>>30219110I took the time to compile the top teams and their similarities.
I created this image to represent the most common pokemon on each team.
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::::Key findings::::
>Trick Room is a predominant strategy right now, with about 40% of the top teams using it>The strength of Trick Room is due primarily to Oranguru>Oranguru Instruct + Choice Specs Torkoal Eruption in Sun in Trick Room is a popular strategy>UBs are not very good aside from Celesteela. The real champions of VGC17 will be the Tapus>Scizor would be very good in this meta, but there is a distinct lack of Scizor on any of the top teams. This is due to Tapu Lele's popularity.>The best counter to the top strats involve installing your own Weather, decreasing Torkoal's power by bringing in Rain>Pelipper is surprisingly strong, especially with a Z-Move Water attack in rain.>Gigalith is rarely used to counter some weathers>Salamence is rarely used because Dragon is not a good attacking type due to usually 2/4 team members being immune to it. Teams that want a dragon opt for Garchomp because Ground is such an important attacking type in this meta (dispatches of A-Muk and A-Marowak who stop many of the top strategies)>A-Muk and A-Marowak stop many of the top strategies>Arcanine is pretty popular.>Smeargle Follow Me Focus Sash + Oranguru Trick Room is the #1 ranked player's standard opening and is very difficult to beat. This opening guarantees Trick Room. Smeargle dies immediately and Torkoal switches in and starts spamming Eruption. The only players who were able to beat it used Wide Guard, Rain, or some combination of both, with smart switches. I am not sure why top players do not use Fake Out onto the Torkoal, as it will stop Instruct from working if the Torkoal is flinched, leading to 2 free moves for you.This is a very early face of the meta report and many 'mons have untapped or unrealized potential that I think will develop over time. Ask any questions if curious.
