>>31243452A strong, defensive meta mon needs 3.5 things:
- good base stats
- key resistances
- reliable recovery
- and sometimes utility (status, hazards, etc)
Toxapex has it all. Not only does it have amazing stats and resistances, its typing allows it to synergize well as either a defensive pivot for offensive dragons/steels/etc or as part of a defensive core with mons like Ferrothorn or Heatran. It's good in a vacuum and it's good in practice.
Its access to Haze (preventing it from being setup bait, which is a major issue for purely defensive mons with comparable bulk ex. eviolite Dusclops), Scald/Toxic (spread burn/toxic and you cover all major threats with a crippling status except for special Steels like Heatran), and Recover+Regenerator means:
- it can't be setup on by most mons
- it can't be killed by most mons
- things strong enough to OHKO are usually telegraphed
- things strong enough to 2HKO have to deal with reads on Regenerator switch into another defensive core member
- it can debilitate your mons with Burn/Toxic if you try to ignore it
- it is immune to the Toxic status, the best way to otherwise deal with bulky walls, which locks you into the OHKO/2HKO dilemma outside of niche strategies like Soak.
What's there to dispute? This mon is basically a better Ferrothorn who trades hazards for status (and thus making it about as good as Ferro in practice with different team type optimizations).
Whether intentional or not (the Crown of Thorns starfish it's based off of has all the traits you'd use to design Toxapex (regenerates limbs, poisonous, few predators, etc)), Toxapex was literally designed to be an amazing defensive pokemon. Why wouldn't it be undisputed OU?
