NU, RU, UU, Are they still Viable?

Almost all Pokémon are viable, but often require either good support, prediction or simply the "perfect" set to work. In most cases however, the Pokémon is simply outclassed by other Pokémon. One good example is non-mega Salamence and Dragonite. Dragonite can do almost all things Salamence can do, but better. Multiscale is in most cases better than either Intimidate or Moxie and Dragonite has a better movepool compared to Salamence. The only set Salamence arguably can do better is Choice Scarf with Moxie, but it's quite predictable, and due to fact that Dragonite has access to Extreme Speed, it's usually better to just use Choice Band Dragonite, since it has more power from the get-go and doesn't have to really on Moxie to get attack boost(s) to sweep, can revenge kill weakened Pokémon as well, or potentially even better than Salamence (Talonflame and Bisharp), and is lot safer to switch in, due to Multiscale.

Remember this ONE thing well, a Pokémon being outclassed doesn't mean that it is unviable. This is probably something that most of people who are currently participating in LVDL have noticed. Outclassed Pokémon also have their own surprise value, since there are people who probably won't simply expect what it can do, since they haven't bothered to take a look at it for some reason.

 

To even consider using a quote unquote, "un-viable" Pokémon, one must be intimately familiar with what it can do, and know it's ins and outs like the back of your hand. The reason un-viable Pokémon are used successfully is because of their very specific niches. If aren't perfectly aware of every thing within that niece and are not absolutely positive what the mon can and cannot do, it's destined for failure.

 

I made a Gourgiest work in OU before, it's not impossible.

They all seem unviable when you look at them, but that's because there are other Pokémon that can do the job better, but lower tier Pokémon can be used for niches and mind games. I like using low tiers because most of the time not a lot of people will know what they will do. In fact i'm surprised a lot of people don't do this more often. Anyone can make a low tier Pokémon great, you just need to figure out how to make them good, whether it's by baton passing, wish passing, etc.

 

They can be viable if used properly. The thing is, they usually require more setup before they can be useful in battle. And even if you can set them up properly, many of these lower tier Pokémon only work in specific situations. If you're really set on using them, then do so by all means. Just be prepared to go against higher tier Pokémon who are able to adapt to many different situations.

 

The issue I see is, too many people assume that low tier = bad Pokémon. It doesn't, it really does not. From experience, I've wrecked teams using mons in lower tiers, hell, I've used Arbok and Parasect and they've come out on top. The trouble is the big picture is hard to see.

It's in my opinion that no Pokémon is truly un-viable, depending on what happens. Some do require more setup than others, true, but take a look at Volcarona: it needs to be setup before it can sweep and it's in BL. I've actually had experience with RU, NU, even PU Pokémon being flexible in their use, which is more than can be said for some OU mons (I'm looking at YOU Talonflame!). Worse still, in competitive play there's not many "creative" setups as far as I see: just teams built on Pokémon considered to be the best in OU. Not that all players are like this, but I see a lot of players just use the stock setup they're given for a Pokémon.

It always saddens me seeing what's considered RU and below because there are actually a lot of decent Pokémon there that I've seen firsthand surviving OU and being valuable assets on my teams for whatever reasons. I've seen Pokémon like Lapras (PU my backside) withstand Thunder attacks from Pokémon like Zapdos. ZAPDOS. This is why I often come to this one conclusion:

Tiers are just a basis of use, not of power. I know that many people seem to know it, but many people seem to consider usage synonymous with power. And in short, yes, yes the Pokémon in the tiers PU through RU are still all competitively viable for use in OU games. They all have nifty things about them, and a lot can really threaten a fight when they want to. They can wreck, sweep, whatever you like. All you need is to give them a chance! So next time it's stated that tiers like NU or RU are crap, just point out that it's a tier based on usage. They're just assuming that everything in OU is automatically the best.

 

There actually are many Pokémon not in OU that are, I guess you could say, viable, like Mega Aerodactyl (UU, but incredibly fast and has enough power and coverage to help it out), Quagsire (NU, but is still unique in that it stops physical setup sweepers completely), Amoonguss (RU, but has the ever-so-useful Regenerator and Spore), Mamoswine (UU, but is a great wallbreaker with it's STABs, and can even accomplish the goal of a Stealth Rocker), Volcarona (BL, but can easily sweep after a Quiver Dance thanks to great stats and the STABs), and more. Tiers are based off of usage, not power or 'viablilty'. (I mean, that's why Gyarados, of all things, is in UU) As long as it has even a small niche, it can be considered 'viable'.

 

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lakevalor-ou-5403
This was a battle verses the user @[member="Nbay64"]. Emolga is NU and I only have one OU Pokémon. All Pokémon are viable if put on the right supporting team.

 

I feel that as Pokémon has gone on it has gotten more and more difficult to make lower tier Pokémon effective, especially with tough legendaries like Landorus-T, Heatran, etc. Back in gen 4 you could really bring anything due to no team preview and less OP Pokémon, in my mind anyway. Nowadays I feel like it's hard to win with anything but the top 20 best Pokémon.

 

Just gonna leave this here--very important to remember.

Also, what @[member="Almandine-G"] mentioned is also important. Pokémon can easily be put onto the right team and come out on top, it greatly depends on the player's skill as well as teambuilding and the opposing player's team.

I'd argue that almost every Pokémon is useable, but the biggest thing I'm noticing in this thread is a difference in the meaning of "viable." So let's go with the definition of "capable of working successfully; feasible" for a minute here--all posts above mine would be correct in this case. However, I'll go against the merriam-webster definition in favor of "perceived power and usage in competitive play"--or Smogon's definition. This more closely is related to what @[member="Nauris"] means by "outclassing" by relation to Pokémon that have functions that are better performed by other Pokémon in higher or other tiers. That would mean, by definition, that UU, RU, NU, and PU Pokémon are less viable in OU than OU Pokémon are unless something is overlooked or added to the Pokémon games themselves.