aight as promised heres my vr since im out of playtest
S Rank
absolute best mon in the game , speed tier , versatility in band / specs / hex , pivot + momentum snatcher , revenge killer , you can just slap on a pult and it will work most of the time. on top of this it due to infiltrator + inbuilt bulk it can even plough through screens + cawm. lmao like you cant ask for more from any mon. the specs set ploughs through anything that isnt a designated hard wall ( spdef clef , blissey ) , and its other sets can take advantage of those (band / hex ), cannot be stopped if you dont have a solid gameplan in the builder vs it ( people so desperate to get it out of the way you see the scarf astro (
D2TheW o7) just so that you can get it out of the way early game/
insane role compression as zera + tran check + good ground , offensive powerhouse with sd + scale shot , rocks , great speed tier. nothing new here
hot take , zera is an insane mon mainly because of its speed tier imo. the fact that it can toxic / blaze kick the supposed hard counters in grounds / bao and force progress that way is too valuable , outspeeding and threatening out the god pult is invaluable ( so that it doesnt just steamroll through you lmao ). doesnt hit as hard as youd like it too but between its speed + offensive things it checks it more than makes up for it.
people that slap on a lando and call it a day is zera food , knock + rocks chips lando to the point where it can take care of it. bulk up pops up occasionally and feasts on unsuspecting teams.
A+ Rank
absolute most polarizing mon in the builder imo, soft checks like corvi libra ferro get smashed if its specs (max spdef clef has a chance at getting 2ohkod by ice beam from full) , sub messes those balances , dd or metronome icicle spear gets rid of blissey and other things that are usually supposed to check it (barring scizor - will remain as the one true counter). absolute beast. not in S because it needs support in the builder as well imo , while the top 4 can be slapped on a team usually without thinking too much
certainly top 3 hardest things to check defensively. hate facing it but love using it. nothing really checks magma + toxic + ep , it has enough tricks up its sleeve so that it can do more than just be annoying , like heavy slam for cm clef , running flame body to burn the "free" uturn + fuck those baos who think they can come in safely , nature power on terrain teams , scarf / specs on sun and just truck through non immunities etc. overall nasty nasty mon to prep for in the builder and super reliable while using it on teams.
best pult answer / knock absorber / general glue while building , offers rocks , cm lo is a beast if you dont take care of it before it sets up -- only real hard answer is slam heatran / haze pex if its fire>electric move ( see g2 of shsp vs bink). super reliable.
very underappreciated , very good , band really cannot be stopped with future sight / doom desire/ knock support defensively , dont really think the lefties toxic set is anywhere as good as band but it can also break some fat teams. amazing speed tier so it can choose to run ada / jolly depending on team to team needs
best bird by far my god. fog + uturn + actually good steel is very nice , slow pivot , bulk up fucks u if u arent prepared , very very solid softcheck to a lot of mons in the tier , doesnt get crippled by toxic , body press + id is good vs ho. sorta versatile super good.
nothing new , defensive lando is not passive due to high base attack + toxic / uturn / knock , can defog / rocks , very solid ground type , good scarfer ( though i think thats bad because of the helmets and its tendency to want to uturn most of the time). overall super solid super versatile super good , nothing new to add that isnt known.
speed tier + terrain + uturn/ volt -- super good pivot on any team that lacks speed. agree it doesnt hit as hard as youd like a breaker too , agree its super stone walled by grounds ( barring chomp ) , but it can just uturn out and bring in another teammate. i said it earlier but again , insane speed tier , good torn t check so it finds its times to come in , terrain is super good for lucha / other electric users. also the best screen setter on ho
A Rank
hot take , i find libra hard to fit on teams since its not a hard check to anything really , more of a good glue / softcheck to a lot of things , which i dont usually prefer , but doom desire + spin + being annoying in general has its own value so
i really like hydra. Good speed tier , good utility with its defog set ( non passive tran counter with recovery !!) , amazing np set that can beat fairies (usually , anything that doesnt outspeed with a bit of chip , +2 kills clef from full with flash cannon)
very nice glue mon on a lot of teams , soft pult check , soft tran check, spin + knock + toxic means it always gets something done when it gets in , strong enough to make sure its eq bites vs anything that tries to just play around it with pex / clef / whatever is not really supposed to check it , guts goes in vs non tomo/skarm teams , scarf also has its niche. always manages to get in and do its thing so plus points for that.
i hate the fish. its so good in what it wants to do , an electric that beats grounds , can volt / flip turn out of its defensive checks , immunity to hazards / status , can pull off physical sets to fuck over unsuspecting spdef clef / bliss. I hate facing it with a genuine passion , pivot immune to passive damage is stupid.
monke. its ridiculously strong , cant do monke things until its designated defensive check is out of the way / cripped heavily but oh boi once thats done theres no stopping this man. Best source of priority in the tier , terrain is amazing for teammates , uturn offers momentum , knock offers progress. its a fucking unit.
helmet + spin / rocks + intimidate or prankster haze are demons vs offense. can check most physical attackers and always force progress , hits surprisingly hard with hurricane / aura sphere , struggles if it gets toxicd since its forced to click roost more often ( no lefties recover so passive damage is not mitigated for ) also struggles vs future sight but thats the story for lots of physically bulky mons so /shrug.
blissey gang rise up (
Rabia yes). nothing new here. just think its super good and it offers more than sitting on special attackers (like tport into infiltrator pult to beat kyu for example)
anyone who knows me knows that i dont rate zapdos very highly. i dont like how its so so weak to status / knock , i think its good but not op op as most others think it is. that said its a very good electric ( static is super good ) , best answer to cawm ( without needing to stray away from its usual role) , 3 attacks with spa investment is unwallable without a bliss so thats there , very good mon but not S imo
super super good breaker , very unwallable if helmets are knocked , uturns out in unfavourable mu's , good speed tier , great vs ho because of signature move, has options in the fourth move like jet for volc , pjab for bao , tpunch for pex etc etc. super good breaker and yields great reward if played with momentum in your favour
the definition of glue. regen + knock + uturn is stupid good , toxic is under appreciated , best defogger by far , np sets fuck up balances who rely on torn not being offensive lol , can always sponge a hit and be a good "midground" switch in at good health. super good mon.
really love lele since nothing really can wall it barring scizor ( even it gets messed up if it takes a focus blast , does it stay in and risk dying or switch out and die to future psychics / moonblast? ) , amazing breaker , psyshock invalidates blissey , secondary options in cm is good vs fatter teams where locking into a move is annoying , niche scarfer , terrain helps teammates ( lucha / zam ) , benefits on teams that rely on pivots + breakers.
i think we did a great job of making a balanced cap that is great but not op. super super versatile , hard to stop once it gets going (Trait of any good setup sweeper) , and super interesting one of a kind role that we have not had in the meta ever. great natural bulk allows it to be annoying to beat offensively , cm + taunt + good coverage allows it to be annoying offensively , knock + taunt + status allows it to go full support. best possible speed tier for this mon so it can outrun some nice benchmarks like kyu / lele / bao / hydra with max speed while still underspeeding chomp. can go higher once its played with more but def amazing mon. Darks are usually good as well as there arent that many viable darks that offer anything defensively ( even if its one time )
A- Rank
Best spiker in the tier imo , unaware is what makes it solidify its own place , helps a team not fall apart vs setup sweepers , knock + circle throw + spikes is generally annoying
good ol' reliable pex , haze + regen + knock is way too good to pass up on those teams that rely on outlasting the oppo , scald burns fucking suck for the oppo , yea nothing knew , just think its forgotten rn
again hot take , i think slowking is way too overhyped lmao , between knock + toxic + hazards + generally punishing the obvious port , it isnt as good as its made out to be imo , but there are teams where breaker + future sight will genuinely be an insta win so it has its strong points ig. also lmao it loses to tran if it comes in on magma , thats so stupid and its annoying how people slap on a slowking and call it a day vs tran
best scarfer in the tier imo , good defensive utility in stone walling zera , hits all steels barring corv / sciz (which are independantly easily pressured by rocks / knock so can be played around). Solid mon that can be slapped on as a glue + it offers hwish support ( god knows who uses it tbh lmao but its still a very solid option )
the mu moth himself. it is so much better that people account for especially since tran usually cant handle the whole defensive backbone of a team itself , safeguard messes those teams that slap on a bliss and call it a day , 3 attacks fucks pex / argh that allow it to setup more , roost makes it a good softcheck to kyu , has the rilla syndrome of ploughing through teams once its checks are gone ( thats the story for any offensive mon really but these 2 are standout examples ) but listed lower since it doesnt offer as much support to teammates.
great scarfer , good defensive mon , great support with trick + knock + defog , solid mon nothing new to add here. cm can break unprepared teams as we know
lucha good on ho. fourth move is super customisable as per required which i like. Taunt so that zap doesnt heal ( for cawm later ) or for teams that rely on toxic lando / chomp , sub for pex ( scald doesnt break with a bit of investment ) , pjab for koko and fairies , edge for zapdos and foul play mandi ( if you prefer immediate damage ). good enough to mandate its spot on any terrain ho team.
:mandi: best defensive dark type in the game , very handy utility in knock + uturn + fog , can run either of taunt / toxic / foul play as per team's requirements. not the greatest ground immunity since its also crippled by toxic but its still the best pult answer not named bliss / clef.
B+ Rank
ground that also stops kril / one of the few mons that can reliably check nidoking / chromera defensively
im mainly a fan of dd dnite, it can plough through so many common balances , multiscale helps u get a hit off on a breaker vs ho , natural coverage helps it do whatever the fuck it wants. Defensive sits on those teams that relies on tran to break through fat but is very passive for my liking. Can outspeed the fastest mon in the game at +1 ( non scarfers) if it runs jolly so theres a lot of versatility there.
i was a lot higher on slowking until a month ago but not as much now because teleport on the slowtwins is usually not worth passing up. that said its a good sponge and can be annoying if you cant out damage it with super effective moves / knock + special breakers so its still decently high. good coverage , setup is also semi viable and can mess up unsuspecting teams
great speed tier , hits hard to non resists , good offensive typing , pivots out of unfavourable mu's. weakness to spikes / prediction reliant prevents it from being higher but its super solid with support.
im a big melmetal fan. its very hard to wall if u consider both its band and ProTox sets. What i dont like about it and why it isnt higher in my eyes is because of the choice it makes in the builder it cannot for the life of it break through some defensive answers ( say ferro on ProTox sets) and its not a best steel defensively ( read : lele ). that being said band claims lives if u click the right move , on teams without corv / ferro / sciz ProTox goes ham from the get go so go melm
was torn between putting it here or in A-. Best lele / kyu answer in the game , knocks / pivots out , sudden wincon in sd , reliable melm answer ( needs 8 speed evs to outspeed 252 speed band melm ). the only bad part is its 4x fire weakness , requirement to keep roosting in order to do its job , and its vulnerability to helmet ( choice needs to be made usually between knock and bp , both have their pros and cons ). that being said , no other mon does its job better.
good solid softcheck to a lot of mons by virtue of typing + regen , fs + port is always broke , ice beam can be slapped on for chomp , scald burns are annoying , always a solid mon and can do what its meant to reliably. not higher due to vulnerability to passive damage , and special bulk offering more in current meta in general. that being said there will be times definitely when youd want to be running it over king so its still good
this mon is UNRANKED. absolute travesty. best zera answer in the game , annoying with helmet + regen , lots of options in stun spore / foul play / clear smog / stomping tantrum for last two slots , generally solid glue that should be used more. that being said its more likely a B rank but personal bias because personal vr /shrug
edit : just found out that its C , still sad
ground with healing + rocks gives its own unique role. Sand chip is always good , spdef is an underrated pult answer , can run rock slide/toxic / ww as per teams requirement. super good.
B Rank
Washtom is something ive picked up on more recently , i think its phenomenal in what it can do , volt into breakers , willo cripples anything it wants ( status for hex pult vs clef for example - so nothing barring fire types are really safe ) , useful ground immune, reliable tran answer that isnt completely sat on otherwise. suffers from 4mss and wants to run pain split to keep itself healthy and defog because it gets chances to fog a lot (you can argue for willo as well but i think thats mandatory)
im super high on skarm , it improves your mu vs ho so drastically it aint funny , spikes + stone walling any physical attacker is always fun.
band hits unsuspectingly hard , can knock helmets so it doesnt take chip , little can stop it after an sd (barring designated hard walls like buzz / argh ) , boots allows it to come in often and be annoying , lowkick / shard helps it not be one dimensional in what it wants to do. Great speed tier / offensive typing
astro is good but not as much as people hype up to be because of its 4mss. knock / wish being gone hurt it real bad ( yeah that set was demonic thank god) ,but spikes + fire lash is always good , FAST encore is very very good , on odd teams twave/heal bell is also invaluable, pls dont ever run defog on this mon it will never have a turn where fog is the better move to click. also niche screens setter/hwish user so thats there
i think this mon is slept on sadly , since defensively there is 0 reasons youd run it over libra , and it needs a bit of support on sand ( + sand is not that popular so) Still think its good in crippling its defensive answers in spin + toxic ( + gravity :eyes:) so
insane coverage + breaking potential if played right. even plows past blissey with superpower. suffers from 4mss but not really since you want nidoking to break , not sweep. Picks a kill each time if not prepped for with proper defensive checks or constant offensive counterplay.
THE CLOWN , its unranked , i cry everyday. hits like a nuke , walls blissey with taunt , and i genuinely like using it. cons are is that it needs help to clean , weak to hazards if its specs + has to lock into correct move , doesnt hit as hard with boots so yea
tang is great because of regen + helmet + knock. Super solid physically defensive mon, good chomp answer , dies to a light wind on the special side so its not used more , but its still solid for what it wants to do
torpedo fish is good on rain , rain boosted liquidations + its coverage + flip turn still good
earlier this gen ttar was super sad. glad its finally decent now. it is the go to setter on sand teams , band hits like a truck ( with fs support especially ) super super versatile in coverage , just oldgen ttar things -pursuit, still a good softcheck to a lot of things
great on sun , good with boots in general due to good base stats + coverage. nothing much to add , super unexplored imo
very good on sun , run eq > ep to beat glowking with growth
zone is very one dimensional in what it likes to do but it does its job effectively. i wouldnt call it a good electric or a good steel by any standard but its still good , both smokozone and specs have their own use. Relevant enough to the point where youd consider running shed shell in order to not be trucked by rilla and other physical attackers.
B- Rank
cawm does cawm things , nothing new here , i think knock is a very good fourth move though , and something like ada can be explored as well since no one really goes into paj or kril immediately after it sets up a drum. bUt wHaT iF iTs CoUnTeRs LiKe PuLt gEt cHiPpEd -- no thats your responsibility in keeping it healthy , doesnt make it anymore broken.
power ranger needs more love. Similar to urshifu its unstoppable if played right with fs support , knocks its own helmets like weav , soft pult check , source of priority in sucker punch , makes opponent think twice before clicking fog. it isnt as good as aforementioned examples since its either not as fast / needs more support / stonewalled by common physical defensive mons. still think its super good if played right.
terrak hits hard and is fast. Sorta like shifu but isnt nearly as good because of its lack of uturn and not due to surging strikes being better than edge as stab. that being said with fs sight its busted, fourth move can be anything between megahorn / rock blast / toxic for slowking / sub kyu/ tomo + hippo. cons are that it needs to lock into a move and click correctly , and is hella forced out offensively so requires extensive support + careful gameplay. it doesnt deserve to be unranked though :eyes:
mamo has good offensive stabs but suffers from being too slow to be a great wallbreaker. that being said it still trucks a lot of teams since most physically defensive mons ( read : pex tomo argh ) dont really like taking a hit. Av is a good sponge on some teams ( similar to what av colo used to do in spectrier meta)
perks of using pert > gastro 1) can flip turn 2) sets rocks, cons are it lacks healing ( which is pretty bad) that being said there are some cases where it still is the superior choice , and if its relieved of its burden of setting up rocks , RestTalk is something that i really like since its a very solid midground and hits decently hard enough due to high base attack. 100% winrate :eyes:
its fallen out of favour due to to helmets being everywhere and pult and other fast offensive behemoths but its still good with zone support. Defensive kart is also a nice option since it bluffs on preview.
band hits like a monster , and can also uturn out from unfavourable mu's. cons are its not super fast and its super easy to force out offensively / wear down
i wasnt a big fan of moltres initially since its so so weak to knock but it has its mu's where its very annoying. it has its own role and its turns to come in (vs libra and such) and it troubles physically based offenses/ ho surprisingly with uturn + flame body + defog.
heehee flare blitz go boom boom
good screens setter on non koko offenses ( i dont rate eleki highly at all and taunt gives u much more). imo by virtue of typing and high base attack alone it can put in work with a band set ( + trick ) , theoretically best pult check due to typing :eyes:
C Rank
i really like buzzwole , very straightforward in what it checks and doesnt , stone walls anything that isnt flying / special attacking. Shrugs off physical monsters like weavile terrak like nobodies business
another mon that i picked up on recently , i like it coz it sponges kyu and is a good steel (Defensively) , and can support teammates with wish + body slam para + uturn + maybe future sight. Pressured by passive damage coz of wish being not insta heal which is why it finds itself so low on the list but its not as bad as people make it out to be
i think this bug has its times to shine , but its super hard to bring in without pivots due to its bad defensive typing / weakness to passive damage / poor bulk , but unless positioned well cant break through and be the "you cant switch around me" mon it wants to be. Still good its played well.
niche mon thats sometimes better than fini owing to not being misty surge ( for partners such as amoonguss -- telepathy fini has nothing over flip turn prim ) and yeah fishing for scald burns + flip turn is good in some cases over a defensive fini. also the super super niche whirlpool + perish trap can be good on teams that otherwise cant beat other niche sets like bu corv for example.
too passive defensively and too mu reliant offensively to be a more reliable pick rn
best kyu answer in the game bro , it also gets future sight what more can u ask come on ( credits to
Brambane )
hattie is cool since its the only real magic bouncer in the tier but it doesnt offer much defensively as a fairy. that being said on some teams it really shines with its trademark cm set that is hard to stop after 2 cms or so.
THE HORSE started as a meme pick but its genuinely funny and decent to use. natural bulk allows it to eat hits like magma from tran , cc / high horsepower in return , it can eat hits and do fine with RestTalk , the one thing it only really offers running over something like a kyu is not losing the 1v1 vs pult. meme pick mostly but it holds a special place in my heart
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1331533163-r9hte1ire1wdy16efbi8chq57mzpy3cpw
first time i ever peaked on ladder , in style nonetheless. close to my heart.
i think cyclohm is fun to use and can wall the things it wants to (best cawm answer in the game) but its frighteningly weak to status / knock + passive damage so i dont think its very good. Also its very one dimensional in what it offers to do so not worth it most of the time. sickeningly good vs ho though
sorta like slowking but is better in some things that only it can do , for example outspeeding cm fini and can haze , much more reliable heatran check, can be a bulky water that checks pult etc
D Rank
cruci bad , youre using it only because u want to , even the trick + cripple strat isnt worth it most of the time because its so obvious.
the dog is fun to use but is super reliant on lo to do anything , also poor bulk + no recovery so its super easy to wear down. deserves an honorary mention though.
Never fucking use rank
you let me down , friend.
post was super fun to make , to any non cap players reading this , cap rewards creative thinking much more than in ou , so if youre interested in checking out the tier try and participate in the upcoming pl , rubbing shoulders with good players will make you learn a lot ! peace o7
Venomicon
Ferrothorn
Urshifu-Rapid-Strike
Venomicon-Epilogue
Revenankh
Kommo-o
Tapu Bulu
Keldeo
Necturna
Mew
Naviathan
Ninetales-Alola
Pelipper
Thundurus-Therian
Voodoom
Syclant
Arctozolt
Reuniclus
Aurumoth
Azumarill
Crawdaunt
Zarude
Snaelstrom
Celesteela
Mandibuzz
Rhyperior
Chansey
Volkraken
Latios
Latias
Suicune
Volcanion
Moltres-Galar
Blaziken
Necrozma
Nihilego
Regieleki
Rotom-Heat
Shedinja
Torkoal
Dracozolt
Z-Move legacy
Kitsunoh ++ This mon is like borderline B- for me. It has a lot of great stuff. Band Poltergeist is strong and fast. Trick is obviously useful. Band Shadow Sneak has good qualities against faster mons and problem sweepers like Draga and Nect and Band Meteor Mash obliterates Clef. Offensive and speedy Kerf check. The only reason this is in C and not B- is that it doesnt play nice with Knock Off users on the same squad so it is awkward to slot into teams.
Gyarados ++ I think its a tough HO mon to work around, and fits into the flying spam crew
Fidgit ++ perfectly decent mon for what it does
Plasmanta ++ Idk if this deserved to be unranked. It still does basically everything it previously did. It just doesnt like Garchomp
Smokomodo ++ It feels usable. There are some teams which really dislike its coverage
Pyroak ++ jk
