Garchomp steady at 41% as Primarina breaks its all-time ceiling at 27%, drawing Pawmot and Rillaboom into the meta as Electric and Grass counters

The 2000+ bracket and the mid-ladder split sharply on several picks. Corviknight sits at 18% above 2000 versus just 8% in the 1000-1999 range, reflecting its value as a defensive pivot that rewards precise switching. Ditto appears on 10% of top-bracket teams against a mere 1% in mid-range — the ultimate revenge pick is almost exclusively a high-level tool. Pawmot also skews upward at 15% versus 6%, meaning the Electric counter-play aimed at Primarina is being pioneered from the top of the ladder rather than spreading organically from below.

The mid-band tells a different story. Salamence runs at 34% in the 1000-1999 range but only 23% at 2000+, suggesting the straightforward Intimidate plus Dragon Dance set loses some of its edge when opponents have sharper counterplay. Rillaboom shows a similar gap at 16% versus 5%, and Golisopod at 18% versus 10% — both are bread-and-butter picks in the broader field that top-bracket players are less reliant on, favoring more targeted options like Corviknight and Ditto instead.

The biggest late-week movers all share one trait: they threaten the established core with super-effective STAB. Pawmot's Double Shock hits Primarina for super-effective Electric damage, and at base 105 Speed it moves before Garchomp's base 102, letting it pressure both the top pick and the rising number-three in a single teamslot. Rillaboom brings Grassy Glide as priority Grass STAB into Primarina regardless of Speed matchups. Two different answers to the same problem — Primarina's climb to 27% is drawing direct counter-play from both Electric and Grass angles, with Pawmot peaking at 2209 rating under ボーノ and Rillaboom at 2200 under 足尾銅山.

On the falling side, Archaludon plummeted from 19% in the first half of the week to 9% in the second, the steepest intra-week fall of any pick this week. Meowscarada dropped from 14% to 9% within the same window, continuing a multi-report decline from its 28% peak at report four. The Steel slot Archaludon is vacating has not consolidated onto a single replacement; overall Steel coverage holds at 73%, propped up by Lucario and Gholdengo rather than by Archaludon itself.

Further up the riser list, Glimmora's climb from 7% to 12% brings Power Gem as Rock STAB directly into Salamence, and Hydreigon's move from 5% to 9% adds Dragon-on-Dragon pressure to Garchomp through Draco Meteor. These are surgical counter-picks targeting the big three rather than broad metagame displacement. Despite the adjustments, no dedicated Ice-type answer has emerged to exploit Garchomp's x4 Ice weakness — Rotom (Frost), which hits eight of the top twelve for super-effective damage including Garchomp itself, still sits below 3% usage.

Dragon at 83% and Water at 81% stand well clear of the pack, a direct product of Garchomp, Salamence, Baxcalibur, Primarina, and Golisopod saturating teamsheets. Steel and Flying share 73%, with Corviknight single-handedly holding both types in the upper bracket while Archaludon and Lucario prop up Steel in the mid-range. Fairy sits at 61%, driven almost entirely by Primarina and Mimikyu rather than by dedicated Fairy-type walls — Gardevoir rounds out the type but at low enough usage that Fairy coverage depends on those two staying popular. Fire at 50% splits across Charizard, Cinderace, and Skeledirge, providing the neutral and anti-Steel coverage that keeps the format from collapsing into a pure Dragon-Water-Steel triangle.