Garchomp still rules singles at 38%, but Hippowdon's post-reset climb to 28% is the shake-up worth watching as the ladder rolls into M-4.

The 2000+ band (297 teams) plays a different game from the 1000–1999 crowd (459 teams). Up top, Mimikyu jumps to 35% (vs 29% in mid) and sits almost level with Garchomp at 37% — and Garchomp is actually LESS used up high (37%) than in the mid band (40%), where it's the crutch pick. Archaludon (27% vs 20%) and Hydreigon (22% vs 15%) also get more play among strong players.

The clearest top-band favorites are Greninja (21% vs 11%), Hippowdon (25% vs 16%), and Gyarados (23% vs 15%), all far more common as the rating climbs. The mid band leans on Meowscarada instead — 24% down there versus 17% up top, the one pick that skews the other way. Metagross (21% vs 24%) and Delphox (17% vs 18%) show up at roughly even rates across both bands.

The risers all trace back to the same pressure points. Hippowdon's climb makes sense the moment you line up the counters: it hits Metagross with Earthquake off Ground STAB, and Metagross is everywhere as a Mimikyu answer, punching through Disguise with priority Bullet Punch. Aegislash (4%→10%) is another Mimikyu check on the same axis — it walls the thing and sits on it with King's Shield in the kit. In short, Steel is squeezing Mimikyu, and the picks that squeeze Steel are the ones climbing behind it.

Charizard (10%→13%) and Dragonite (9%→12%) close out the risers and slot in one layer up. Charizard punishes the Metagross wave with Flamethrower, while Dragonite is the honest Garchomp answer — Draco Meteor off Dragon STAB, and with Garchomp taking ×4 from Ice, anything carrying an Ice move already keeps it honest. Even so, Garchomp's near-universal build (Rough Skin 100%, Earthquake 100%, Stealth Rock 57%) keeps it the default ladder lead no matter how many of its checks tick up.

On the way down, Delphox (18%→10%), Archaludon (23%→18%), and Hydreigon (18%→14%) all shed usage in the back half, and Basculegion basically vanished (8%→1%). Worth being honest about two of them: Gyarados slid within the week (18%→12%) but still finished at 17% overall, ahead of where it sat last report, so that reads as a late-week correction rather than a collapse — whereas Hydreigon is down on both counts, off its 19% from last report.

Steel tops the type table at 81%, carried by Metagross, Archaludon, and Corviknight, and the reset only reinforced it with Metagross and Aegislash climbing. Water (78%, Gyarados, Primarina, Greninja) and Dragon (76%, Garchomp, Archaludon, Hydreigon) sit right behind, with Ghost (73%, Mimikyu, Skeledirge, Gengar) riding almost entirely on Mimikyu.

Fire (70%, Delphox, Blaziken, Charizard), Ground (69%, Garchomp, Hippowdon, Swampert), Dark (68%, Meowscarada, Hydreigon, Greninja), and Fairy (65%, Mimikyu, Primarina, Mawile) fill out the board. What drives the whole thing is really just the top two names: Garchomp anchors both Dragon and Ground, and Mimikyu single-handedly carries Ghost and Fairy — so Hippowdon's surge is what's quietly pushing Ground up, and any dip from those two would ripple across four type columns at once.