Alright, I didn't think I was going to be making this post when I woke up this morning and decided to learn the meta, but I'd like to talk about my thoughts on Comfey.
So Comfey's role in the tier started off for me as a tool to better handle Hyper Offense teams, thanks to the strong and fast hitting Draining Kiss. The more games I played, the more I noticed most of my games would end up with a Comfey in the winning screen, be it mine or my opponent's. I started using different types of teams (from more offensive ones to bulkier ones), and I always felt like Comfey was the main issue when playing. The standard set to me looked like Calm Mind, Life Orb, Draining Kiss, Tera Ground Tera Blast and a last move in Taunt, Giga Drain or Encore, but then I also faced different sets such as Grassy Seed under Terrain with Stored Power or different Tera types for coverage or defensive utility, such as Fire or Poison. It felt really tricky to narrow down if my teams were the issue, or if Comfey was just that good.
Most of my ways of handling Comfey were with a fast Trick user, a decently bulky Pokémon that could hit it before it got too many boosts, such as Okidogi or Bisharp, or even Steel types like Tinkaton or Registeel (I also tried Orthworm but it's an Orthworm at the end of the day). The most consistent option ended up being setting up with my Comfey before they could set up with theirs. Some sort of outplaying in forcing an early Tera and hitting with coverage (Giga Drain for Tera Ground and Tera Ground Tera Blast for Tera Poison). That's when I started wondering if, between all the strong and powerful breakers available to us (Salamence, Hoopa-Unbound, Necrozma), Comfey was the one Pokémon that had to be played around the most.
As I'm writing this, I'm also theorymonning on potential Pokémon I could use to handle Comfey that I haven't tried yet.
Blissey tops the list as the best special wall in the history of the game. Seismic Toss does almost half to speedy Comfey, while Draining Kiss can do around 20% at +2 with a Life Orb, while recovering around 30% but losing 10% due to Life Orb. Regardless of the different items, it almost always beats it unless it randomly runs an anti Blissey Tera Ghost set, which does not seem like the norm. The issue is that Blissey does not match up well in the tier outside really fat teams, and even then it's super easy to handle those due to the current power creep.
I'm grouping the defensive Fire Types together here. To not make it too long: Rotom-Heat could get into a Nasty Plot vs Calm Mind war vs Comfey, in which it could end up winning depending on A) Comfey's HP investment, B) Comfey's Tera Type and C) Rotom-Heat's Special Attack investment. In the most favorable case, a Special Attack invested Rotom-Heat at +6 can OHKO a non HP invested Comfey with 4 Calm Minds 56% of the time (Comfey can do half with Draining Kiss in this exchange) while not coming close to winning this if it's bulky Rotom vs bulky Comfey. Volcanion relies a lot on raw power, being able to outspeed a bulky Comfey and hitting it with Sludge Wave, or even a Steam Eruption if it's Tera Fire or Ground. The issue is that it can't really OHKO a bulky Comfey, and an offensive one will just Tera Blast it and OHKO it with ease without any boosts. Moltres feels like the more reliable one of the bunch, since it can Will-o-Wisp it for chip damage, as it spams Flamethrower while Comfey tries to set up. Flamethrower does around 30% against bulky Comfey with 0 Calm Mind boosts, and takes 25-30% against a +2 Calm Mind Comfey. It feels like the more reliable option so far, as Moltres also has a good matchup against most physical threats thanks to the ability to Burn them, by either Will-o-Wisp or Flame Body.
The reliable Steel types all feel like relatively good answers until Comfey clicks Tera Ground Tera Blast. Tinkaton is usually the more effective overall answer, but Comfey can outspeed any spread and it only needs one Calm Mind to have a shot at OHKOing bulky Tinkaton with Tera Ground Tera Blast. If Tinkaton uses its Tera, then Comfey can easily win with Draining Kiss, as a neutral Gigaton Hammer does not enough damage to make up for the turns where it can't be clicked. Revavroom is usually holding an Air Balloon, so it's perhaps the more reliable revenge killer, as it does really solid damage against Comfey, and it can usually have a free set up opportunity against Tera Ground. It can do around 80% with +1 Iron Head if Comfey is a neutral Tera. Obviously, there's always the risk of Tera Fire (it'd prevent Revavroom from getting the free set up, while a neutral High Horsepower does around 85%). Bisharp and Registeel do not have enough damage output to beat a Comfey with Tera, as Tera Blast does too much, and Draining Kiss could potentially win an interaction against Sucker Punch due to the priority difference.
Ok, so I'm doing a bit of a stretch by adding certain Poison types in this list, but I'm trying to include all the possible options. Gengar is a solid revenge kill tool in the tier overall, but Scarf sets can't OHKO Comfey if it's a bulky variant, or if it's at +1 in an offensive one, not to mention it just can't do anything if it uses its Tera. Munkidori is in a similar position as Gengar, in which all they can do is Trick their Choice Scarf. Okidogi and Fezandipiti threaten with the Toxic Chain ability, and Fez can even be a speedy Taunt. The issue is that it ends up being a Tera war with both, in which Comfey can easily win thanks to the coverage. Vileplume and Tentacruel do not have the damage output to beat a boosting Comfey. I'm not even mentioning Stored Power variants against all of these.
The final category is just Offensive Pressure. In such a fast-paced meta, Comfey does good against certain breakers like Hoopa-Unbound, Haxorus, Salamence, Feraligatr, while these can all win vs it if they are boosted before Comfey is, and have an appropriate defensive tera to kill it. There are other breakers, like Necrozma, who are naturally bulky enough to beat a Comfey in a set-up war.
This is just my personal experience on how I've seen the current tier take shape. I'd like to see other people comment on their own experiences, as it makes it easier for the RU council to spot the best path and take action accordingly.
