Got some time to kill, saw this as the perfect time to answer those questions:
What are your personal favorite Pokemon to use in the metagame, and why?
the easiest mega to play. The speed and power of its attacks are just so enjoyable and threatening. It only bends the knee to dedicated answers which can all be easily abused thanks to the plethora of sets it can run and its teammates. fake out+quick attack, Pup, encore, or even the weird facade, its potential is always there—a classic.
Ha, literally my mon. Just one of the best offensive pivots and has never been a dead weight since bulky grass types kinda disappeared. Specs is so powerful and only needs one good anticipation vs ground types to basically win the game. Magnet is also an item I enjoy since it keeps some power on its attacks while giving it flexibility. Life orb is scary but IMO losing health that quickly is bad vs an Hawlucha endgame. Finally bulky with Iapapa berry+nature madness+taunt is just insane at chipping away the opposition. It is worth mentioning that is can act as a screen setter and so is a nice addition to HO teams.
the duel of the best megas is between Alakazam and Latias for me. Its speed and power are almost unmatched and Alakazam is an absolute monster in a lots of situations. I fell in love with 4 attacks since it pressures a wide range of the metagame. The Cm set is scary to face and slays balanced teams like a hot knife slicing through butter. Plus trace is incredible and the fact that it is a psychic type not prone to a free pursuit is enjoyable.
Alakazam's partner in crime. Insane power, able to melt steels and straight up OHKO anything that does not resist it. The offensive pressure this mon apply is too good to miss out and I think everyone playing the tier can agree that it is always on our mind while building a team. not a lot to say other than it keeps clicking psychic.
Not mentioning this mon is a crime for sure since it is one of the corner stones of the tier. Its versatility is unmatched form defensive stealth rocks to offensive Z move or scarf, this mon can do it all and do it well. The defensive one checks almost all physical attackers of the tier while the offensive one makes for a great breaker. Another classic.
I enjoy playing it a lot. One of the only good Volcarona answers (if not z psychic). Kommo-o is incredible at completing defensive cores, it got some neat options that can basically answer all the needs of a team. Defensive Roar is the "new" thing that convinced me to slap it on almost everything, with spikes support this set is so dangerous. Great with the classic magearna or heatran. It can even fill the role of set up sweeper with Z clanging scales or even sub+belly drum on HO. Definitely a nice pick.
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I think we all are aware of its potential now. The popularisation of Future sight is the only good thing gen8 did for me. Future sight is deadly and a good way to progress through the game, melting Toxapex and punishing any psychic resist with scald, twave or flamethrower. Ice beam is also nice vs Gliscor. Moreover, checking fighting types and Charizard x is a blessing, especially in the current metagame.
How could I not see its potential?! Another influence of SSOU I guess. Huge punisher vs those latias+gliscor+chansey build that dwell the ladder and knock off+ice stabs is a nice offensive combo. Sword dance Z moves are great alternatives too, foul play is a nice counter to sd kartana and is a nuclear Z while dig is a great lure vs Toxa/Heatran/Magearna.
I'm talking about the OG greninja, protean. Dismantle all those heatran+fini/bulu core, infinite options, and a great spikes user. A nice lure vs Toxapex and Magearna as well. This mon clearly got it all thanks to its coverage and speed making it difficult to anticipate which set greninja is running, is it physical, or special? what are its attacks? I don't know, something makes it just so enjoyable to play.
After the frog, the toad. You all need to test it out. While being a counter to those teams relying on rotom wash or Koko to pivot, it has a great utility niche in the meta with stealth rocks, knock-off, scald...and being a great status absorber with refresh or rest. It can switch into heatran as well and create some 50/50 against battle-bound greninja which I like. I had trouble using it at first both in team build and ingame, but once I adopted it, it did not let me down.
honorable mentions:
What current cores do you find strong and/or fun to use?
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: greninja will set up spikes and kill everything that can remove them with Z grass knot and ice beam: Z knot for Tapu Fini or Rotom Wash, ice beam for Tornadus and Landorus. Kommo-o will abuse the presence of spikes with roar and complete the hazard core with stealth rocks.
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: just a fun core based on sticky webs (I've been trying to make this strategy work for so looooong!! don't use it, it is garbage). Ribombee is obviously the setter. Manaphy profits from the speed drop and can break the opposition thanks to tail glow. Bisharp is our way to punish defog and a huge breaker with a nuclear sucker punch and Z move. Rindo berry on Manaphy to not get swept by opposing serperior.
Do you like the current metagame, or find it to be well-balanced? Why or why not?
I think I do. It is crazy to think that this metagame is so close to being a nightmare of broken Pokemon but manages to find a balance with dedicated answers for precise threats. The diversity in build is also unmatched with almost every playstyle being viable which is appreciable and impressive. Creativity and exploring new sets/combinations to create your own teams are what drive me to continue playing this tier(especially when the strategy I was theorizing works). Some mons stand out of course like Kartana, Volcarona or Tapu lele but almost none are unbalanced for me.
about
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The only one that can deserve something is Volcarona, in my opinion, it is at the limit of broken. This mon is stupidly good: access to one of the best set-up moves in the game, access to an item like z moves and impressive coverage letting it pick every single one of its checks. Seeing how well the sub-swarm set does, one can argue that Volcarona does not need coverage but only time to fully set up. Z moves are the thing that really pushes it over the edge, it is just a nuclear bomb shell OHKOing almost everything that would eat a bug buzz or a psychic at +1. I wish we will have a tiering survey lol (why I'm asking for these when we did not even have a viability ranking update for years).
For those mentioning the stealth rocks weakness, I can only say that it has never been that easy to remove hazards in any gen. Between magic bounce, the wide-distributed defog, and the rare rapid spin I don't think hazards are an argument to present Volcarona as just a regular pokemon in the metagame.