Most/least favorite changes that SM brought

With the SM metagame drawing to a close as USUM nears release, now would be a good time to reflect on what you liked and disliked about what SM introduced to competitive play. Do you think Z-Moves has had a positive effect on the metagame? Not to mention the Tapus with their terrain and its abusers (Hawlucha and Mega Medicham in either Electric or Psychic Terrain, Mega Diancie in Electric, Mega Alakazam in Psychic, Kartana in Grassy, etc.). Do you think the offensive threats that SM introduced such as Ash Greninja, Magearna, Tapus, Kartana, and Thousand Arrows Zygarde has made the metagame worse, or are they balanced out by preexisting Pokemon and new defensive checks like Toxapex, Celesteela, Magearna, and Tapus? While it's minor compared to the other changes, Aurora Veil hyper offense is a new playstyle thanks to SM. Does SM OU have too many threats in comparison to ORAS OU, or are they manageable enough?

I feel like after the Dugtrio ban(it's buffs this gen helped it immensely) the meta balanced out to an extent and feels pretty nice. Magearna, some of the UBs, and the frogs still feel a bit oppressive and z moves definitely make some mons extremely powerful such as Volcarona but overall I like this meta. It was nice not to see any new and more powerful megas introduced that overwhelmed things again.

I have to say I agree that this a pretty well balanced meta. Furthermore, it's also a lot more diverse than ORAS was which makes it more fun to play in. At this stage I can't really think of anything I dislike about it.

I don't really care for Z-moves. Besides the fact that they're just more power creep, it's that while it does help out some Pokemon, it also gives something to Pokemon that really did not need any boosts. That and I'm exactly into all the indirect buffs to offense either.

At least they gutted Gale Wings/Talonflame and Zygarde is usable in OU tho

Nah said:

I don't really care for Z-moves. Besides the fact that they're just more power creep, it's that while it does help out some Pokemon, it also gives something to Pokemon that really did not need any boosts. That and I'm exactly into all the indirect buffs to offense either.

At least they gutted Gale Wings/Talonflame and Zygarde is usable in OU tho

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So glad they nerfed TFlame

Gen 6 Talonflame was easy enough to deal with in my opinion. The nerf seems unnecessary when taking into account the sheer number of common checks that Talonflame has now: Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Landorus-T, Heatran, Toxapex, Zygarde, Ash Greninja, Zapdos, Tyranitar, etc.

I agree on Z-Moves, though. All they do is make offensive threats more difficult to check. However, fat balance and stall are still alive and well (former probably being the most popular playstyle right now), so it's not that bad.