5th Generation Metagame Speculation

[PokePoindexter]

Those of us who have been visiting Smogon and other sites like it have probably seen a lot of buzz about the development of a Black and White metagame. Note to mods here: I don't intend to make this the same as the other thread (towards the end, it looked like it would be), but I apologize if it seems too much like it.

Here are some thoughts on some possible new additions to the metagame from me to get things started):

Things that will probably be solid OU contenders:
*Technician Breloom - As if Breloom wasn't strong enough with Poison Heal, Base 130 Attack, Spore, Focus Punch, and who-knows-what-else, this just adds to the pain; how about a possible 250-powered (375 with STAB) Bullet Seed? 100 (150) at bare minimum? The bad news is this means Breloom now gets crippled by Toxic (Spikes), but it's still a viable trade-in, as five hits will easily OHKO or 2KO most Pokemon who aren't resistant to the attack.

*Shandera - How does 145 Base Special Attack, a stellar special movepool, and Shadow Tag suit you? Some people think this is good enough to evict it to Ubers, but I seriously doubt it; every Pokemon has at least one Achilles Heel, and in Shandera's case, it is easily revenge-killed with low defenses, and being weak to both of Tyranitar's STAB attacks doesn't exactly help. Gyarados and Vaporeon can often prove to be good checks to it as well, all having solid Sp.Def and/or HP. Still, with a Choice Scarf attached, Shandera can quite possibly be a candidate for the #1 Anti-Metagame Pokemon.

*Ulgamoth - Let's just say, you might need Stealth Rock on your opponent's field to ensure any chance of beating it, as with stellar Special stats, base 100 Speed, and access to Butterfly Dance (which boosts all three of those stats one level each), this turns Ulgamoth into a real beast. The only Pokemon I can suggest as a potential wall is Heatran. If he wasn't 4x weak to Rock attacks and had better Defense or Special Defense, I'd be advocating for him to be shoved to Ubers instead.

*Magic Mirror Espeon - Magic Mirror works as an automatic Magic Coat. Talk about cool; Taunt, Stealth Rock, Leech Seed, Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, etc. all get blasted back towards your opponents without you needing to use the attack ahead of time. This makes Espeon even better at his infamous EspyJump combo than before. Espeon's movepool doesn't give it many good attacking options aside from Psychic and Grass Knot, so he'll probably be doing EspyJump again, just in OU this time.

*Speed Boost Blaziken and Sharpedo - The former was mentioned a lot more commonly, but I seriously believe both Blaziken and Sharpedo can make excellent use of this ability. Neither Blaziken nor Sharpedo are tailored to be defensive Pokemon, but both have great Attack and passable Special Attack, so adding a Speed Boost helps out a lot. This will certainly give Blaziken a chance on higher ground than either Infernape or Emboar. Sharpedo can also do this well; he has Yanmega's speed, better typing (not being 4x weak to SR is better, yes?), and solid offensive stats.

*Eccentric Ditto - Instant transformation into anything your opponent has out at the time. There's even speculation on Smogon about him being booted to Ubers. This I can imagine happening, as a Ditto that turns into an Arceus can do some number or two on your opponents.

*Doryuuzu - Everyone, meet Tyranitar's (and/or Hippowdon's) new partner-in-crime; this Steel/Ground monster packs a Base 135 Attack, 88 Speed, and an ability called Sand Throw, which doubles his Speed in a sandstorm. Thus, a Jolly nature will get his Speed up to 604 - not bad, eh? Even if you use Adamant instead, this thing will still hit 550, which still outruns ANY non-Scarfed Pokemon (and some that are). He's not without his checks, however; with two new auto-weather Pokemon hitting the scene, both of whom can score super-effective hits on him, Doryuuzu's reign of terror isn't quite as lethal as one might think. And speaking of auto-weather, that brings us to...

*Drizzle Politoed - How about auto-rain, huh? Man, oh man, we got some Uber-level abilities comin' onto non-legendary Pokemon now. As if rain wasn't lethal enough, too. Well, all kidding aside, I certainly believe auto-weather will skyrocket Toed to OU, simply because he gives instant (permanent) weather to help many UU/BL/OU Pokemon of the last generation who could plaster whole teams as long as the rain existed; such Pokemon as Kabutops, Ludicolo, Kingdra, and Hydration Vaporeon (more about that one later) can be counted on this list. Dry Skin Toxicroak might also see some usage in OU, either to counter or provide type coverage on these teams.

*Drought Ninetales - It's not all rosy for Rain-based Pokemon, though; Ninetales, having been generally decent in the 4th generation metagame (albeit outclassed by Ape and Tran), jumps into a similar league as Politoed with infinite weather available at his disposal. Ninetales can either use SolarBeam (which will have the charge negated in the sun) or Energy Ball (which can now be learned through TM53) to counter Water and Rock Pokemon, and Psycho Shock gets around Blissey and Snorlax. All of these have their power boosted by either Calm Mind or Nasty Plot. Also, a Scarfed Ninetales with 492 (or 448, for that matter) can outrun and OHKO non-Scarfed variants of Azelf, Gengar, Metagross, Mamoswine, Doryuuzu, Bronzong, and Magnezone with Fire Blast. One more thing - he also learns Will-O-Wisp to cripple Tyranitar and Hippowdon.

And one last one:

*Hydration Vaporeon - Ahhhh, nice and refreshing...yeah. Anyway, having statuses healed in the rain is a steal when your main role is supporting other Pokemon with WishPassing and the occasional Hydro Pump. Vaporeon was already a great OU contender before, but this new ability makes him outstanding on Rain teams, where he can switch into just about any status and wash it away. Just be sure to keep your opponents from changing the weather; Tyranitar can survive two Surfs with that extra bulk, and CM Ninetales after one boost can easily handle three.

I know that many of these are only available through the Dream World, and not all are available yet, but once they DO become available, you can probably expect to see them.

LIGHTNING QUICK EDIT: Feel free to post your ideas as well, of course.

PokePoindexter out.