Garchomp dips to 43% as targeted risers — Hippowdon, Meowscarada, Basculegion — surge in the second half and reshape the tier

The 2000+ bracket and the mid-ladder are running two different metas. Garchomp jumps from 40% in the 1000-1999 range to 60% above 2000 — top players lean on it even harder than the overall figure suggests. Gengar is the starkest skill-skewed pick at 27% versus 6%, a ratio of nearly five to one. Kangaskhan follows the same pattern at 13% versus 3%. Both reward precise positioning and punish misplays, which explains their concentration where games are tightest.

The mid-ladder has its own identity. Kingambit sits at 16% in the 1000-1999 bracket and 0% above 2000 — a complete non-factor among top players. Charizard follows a similar curve at 19% versus 7%, and Hippowdon at 22% versus 10%. These are picks built around linear game plans — Kingambit's priority pressure, Charizard's raw firepower, Hippowdon's sand and passive recovery — that stop working once opponents know the exact lines to play around.

Every major riser this week targets something specific at the top. Meowscarada's Flower Trick threatens Primarina with super-effective Grass damage that ignores stat boosts. Basculegion's Last Respects slams Mimikyu for super-effective Ghost damage and only grows more dangerous as teammates fall. Hydreigon's Draco Meteor puts Garchomp itself under direct pressure — Dragon into Dragon. These are not scattered pickups; the ladder is answering the top tier, and the answers all converged in the same half of the week.

The faller side tells the other half of the story. Gyarados cratered from 22% to 6% within the week, the steepest intra-week collapse in the top 12. Mimikyu dropped from 28% to 13% in the second half despite posting 22% overall, and Sylveon nearly vanished from 14% to 4%. Gholdengo, which had hovered around 8%, fell to 2%. The Fairy presence that anchored early-season builds is thinning — both Sylveon and Mimikyu lost significant late-week ground, and no Fairy-type riser has emerged to fill that space.

What remains conspicuously absent is a dedicated Ice-type punish on Garchomp's x4 weakness. Rotom (Frost), whose Ice STAB hits Garchomp, Primarina, Meowscarada, and Hippowdon for super-effective damage, still sits below 3% usage. The counterplay actually reaching the ladder targets Garchomp through Dragon (Hydreigon) and surrounding picks rather than the most obvious type angle, and the players running those tools are pushing past 2100.

Steel at 75% means three out of every four teams carry at least one Steel-type, driven by Archaludon, Scizor, and Metagross filling both offensive and defensive slots. Ghost and Water tie at 73% — Mimikyu, Gengar, and Basculegion on the Ghost side, Primarina, Gyarados, and Greninja on Water — creating a dense web of immunities and resistances across the format. Dragon (70%) and Ground (66%) owe most of their presence to Garchomp alone appearing on 43% of teams, with Dragonite and Hippowdon adding coverage.

Fairy sits at 66% but is losing ground. Sylveon's within-week collapse from 14% to 4% and Mimikyu's long erosion from its early-season peak are thinning the type's representation. Dark (65%) and Fire (63%) remain well-supported through Meowscarada, Greninja, and Kingambit on the Dark side and Delphox, Charizard, and Blaziken carrying Fire. The slow exchange — Dark presence rising as Fairy presence thins — is one of the quieter structural shifts of the season.