Underrated Pokemon thought to be weak but turned out to be surprisingly strong.

[shoz999]

So some of you may remember a certain little Pachirisu surprising the audience a few years ago. Were there any Pokemon you used that were regarded as weak by people or certain formats but turned out to be surprisingly strong in competitions?

For example, I used a Granbull in the Alola X Johto competition that was surprisingly a strong bruiser, cleric, staller, and great at eliminating every notable Dragon-type Pokemon I've seen except for Naganadel. It was also tanky enough thanks to it's stats and ability to survive and bruise or paralyze Steel-Types, many of whom are physical attackers, including Mega Metagross.

 

[shoz999]

If no one else got another. I shall bring up another example. My favorite Kalos starter evolution line is the Chesnaught evolution line. According to Smogon, he's played like a staller HOWVER! I disagree! The Pokedex says he plays like a sweeper that can tackle a tank so that's what I did! I have made a Chesnaught that was able to OBLITERATE teams of OU Pokemon albeit it can only be through a risky gamble. If successful, you pretty much won the match for the most part (at least in Single Battles).

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

Typhlosion definitely. With a proper setup it's exceptionally dangerous. I'll share some battle codes.

PD6W-WWWW-WWWJ-T7D4 (only reason Snorlax survives is because it's a Thick Fat Assault Vest variant)

G2MW-WWWW-WWWJ-T7MC

2NWG-WWWW-WWWJ-T7VX

SRRG-WWWW-WWWJ-T8A9

 

[EKZ1505]

PARASECT.

In the disgusting format that was VGC 2016, I actually enjoyed it greatly all because of this little guy. The Sect shrugged off attacks from the mighty primals, while also stopping Trick Room dead in its tracks. My initial variant of the team finished consecutive Battle Spot seasons as the number two ranked team in the WORLD, while also helping me finish 2nd at the sole tournament I brought it to (losing to a prominent YouTuber who hit 2 blind Hypnosis attempts in the deciding game ). A remade version of the team won a larger tournament with The Sect again doing its thing. I actually originally discussed the idea here on the forums, and owe big thanks to whoever agreed it was a good idea (forget who it was, but it should be somewhere in past VGC discussion threads). A Pokemon I've overlooked going all the way back to Blue version is now one of my favorites due to the many wins it had a supporting role in

 

[Azulart]

For me it would have been Kecleon.


I loved using it ever since it got Protean and with Fake out + Trick room support this guy was pretty useful in all of my trick room teams. His abillity alone offerd some sweet mind games in terms of people using fighting moves on kecleon while I clicked on Shadow sneak. All in all it was a unique and unpredictable mon to use in VGC due his large movepool and Protean abillity.
This guy was not top tier or anything, but its my favorite mon and I am glad I could use it and win against people with it.
Used it alot in VGC15 and even gave it some goes in VGC16.

You'll still be my favorite mon and I will miss using you dear keckz
I kinda stopped playing pokemon cuz of switch.

 

[Frozocrone]

Not sure if this really counts anymore but Gigalith + Lycanroc was a surprisingly good counter to the Tapu Lele/Drifblim Unburden leads in VGC 2017.

 

[shoz999]

I looked up Stoutland. Holy ****, he has sound rush and an extra +10 atk stat from XY. Might actually consider using him in a later 5th gen team.

 

[Scammel]

Several Pokémon that are 4x Stealth Rock weak. It's usually a cycle - folks see the great stats, moves and abilities, realise the SR weakness and assume they're trash, then in practice it turns out not to matter so much. See Mega Pinsir, Volcarona and to a lesser extent Charizard.

 

[Kage-Pikachu]

For me it was Breloom, I never would have thought the evolution of Shroomish would be so strong! I was surprised for how long it was in OU.

Also Slowbro! I didn't know about Smogon til a few years ago (2013 actually) so I had no idea that Slowbro was OU, let alone actually able to handle itself. I kind of just thought Starmie was always far superior but I learned that Speed and power aren't everything when it comes to battling humans.

 

[TikTok13]

Quite a few Pokémon I use seem underrated.

Venomoth is pretty good, even in OU, with a Quiver Dance, Sleep Powder, Roost, and Bug Buzz, always leading with a Sleep Powder. Thanks to Venomoth, I managed to rank a few wins.

Sableye is immensely useful with two different setups dependent on the team I'm using. I either use a special wall or a status wall. The former uses Calm Mind, Toxic, Recover, and Snarl, whilst the latter has Toxic, Foul Play, Recover, and Taunt. Either setup works wonders against the right opponent, and let's my favourite Pokémon hold his own against OU tier Pokémon.

Also, a Torkoal + Oranguru lead in doubles works a charm. I used it in VGC, leading with a Drought start, with Oranguru using Trick Room and Torkoal Protecting. Then Torkoal would use Eruption and Oranguru would use Instruct, ordering a second attack. Thanks to Telepathy, Oranguru would take no damage from Torkoal's attacks.

 

[shoz999]

Quite a few Pokémon I use seem underrated.

Venomoth is pretty good, even in OU, with a Quiver Dance, Sleep Powder, Roost, and Bug Buzz, always leading with a Sleep Powder. Thanks to Venomoth, I managed to rank a few wins.

Sableye is immensely useful with two different setups dependent on the team I'm using. I either use a special wall or a status wall. The former uses Calm Mind, Toxic, Recover, and Snarl, whilst the latter has Toxic, Foul Play, Recover, and Taunt. Either setup works wonders against the right opponent, and let's my favourite Pokémon hold his own against OU tier Pokémon.

Also, a Torkoal + Oranguru lead in doubles works a charm. I used it in VGC, leading with a Drought start, with Oranguru using Trick Room and Torkoal Protecting. Then Torkoal would use Eruption and Oranguru would use Instruct, ordering a second attack. Thanks to Telepathy, Oranguru would take no damage from Torkoal's attacks.

I had a similar set to Butterfree. It was a Buttefree with compound eyes boosting Sleep Powder's accuracy to 97% I believe with Quvier Dance, Dream Eater, and Bug Buzz combined with Focus Sash. A lot of unsuspecting opponents, even entire teams, fall prey to the Butterfree. I remember this one guy with a rating of 1600 got a little suspicious of my ButterFree and used a Ditto to see what I was up to lol.

 

[nel3]

i like to use underrated/less used pokemon regardless of what they can do competitively for casual battles. among them are Furret for mind games with switcheroo and scouting/frisk. i nearly out-stalled a tanky slowbro in the UM berry competition with a calm HA Bellossom with sludgebomb, moon blast moonlight and gastro acid. got a SPA drop on the slowbro and nearly tanked it out but ran out of moonlight 5pp.

my favorite is defiant Farfetch'd with leaf blade, brave bird and throat chop. i just recently also bred 2 more with first impression for a priority move and put a focus sash to survive most of the initial damage. it was decent in XY vs bulky plant/fighting but the ATK buff to 90 helps out a fair amount.

 

[KingAegislash]

I looked up Stoutland. Holy ****, he has sound rush and an extra +10 atk stat from XY. Might actually consider using him in a later 5th gen team.

I've used Stoutland in a doubles team along with Mega Tyranitar. It hits surprisingly hard with choice band and moves such as return and play rough, as well as outspeeding most things in sandstorm with its ability. It can also take hits pretty well too.

 

[pikanewb]

Carracosta. OM GLOB!!!! I was toying around with Weakness Policy ideas and decided to try it on a sturdy mon. Threw it on my favorite Turtle. HAHAAHAHA!!!

That first move is always a OHKO for me. Then the Aqua Jet either ohkos or brings down the HP alot. I call him my Kamikaze mon. He takes on for my team.

 

[SubtleVVeirdoh]

Nidoqueen would be one for me, especially since it was, more or less, outclassed by its Male equivalent; Sheer Force/Life Orb Combo with Surf that usually hits unexpectedly.

Though, I usually prefer to play it with recovery items, entry hazards and at least one STAB move. I like Pokémon that can take a hit and dish out harder ones, through Gens V/VI it did a lot of that for me.