Generation 9 OU — Singles Format Reference
Generation 9 OU is the de facto Singles standard of Scarlet & Violet — 6v6 with team preview, Terastallization legal, and the most-played metagame on the Pokémon Showdown ladder. This page covers what the format is, how to read it, and what every team has to answer.
Type
6v6 Singles
Tera
Legal
Where
PS Ladder
Patch
Indigo Disk
Every team must answer hazard control, speed control, and the opponent's Tera. Drop one of the three and the format will exploit it.
At a glance
OU stands for OverUsed — the highest of Smogon's usage-based Singles tiers. It hosts every Pokémon that meets the format's usage threshold and is not banned by the tier council.
OU is not a Game Freak format. It is community-curated by Smogon: rules, banlist, and tier movements are decided by elected council members through public suspect tests. The result is a competitive metagame distinct from official VGC, designed for Singles play and balanced against the Pokémon Showdown player base.
- Format type6v6 Singles, all six brought to battle
- Team previewYes — both sides see all six Pokémon before lead choice
- TeraLegal
- Z-Moves / Mega / DynamaxNone — Gen 9 inherits no prior gimmicks
- Where it's playedPokémon Showdown ladder + Smogon tournaments. Live tier page: /sv/ou.
- Run bySmogon OU council (rotating elected members)
- Sister formatsUbers (above), UU (below)
- Live banlistEvolves through suspect tests; current list on Smogon's tier page
Format rules
Smogon Singles formats apply a layered set of clauses on top of the cartridge ruleset. The clauses below are universal across OU, UU, RU, NU, and PU — Gen 9 OU adds nothing new on top.
Standard clauses
| Clause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Sleep Clause | Only one opposing Pokémon may be put to sleep at a time. Self-sleep (Rest, sleep-talking) does not count. |
| Species Clause | Each team can only carry one of any given species — no double Garchomp, no Charizard mirror. |
| Evasion Clause | Double Team, Minimize, and any move that boosts evasion are banned. Acupressure use is restricted. |
| OHKO Clause | Sheer Cold, Fissure, Horn Drill, Guillotine are banned outright. |
| Endless Battle Clause | A player cannot intentionally produce battle states that cannot end. Recycle + Leppa Berry loops are forbidden. |
| Moody Clause | Moody is banned because its random stat boosts produce uncompetitive variance. |
| Baton Pass Clause | Baton Pass usage is restricted — speed-passing combined with stat-passing is banned to prevent unanswerable setup chains. |
| Terastal Clause | Not in effect — Tera is fully legal in Gen 9 OU. |
Match structure
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Team size | 6 Pokémon, all brought to battle |
| Lead choice | After team preview — neither side knows the opponent's lead until reveal |
| Level | All Pokémon set to level 100 |
| Time per turn | Standard Showdown ladder timer (~1 minute per turn) |
| Total time | Match-clock based — typical games run 20–60 turns |
| Best of | Single-game in ladder play; best-of-3 in most tournaments |
Banlist
The Gen 9 OU banlist evolves continuously through community suspect testing. The list below covers the most consequential bans of the era — the live, current list is best read directly on the tier page.
Bans in Smogon OU are decided by the tier council through a public suspect test cycle: the Pokémon being tested is allowed in a separate ladder, qualifying voters cast a ballot, and a supermajority is required for action. The cycle repeats roughly every 6–8 weeks.
Notable Gen 9 OU bans
| Pokémon | Why it was banned |
|---|---|
| Flutter Mane | 135 SpA + 135 Spe + Protosynthesis. Outsped the unboosted format and resisted defensive answers. Banned within weeks of launch. |
| Houndstone | Last Respects scaling + 145 base Attack + Sand Rush. Effectively uncounterable late-game cleaner. |
| Iron Bundle | 100 / 124 Speed + Specs Hydro Pump + Freeze-Dry coverage. Outsped most of the format with no reliable check. |
| Annihilape | Rage Fist scaling + Bulk Up + Drain Punch + Ghost typing. Bulky setup wincon with no reliable check post-Tera. |
| Volcarona | Quiver Dance + Tera Fairy / Ground turned a manageable threat into an uncatchable sweeper. |
| Magearna | Iron Defense + Stored Power + Tera coverage. Set-up wincon that broke through every typical answer. |
| Roaring Moon |  Booster Energy + Dragon Dance + 119 Atk + 121 Spe. Six-turn snowball window. |
| Chien-Pao | Sword of Ruin + 120 Atk + 135 Spe. Crunch + Ice Spinner with format-wide -25% Defense aura. |
| Chi-Yu | Beads of Ruin + 135 SpA + 100 Spe. Special analogue of Chien-Pao. |
| Cinderace | Court Change + Pyro Ball + Libero (Gen 9 nerfed). Constant momentum + STAB from any move. |
| Kyurem | Returned via Indigo Disk. 130 / 130 / 90 / 130 / 90 / 95 with Glaciate + Freeze-Dry coverage. |
Tera in this format
Terastallization is fully legal in Gen 9 OU. Its mechanic is covered in detail on the Gen 9 Era page; here we cover its competitive implications specific to Singles.
Tera reshapes the format's information game. Both sides know each Pokémon's base typing from team preview, but the Tera Type is hidden. Every team-building decision must therefore plan for a defensive answer that holds even if the opponent reveals a surprise type — and reciprocally, every offensive Pokémon prepares its own Tera as an exit valve against checks.
Common Tera roles in OU
- Defensive flip — turn a 4× weakness into a resistance to deny a wallbreaker its breakthrough.
- Offensive surprise — reveal an unexpected STAB to threaten a check that walls the original typing.
- Setup protection — flip type behind a setup move so the boosted Pokémon's remaining counters stop counting.
- Status escape — change typing to neutralize an incoming status (Tera Steel against poison, Tera Fire against burn).
For the underlying mechanic — STAB rules, Stellar, interactions with Protean / Reflect Type / Color Change — refer to the Terastallization section of the Gen 9 Era guide.
Archetypes
OU teams cluster into a small number of structural archetypes. The descriptions below are by SHAPE — the slots a team needs and how they interact — not by current top-usage Pokémon, which the Pokémon Index covers.
Aggressive
Hyper Offense
Six offensive Pokémon, none committed to defensive duties. Composition: a fast hazard setter (typically a suicide lead), two wallbreakers, a setup sweeper, a revenge killer with priority or speed, and a late-game cleaner. Win condition: overwhelm before the opponent can stabilise. Dies to: a single missed KO and any consistent recovery.
Balance
Bulky Offense / Balance
Three to four offensive Pokémon plus two to three defensive pivots. Each defensive slot must check at least two offensive archetypes the team would otherwise lose to. Win condition: progressive damage through pivots and chip until a wincon can break through. Dies to: pure stallbreaker pressure or a Pokémon that walls everything offensive.
Defensive
Stall
Six defensive Pokémon plus one stallbreaker and a hazard control core. Composition: a Stealth Rock setter, a hazard remover, a status absorber, two specialist walls, a wincon (often Iron Defense + Body Press). Win condition: PP stalls + recovery cycles + chip damage. Dies to: any Pokémon that ignores chip (Magic Guard) or breaks the stall core fast.
Weather
Sand · Rain · Sun
A weather setter (with permanent-weather ability) plus 2–3 Pokémon whose abilities or moves benefit from the weather. Sand boosts Rock-type Special Defense and Sand Rush speed; Rain doubles Water-type damage; Sun doubles Fire-type damage and powers Solar Beam / Chlorophyll. Dies to: weather wars (opposing setter overwriting yours) and Utility Umbrella.
Specialty
Trick Room
A slow setter (high Defense + Trick Room) and 2–3 abusive slow attackers. Trick Room reverses speed order for 5 turns, letting a 50-Speed sweeper outpace a Choice Scarf user. Win condition: maximise damage in the 5-turn window. Dies to: speed control denial (Taunt on the setter) and the natural turn 6 reversion.
Specialty
Hazard Stack
Built around the cumulative damage of multiple entry-hazard layers. Composition: a Stealth Rock + Spikes setter, a hazard-blocker against Defog (typically a Ghost-type), a Tera Steel option to remove Toxic Spikes by absorption. Win condition: opponent enters and exits the field bleeding 25–50% per cycle. Dies to: Heavy-Duty Boots distributions and reliable Rapid Spin.
The seven team roles
Independent of archetype, every viable Gen 9 OU team must explicitly cover seven structural roles. A single Pokémon can fill more than one — many strong teams have a Pokémon that pivots, breaks walls, AND wins games — but no role can be left empty.
The Pokémon that puts hazards down on the opponent's side. Without consistent hazards, offensive teams cannot apply chip pressure and bulky cores cannot wear opponents down. Most teams carry at least Stealth Rock; aggressive builds add Spikes.
The Pokémon that removes hazards from your side. Heavy-Duty Boots distribution helps but never replaces the role on a team that switches into hits. Good as Gold blocks Defog through Gholdengo, so most current teams lean on Rapid Spin or Tidy Up.
The way the team handles faster threats. Options: a Choice Scarf user that revenge-kills, a priority attacker (Sucker Punch, Bullet Punch, Aqua Jet), Tailwind support, or a paralysis spreader that cripples speed tiers.
A Pokémon immune to or insulated from status. Without one, a single Will-O-Wisp on a physical attacker or a Toxicon a wall can collapse the team's game plan over time.
A Pokémon that switches out while dealing damage or generating field state. Pivots produce momentum: instead of swapping at -1 turn cost, you swap WHILE attacking. The single most underrated role on intermediate ladders.
A Pokémon whose offensive output reliably breaks the format's defensive cores. Often a Choice item user; sometimes a setup wallbreaker that boosts before attacking. Wallbreakers create the holes a sweeper later cleans.
The Pokémon that closes the game. Setup sweepers with Dragon Dance / Quiver Dance / Calm Mind are the canonical wincons; progressive options exist (Garganacl + Salt Cure, Iron Defense + Body Press loops, late-game cleaners with Supreme Overlord).
What makes Gen 9 OU different
Gen 9 OU departs from prior gens on three structural axes: typing flexibility through Tera, raw offensive ceiling from Paradox Pokémon, and a hazard meta reshaped by item distribution.
1×
Tera per match
Adds matchup mind games no other gen had
2×
Paradox engines
Protosynthesis + Quark Drive both legal
↑
Hazard pressure
Good as Gold blocks Defog through Gholdengo
- Typing flexibility — every Pokémon can flip type once per match. The defensive game is no longer about typing alone; it's about typing PLUS the read on which Pokémon is the team's Tera slot.
- Offensive ceiling — Paradox Pokémon with Booster Energy reach offensive thresholds previous gens reserved for Choice items. The format's power floor is higher; the time-to-kill is shorter.
- Hazard war —
Heavy-Duty Boots distribution from Gen 8 still applies, but Gen 9 adds Glimmora as a near-uncontestable suicide lead and Gholdengo as a Defog blocker. The hazard control role is harder to fill than in any prior generation. - Banlist volatility — Gen 9 produced more OU bans in its first two years than any prior generation. Tera amplifies threats that would historically have been manageable; tier councils have repeatedly judged the combination of Tera flexibility plus a 130+ offensive stat uncompetitive.
How to get started
A practical path from zero to consistent ladder play. Most of the work is volume — you build, you ladder, you analyse, you iterate.
- Read the tier page on Smogon — start with the current banlist and the official tiering policy. Know what is and is not legal before you build.
- Pick an archetype that fits your patience — Hyper Offense games end fast but are punishing if you misread; Balance plays methodically; Stall demands long, attentive games. Match the archetype to your time and temperament.
- Copy a sample team for your first 20 games — Smogon's OU sample teams are vetted by experienced players. Playing a known build first is faster than building blind, and it teaches you the format's threats.
- Ladder, don't spectate — knowledge from watching is shallow. Twenty games at 1300 ELO will teach you more about the meta than fifty hours of tournament VODs.
- Analyse your replays — every loss has a turn where the game was decided. Find that turn. Most learning happens at the boundary between the play you made and the one that would have won.
- Iterate one slot at a time — change one Pokémon between team versions, ladder another twenty games, compare outcomes. Iterating six slots simultaneously teaches you nothing.
Where to go from here
The above is the static reference for Gen 9 OU. The current state of the format — top usage, archetype distribution, recent suspect tests, weekly tournament results — lives in the rest of Pokékipe.
- Live meta data — /sv/ou for the current Gen 9 OU usage, top sets, and Pokémon stats. Team Builder for assembling and analysing a team in this format.
- Mechanics — Gen 9 — Scarlet & Violet covers Terastallization, the Stellar type, abilities and items introduced in the generation.
- Tier shifts & suspects — Timeline tracks every drop, rise, suspect test and tournament result.
- Workflow — the VGC Teambuilding guide walks through the build process; many of the same steps apply to Singles. Core Mechanics covers EVs, IVs, natures, speed tiers — prerequisites for any tier.
- Terminology — every term used above is defined in the Competitive Glossary.