The Fall of The Former Best Pokemon: Garchomp

The Fall of Garchomp from OU to UU
Edited by tazprods

[@masterhela3113]

Hearing "Fairy type. That happened more than a decade ago." Hit me with some whiplash. I was in high school when the fairy type dropped.

[@mypsizllez]

I had just graduated. That sentence shook me

[@HatsuneLuka]

It actually technically hasn’t 🅱️een a decade, while sure, Fairy was announced in 2013, Fairy wasn’t playing until October 12th 2013 and we didn’t see how busted they were u til then. ☝️🤓

[@ActualOzma]

I feel old

[@mafyboy0420]

Same here that's trippy infact I was just starting high school when that type dropped.

[@9manny99]

Welcome to the club

[@grunkleg.3110]

As weird as it sounds, Garchomp's toolkit is just too honest now. It can't set Spikes while attacking, it can't outspeed a lot of offensive Pokemon that OHKO him, it doesn't have crazy utility moves, it can't hope to withstand Kingambit Sucker Punch, it can't get a stat boost for free on switching in, it can't switch into every status move in the game, it can't double its team's defenses for 8 turns in a single click, it doesn't get a free 20% boost on all its moves by holding a signature item that can't be knocked off, it can't blow past everything in the game using only STAB moves, it can't threaten three different status effects at a time in a single move, it doesn't have any signature moves or items Abilities to make him better. You need to be exceptionally above curve if you wanna be OU nowadays. If you can't cheat the conventions of a Pokemon battle, you won't work in Gen 9 OU

[@emmaramirez4330]

this is honestly such a good read of the current state of the meta

[@luisgarcia1337]

​@vNautsdamn, Garchomp is the Pit/Dark Pit of Pokemon. Too honest to fight against Steves and Kazuyas running around now

[@fossfox]

LITERALLY too honest for Gen 9 holy shit

[@PopularJingo-]

That’s why we need Megas! Mega garchomp with Sand rush would smash hoes!

[@slashine1071]

Chomp can survive a kingambit sucker. Unless it's at +2...

[@MPbluu]

1:33 “The beginning of garchomp’s problems started with the fairy type. That happened more than a decade ago” Damn, I feel old now

[@RikiazGaming]

@@sshuckle I remember when people thought it was going to be Bug type. I mean look at the thing, how on earth do you think that is a Bug type

[@pmnt_]

these weirdly empy facet eyes, these creepily cute pair of vampire teeth, this uncanny fusion of an eevee with a butterfly... i was in team normal type, but i can see where the bug type folks were coming from

[@godminnette2]

I physically recoiled when he said that, lmao.

[@franko1597]

@@RikiazGaming its eyes are bug-like, similar to beedrill's or ninjask's

[@Not-Batman]

Fairy type should never have existed

[@kalzium8857]

Garchomp was the "what were game freak thinking" pokemon in its debut generation. It was once the perfectly designed pokemon a symbol of power creep that got power crept itself.

[@3eazy350]

Imagine going back in time and showing the current UU (with chomp, heatran, rotom-wash) to someone playing gen 7 OU

[@Skeloperch]

Those three have been the OU kings since Gen 4 (well, Garchomp was banned, but it was OU for a fair bit early on). Telling someone in Gen 5 that them + Lando + Tyranitar would fall out of OU would be like trying to explain 9/11 to a Roman. It would just not compute.

[@irakyl]

So there was this guy named Ken...

[@cowhorse4146]

gen 11: gholdengo and great tusk fall to UU

[@leonardocerqueiradias6168]

@@1TieDye1 Because by gen 7 those mons have been on top for 4 generations!!! It started to look like they would always be, no matter what. But here we are...

[@Mr.Sax.]

People would be like: So they rebranded Ubers as OU and OU changed to UU and so on? It's the only logical answer.

[@greydientz582]

The saddest part is that Garchomp was broken in UU so now its in UUBL Purgatory

[@pikminman13]

i think you mean BL knighthood

[@VerkatosEnsei]

I pity the poor bastards that get sent to BL to rot

[@Jones_55]

⁠@@pikminman13 Naw, BL is definitely a prison. Not good enough for the tier above, but too strong for the tier below. Purgatory is a good word for it.

[@YOSSARIAN313]

​@@Jones_55garchomp is usable in OU though unlike a lot of bl mons so it has that going for it.

[@hankboog462]

Like an aging man that cant hack it with the young ones anymore but cant get his welfare yet

[@Chimera-man-man]

This felt like it was bound to happen eventually but Lando T going to UU will actually be insane. He's like OU's Uncle

[@Cherry_Magenta]

Literally just one generation ago Lando T and OU were synonymous and Lando was THE OU pokemon people thought of when the tier was mentioned. The mon went from the King of OU to barely staying in the tier in just one generation.

[@hankboog462]

​@@Cherry_Magenta i used to ruuuuuule the woooooorld

[@hankboog462]

Also there is a difference in the situation because it actually took some nerfs to take lando down. It lost knock off, defog, and toxic. Even with those moves it wouldnt be what it used to be but it sure as hell wouldnt be on track to uu

[@blazefactor6849]

@@Cherry_Magenta I mean, yeah, that's what happens when half your kit gets taken away. Base Lando-T is still as busted as ever, he just got hard-nerfed by Gamefreak because of course they did.

[@nicolaistuhlmuller8718]

​@@blazefactor6849 not even that much. In natdex ou lando-t still has its entire kit, and while it's not close to UU there, it did drop to 14% usage and might drop even more. Gliscor buffs and mostly Great Tusk keep pushing it out.

[@noodlearms9385]

We're truly reaching the end of an era for competitive pokemon with Lando-t probably dropping into UU next month to visit his pals Heatran and Garchomp

[@blazefactor6849]

That's what the developers taking half your kit away does to a mon, especially given they've just left Great Tusk, which has an objectively far more stacked kit in the modern day. He's just not a favorite of theirs.

[@YOSSARIAN313]

Lando t might actually be able to destroy uu with its old swords dance set and will have many more viable sets. My guess it gets banned

[@dylanb2990]

@@blazefactor6849they balance around doubles, and lando t was even stronger there.

[@blazefactor6849]

@@dylanb2990 The tools they took away weren't relevant in doubles, and as for GF balancing there... Flutter Mane and Urshifu beg to disagree.

[@dialzza4902]

One more wrinkle to the tusk issue: its another ground type *weak to fairy*. So not only are they sharing a lot of redundant defensive properties (positive and negative), it’s even more severe than another ground type like Landorus or Gliscor

[@omarinator2149]

garchomp did NOT have one more month in OU in him 😔

[@20oxide36]

Apparently, not a month in UU in him either...

[@SnaiIer]

Hes rising next month, this isn’t copium

[@gunchar06]

Garchomp got straight up banned from UU, and will be with 99% certainty back back in OU next month.

[@13thKingMu]

​@@gunchar06And it's a official UU mon now after 2nd dlc

[@gunchar06]

@@13thKingMu Well i didn't expect that Nintendo would double down on the powercreep and make many older Pokemon even more useless.

[@chompy_YT]

RIP Chomp 2006-2023😔

[@ladyriethegoldendelmo5441]

honestly that is impressive if it can last that long lol

[@ramanahveljeyaseelan5406]

​@@ladyriethegoldendelmo5441it was like Bulls Jordon to Wizard Jordon At one point the greatest pokemon of all time and then as it gets older becomes it becomes extremely inefficient.

[@a3aannaqvi627]

@@ladyriethegoldendelmo5441 Mewtwo and Zapdos: Viable for 27 years

[@ladyriethegoldendelmo5441]

@@ramanahveljeyaseelan5406 even with this said. I love garchomp and dragonair even if they arent good lol. wonder how skarmory that steel bird doing or ninjask

[@ladyriethegoldendelmo5441]

@@a3aannaqvi627 well I sure hope so being legendary and all that lol except for phione, and normal regie lol

[@OidhcheLanFala]

The fact that Blissey went from NU to OU is insane

[@xx_squirtle8621]

She’s got one more in her

[@Viscellaneous_Rim]

someone had to counter bloodmoon

[@theshatteredseas4629]

​@@Viscellaneous_Rim that actually sounds badass lmao

[@sheevpalpatine8243]

Garchomp has fallen, millions must drop by usage...

[@prestonangel448]

It's so fucking Garchover

[@double2254]

Lando even being thought of going into UU is a crime enough with that illegal talk

[@misirtere9836]

that's just what happens when they introduce Better Lando and bring back Un-Nerfed Worse Lando

[@BlackHanzo]

I'll keep his legacy alive with choice band

[@Wadosan]

It’s Garchover Chompbros 😔

[@filippoluz2837]

😭😭😭😭😭

[@joe.osullivan]

That was a sad story for Chomp and it's still unbelievable, but that possibility at the end of Lando dropping to UU seems even more absurd. More absurd than when we get to see Duraladon in little cup.

[@silvershine2261]

Thats likely immediatly going to be banned, no?

[@TheDarkion97]

@@silvershine2261 I would even be surprised if is allowed whatsoever. If it is we have another contender for the WR ban speedrun after Regieleki

[@eieneidnf]

​@silvershine2261 probably but it would be very very funny if it wasn't instabanned

[@doctorreed_]

just so crazy to think about. it feels like yesterday when garchomp was essentially invincible

[@michaellubertozzi7033]

Just give it Dragon Dance and it’ll be chilling

[@YOSSARIAN313]

Gamefreak confirmed cowards

[@gamedominatorxennongdm7956]

They gave kyurem dragon dance but not garchomp.

[@Breakaway-ic5gj]

It's banned in stabmons probably because of dragon dance

[@Masahane]

3:18 my favorite thing about gholdengo is that in the generation that introduced a new rapid spin-like attack (mortal spin), it also blocks THAT too

[@rex376]

Sad that Garchomp fell, but with Corv also on the fall I've been using it a bit in ou and loaded dice scale shot beats a lot including glimorra, hopefully it rises again.

[@splitsee2526]

I think at this point, just give Garchomp Dragon Dance again and also maybe give it Sand Rush. The boy needs some sort of buff.

[@filippoluz2837]

P😊

[@PheseantNetsuke]

Farewell Garchomp. You're a legend.

[@DrDrao]

I love how dominant gliscor is now. If someone had told me a few gens ago that Gliscor is powercreeping landot and garchomp, I wouldn't have believed them.

[@jazzy4830]

Nah, I've loved Gliscor since Gen4, when they gave him poison heal it just made him perfect for me. I've been using him in showdown teams solidly since about 2015 to decent success.

[@DrDrao]

@@jazzy4830 I love gliscor too. It's my favorite mon. However, historically, it's been worse than both gar and landot.

[@lycidaes4752]

We need poison heal garchomp

[@jazzy4830]

@@DrDrao I refuse to use Landorus on principle, it always seemed lame and sweaty to use it just for the meta. Plus it's ugly, garchomp is a chad though (especially dragon tail).

[@legolosarrow]

At 6:02 the written loaded dice description is the descripton of booster energy. Great video!

[@Kmosely42]

I wanna take a moment and really appreciate the amount of editing that really went into this. As time goes one frezzai's editing gets better, but this video in particular really shone for me for some reason. Seeing the stats bump around the screen as they become relevant to the conversation just really does a great job of illustrating your points.

[@axel8912]

"garchomp needs no introduction" *gives it an introduction*

[@nksuke5988]

Even if Garchomp felldown to UU, he will still stay in our heart as the fearsome monster Cynthia used against us when we were kids.

[@realddormond7158]

In before Gamefreak Uber buffs Garchomp and the first run in with *that* monster is a Cynthia jumpscare.

[@500werewolf]

"The future is now old 'mon." -Gen 9 OU

[@mellon4251]

I remember a False swipe gaming video from the start of Gen 9 where Garchomp was listed as the number one winner in the new game. But that was before the meta really developed with the DLC

[@rubenduenas5881]

That video aged well

[@jean_con]

It was alright enough as a somewhat fast and somewhat strong dragon who could also be a decent tank with a good support toolkit, then Home came, then Walking Wake and Enamorus dropped, both mons that mop the floor with Chomp, then the dlc dropped, and it just became completely outclassed by better ground types, it's still a good mon, but things just haven't been easy for the landshark, there's really nothing it does well enough in the current meta :(

[@YOSSARIAN313]

​@@jean_conit may be time for gamefreak to stop being cowards and give it dragon dance

[@theshatteredseas4629]

​@@YOSSARIAN313 free regigigas while they are at it

[@jean_con]

@@YOSSARIAN313 I'm not sure chomp is ever gonna be truly top tier in ou, at least without a crazy signatute move or new busted ability, dd might patch things up, but i don't think it'll be enough It is still decent enough in vgc at least

[@rjante2236]

Somewhere in NU, Flygon is laughing

[@miracles4219]

I can't wait for gen 25 where flygon is untiered and Garchomp is in NU.

[@supernicedude2972]

As someone who last played meta in gen 6, hearing that Lando T might slip to UU is blowing my mind.

[@Kmn483]

I was once describing to someone how much power inflation the new gen introduced by letting him know that Garchomp was now a support pokemon because it wasn't offensive enough. To anyone that hasn't played this gen, that sounds absurd.

[@kishiberohan7955]

Can’t wait to see the Landorus T video in a month

[@hansoskar1911]

everyone and their mother being Terra Fairy was the nail in the coffin. even the good matchups werent good half the time.

[@sidneyprice5514]

Power creep'll do that tona guy, that's just how these things go. Maybe Garchomp will find his way back to OU, maybe not. But that won't ever stop him from being a popular Pokemon.

[@hypershadicfusionofhope9342]

Unfortunately, the only realistic way Garchomp could ever rise back is if a massive portion of the Pokémon that ruin it's chances leave the tier and/or it gets a giant buff in the next DLC. Neither of which seem likely at the moment

[@ladyriethegoldendelmo5441]

@@hypershadicfusionofhope9342 would it need a new form, new item, dragon dance? and mabe increase its atk and speed base stat?

[@theshatteredseas4629]

​@@ladyriethegoldendelmo5441 give it shell smash and sturdy, straight to ubers it goes

[@idiotsplay580]

the thing about lando is so much of its utility also just got deleted from its kit; part of it is dealing with great tusk, sure, but the reality is the thing that gave it so much usage in past gens took a seriously hard blow in this one

[@mapleham5633]

The editing for this video was was insane!

[@connorr4183]

Freezai has been killing it lately

[@marko4935]

KEEP DOING THESE TYPES OF VIDEOS FREEZAI I LOVE IT

[@imaanlatios6790]

Really high quality video. Great work Freezai.

[@Mrempoleon100]

"The problems with garchomp started with the introduction of Fairy type 10 years ago" Damn...

[@thepurple8342]

Loving this editing style!

[@aaronlucas8105]

Garchomp simply needs a new ability next gen - he originally had an advantage that suggested he be hit whether it’s rough skin or sand veil for evasion. I think Garchomp should be the first Pokémon to receive the special version of intimidate. It’s Cynthia’s ace. It has to be special. It also needs dragon dance tomorrow.

[@lycidaes4752]

Na give it something semi broken like sheer force or some shit like that. It gonne be up ther quick

[@Oleanierum]

​@@lycidaes4752it doesn't really have moves that can abuse sheer force though

[@iwannasnperotmg6601]

Loved the Sonic Rush music. Great choice Freezai! :)

[@NoSystemFound]

Great video as usual! Just wanna point out, you used the Booster Energy description for the Loaded Dice. Keep up the awesome work!

[@VivianKurayami]

It's a weird time to be a Pokemon fan and observer of competitive when you see Garchomp and even Landorus-T falling off usage.

[@yarc9]

Bax is the garchomp this gen

[@kuiperbelt2488]

I GOT ONE MORE IN ME

[@Kasaaz]

It's not JUST Power Creep. It's about Total Number of Mons too. Teams are the same size as they've always been. 6 mons. The more mons there are total, the larger the chance something slides. I realize they can adjust the thresholds, but even then, human psychology doesn't work that way.

[@misters6749]

Is anyone else surprised that the ‘Chomp doesn’t have a priority move? Like it’s the MACH POKEMON, right? Hell even Dragonite has Extremespeed…

[@rubenduenas5881]

Imagine if it did? No more Icicle Spear worries...

[@misters6749]

@@rubenduenas5881 indeed. Also maybe give it Headlong Rush, Gamefreak? Maybe?

[@royalgelly8948]

Yeah Garchomp's biggest problem is it hasnt seen any new tools outside of Mega and spikes, introduced in the same gen as hrott. Headlong would be huge, alongside espeed. A redistribution of some of its spdef and/or def to give it 10 more speed would also be huge

[@misters6749]

@@royalgelly8948 might be interesting if it got a version of Extremespeed that had a tidy up/court change effect also. Like how running past leaves gets the wind to kick them up and move them this E.Speed could do the same to hazards.

[@milkiesLoverboi69]

@@misters6749no, that would just be op

[@vivaanchowdhry9718]

Guys don't be sad now as garchomp the king is BACK IN OU!!!🎉

[@jitgupta3543]

He is my favorite pokemon and it's so good to see him back in OU

[@voltingmaster5458]

Well that’s only because every other pokemon that countered/outclassed it got banned.

[@legomagic007_YT]

Aged like milk

[@adpg4471]

Atleast Garchomp is too strong for UU. Is bad for him, but at least that shows that it's not totally him, is the Meta being really broken. Also, Heatran and Rotom-W doesn't seem to return to OU soon, unlike Garganacl who is likely getting banned or raising by usage. As a new player knowing the past of competitive Pokemon, this still hit me hard

[@chunitaiga5575]

love the editing here

[@roninwarriorsfan]

Great Tusk is only running Ice Spinner because of Gliscor, so in a roundabout way, Gliscor may have played a part in Garchomp's desent

[@Forged4War206]

Chomp, Heatran and possibly even Lando eventually dropping to UU for the first time all in the same Generation is honestly pretty insane. Not really a fan of this trend of GameFreak removing moves that Pokemon have had for multiple generations.

[@sparktaylor8489]

I'll be the villain here. I welcome, I relish in the fact Garchomp is out of ou, I love the fact even now it's in the purgatory of UUBL.

[@kayladecant7332]

Fairy over a decade ago? Holy moly time moves fast

[@dragoniteisbased]

Ladies and gentlemen A legend has fallen

[@shine-ub6eb]

Absolutely banger uploads lately, good stuff man

[@yarielrobles9003]

I started playing pokemon in gen 4, for my entire time playing this game garchomp has been ou or higher. In the time it took for garchomp to fall off I've become an adult and started living on my own, this is really the end of an era

[@DarkOmegaMK2]

How the mighty has fallen.

[@kokorikopi]

Pre-DLC i saw a ton of success with lead hazard chomp, since every hamurott would play the game of hazard grabass and nearly die in the process from helmet+rough skin. even then, though, enamorus really sat on it, forcing tera or a death.

[@natecgames4612]

Garchomp dropping to uu, though not as bad as i make it out to be is the final nail in the coffin for the power creep problem. Literally its lowest stats are decent and the only real counter to a garchomp with a fast ice type at the time. He was very well meant to be the line between OU and ubers. It just now feels like the pokemon company thought it was the best idea to get pokemon that tickle that threshold of the top OU pokemon even back in gen 6, and now it feels like gens 1 though 8 OU pokemon that didnt have a great niche against a full teams worth of powerful gen 9 pokemon, then the powerhouses got bullied to UU, the okay ones going into RU, the ones that seem good on paper being in NU, and anything else being in PU or unranked.

[@GonnaDieNever]

It'll come back when they give it dragon dance.

[@riseandbucket]

Powercreep claims even Sinnoh's beloved dragon? The East has truly fallen...

[@spxrri]

random but what is best garchomp set for gen 4 battle frontier? choice band/scarf outrage? yachee berry with swords dance and dragon claw? jolly or adamant? seems like you have to compensate with every build.

[@westonamohammond9308]

When he said “For the unaware…” i immediately thought he meant quagsire. I think I need to go outside

[@lwfawn]

Garchomp deserved this for trying to outclass Flygon.

[@HazeEmry]

I love Flygon too but Garchomp isn't trying hard in that department 🙃

[@viniciusvini981]

Not like flygon ever got even next to garchomp's feet in any mean possible

[@sefy5082]

Guess we can finally say he's a Garchump now.

[@gunchar06]

Garchomp immediately started terrorizing the UU Tier and got straight up banned after just a single week XD...

[@casualcrusader1547]

oh nah UU is about to be a hellscape if garchomp, heatran AND lando T go to uu 💀

[@hoshi314]

the old mons are now grandads practically saying "back in my days i was the mon everyone had to look out for"

[@user-du8bq5et8r]

Now it got in the purgatory known as uubl

[@Peridot_NotAClod]

Garchomp fans (Me): *Kazuma Kiryu slamming desk and leaving meme*

[@dropinota]

I never thought this day would come, but if Landorus falls, I'd be doubly blown away.

[@miguelaguilar5115]

Kinda amazing to see how Freezai's production quality rose from the start of the channel to now

[@Heartache2491]

Pain. It hurt so much when TTar and Skarm dropped, and it hurts so much now with Chomp and Heatran of all things dropping

[@SmthBoutSticks]

Natural selection this Arcanine-Hisui Life Orb Head smash then.

[@lucapon3287]

More terrified at the thought of Zapdos dropping than any other mon.

[@BlueAizu_]

Honestly, that it's only now been power crept is a testament to how amazing Garchomp is

[@yommmrr]

Freezai, do you have an editor or are you doing these by yourself? This is the format that made me love your content and lately the videos look so good. Seriously the best poketuber.

[@ethan4life732]

"Maybe Next month there will be a video called: The fall of Landorus" Please dear god let this happen because it'd be one of the funniest things I've seen in a while.

[@bigmike606]

All good things must come to an end.

[@dongaldwilliams8071]

1:35 you did not need to say that like that.. making me feel old 😭

[@KirbyFan4411]

The kirby triple deluxe background music is a great choice, peak.

[@psyxypher3881]

I didn't expect to hear Sky Babylon from Sonic Rush Adventure but I'm not unhappy.

[@lukeyilonen]

Landorus falls to UU Landorus: there is nothing we can do. *Plays music*

[@pikminman13]

the world will end when that happens. my lord must stay on top...

[@SammyK-jt3vv]

​@@pikminman13my brother in christ he barely dodged the feds this time

[@blazefactor6849]

@@SammyK-jt3vv Nah, they already got him. They took his fucking moves and now he can't walk.

[@pikminman13]

@@SammyK-jt3vv september's stats don't count due to new toy syndrome. it's a miracle he hung on. if october's stats put him under, fine, but i expect him to gain some usage back because he isn't fighting the return of a mon that hasnt been in the game in 4 years.

[@EvilEv37]

Garchomp in UU makes me feel old...

[@matthew44able]

I've seen memes going around about this all over Poke Twitter. Didn't really realise the true scale of the situation until I watched this video.

[@quintonfloyd420]

I am certain we are only 1 or 2 more new generations away from the meta power creeping enough for Deoxys to finally make a home in OU.

[@clublazy9468]

Now it’s back in ou by technicality

[@Zyrexia]

garchomp is back to UUBL

[@lesterism]

Garchomp still fall like a legend. It's inevitable especially for an old mon but it still have a great run since debut

[@rockowlgamer631]

I can imagine Flygon talking to Garchomp, " Now you know how I feel."

[@HazeEmry]

That PMD music at the end, damn. You think you're gonna make me sad for Lando-T with that?

[@victorydarts1899]

the king has fallen 😔

[@odd-eyesdragoon1024]

*cough* Give Garchomp Dragon Dance, Gamefreak. *cough*

[@Sol_Calibre]

The fall of Landorus is already in the making lol

[@6Miya9]

Last line is so wild

[@boop53]

I expect that they might suspect test Gholdengo soon

[@jurrasicore8682]

lando going to uu is like wild