all have an impact on the upper tiers and are all viable in OU. But a lot of other Pokemon received buffs that were previously stuck in PU, quite a few of which were even considered outclassed in OU. So I wanted to take some time to look at some of the Pokemon that were PU last gen that got buffs and see if their buffs had any impact on their viability. I'm going to skip those that have already had an impact on some of the upper tiers and instead focus on ones that have yet to make a splash this generation. I listed some sample sets below too.

Masquerain was generally considered inferior to Butterfree last generation because it was slower, less powerful, lacked Sleep Powder and had an inferior ability. Huge boosts to Masquerain's Special Attack and Speed give it the edge in that capacity now. While it still lacks the ability to put a counter to sleep, Masquerain's Quiver Dance set is likely to be threatening in the lowest tiers this generation due to Masquerain's excellent coverage.

Masquerain @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Air Slash
- Quiver Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam / Bug Buzz

Butterfree also got a new tool to compete with Masquerain: Air Slash. While Masquerain already had Air Slash, Butterfree can actually abuse Air Slash much more easily with Tinted Lens. The combination of Flying and Bug with Tinted Lens is completely unresisted, meaning Butterfree would have few counters outside of dedicated special walls after setting up.

Butterfree @ Life Orb
Ability: Tinted Lens
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance
- Sleep Powder

Vanilluxe struggled some last generation with its mediocre Speed tier and in some ways was outclassed by Regice. However, Snow Warning can potentially give Vanilluxe a new lease on life, giving it the ability to boost Slush Rush users and fire off its own powerful Blizzards. It does have some interesting coverage, though its Autotomize set may remain its best.

Vanilluxe @ Icy Rock
Ability: Snow Warning
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Autotomize
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Hidden Power Ground

Dodrio greatly appreciates both the boost in Speed and the addition of Jump Kick. Steel and Rock types are no longer solid counters to Dodrio's Swords Dance or Choice Band sets despite resisting both of Dodrio's STAB moves. Dodrio will still likely struggle in some ways due to its poor bulk which limits setup opportunities and allows for revenge killing. However, the new additions definitely bolster its viability a lot.

Dodrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Early Bird
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Quick Attack
- Jump Kick
- Knock-Off

To be fair, Seviper is still not great, even with Swords Dance. However, the addition can perhaps give Seviper a fighting chance against many of the slower bulky Pokemon that make up the lowest tiers. While Coil is a decent setup move, it is a bit poor on Seviper, who is frail even after a boost. To be fair, Seviper still appears to be largely outclassed by Arbok as a purely physical attacker, and likely needs to run special moves still to have any discernable niche.

Seviper @ Life Orb
Ability: Shed Skin
252 Atk / 40 SpA / 216 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Giga Drain / Flamethrower

Cryogonal earned the somewhat dubious distinction of most reliable spinner in PU last generation. The only problem was that it would shatter in the face of any physical move whatsoever. While its bulk is certainly not outstanding now, Cryogonal at least stands a fighting chance now against weak, neutral physical hits. It can take advantage of this patched up bulk with Recover. Its set won't change, but I'm interested to see how its longevity will impact its usage in lower tiers.

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Freeze-Dry
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Hidden Power Fighting

Beartic's Slush Rush ability might seem like the most interesting thing at first. However, its boost to Attack is probably more consequential. Beartic will likely prefer to run Swift Swim so that it doesn't stack weaknesses with a Snow Warning user and can get a boost to its priority move in Aqua Jet. This new Attack stat makes Beartic very threatening in the rain. While it certainly can run a Slush Rush set, I simply don't think it'll be as effective, even with permanent hail likely to reach PU this generation.

Beartic @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim / Slush Rush
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower

Farfetch'd has always been an unfortunate case. It's definitely one of the coolest Pokemon because it carries around a Stick. When Farfetch'd holds the item Stick, though, do you think it carries around a second stick, or that it simply enables itself to use the stick it already carries around? Anyway, Farfetch'd got a huge boost to Attack, which may give it a little bit of viability with its classic CH'Ding set. Now its attack stat is usable, along with a rather interesting, albeit limited movepool for coverage. It now also has the possibility of competing with things like Wigglytuff and Pawniard as a Defog punisher in PU. It is still, however, held back by its Speed, which you would think would be considerably higher given its agile appearance.

Farfetch'd @ Stick
Ability: Defiant
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Brave Bird
- Leaf Blade

Of course both Volbeat and Illumise were both blessed with augmented bulk in the transition to the seventh generation. While Illumise would generally outclass Volbeat in a pure Subpassing role due to a stronger Bug Buzz, I'm gonna focus on Volbeat as it's the superior weather starter due to a stronger U-Turn. Its new bulk still isn't impressive, but it could certainly give Volbeat the opportunity to setup weather a second time if absolutely needed. Unfortunately, due to UU's early Baton Pass ban, it seems unlikely that Volbeat will ever get the chance to test its new bulk on its signature Tail Glow passing set. The amount of utility that Volbeat can provide a team is sometimes shocking to people who have never seen it play out before.

Volbeat @ Heat Rock / Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- U-Turn
- Sunny Day / Rain Dance
- Encore
- Thunder Wave / Toxic

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So what do you think the impact of all the buffs and nerfs on the lower tiers will be? Feel free to talk about other mons that received changes, even if they're already seeing usage in some of the higher tiers, or even if you still don't think they'll be viable even with the changes.

The Masquerain buffs are definitely interesting. a 40 BST boost is HUGE for any mon, especially one that already has a great set-up move in Quiver Dance. However, I still feel that it will be outclassed by Vivillon in most cases. It has good coverage moves like Hydro Pump and Ice Beam, but the lack of Sleep Powder really hurts and most likely relies on a Sash to set up.

The other interesting one to me is Dodrio. The buff in Speed puts it in a fantastic spot and with the ability to break through Rock and Steel types with Jump Kick is very nice. I think this might be enough to push it to RU.

Great post, Mobile! I'm surprised you didn't mention Corsola. :P

Coil Arbok could become a tiny bit more threatening with its buffed Atk. Gunk Shot / EQ / Sucker Punch still provides good power, coverage, and priority utility. Maybe even a Band variant might be worth trying with Seed Bomb or Aqua Tail > Coil.

Choice Specs said:

The Masquerain buffs are definitely interesting. a 40 BST boost is HUGE for any mon, especially one that already has a great set-up move in Quiver Dance. However, I still feel that it will be outclassed by Vivillon in most cases. It has good coverage moves like Hydro Pump and Ice Beam, but the lack of Sleep Powder really hurts and most likely relies on a Sash to set up.

The other interesting one to me is Dodrio. The buff in Speed puts it in a fantastic spot and with the ability to break through Rock and Steel types with Jump Kick is very nice. I think this might be enough to push it to RU.

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I agree that Vivillon will outclass it in NU, but if Vivillon remains NU this gen (seems likely to me honestly with no other QD user being able to compete with it in NU/RU) then I think that Masquerain has a shot at being a premier user of the move in PU. One mon that I didn't bring up was Bellossom, which has better bulk and lacks a SR weakness. However its horrific speed and useless ability outside of sun teams holds it back a lot. I still think the best user of QD in PU will be Masquerain or Butterfree; it will be interesting to see which one.

wolf said:

Great post, Mobile! I'm surprised you didn't mention Corsola. :P

Coil Arbok could become a tiny bit more threatening with its buffed Atk. Gunk Shot / EQ / Sucker Punch still provides good power, coverage, and priority utility. Maybe even a Band variant might be worth trying with Seed Bomb or Aqua Tail > Coil.

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Thanks wolf! So glad to see someone who recognizes my dedication to Corsola. <3 Another sad case competitively, as it is outclassed in nearly any role it tries to perform. While its superior special bulk would give it a slight niche over Golem as a SR setter, Golem's immunity to Electric and strong offensive presence with great dual STAB puts it in another league over Corsola. As a wall, it can't do much even with Regenerator + Recover because its bulk is still just OK even with the buff and Corsola has easily exploited weaknesses. I really wish they would give Corsola some nice support moves </3

I agree about Arbok. It was a great antidote to things like Clefairy and Tangela in PU last gen and I think it'll be even better this time around.

Another mon to note here would be Swellow. Swellow is a HUGE threat with access to powerful STAB Boomburst on top of it's buffed Sp. Attack. Swellow was already viable as a Choice Specs user but now it has 75 base Sp Attack to work off of. You can run a set of U-turn, Heat Wave, Air Slash, and Boomburst to create immense pressure.

Choice Specs said:

Another mon to note here would be Swellow. Swellow is a HUGE threat with access to powerful STAB Boomburst on top of it's buffed Sp. Attack. Swellow was already viable as a Choice Specs user but now it has 75 base Sp Attack to work off of. You can run a set of U-turn, Heat Wave, Air Slash, and Boomburst to create immense pressure.

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I agree about Swellow. Swellow now looks to be viable in UU and it's been a huge threat in RU so far. Not much can stand up to its Boomburst outside of bulky resists and dedicated special walls. It can even check things like Florges which is kinda insane. While I think previously it was outclassed by Exploud, its improved SpA and great speed tier make it the premier Scrappy Boomburst spammer of RU. The only full stop to it that I can think of is Diancie, which I think at this point is nearly a mandatory choice on RU teams due to the bird spam (Swellow and its friends Honchkrow, Noivern, Moltres and Braviary) going on right now. It's interesting that a Pokemon like Swellow, which has been tumbling down the tier lists the last few generations, is one of the best Pokemon in RU right now.

I like Swellow's ability to threaten Kommo-o with Air Slash who would normally not be threatened by Swellow because of Soundproof. With some prior chip damage, it can KO.