Resource Crown Tundra SS Ubers Viability Rankings

I'll be quick because there's no other way I'll be done in less than 2 days. In my review I will propose rises: Genesect, Reshiram, Naganadel, Kyurem-W, Cinderace, Ho-Oh, Weavile, Darmanitan-G, Lunala. I will also be proposing a drop: Kyurem-B.

I was planning to cover more stuff but I ran out of time. But generally, I just wanna say that Xern, Kyogre and Groudon should be considered for a raise, and Calyrex-S for a drop.



Genesect (A.K.A. “The G.O.A.T.” A.K.A. “Best SS Scarfer”)



Genesect is, simply put, INCREDIBLE. Important to note is when one builds a Genesect team, they just build with the idea of having a Genesect on the team and as such teammates are chosen and adapted to it's presence on a team (similar to building with yen). In essence, what makes Genesect so incredible is that it's a back up check to most offensive threats in the metagame, the ease with which it switches into weaker attacks and pivots around accordingly (generates momentum, increases reward of offensive play) and amazingly leads (except vs suicide leads and faster scarfers).


Genesect can also adapt its set to the team, but in most cases it performs best with the moveset of U-turn / Iron Head / Ice Beam / Espeed and with the choice scarf item. The last slot can also be changed to Magic Coat, Thunder Wave or Explosion for more utility, but the lack of a priority move is often felt (or maybe that's just me wanting to run priority on everything). The scarf set is uniquely the best offensive check to a lot of pokemon that usually lack (hard punishable) offensive counter play like choice scarf Darmanitan-G that would usually only get threatened out by scarf Caly-S which can't at all safely switch into it nor punish Yveltal switching in hard immedietaly apart from Trick (which means it can no longer check Darmanitan). A lot of these pokemon that usually can't easily ohko Genesect are crippled by it, which is a rare utility. Pokemon like Pheromosa, scarf Darm-G, scarf Kyogre and scarf Xerneas, which usually require defensive answers because they outspeed and threaten your offensive pokemon.


Genesect can run all three choice items very successfully. Choice band's main selling point are it's absurdly strong U-turns and Extreme Speeds. With jolly and an attack boost it gets to 762 atk just for switching in, and that's just jolly too! With adamant it reaches an absurd 837 attack without set up! Naturally, STAB 837 attack U-turns really sting so even a weaker move like Extreme Speed does well over 50% to anything that gives it an attack boost. Choice specs Genesect is very unexplored but also very strong. It doesn't even need a modest nature for a weak attack like flamethrower to easily 2hko NDM switching in on expected weaker U-turn (presumably it gets the spa boost on something like Zygarde or Xerneas). Eternatus takes over 70% from it's +1 Ice Beam, so it's a good check if it's at good health and not statused which is rarely the case, especially if it already previously switched into its U-turns.


Genesect can run a lot of different sets but it generally likes to have a good defensive backbone to rely on. Furthermore almost all defensive cores that decide on Genesect are improved because you can choose to deal with the opponents offensive threats either defensively or offensively.


Genesects weaknesses are susceptability to Marshadow, and inability to make progress by itself. As such Genesect is purely a team player as a scarfer. Genesect prevents losing momentum and that's why it's worth using. Of course a team needs to be built with it in mind, so it's not that slappable, but it's consistent and effective.


Genesect is a support pokemon that ensures that you have momentum on your side. It is also incredible for forcing chip damage and forcing switches. It’s the best way to force chip on crucial defensive pokemon like NDM, Kyogre and Yveltal. In this vane it crates win-win scenario for the user, if the opponent stays in you get your chip, if they switch you get initative. Nothing else in the Ubers tier can do that as effectively and consistently as Genesect can. All the other things I said are just added bonuses, compared to how useful and crucial this aspect of Genesect is. On a lot of other pokemon I covered I also wrote for which could obviously benefit hugely from partnering with Genesect.


Genesect is more than just viable, it's incredible. Choice Band makes Darmanitan-G and Zacian-C look like UU pokemon and Choice Specs leaves Kyogre behind in the dust with its incredible movepool, power, coverage, typing and U-turn. And as such I am proposing it to be raised up to B at least. If it is my honest opinion in question, I would put it right above Ferrothorn at the top of the A tier. The only reason as to why I’m not nominating it higher is because I’m trying to be reasonable (you’re welcome), because it enforces a different team style to be effective (in the sense that the team needs to be built with it in mind) and because it is often a liability in the midgame, when most its checks are still at high health.



Reshiram (“A.K.A. Big White Chicken?”)



Firstly, I would like to clarify, RESHIRAM IS NOT A CHICKEN!!! Now that that’s out of the way I can start.


Reshirams biggest weakness is that it doesn’t contribute to its team’s defensive integrity. So when you are aiming to switch into your opponent’s attacks you will almost always be using your other pokemon for that purpose. Stealth Rock and other hazards can be annoying but losing 25% and getting a kill for it is well worth it (obviously). Another important thing is that it requires good prediction, conditioning and understanding of the risk reward when attacking.


Now that we cleared Reshiram’s weaknesses, we can move on to why it’s worth using. Reshiram is an unmatched wallbreaker as it can ohko or 2hko the entire Ubers metagame. Of course, Groudon’s sun support is appreciated, but it doesn’t need sun to do work. The only truly safe pokemon vs it are Diancie and Lunala. Diancie avoids being 2hkod even in sun, but one round of rocks and it’s in trouble. Naturally it threatens Reshiram with Diamond Storm, but it’s only niche on stall teams, and it’s outclassed by Tyranitar most often. Lunala can almost avoid being 2hkod in sun, but it’s the closest thing to a counter, (other than something like specially defensive Kyogre). These two were the only sustainable Reshiram switch ins that don’t simply die in two hits. Pokemon that can tank 1 hit from Reshiram consist of Ho-Oh, Blissey, Kyogre and Tyranitar. That’s it. Reshiram of course has coverage for all of them, in Body Press and a rock move for Ho-Oh. And regarding everything else, they just die in one shot.


Reshiram can also use moves like Roost for prolonged terror, Flame Charge to beat Lunala and potentially sweep as well as Rock Slide over Stone Edge to improve consistency. I would suggest against a naive nature on Reshiram because it takes away from the option of being able to stay in on Eternatus or Calyrex-S and OHKO them for the greater benefit of the team.


Reshiram can also use Choice Scarf and Heavy Duty Boots. Choice Scarf is very team specific but very rewarding. Choice Scarf is incredible for its ability to newly outspeed and OHKO or 2HKO pokemon that could previously try and force it out. Even with a Choice Scarf, Reshiram still hits very hard and its typing is also of great value. On this set I would suggest running Shadow Ball for the OHKO on Calyrex-S because it only really needs Blue Flare and Draco Meteor, so it can easily afford it. On Choice Scarf Reshiram sun support is the least needed. HDB on the other hand lacks the OHKO potential of LO but makes up for it by allowing yourself to trade rocks with the opponent without suffering a disadvantage. On HDB I would suggest using Roost to further enhance its performance in this function.


Reshiram is the boss, but is only really useful offensively apart from taking a Moonblast from defensive Xerneas or similar. That’s why it needs its team to heavily invest in pokemon that can compress roles well and 1v1 a lot of stuff, like specially defensive Groudon and Ho-Oh. Reshiram teams can’t afford the passivity of yen teams unless it’s using a HDB set so it’s often hard to build with. Because of these issues I am nominating it to B- or C+.



Ho-Oh (that is a chicken)




Ho-Oh is, believe it or not, SOMEHOW EVEN BETTER THAN GENESECT. I know this sounds unbelievable, but I must admit that that was very hard to say, but it for sure is true!


Now that you have an idea of how good and easily slappable Ho-Oh is, I will explain why. Ho-Oh only really needs one set to be extremely effective, and that would be offensive HDB. This stupidly broken chicken 1v1s just about the entire tier, while gaining health with every switch! This frees up Ho-Oh from Roost and allows it to fit more moves onto its moveset that it couldn’t fit normally like dual stab and both Defog and Twave. Its very hard to switch into and it requires teams to use dedicated switch ins for it, that can still sometimes simply be overwhelmed by its efforts.


It also helps that the main rocker in the tier gets smoked by it, meaning it gets free opportunities to fire of its attack consistently. To boot Defog is incredibly easy to pull off. The only bad news is that Meteor Beam Eternatus exists and that it gets absolutely demolished by all variants of Kyogre.


With very few and evident weaknesses, the ability to 1v1 basically everything, heal by switching (which is simply broken) and spreading status easily Ho-Oh is just incredible. Something like Zygarde, Marshadow or even Yveltal couldn’t hope to provide so much utility to the team and still having an incredible damage output. That’s why I’m nominating it to S. Not sure exactly where, but not above Yveltal.



Kyurem-W



Kyurem-W is clearly unfit to be in D rank given its typing and stats. With 170 base spa, stab Ice Beam and Draco Meteor it tears open some of the most popular pokemon in the tier. Unlike Kyurem-B, it can actually punish NDM attempting to get a free switch with a powerful Fusion Flare. In this sense of a strong dragon type special attacker it is similar to Reshiram.


Unlike Reshiram, it actually has defensive utility. Specifically, the ability to take a hit from Kyogre as well as threaten it heavily with Freeze-Dry. Kyurem-W also has very respectable special bulk, allowing it to run an AV set that can survive a Meteor Beam from Eternatus or a +1 Dynamax Cannon. And since it can so easily manage the most threatening Eternatus variant that is dealing super effective damage to it, it can easily stave off all of Kyogre’s attacks.


As for offensive purposes, Kyurem-W’s Ice Beam and Fusion Flare combination separate it from something like Eternatus because Kyurem threatens to 2HKO NDM on the switch and either OHKO or 2HKO most other pokemon. It can be prediction reliant and it’s speed leaves something to be desired but as a Kyogre backbone it is often threatening.


The Assault Vest set mentioned earlier necessitates Groudon support to be able to 2HKO (specially defensive) NDM. This set struggles a bit more with NDM, but deals with Kyogre and Eternatus much better. It’s also nice when LO also isn’t digging into its HP.


Life Orb is probably the most consistent and easiest to fit on a team, because it can 2HKO NDM without sun support. Having a 30% boost also sometimes allows it to get some crucial OHKOs like on Calyrex-S with Draco Meteor, or non specially defensive Eternatus with Ice Beam. This set is very smooth playing and can be lead off pretty easily since it heavily threatens many pokemon, especially Groudon. Groudon specifically is an amazing lead match up because sun boosts its Fusion Flares, making it even easier to play around NDM. For its NDM weakening antics it’s a good pairing for Darm-G and Geomancy Xerneas.


Specs is probably the worst of the three so far because it doesn’t at all need the extra power, and the inability to switch moves really hurts. Specs sounds nice on paper but in practice, even if you predict right, the opponent can just switch accordingly after surviving your attack and heal later. Specs is often worth using and is very team specific in my opinion. If you do decide on specs however, you definitely need to use Earth Power over Fusion Flare to 2HKO NDM in rain.


HDB and Utility Umbrella deserve an honorary mention. These can more reliably check Kyogre than the other sets or Eternatus. It is much less passive than Eternatus in this role but it is most often still outclassed on most teams because of having higher speed and better defensive typing. I would suggest against Choice Scarf because it doesn’t have enough power to pose a threat without being able to switch moves or not having its moves powered up. That makes it both unrewarding and prediction reliant. It also losses a lot of momentum.


Because of these reasons I believe it possess many different viable and effective niches, therefore deserving of a higher rank. I am nominating it to C+ or B-. Don’t forget to be careful around hazards.



Naganadel (A.K.A. “Eternatus +”)




Naganadel is an underrated presence in the SS Ubers metagame. It is generally viewed as a lesser Eternatus (when, really, the opposite is the case). Naganadel is very hard to build with, but any team that can be made with it automatically possess some amazing qualities. Now you have an incredible way to punish NDM switch ins, specifically with Spikes.


Naganadel should be used with Eject Pack. Naganadel can spike on the switches it forces and it also helps that it can take a hit or two in a pinch, allowing it to set up more hazards. When it has already laid some spikes down, it’s time to use up the Eject Pack to force even more damage on whatever switches in as well as get a free switch to a teammate that can threaten its most common switch ins out.


When building a team with it (what, I need to warn you, is extremely difficult) you want to be able to punish its most common switch ins which include Yveltal, Ho-Oh and of course NDM. That’s why it enjoys the presence of teammates like Groudon (that can even power up its Fire Blasts to 2HKO NDM on the switch after a round or two of Spikes) as well as Pheromosa that can help lure Ho-Oh itself to freely get Groudon in and more importantly take out Yveltal trying to Defog. Pheromosa can also help in the weakening of NDM, and given that NDM is one of its best checks, it really appreciates it getting chipped by spikes.


Sludge Bomb is crucial to its functioning because that way it can threaten Defog attempts and proceed to lay down more Spikes. Beast Boost is also nice in endgame scenarios because it can get a speed boost from picking up a ko and deal damage to its next target that would normally outspeed it (crucially breaking Calyrex-S’ Focus Sash, etc.). A modest nature is also a viable option on Naganadel to get a spa boost after a ko as well as deal more damage in general. It doesn’t lose out on many pokemon so it is definitely a viable option.


Naganadel isn’t as viable as the pokemon I covered previously but it is definitely not deserving of the D rank. It has a solid niche in the metagame, even if its hard to fit. That’s why I am nominating it to C-.




Cinderace





Cinderace is a similar case to Naganadel in the sense that its niche isn’t all that incredible. But I think its niche is better than Naganadel’s because it is a lot less specialized and easy to fit on teams, it also has the ability to run more than one set viably and finally it is much more offensively threatening.


Cinderace actually isn’t that useful when it comes to hazard control, as it is more offensively minded. That job is better done by Ho-Oh given that Cinderace doesn’t have anything that can defensively set it apart from Ho-Oh in the hazard removal department. That’s why I would suggest against Court Change in most cases.


Firstly the Life Orb set. Life Orb means that Cinderace is going to be adapting a Bulk Up movest consisting of the moves Pyro Ball / Zen Headbutt / Bulk Up / Sucker Punch. Sucker Punch can be replaced by High Jump Kick or Gunk Shot, but those are generally a lot less useful than Sucker Punch. Pyro Ball and Zen Headbutt are givens because those two are crucial to its function. Pyro Ball provides a strong stab move (that won’t take half your health if you don’t hit a target unlike HJK) and provides a way to threaten NDM and Groudon with heavy damage. Zen Headbutt is a must because of the existence of Eternatus. If you were to go with any other moves, Eternatus (and Toxapex) would just wall you forever. Zen is also useful for hitting Ho-Oh for strong neutral damage.


Bulk Up being a fighting type move often pays off because Cinderace can set up safely on Yveltal which is of great value. Sucker Punch is simple, it is a strong stab attack that hits a lot of pokemon neutrally and also has priority, allowing it to pick off faster revenge killers that took damage like Marshadow, Meteor Beam Eternatus, basically all Choice Scarfers, Pheromosa, Calyrex-S and more.


HJK is a solid option that allows it to resist Yveltal’s attack if it survives Cinderace’s hit and deal strong neutral damage to common checks like Zygarde and Kyogre. Gunk Shot fulfills a similar purpose to HJK in the sense that it threatens Ho-Oh, Kyogre and Xerneas with heavy neutral damage. Be aware of the 80% accuracy.


Other viable sets are Choice Band and Choice Scarf. For both of these I would suggest Groudon support to power up Pyro Ball.


Choice Band hits really hard with sun support, but it doesn’t need sun to be effective. Although with sun it is capable of easily OHKOing Yveltal and dealing 90% to Groudon which is no small feat, and while it does have a few not so good match ups, like Kyogre, Zygarde and Ho-Oh, it has a way to deal strong damage to them or simply just U-turn to come back in later. For Choice Band I would suggest the moveset of Pyro Ball / HJK or Gunk Shot / Zen Headutt / U-turn. The moves’ reasoning remains the same as on the LO set. For the Choice Band set hazards are recommended as well as partnering with another physical attacking teammate to try and overwhelm defensive answeres like Zygarde and Toxapex together. I would suggest using Gunk over HJK for more greater consistency vs Ho-Oh.


Choice Scarf has greatly lower damage output but functions similar to Genesect. But if you’re wondering, why not just use Genesect then? I’ve gotta say, I like the way you think and because Genesect doesn’t have stab Pyro Ball in the sun and Court Change. On Choice Scarf Court Change is basically mandatory to provide the most utility for the team. It is also very useful in HO match ups because it can quite literally turn the tables against them (see what I did there?). It’s very good for most revenge killing purposes, especially if the sun is up.


Cinderace’s most viable set in my opinion is LO because if you get it in on a double switch, it can often result in getting multiple Bulk Up boosts and a KO. Choice Band struggles to force KOs effectively because Cinderace isn’t very strong by Ubers standards, even with CB and stab on all of its moves, so it doesn’t do the purpose of wallbreaking very effectively. To add to this it has 0 defensive utility, but at least it’s fast so it can KO the opponent before it gets KOd. Choice Scarf is mainly suited to very offensive teams that can make up for its even weaker moves. Teams that need a faster scarfer and are already using offensive Groudon.


Genesect of course proves to be a good partner for Cinderace, crucially luring in Ho-Oh to be abused by a teammate and forcing damage on Eternatus and Kyogre for Cinderace to pose a greater threat later in the game when it gets a chance to set up with Bulk Up. It isn’t that good of a partner with the CB variant because Cinderace already has 0 defensive utility, meaning that you have very little flexibility in the builder. That issue is more apparent with the CB variant because it will need to switch in multiple times in a battle to wallbreak, while the Bulk Up variant comes in once or twice on a double, gets a kill or two, and gets KOd itself. Of course, Scarf Cinderace is direct competition to Genesect so you aren’t going to use them together.


Overall Cinderace is a bit underwhelming, but even just considering its LO Bulk Up set, I’d say it’s deserving of the C- rank. I know I didn’t give it a showcase in tour, but in my defense, I didn’t have a team with it ready at the time.




Darmanitan-G




I love this mon. Leading and OHKOing something is always very fun. With a bit of prediction you’ll be getting KOs left and right with him. The best part is, it’s viable even on those boring yen teams!


This guy can only be rasied a tier because with its Choice Band set it has insane damage output, rivaling those of even Choice Band Genesect and Zacian-C! CB Darm leaves weaker physical attackers like Groudon and Marshadow in the dust as it proceeds to slowly beat your entire team all by itself. Having the same damage output as the rest of the team combined should speak to how crazy its damage output is.


Naturally, paring it with other strong attackers like the aforementioned Marshadow and Groudon is always nice because they can pair up for an intense combined assault. Not playing passively is recommended as to not let rocks go up which would otherwise limit your ability to make progress. With Darm-G you should put effort in preventing rocks from going up or getting rid of them, rather than going for your own if the opponent’s are already set up. They would most definitely hurt you more than them so simply don’t use them in these scenarios, or at all. Rocks extra damage really isn’t that important if you already have 800 atk.


Choice Scarf is also nice but team specific. It leads of better and appreciates sun support even more to be able to pressure NDM in the same way that CB could, and that is with an OHKO.


CB Darm loves being partnered up with Genesect, because it can weakens something that could take a hit from it or generates momentum for the team. Darm-G can even join in on the U-turn spam and pivot around its switch ins. Specifically, they partner up to easily overwhelm NDM and Kyogre without troublesome predictions.


Darm-G needs less explaining you already know what it does. I just think that it’s a very solid wallbreaker and that people tend to play it wrong with their passive yen teams. If played properly, I think it has a place in the A rank.




Weavile




Similar to Darm-G, unless you’re using boots, you should be focusing on relieving hazard pressure from your team as you are hurt by hazards more than your opponent is. Weavile also has another argument against standard yen procedure, and that is knock spam. Knock Off is already abused by at least Yveltal, and since they’re both likely to target the same pokemon with Knock Off (NDM, Kyogre, Ho-Oh), you should avoid using Knock Off, and if you’re not using Knock you might as well remove rocks from your NDM. I also think that on team that want to spam Knock, Throat Chop should be considered.


On teams that don’t have other Knock spammers, Weavile is much more threatening after an SD, especially if it’s using a Focus Sash to benefit from rocks’ absence (which is what you’re already trying to do if you’re not using rocks yourself), makes it a lot more threatening. It can often trade 2 or even 3 for 1 and punch a lot of holes in the opponents team.


Genesect, as you could have presumed, is an incredible partner, weakening stuff and letting them fall into +2 Weavile range. U-turns on pokemon such as Kyogre and NDM are useful because they can no longer stave Weavile off, and as such it is one step closer to sweeping, which couldn’t be possible without that crucial, usually hard to obtain chip damage.


I wouldn’t know much about CB or HDB moveset, but since you guys put it in A I’m presuming they’re not as good as Focus Sash without hazards. Because in my Stealth Rock-less experience, it was deserving of the A+ rank. I think the main problem, like with Darm-G, is that it isn’t optimally utilized.




Kyurem-B




This mon is garbage. It is super mega outclassed by every other offensive Ice type in the tier, I think even regular Kyurem has an argument over it thanks to Pressure, superior spa and Earth Power.


Don’t use him! It’s completely stonewalled by every steel type in the tier, it can’t even break Genesect reliably! And thanks to its low powered moves and trash coverage it can’t threaten much of anything. Not even the frailer attacker in the tier are seriously threatened by it. Marshadow and even Cinderace can use it as set up fodder, and those are not known by their bulk.


Kyurem-B’s only saving grace is the Fling DD moveset, which is actually really threatening because it can turn it’s perfect counter into an opportunity for mindgames. The problem with it is that Fling is one time use, making it very hard to make consistent use of it, and it’s not like it’s sweeping if it gets you with Fling, there’s still a lot that can take at least one hit or outspeed it or something. If NDM is out of the picture, this guy looks like a god because between its stabs and fusion bolt, it threatens a clean sweep as soon as it gets going. A problem is also presented by Ferrothorn.


In conclusion, Kyurem-B is garbage, other than that Fling moveset if you get multiple predictions right. The real problem of Kyurem-B is inconsistency and reliance on Fling, which is very unreliable. As such I don’t deny it has a niche, it’s just that the niche isn’t enough to make it a tournament worthy choice in my eyes. That’s why I’m nominating it to D.



Lunala




Lunala is a Defogger with no real counters other than Blissey and Tyranitar which are relegated to stall (or weirdos). It has many ways to punish its only good switch, Yveltal. That can be trough Ice Beam, Moonblast and status (most commonly Will-O-Wisp).


There are four main Lunala sets and those would be defensive Defog, Offensive Defog, Scarf and Specs. The Defensive Defogger is already generally acknowledged so I won’t talk about it. Rather, I’ll move your attention to my sets (or at least I didn’t see anyone else use them seriously).


Offensive Defogger Lunala is very splashable on any teams in need of a Defogger that can check common ground types and help exert offensive pressure through its ghost stab and Ice Beam coverage. It’s a natural fit on offensive teams that don’t want to stack Kyogre-weaks and as such don’t want to use Ho-Oh for Defogging purposes. Lunala is an incredible alternative that can help make progress through forcing switches and Yveltal to Roost. One of the easiest ways to exploit it is to pray on it losing momentum.


Because of its incredible role compression, this set enjoys a pairing with Genesect. It doesn’t get too many direct advantages to itself by being paired with Genesect, other making it easier to dance around opposing Eternatus, Zekrom and Groudon, but it and Genesect can help support the same pokemon and Genesect can insure that momentum is on your side, even if something like Lunala slows you down.


The moveset for both Scarf and Specs Lunala is: Moongeist Beam / Psyshock / Moonblast / Trick.


Scarf Lunala is a more team specific set. It is a unique scarfer because of its massive bulk even with no investment. The ability to always be able to take at least one hit from anything is also useful. It also hugely helps out vs Eternatus. It can sometimes enjoy a double scarf pairing with Genesect.


Specs Lunala is super strong as it newly 2HKOs even specially defensive Yveltal variants with Moonblast. It can wallbreak very effectively and it’s definitely no slouch in the hit taking department. Its stab and coverage is actually really good now that it’s boosted by Choice Specs, now it can blast trough neutral targets like Kyogre, Ho-Oh and Blissey with ease. This set is definitely very worthwhile and I would suggest trying it out.


Lunala is very effective even with just it’s standard set. It stonewalls pokemon that would usually be the best stallbreakers in the game with ease. Its Offensive sets are as effective because of its decent base stats, good stab and amazing coverage. Lunala is deserving of the top of A- or bottom A rank in my opinion.
 
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I'll be quick because there's no other way I'll be done in less than 2 days. In my review I will propose rises: Genesect, Reshiram, Naganadel, Kyurem-W, Cinderace, Ho-Oh, Weavile, Darmanitan-G, Lunala. I will also be proposing a drop: Kyurem-B.



I was planning to cover more stuff but I ran out of time. But generally, I just wanna say that Xern, Kyogre and Groudon should be considered for a raise, and Calyrex-S for a drop.





Genesect (A.K.A. “The G.O.A.T.” A.K.A. “Best SS Scarfer”)





Genesect is, simply put, INCREDIBLE. Important to note is when one builds a Genesect team, they just build with the idea of having a Genesect on the team and as such teammates are chosen and adapted to it's presence on a team (similar to building with yen). In essence, what makes Genesect so incredible is that it's a back up check to most offensive threats in the metagame, the ease with which it switches into weaker attacks and pivots around accordingly (generates momentum, increases reward of offensive play) and amazingly leads (except vs suicide leads and faster scarfers).



Genesect can also adapt its set to the team, but in most cases it performs best with the moveset of U-turn / Iron Head / Ice Beam / Espeed and with the choice scarf item. The last slot can also be changed to Magic Coat, Thunder Wave or Explosion for more utility, but the lack of a priority move is often felt (or maybe that's just me wanting to run priority on everything). The scarf set is uniquely the best offensive check to a lot of pokemon that usually lack (hard punishable) offensive counter play like choice scarf Darmanitan-G that would usually only get threatened out by scarf Caly-S which can't at all safely switch into it nor punish Yveltal switching in hard immedietaly apart from Trick (which means it can no longer check Darmanitan). A lot of these pokemon that usually can't easily ohko Genesect are crippled by it, which is a rare utility. Pokemon like Pheromosa, scarf Darm-G, scarf Kyogre and scarf Xerneas, which usually require defensive answers because they outspeed and threaten your offensive pokemon.



Genesect can run all three choice items very successfully. Choice band's main selling point are it's absurdly strong U-turns and Extreme Speeds. With jolly and an attack boost it gets to 762 atk just for switching in, and that's just jolly too! With adamant it reaches an absurd 837 attack without set up! Naturally, STAB 837 attack U-turns really sting so even a weaker move like Extreme Speed does well over 50% to anything that gives it an attack boost. Choice specs Genesect is very unexplored but also very strong. It doesn't even need a modest nature for a weak attack like flamethrower to easily 2hko NDM switching in on expected weaker U-turn (presumably it gets the spa boost on something like Zygarde or Xerneas). Eternatus takes over 70% from it's +1 Ice Beam, so it's a good check if it's at good health and not statused which is rarely the case, especially if it already previously switched into its U-turns.



Genesect can run a lot of different sets but it generally likes to have a good defensive backbone to rely on. Furthermore almost all defensive cores that decide on Genesect are improved because you can choose to deal with the opponents offensive threats either defensively or offensively.



Genesects weaknesses are susceptability to Marshadow, and inability to make progress by itself. As such Genesect is purely a team player as a scarfer. Genesect prevents losing momentum and that's why it's worth using. Of course a team needs to be built with it in mind, so it's not that slappable, but it's consistent and effective.



Genesect is a support pokemon that ensures that you have momentum on your side. It is also incredible for forcing chip damage and forcing switches. It’s the best way to force chip on crucial defensive pokemon like NDM, Kyogre and Yveltal. In this vane it crates win-win scenario for the user, if the opponent stays in you get your chip, if they switch you get initative. Nothing else in the Ubers tier can do that as effectively and consistently as Genesect can. All the other things I said are just added bonuses, compared to how useful and crucial this aspect of Genesect is. On a lot of other pokemon I covered I also wrote for which could obviously benefit hugely from partnering with Genesect.



Genesect is more than just viable, it's incredible. Choice Band makes Darmanitan-G and Zacian-C look like UU pokemon and Choice Specs leaves Kyogre behind in the dust with its incredible movepool, power, coverage, typing and U-turn. And as such I am proposing it to be raised up to B at least. If it is my honest opinion in question, I would put it right above Ferrothorn at the top of the A tier. The only reason as to why I’m not nominating it higher is because I’m trying to be reasonable (you’re welcome), because it enforces a different team style to be effective (in the sense that the team needs to be built with it in mind) and because it is often a liability in the midgame, when most its checks are still at high health. If you’re reading LBN, you suck J.





Reshiram (“A.K.A. Big White Chicken?”)





Firstly, I would like to clarify, RESHIRAM IS NOT A CHICKEN!!! Now that that’s out of the way I can start.



Reshirams biggest weakness is that it doesn’t contribute to its team’s defensive integrity. So when you are aiming to switch into your opponent’s attacks you will almost always be using your other pokemon for that purpose. Stealth Rock and other hazards can be annoying but losing 25% and getting a kill for it is well worth it (obviously). Another important thing is that it requires good prediction, conditioning and understanding of the risk reward when attacking.



Now that we cleared Reshiram’s weaknesses, we can move on to why it’s worth using. Reshiram is an unmatched wallbreaker as it can ohko or 2hko the entire Ubers metagame. Of course, Groudon’s sun support is appreciated, but it doesn’t need sun to do work. The only truly safe pokemon vs it are Diancie and Lunala. Diancie avoids being 2hkod even in sun, but one round of rocks and it’s in trouble. Naturally it threatens Reshiram with Diamond Storm, but it’s only niche on stall teams, and it’s outclassed by Tyranitar most often. Lunala can almost avoid being 2hkod in sun, but it’s the closest thing to a counter, (other than something like specially defensive Kyogre). These two were the only sustainable Reshiram switch ins that don’t simply die in two hits. Pokemon that can tank 1 hit from Reshiram consist of Ho-Oh, Blissey, Kyogre and Tyranitar. That’s it. Reshiram of course has coverage for all of them, in Body Press and a rock move for Ho-Oh. And regarding everything else, they just die in one shot.



Reshiram can also use moves like Roost for prolonged terror, Flame Charge to beat Lunala and potentially sweep as well as Rock Slide over Stone Edge to improve consistency. I would suggest against a naive nature on Reshiram because it takes away from the option of being able to stay in on Eternatus or Calyrex-S and OHKO them for the greater benefit of the team.



Reshiram can also use Choice Scarf and Heavy Duty Boots. Choice Scarf is very team specific but very rewarding. Choice Scarf is incredible for its ability to newly outspeed and OHKO or 2HKO pokemon that could previously try and force it out. Even with a Choice Scarf, Reshiram still hits very hard and its typing is also of great value. On this set I would suggest running Shadow Ball for the OHKO on Calyrex-S because it only really needs Blue Flare and Draco Meteor, so it can easily afford it. On Choice Scarf Reshiram sun support is the least needed. HDB on the other hand lacks the OHKO potential of LO but makes up for it by allowing yourself to trade rocks with the opponent without suffering a disadvantage. On HDB I would suggest using Roost to further enhance its performance in this function.



Reshiram is the boss, but is only really useful offensively apart from taking a Moonblast from defensive Xerneas or similar. That’s why it needs its team to heavily invest in pokemon that can compress roles well and 1v1 a lot of stuff, like specially defensive Groudon and Ho-Oh. Reshiram teams can’t afford the passivity of yen teams unless it’s using a HDB set so it’s often hard to build with. Because of these issues I am nominating it to B- or C+.





Ho-Oh (that is a chicken)



Ho-Oh is, believe it or not, SOMEHOW EVEN BETTER THAN GENESECT. I know this sounds unbelievable, but I must admit that that was very hard to say, but it for sure is true!



Now that you have an idea of how good and easily slappable Ho-Oh is, I will explain why. Ho-Oh only really needs one set to be extremely effective, and that would be offensive HDB. This stupidly broken chicken 1v1s just about the entire tier, while gaining health with every switch! This frees up Ho-Oh from Roost and allows it to fit more moves onto its moveset that it couldn’t fit normally like dual stab and both Defog and Twave. Its very hard to switch into and it requires teams to use dedicated switch ins for it, that can still sometimes simply be overwhelmed by its efforts.



It also helps that the main rocker in the tier gets smoked by it, meaning it gets free opportunities to fire of its attack consistently. To boot Defog is incredibly easy to pull off. The only bad news is that Meteor Beam Eternatus exists and that it gets absolutely demolished by all variants of Kyogre.



With very few and evident weaknesses, the ability to 1v1 basically everything, heal by switching (which is simply broken) and spreading status easily Ho-Oh is just incredible. Something like Zygarde, Marshadow or even Yveltal couldn’t hope to provide so much utility to the team and still having an incredible damage output. That’s why I’m nominating it to S. Not sure exactly where, but not above Yveltal.





Kyurem-W






Kyurem-W is clearly unfit to be in D rank given its typing and stats. With 170 base spa, stab Ice Beam and Draco Meteor it tears open some of the most popular pokemon in the tier. Unlike Kyurem-B, it can actually punish NDM attempting to get a free switch with a powerful Fusion Flare. In this sense of a strong dragon type special attacker it is similar to Reshiram.



Unlike Reshiram, it actually has defensive utility. Specifically, the ability to take a hit from Kyogre as well as threaten it heavily with Freeze-Dry. Kyurem-W also has very respectable special bulk, allowing it to run an AV set that can survive a Meteor Beam from Eternatus or a +1 Dynamax Cannon. And since it can so easily manage the most threatening Eternatus variant that is dealing super effective damage to it, it can easily stave off all of Kyogre’s attacks.

As for offensive purposes, Kyurem-W’s Ice Beam and Fusion Flare combination separate it from something like Eternatus because Kyurem threatens to 2HKO NDM on the switch and either OHKO or 2HKO most other pokemon. It can be prediction reliant and it’s speed leaves something to be desired but as a Kyogre backbone it is often threatening.



The Assault Vest set mentioned earlier necessitates Groudon support to be able to 2HKO (specially defensive) NDM. This set struggles a bit more with NDM, but deals with Kyogre and Eternatus much better. It’s also nice when LO also isn’t digging into its HP.



Life Orb is probably the most consistent and easiest to fit on a team, because it can 2HKO NDM without sun support. Having a 30% boost also sometimes allows it to get some crucial OHKOs like on Calyrex-S with Draco Meteor, or specially defensive Eternatus with Ice Beam. This set is very smooth playing and can be lead off pretty easily since it heavily threatens many pokemon, especially Groudon. Groudon specifically is an amazing lead match up because sun boosts its Fusion Flares, making it even easier to play around NDM. For its NDM weakening antics it’s a good pairing for Darm-G and Geomancy Xerneas.



Specs is probably the worst of the three so far because it doesn’t at all need the extra power, and the inability to switch moves really hurts. Specs sounds nice on paper but in practice, even if you predict right, the opponent can just switch accordingly after surviving your attack and heal later. Specs is often worth using and is very team specific in my opinion. If you do decide on specs however, you definitely need to use Earth Power over Fusion Flare to 2HKO NDM in rain.



HDB and Utility Umbrella deserve an honorary mention. These can more reliably check Kyogre than the other sets or Eternatus. It is much less passive than Eternatus in this role but it is most often still outclassed on most teams because of having higher speed and better defensive typing. I would suggest against Choice Scarf because it doesn’t have enough power to pose a threat without being able to switch moves or not having its moves powered up. That makes it both unrewarding and prediction reliant. It also losses a lot of momentum.



Because of these reasons I believe it possess many different viable and effective niches, therefore deserving of a higher rank. I am nominating it to C+ or B-. Don’t forget to be careful around hazards.





Naganadel (A.K.A. “Eternatus +”)



Naganadel is an underrated presence in the SS Ubers metagame. It is generally viewed as a lesser Eternatus (when, really, the opposite is the case). Naganadel is very hard to build with, but any team that can be made with it automatically possess some amazing qualities. Now you have an incredible way to punish NDM switch ins, specifically with Spikes.



Naganadel should be used with Eject Pack. Naganadel can spike on the switches it forces and it also helps that it can take a hit or two in a pinch, allowing it to set up more hazards. When it has already laid some spikes down, it’s time to use up the Eject Pack to force even more damage on whatever switches in as well as get a free switch to a teammate that can threaten its most common switch ins out.



When building a team with it (what, I need to warn you, is extremely difficult) you want to be able to punish its most common switch ins which include Yveltal, Ho-Oh and of course NDM. That’s why it enjoys the presence of teammates like Groudon (that can even power up its Fire Blasts to 2HKO NDM on the switch after a round or two of Spikes) as well as Pheromosa that can help lure Ho-Oh itself to freely get Groudon in and more importantly take out Yveltal trying to Defog. Pheromosa can also help in the weakening of NDM, and given that NDM is one of its best checks, it really appreciates it getting chipped by spikes.



Sludge Bomb is crucial to its functioning because that way it can threaten Defog attempts and proceed to lay down more Spikes. Beast Boost is also nice in endgame scenarios because it can get a speed boost from picking up a ko and deal damage to its next target that would normally outspeed it (crucially breaking Calyrex-S’ Focus Sash, etc.). A modest nature is also a viable option on Naganadel to get a spa boost after a ko as well as deal more damage in general. It doesn’t lose out on many pokemon so it is definitely a viable option.



Naganadel isn’t as viable as the pokemon I covered previously but it is definitely not deserving of the D rank. It has a solid niche in the metagame, even if its hard to fit. That’s why I am nominating it to C-.





Cinderace





Cinderace is a similar case to Naganadel in the sense that its niche isn’t all that incredible. But I think its niche is better than Naganadel’s because it is a lot less specialized and easy to fit on teams, it also has the ability to run more than one set viably and finally it is much more offensively threatening.



Cinderace actually isn’t that useful when it comes to hazard control, as it is more offensively minded. That job is better done by Ho-Oh given that Cinderace doesn’t have anything that can defensively set it apart from Ho-Oh in the hazard removal department. That’s why I would suggest against Court Change in most cases.



Firstly the Life Orb set. Life Orb means that Cinderace is going to be adapting a Bulk Up movest consisting of the moves Pyro Ball / Zen Headbutt / Bulk Up / Sucker Punch. Sucker Punch can be replaced by High Jump Kick or Gunk Shot, but those are generally a lot less useful than Sucker Punch. Pyro Ball and Zen Headbutt are givens because those two are crucial to its function. Pyro Ball provides a strong stab move (that won’t take half your health if you don’t hit a target unlike HJK) and provides a way to threaten NDM and Groudon with heavy damage. Zen Headbutt is a must because of the existence of Eternatus. If you were to go with any other moves, Eternatus (and Toxapex) would just wall you forever. Zen is also useful for hitting Ho-Oh for strong neutral damage.



Bulk Up being a fighting type move often pays off because Cinderace can set up safely on Yveltal which is of great value. Sucker Punch is simple, it is a strong stab attack that hits a lot of pokemon neutrally and also has priority, allowing it to pick off faster revenge killers that took damage like Marshadow, Meteor Beam Eternatus, basically all Choice Scarfers, Pheromosa, Calyrex-S and more.



HJK is a solid option that allows it to resist Yveltal’s attack if it survives Cinderace’s hit and deal strong neutral damage to common checks like Zygarde and Kyogre. Gunk Shot fulfills a similar purpose to HJK in the sense that it threatens Ho-Oh, Kyogre and Xerneas with heavy neutral damage. Be aware of the 80% accuracy.



Other viable sets are Choice Band and Choice Scarf. For both of these I would suggest Groudon support to power up Pyro Ball.



Choice Band hits really hard with sun support, but it doesn’t need sun to be effective. Although with sun it is capable of easily OHKOing Yveltal and dealing 90% to Groudon which is no small feat, and while it does have a few not so good match ups, like Kyogre, Zygarde and Ho-Oh, it has a way to deal strong damage to them or simply just U-turn to come back in later. For Choice Band I would suggest the moveset of Pyro Ball / HJK or Gunk Shot / Zen Headutt / U-turn. The moves’ reasoning remains the same as on the LO set. For the Choice Band set hazards are recommended as well as partnering with another physical attacking teammate to try and overwhelm defensive answeres like Zygarde and Toxapex together. I would suggest using Gunk over HJK for more greater consistency vs Ho-Oh.



Choice Scarf has greatly lower damage output but functions similar to Genesect. But if you’re wondering, why not just use Genesect then? I’ve gotta say, I like the way you think and because Genesect doesn’t have stab Pyro Ball in the sun and Court Change. On Choice Scarf Court Change is basically mandatory to provide the most utility for the team. It is also very useful in HO match ups because it can quite literally turn the tables against them (see what I did there?). It’s very good for most revenge killing purposes, especially if the sun is up.



Cinderace’s most viable set in my opinion is LO because if you get it in on a double switch, it can often result in getting multiple Bulk Up boosts and a KO. Choice Band struggles to force KOs effectively because Cinderace isn’t very strong by Ubers standards, even with CB and stab on all of its moves, so it doesn’t do the purpose of wallbreaking very effectively. To add to this it has 0 defensive utility, but at least it’s fast so it can KO the opponent before it gets KOd. Choice Scarf is mainly suited to very offensive teams that can make up for its even weaker moves. Teams that need a faster scarfer and are already using offensive Groudon.



Genesect of course proves to be a good partner for Cinderace, crucially luring in Ho-Oh to be abused by a teammate and forcing damage on Eternatus and Kyogre for Cinderace to pose a greater threat later in the game when it gets a chance to set up with Bulk Up. It isn’t that good of a partner with the CB variant because Cinderace already has 0 defensive utility, meaning that you have very little flexibility in the builder. That issue is more apparent with the CB variant because it will need to switch in multiple times in a battle to wallbreak, while the Bulk Up variant comes in once or twice on a double, gets a kill or two, and gets KOd itself. Of course, Scarf Cinderace is direct competition to Genesect so you aren’t going to use them together.



Overall Cinderace is a bit underwhelming, but even just considering its LO Bulk Up set, I’d say it’s deserving of the C- rank. I know I didn’t give it a showcase in tour, but in my defense, I didn’t have a team with it ready at the time.





Darmanitan-G





I love this mon. Leading and OHKOing something is always very fun. With a bit of prediction you’ll be getting KOs left and right with him. The best part is, it’s viable even on those boring yen teams!



This guy can only be rasied a tier because with its Choice Band set it has insane damage output, rivaling those of even Choice Band Genesect and Zacian-C! CB Darm leaves weaker physical attackers like Groudon and Marshadow in the dust as it proceeds to slowly beat your entire team all by itself. Having the same damage output as the rest of the team combined should speak to how crazy its damage output is.



Naturally, paring it with other strong attackers like the aforementioned Marshadow and Groudon is always nice because they can pair up for an intense combined assault. Not playing passively is recommended as to not let rocks go up which would otherwise limit your ability to make progress. With Darm-G you should put effort in preventing rocks from going up or getting rid of them, rather than going for your own if the opponent’s are already set up. They would most definitely hurt you more than them so simply don’t use them in these scenarios, or at all. Rocks extra damage really isn’t that important if you already have 800 atk.



Choice Scarf is also nice but team specific. It leads of better and appreciates sun support even more to be able to pressure NDM in the same way that CB could, and that is with an OHKO.



CB Darm loves being partnered up with Genesect, because it can weakens something that could take a hit from it or generates momentum for the team. Darm-G can even join in on the U-turn spam and pivot around its switch ins. Specifically, they partner up to easily overwhelm NDM and Kyogre without troublesome predictions.



Darm-G needs less explaining you already know what it does. I just think that it’s a very solid wallbreaker and that people tend to play it wrong with their passive yen teams. If played properly, I think it has a place in the A rank.





Weavile





Similar to Darm-G, unless you’re using boots, you should be focusing on relieving hazard pressure from your team as you are hurt by hazards more than your opponent is. Weavile also has another argument against standard yen procedure, and that is knock spam. Knock Off is already abused by at least Yveltal, and since they’re both likely to target the same pokemon with Knock Off (NDM, Kyogre, Ho-Oh), you should avoid using Knock Off, and if you’re not using Knock you might as well remove rocks from your NDM. I also think that on team that want to spam Knock, Throat Chop should be considered.



On teams that don’t have other Knock spammers, Weavile is much more threatening after an SD, especially if it’s using a Focus Sash to benefit from rocks’ absence (which is what you’re already trying to do if you’re not using rocks yourself), makes it a lot more threatening. It can often trade 2 or even 3 for 1 and punch a lot of holes in the opponents team.



Genesect, as you could have presumed, is an incredible partner, weakening stuff and letting them fall into +2 Weavile range. U-turns on pokemon such as Kyogre and NDM are useful because they can no longer stave Weavile off, and as such it is one step closer to sweeping, which couldn’t be possible without that crucial, usually hard to obtain chip damage.



I wouldn’t know much about CB or HDB moveset, but since you guys put it in A I’m presuming they’re not as good as Focus Sash without hazards. Because in my Stealth Rock-less experience, it was deserving of the A+ rank. I think the main problem, like with Darm-G, is that it isn’t optimally utilized.







Kyurem-B





This mon is garbage. It is super mega outclassed by every other offensive Ice type in the tier, I think even regular Kyurem has an argument over it thanks to Pressure, superior spa and Earth Power.



Don’t use him! It’s completely stonewalled by every steel type in the tier, it can’t even break Genesect reliably! And thanks to its low powered moves and trash coverage it can’t threaten much of anything. Not even the frailer attacker in the tier are seriously threatened by it. Marshadow and even Cinderace can use it as set up fodder, and those are not known by their bulk.



Kyurem-B’s only saving grace is the Fling DD moveset, which is actually really threatening because it can turn it’s perfect counter into an opportunity for mindgames. The problem with it is that Fling is one time use, making it very hard to make consistent use of it, and it’s not like it’s sweeping if it gets you with Fling, there’s still a lot that can take at least one hit or outspeed it or something. If NDM is out of the picture, this guy looks like a god because between its stabs and fusion bolt, it threatens a clean sweep as soon as it gets going. A problem is also presented by Ferrothorn.



In conclusion, Kyurem-B is garbage, other than that Fling moveset if you get multiple predictions right. The real problem of Kyurem-B is inconsistency and reliance on Fling, which is very unreliable. As such I don’t deny it has a niche, it’s just that the niche isn’t enough to make it a tournament worthy choice in my eyes. That’s why I’m nominating it to D.



Lunala





Lunala is a Defogger with no real counters other than Blissey and Tyranitar which are relegated to stall (or weirdos). It has many ways to punish its only good switch, Yveltal. That can be trough Ice Beam, Moonblast and status (most commonly Will-O-Wisp).



There are four main Lunala sets and those would be defensive Defog, Offensive Defog, Scarf and Specs. The Defensive Defogger is already generally acknowledged so I won’t talk about it. Rather, I’ll move your attention to my sets (or at least I didn’t see anyone else use them seriously).



Offensive Defogger Lunala is very splashable on any teams in need of a Defogger that can check common ground types and help exert offensive pressure through its ghost stab and Ice Beam coverage. It’s a natural fit on offensive teams that don’t want to stack Kyogre-weaks and as such don’t want to use Ho-Oh for Defogging purposes. Lunala is an incredible alternative that can help make progress through forcing switches and Yveltal to Roost. One of the easiest ways to exploit it is to pray on it losing momentum.



Because of its incredible role compression, this set enjoys a pairing with Genesect. It doesn’t get too many direct advantages to itself by being paired with Genesect, other making it easier to dance around opposing Eternatus, Zekrom and Groudon, but it and Genesect can help support the same pokemon and Genesect can insure that momentum is on your side, even if something like Lunala slows you down.



The moveset for both Scarf and Specs Lunala is: Moongeist Beam / Psyshock / Moonblast / Trick.



Scarf Lunala is a more team specific set. It is a unique scarfer because of its massive bulk even with no investment. The ability to always be able to take at least one hit from anything is also useful. It also hugely helps out vs Eternatus. It can sometimes enjoy a double scarf pairing with Genesect.



Specs Lunala is super strong as it newly 2HKOs even specially defensive Yveltal variants with Moonblast. It can wallbreak very effectively and it’s definitely no slouch in the hit taking department. Its stab and coverage is actually really good now that it’s boosted by Choice Specs, now it can blast trough neutral targets like Kyogre, Ho-Oh and Blissey with ease. This set is definitely very worthwhile and I would suggest trying it out.



Lunala is very effective even with just it’s standard set. It stonewalls pokemon that would usually be the best stallbreakers in the game with ease. Its Offensive sets are as effective because of its decent base stats, good stab and amazing coverage. Lunala is deserving of the top of A- or bottom A rank in my opinion.
You need to provide replays to support all your claims. That's a lot of text without much proof.
 
Pheromosa can rise, its strong and has good enough coverage that it can threat most stuff out and get a free U-turn into better breaker, its also just fast af and its definetely better than all the stuff in C.

Genesect is like literally just worse Pheromosa but it does outspeed Zekrom at +1 which i guess gives it a decent enough reason to be at least C-.

Regieleki can stay ranked, while not common teams without Ground types are not rare and if you can get one of those matchups its actually amazing, so it can stay.

Shedinja should rise, actually straight up walls a good chunk of the tier, can revengkill with Shadow Sneak and is annoying with status. Would rather much use it than stuff that is above it like Caly-ice and Ttar.

Palkia should slightly rise too, its decently hard to switch into and has good bulk and typing.

Naganadel can stay in D, literally using Eternatus but extremely downgraded, Spikes arent saving it and in HO i still think using Eternatus itself is just better.

Lunala can drop, offensive is good but not much reason to use it instead of Caly and the defensive sets are the worst thing immaginable. Please dont use it as your defogger its literally the worst possible pick.

Darm and Weav should both stay in A-, Scarf Darm is still pretty good just requires more brain than the usual ubers wallbreaker. Also eats HO for breakfast and revengkills Zekrom. Weavile didnt get any worse the hype just died down, dont see a reason for it to drop. You could argue ferro is annoying for it but we see how that goes in OU.

Everything else is honestly accurate, you could argue Ho-oh to rise over Xerneas in A+ and a few C rank mons to get unranked, but honestly they all kind of have a reason to be there. If anything D rank Magearna literally useless without Baton Pass.
 
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Pheromosa can rise, its strong and has good enough coverage that it can threat most stuff out and get a free U-turn into better breaker, its also just fast af and its definetely better than all the stuff in C.

Genesect is like literally just worse Pheromosa but it does outspeed Zekrom at +1 which i guess gives it a decent enough reason to be at least C-.

Regieleki can stay ranked, while not common teams without Ground types are not rare and if you can get one of those matchups its actually amazing, so it can stay.

Shedinja should rise, actually straight up walls a good chunk of the tier, can revengkill with Shadow Sneak and is annoying with status. Would rather much use it than stuff that is above it like Caly-ice and Ttar.

Palkia should slightly rise too, its decently hard to switch into and has good bulk and typing.

Naganadel can stay in D, literally using Eternatus but extremely downgraded, Spikes arent saving it and in HO i still think using Eternatus itself is just better.

Lunala can drop, offensive is good but not much reason to use it instead of Caly and the defensive sets are the worst thing immaginable. Please dont use it as your defogger its literally the worst possible pick.

Darm and Weav should both stay in A-, Scarf Darm is still pretty good just requires more brain than the usual ubers wallbreaker. Also eats HO for breakfast and revengkills Zekrom. Weavile didnt get any worse the hype just died down, dont see a reason for it to drop. You could argue ferro is annoying for it but we see how that goes in OU.

Everything else is honestly accurate, you could argue Ho-oh to rise over Xerneas in A+ and a few C rank mons to get unranked, but honestly they all kind of have a reason to be there. If anything D rank Magearna literally useless without Baton Pass.
you said a lot, that's amazing, but it's not the reason you haven't replied my message in discord yet :pskrpout:
 
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ubers-1707749635-d8ukjisq532z3oo5j0m4rdpl3higw92pw vs Kate

To clear things out, I just wanna say that Kate beat me last time with us both using the same teams.

This way you can see that Genesect can carry me to a win, even if I get insanely outplayed early game. I just made the safe/optimal play regarding the risk reward. Like Twave with Ho-Oh on Yveltal's U-turn. Genesect allowed me to take advantage of them making a missplay and allowed me to quickly come back into the game. This is how Genesect can be used to punish missplays very hard, as here I completely regained momentum. Nothing has that kind of strong U-turn utility other than Pheromosa. Pheromosa is entirely outclassed by Genesect in this role as it couldn't hope to switch into any attacks. Genesect's defensive utility makes it a better choice as well as a better revenge killer thanks to the higher speed. Genesect also has priority and isn't at all useless vs Xerneas unlike Pheromosa, it is actually a useful tool for it. That's what makes it a lot easier to fit on teams.

Genesect shows this well in this match. You could argue that Pheromosa would be better in this math up, but it wouldn't get the chance to switch in since my opponent was actually playing really well (arguably better than me). It would come in once or twice after I lost a pokemon, and I'd still have to predict right to make any mileage out of it. Genesect is easier to make mileage out of and gets more chances to fire off it's attacks and put you in an advantageous position. That's what makes Genesect a reliable choice, even if you know what's coming.

Pheromosa isn't at all able to compete with Genesect as they serve completely different roles. Pheromosa is a prediciton reliant wallbreaker and Genesect is purely a team player that is an amazing tool for positioning. Genesect also has it's place on more offensively minded yen teams (where Yveltal isn't a Defogger).

Against Xerneas that switched in on Urshifu e.g., Genesect can be switched in as a midground, covering a double switch very well as well as the choice to simply stay in. These kind of scenarios is when Genesect switches in and U-turns for damage, momentum and initative. That is something that is entirely unique to it.

If you guys were wondering: 252+ SpA Choice Specs Lunala Moongeist Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 181-214 (51.4 - 60.7%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Lunala SiTuM I hope I changed your mind
 
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Exiline

Banned deucer.
is a Past SCL Championis a Two-Time Former Smogon Metagame Tournament Circuit Championis a Former Old Generation Tournament Circuit Champion
genesect is utter garbage, the only niche it could have is shift gear explosion to try and trade with eternatus/kyogre/ho-oh, scarf is worthless
showing ladder replays against mediocre players (in which genesect literally doesn't do anything that any other scarfer would have done better) doesn't mean shit, please stop flooding this thread with this kekkery
 
genesect is utter garbage, the only niche it could have is shift gear explosion to try and trade with eternatus/kyogre/ho-oh, scarf is worthless
showing ladder replays against mediocre players (in which genesect literally doesn't do anything that any other scarfer would have done better) doesn't mean shit, please stop flooding this thread with this kekkery
I didn't notice on what have you based your opinion. You obviously didn't give Genesect a serious thought or a try, since you have no idea what you're talking about. Please stop insulting and attacking me. If you have an argument (look up what an argument is, I'm not sure if you would know) against Genesect, please share it with me. I would be glad to discuss different opinions on it if you have something to base them on. I would also suggest reading my arguments for it in my previous messages before shitting on me :)
 
https://pokepast.es/88a90bc31ab63b96

Based on my experience using all this teams, i coment my opinions quickly:

Reshiram (C+ rank) No real switch in for all this sets.
Kyurem-W (C- rank ) Can be D but can check some Ogre sets and has no safe switch ins in sun in some games.
Genesect (not enough experience, but C seems ok)
Lugia (C Rank) This thing is better in battle spot singles spreading the broken thunder wave with less eternatus and mons with toxic to ruin it. Is a decent check to Groudon and Zygarde but easily to punish in this metagame and other mons can do the job better. Has bad sinergy with YEN but is far for useless. If runing Thunder wave for switchins that means need other mons that enjoy that support but can't ohko Also CM ofensive can do surprises if played correctly.
Cinderace (-C rank or D)
Naganadel (C-rank) Spikes is a niche and Nasty plot + LO in sun break Necrozma-DM.
Magearna C-rank I don't see useful enough in this metagame.
Garchomp C-rank Inferior Zygarde, outclassed generally by other mons.
Audino Abstain
Zamazenta-C B-rank Has low pps and relies on Rest to recover. Howl is mediocre/bad.
Clefable and Heatran C + rank
Tapu koko C or C-rank Well, i'm theorymoning with this.
Tapu Koko @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Def / 180 SpD / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Defog / Taunt / other move
- Discharge /Thunderbolt
- Toxic /pivot move / Taunt / THUNDER WAVE

0 Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 60 Def Tapu Koko: 136-162 (39.6 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Dark Aura Yveltal Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 60 Def Tapu Koko: 188-222 (54.8 - 64.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Dark Aura Yveltal Knock Off vs. 248 HP / 60 Def Tapu Koko: 124-147 (36.1 - 42.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Yveltal Heat Wave vs. 248 HP / 180 SpD Tapu Koko: 153-181 (44.6 - 52.7%) -- 22.7% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 248 HP / 180 SpD Tapu Koko: 147-173 (42.8 - 50.4%) -

Choice specs is super-rare, only Heat Wave specs 2HKO cleanly.
The idea is check Yveltal + defog suport. But I never use this thing on a real team so not sure if is worth.

Maybe rank Umbreon in C-rank is worth.
Phermosa B-rank or C+rank
Palkia can rise too.
 
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Garrett

Banned deucer.
There’s serious back and forth already, but I did want to contribute by saying a number of the rises proposed by people are substantiated based on good matchups from the better Pokémon (YEN and Caly/Don/Ogre/Ho-Oh) on that team. Things that water down to “if my better mons do the heavy lifting then my un-mon can sweep or always claim one here.” Exiline has the right idea by directly explaining what unique idea Genesect has in a vacuum; really, Pheromosa is better in every way otherwise because Espeed Genesect is never seen.

Everyone knows the only good Genesect ever was my special Douse Drive Zap Cannon one on Da Vinki offense.

Ubers is way too top heavy for rises like Cinderace and Genesect to make sense. I very much equate viability to consistency to take on either one of the at least A tier mons all the time or a handful of mons at least A tier mons some of time. I think I’m in the minority in thinking Weav and Darm have an insanely high skill ceiling and therefore could be just a little higher ranked. Unfortunately beating YEN is way too correlated with your usage and viability when dropping Etern or NDM on a serious team is essentially praying on a certain matchup.

Lunala should definitely drop. I’ve always found it to to be a mon that works only if the stars align. Too much can go wrong when it only can perform its unique function at full HP. In fatter matchups, it serves to trade a Wisp for getting statused on an opposing Etern or NDM (if the opponent even allows that and doesn’t have a cleric.)

It’s a shame no one nominated SD Boom Silvally-Dark given all the other silly noms. Incredible meme pick :(
 
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ubers-1707749635-d8ukjisq532z3oo5j0m4rdpl3higw92pw vs Kate

To clear things out, I just wanna say that Kate beat me last time with us both using the same teams.

This way you can see that Genesect can carry me to a win, even if I get insanely outplayed early game. I just made the safe/optimal play regarding the risk reward. Like Twave with Ho-Oh on Yveltal's U-turn. Genesect allowed me to take advantage of them making a missplay and allowed me to quickly come back into the game. This is how Genesect can be used to punish missplays very hard, as here I completely regained momentum. Nothing has that kind of strong U-turn utility other than Pheromosa. Pheromosa is entirely outclassed by Genesect in this role as it couldn't hope to switch into any attacks. Genesect's defensive utility makes it a better choice as well as a better revenge killer thanks to the higher speed. Genesect also has priority and isn't at all useless vs Xerneas unlike Pheromosa, it is actually a useful tool for it. That's what makes it a lot easier to fit on teams.

Genesect shows this well in this match. You could argue that Pheromosa would be better in this math up, but it wouldn't get the chance to switch in since my opponent was actually playing really well (arguably better than me). It would come in once or twice after I lost a pokemon, and I'd still have to predict right to make any mileage out of it. Genesect is easier to make mileage out of and gets more chances to fire off it's attacks and put you in an advantageous position. That's what makes Genesect a reliable choice, even if you know what's coming.

Pheromosa isn't at all able to compete with Genesect as they serve completely different roles. Pheromosa is a prediciton reliant wallbreaker and Genesect is purely a team player that is an amazing tool for positioning. Genesect also has it's place on more offensively minded yen teams (where Yveltal isn't a Defogger).

Against Xerneas that switched in on Urshifu e.g., Genesect can be switched in as a midground, covering a double switch very well as well as the choice to simply stay in. These kind of scenarios is when Genesect switches in and U-turns for damage, momentum and initative. That is something that is entirely unique to it.

If you guys were wondering: 252+ SpA Choice Specs Lunala Moongeist Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 181-214 (51.4 - 60.7%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Lunala SiTuM I hope I changed your mind
This is a replay about ho-oh, specs lunala and mars, but not genesect, you just won by weakening opposing physical walls then swept with marshadow, there's nothing shows that genesect isn't replaceable since other u-turn spammers can also do the same thing such as darm, phero and even lando-t, all of them outspeed specs caly-s while offering momentum. Overall, I'm afraid what you posted can hardly change anyone's opinion.
 
This is a replay about ho-oh, specs lunala and mars, but not genesect, you just won by weakening opposing physical walls then swept with marshadow, there's nothing shows that genesect isn't replaceable since other u-turn spammers can also do the same thing such as darm, phero and even lando-t, all of them outspeed specs caly-s while offering momentum. Overall, I'm afraid what you posted can hardly change anyone's opinion.
You probably didn't undestad what I meant and given what you're saying I'm not sure if you understood this: "Pheromosa isn't at all able to compete with Genesect as they serve completely different roles. Pheromosa is a prediciton reliant wallbreaker and Genesect is purely a team player that is an amazing tool for positioning." and also " Pheromosa is entirely outclassed by Genesect in this role as it couldn't hope to switch into any attacks." I switched in on Eternatus' Draco to regain momentum. And as I said Genesect is only used for positioning, not for wallbreaking, that's what Pheromosa does.

Just to clear this out, all of my attackers can often struggle to find switch in opportunities or be threatening without having their checks chipped, and wouldn't you know it, that's precisely what Genesect does. Specifically (as I also said before) Genesect weakens NDM and Yveltal to the point where they can no longer safely check or switch into my other pokemon's attacks. Specifically on this team, it hugely helps out Lunala (weakening Yveltal) and Eternatus (weakening NDM). Of course it also helps out the rest of the team because it can force switches and put them in an adventageous position (Marshadow on Ferro in the replay).

My other pokemon are used for making progress, Genesect just enables them to do so, what I already pointed out: "Genesect is a support pokemon that ensures that you have momentum on your side. It is also incredible for forcing chip damage and forcing switches. It’s the best way to force chip on crucial defensive pokemon like NDM, Kyogre and Yveltal. In this vane it crates win-win scenario for the user, if the opponent stays in you get your chip, if they switch you get initative. Nothing else in the Ubers tier can do that as effectively and consistently as Genesect can. All the other things I said are just added bonuses, compared to how useful and crucial this aspect of Genesect is. On a lot of other pokemon I covered I also wrote for which could obviously benefit hugely from partnering with Genesect").
 
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There’s serious back and forth already, but I did want to contribute by saying a number of the rises proposed by people are substantiated based on good matchups from the better Pokémon (YEN and Caly/Don/Ogre/Ho-Oh) on that team. Things that water down to “if my better mons do the heavy lifting then my un-mon can sweep or always claim one here.” Exiline has the right idea by directly explaining what unique idea Genesect has in a vacuum; really, Pheromosa is better in every way otherwise because Espeed Genesect is never seen.

Everyone knows the only good Genesect ever was my special Douse Drive Zap Cannon one on Da Vinki offense.

Ubers is way too top heavy for rises like Cinderace and Genesect to make sense. I very much equate viability to consistency to take on either one of the at least A tier mons all the time or a handful of mons at least A tier mons some of time. I think I’m in the minority in thinking Weav and Darm have an insanely high skill ceiling and therefore could be just a little higher ranked. Unfortunately beating YEN is way too correlated with your usage and viability when dropping Etern or NDM on a serious team is essentially praying on a certain matchup.

Lunala should definitely drop. I’ve always found it to to be a mon that works only if the stars align. Too much can go wrong when it only can perform its unique function at full HP. In fatter matchups, it serves to trade a Wisp for getting statused on an opposing Etern or NDM (if the opponent even allows that and doesn’t have a cleric.)

It’s a shame no one nominated SD Boom Silvally-Dark given all the other silly noms. Incredible meme pick :(
Please read the entirety of what I wrote as for everything that you said, I already gave my reasoning for why that isn't the case but I'll repeat myself. Genesect isn't used for wallbreaking as I pointed out: "Pheromosa isn't at all able to compete with Genesect as they serve completely different roles. Pheromosa is a prediciton reliant wallbreaker and Genesect is purely a team player that is an amazing tool for positioning." and also "Pheromosa is entirely outclassed by Genesect in this role as it couldn't hope to switch into any attacks." Please stop "comparing" Genesect to Pheromosa they are completely different! You also don't have anything to back you up (you didn't provide any examples or arguments for your statements) nor did you refer to anything of what I said.

The thing is that I'm using Espeed Genesect 99% of the time so that "Espeed Genesect is never seen" statement is most obviously wrong and I also nicely pointed exactly that out: "Genesect can also adapt its set to the team, but in most cases it performs best with the moveset of U-turn / Iron Head / Ice Beam / Espeed and with the choice scarf item." (I said most obviously, because a lot of your statements are obviously wrong, which you would know if you paid any attention to what I wrote, it's just that this is the most obvious). I already also explained that Exiline is completely wrong and has no idea what he's talking about, so I don't know what you're trying to say by referring to his entirely false statements.

Take a close look at turn 5 and 6. How could Pheromosa do this, it would just drop to the Draco and I would remain trapped in the vortex of Kate's attacks. They would continue to force me to switch for a longer period of time and I would severely trouble to escape it while my team would suffer severe damage. Genesect allowed me to pivot into a favorable match up and force them to switch instead. How else could I possibly get back into the game, clearly, Genesect was responsible. That it is what makes my team work and not simply fall apart if someone decides to play well. I wouldn't be able to get in my Marshadow in on Ferro, I couldn't force Calyrex out without making risky predictions with Marshadow and I still wouldn't have enough HP left to win in the end thanks to the LO recoil.

I am also basing my opinion on tournament results (this replay was used as an example) and I have proof for all of my statements, which cannot be said for all of your statements. I still don't see why you're suggesting I'm in the wrong.

Unlike me, you also didn't give a reasoning for your opinion which was that my suggested rises wouldn't make sense. As for Lunala, it seems to me like you didn't even consider my suggestions (as you're only talking about defensive Lunala), so there's no wonder as to why you're trying to neglect what I said. Lastly I want to point out that my suggestions aren't "meme picks", they are tournament worthy choices and I explained why in my previous messages.

Since you referred to what he said I expect there are other people that don't understand why Exiline is completely wrong, so I'll explain it in detail here. This is what he said: "genesect is utter garbage, the only niche it could have is shift gear explosion to try and trade with eternatus/kyogre/ho-oh, scarf is worthless showing ladder replays against mediocre players (in which genesect literally doesn't do anything that any other scarfer would have done better) doesn't mean shit, please stop flooding this thread with this kekkery"

Firstly, he started by saying that Genesect is "utter garbage" with no proof to back him up (that is subjective, but also wrong, as it posses many different viable niches in the metagame) and saying that the only niche it could have is the Shift Gear Explosion set with no proof to back him up. To add to this, the set he suggested is the worst Genesect set by far from my experience because it is completely unreliable, not very threatening and expected from a mile away. If you ever tried this set out or tried to compare it to the reliable Choice Scarf or Choice Band, you would quickly notice how bad it really is, especially compared to my suggested alternatives which prove themselves time and time again to be reliable and consistently effective (also proven e.g. by my results in the Ubers Open where I almost exclusively used it).

Secondly, he said that "scarf is worthless" with no proof to back him up (I already gave my explanation many times, if you have the need to see it, simply scroll up) and that showing showing ladder replays against mediocre players doesn't mean anything. He obviously doesn't recognize that this was only used as an example. I don't see how him not understanding what an example is can be used as a counter argument to my statements. Oh and since when is Kate "mediocre"? I got the impression they're very good.

Lastly he said that Genesect doesn't do anything that any other scarfer would have done better. I dedicated a lot of time in explaining how unique Genesect is and what it can do that no other scarfer can, thus suggesting that he didn't even read what I said as I provided many examples. Because if he had read what I said, he would have seen that exactly this is what I have been trying to explain throughout all of what I've been writing. He concluded his senseless message with a request for me to stop posting about Genesect.
 
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LouisIX

UPL Champion
Kind of disagree lunala drop below A.
You can argue lunala did not beat status groundon and scale shots, you can argue lunala cant defog at all and besides roosting it does nothing;

It is until you fit roar and thunderwave together on it. Sure it loses wisp that can hit everything but thunderwave enhance its ability to make progress. Thunderwave also provide advantages for lunala to deal with eternatus for obvious reasons.

And most importantly roar. Full hp Lunala is the only stable phazer in the tier, and with roar lunala your team will not lose to geomancy, meteor etern and cm kyogre on the spots which we need to admit that the above trios are sick wincon nowadays. Lunala does it and saves you.

Lunala cant save you every time, but just once it already grant you an opportunity to prevent them to sweep you easily. And again let me emphasize its uniqueness in the current meta. Lugia is not even close to it because multi scale is shit.

Lunala still stands a important role in ubers and i truly believe it is Definitely above B. It really protects teammate especially ndm well.



Alongside the technical reasons, another reason is related to the tier physiology that is reflected during calyrex suspect.

The majority of the anti ban suggested that calyrex can be handle via good play and will require good skills overall to sqeeze the juice out of the horse. So, I assume the society is recongizing goodplay as a factor on determining a quality of a player and pokemons.

Lunala as I said, is the only stable phazer too mostly all threats in the tier except calyrex and yveltal which has stable switch-in that are brought by every team. It means Lunala provides opportunity to the player to showoff their play skills by providing a last resort to those random broken mfking setup sweeper that fish on the mu and probably luck (focus blast, sacred fire eterantus)

In short, lunala rewards goodplay and it offers the last edge of chance for player to show off a good play to counter brokens. Therefore lunala by any means should not be disrespected and should always be recognised as a key mon to the meta based on the above characteristics.
 
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https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ubers-1706413112-lb6s422x2wot96pudaapvtfdsxyjv9fpw
Just being tired of taking a glance at what you posted above therefore just post one replay to show how the 'momentum' genesect offered in fact.
And one more word, 'tour results' are not for proving an opinion's right.
I'm not sure if you're implying that you don't feel like reading what I wrote (how can we debate over something if you don't even read what I have to say lmao). In any case, I think my explanations are clear to anyone that actually decides to read them so I'll be quick. In this replay Genesect almost saved me in the end. It provided an easy way to force Caly out and get momentum out of it. How does me losing make Genesect a bad choice, it was obviously the one that was pulling the weight here. And it's not like I'm tryharding ladder anyways. Here I was just testing a Cinderace team and it seemed to have worked pretty well.

I completely agree with everything you said, although I don't get why did you quote momentum.
 

Dead by Daylight

memory tapes cycling blankly
is a Pre-Contributor
I switched in on Eternatus' Draco to regain momentum.
What momentum did you gain, exactly? The Eternatus switched out and forced you out the very next turn. After that, it was just another U-turn bot, of which there are exponentially better ones. Additionally, keep in mind that this Eternatus set is…non-standard. Prediction exists, y’know? A Flamethrower from Etern melts Genesect on the switch.
 
What momentum did you gain, exactly? The Eternatus switched out and forced you out the very next turn. After that, it was just another U-turn bot, of which there are exponentially better ones. Additionally, keep in mind that this Eternatus set is…non-standard. Prediction exists, y’know? A Flamethrower from Etern melts Genesect on the switch.
That's a very good question. Thank you.

What I'm trying to show with this is that if I didn't have Genesect, this could have went on for longer which could have been catastrophic than if I did have it (even if it fainted since I got a free switch). It allowed me to be put in an advantageous position which was my Oblivion Wing Taunt Yveltal vs their Yveltal. Since I win that 1v1 it was me who was forcing switches now. That NDM play was great for me since I got a kill obviously. Lunala was my breaker so getting a free switch was nice in any case. That's what I'm referring to as Genesect's momentum. I knew they wouldn't allow me to come back by switching to Ho-Oh, Draco was simpler and they didn't have to risk unnecessary predictions that way. But yea I could have lost my Gene there.

Glad I can clear this out for you (at least I hope I did, ask me if there's anything else). If there are any further questions or if this wasn't detailed enough tag me.
 

Fc

Waiting for something to happen?
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Ubers Leader
Our final VR shift for cg SS is done, thanks everyone for your participation this gen! Voting slate is here, if you see anything incorrect about the placements lmk: slate

Also as you'll notice, Kate, TJ, and Fogbound Lake have joined VR council. Lacus and Nora will be leaving as gen 9 approaches, thank you for your time!

Rises:
:kyogre: S- (2) --> S- (1) - A small change, but Kyogre has proven itself to be arguably the biggest offensive threat in the metagame. It muscles past essentially every defensive answer with specs alone, and teams that rely on most Eternatus sets to check it that aren't Cosmic Power end up losing to CM, and cosmic can be exploited by teammates as well as Roar or crits. Good defensive utility too against grounds and Ho-Oh, Kyogre can almost do everything.

:ho-oh: A+ (4) --> A+ (1) - Ho-Oh just barely resides out of the S ranks, being the best Pokemon in A+ currently. It's super splashable on almost every team because Regenerator provides so much utility, making Ho-Oh one of the best tools for giving teams outplay potential in bad matchups.

:ferrothorn: A (1) --> A+ (4) - Ferrothorn is an incredible Pokemon, having a roughly 70% winrate through the regular season of SCL, dominating almost every matchup it faced that didn't include Ho-Oh or the mirror Ferrothorn mu. Spikes are invaluable and all its support moves combined vaulted it up a rank.

:weavile: A- (2) --> A- (1) - Small change, just considered a tad bit better than Darm-G rn.

:aerodactyl: B --> B+ - Arguably the best HO lead, with Taunt, Rocks, Tailwind, and Pressure, Aerodactyl gives great support overall for any team looking for a rocks lead that can outrun threats like Weavile who prevent hazards.


:mewtwo: B --> B+ - Stall2 has seen some more use recently, as its been shown that it can single handedly shut down a lot of mu's because Yveltal doesn't actually threaten it too hard after a burn and item is knocked, let alone Foul Play Yveltal which keeps Leftovers on Mewtwo and does little damage. NP is fishy but still can do work, so Mewtwo rises a rank.

:toxapex: B --> B+ - One of the best checks to the Ice-types, a great Marshadow answer, Regenerator, and it can pivot into every member of YEN assuming they're the standard defensive sets. Great utility if it can find its place on a team with Scald, Knock Off, Haze, Tspikes, and everything else pex usually does.

:palkia: C+ --> B- - Sub BU Palkia is pretty decent, and offensive with the right support can also be decent, so Palkia gets a raise for being stronger in a Kyogre and Ho-Oh ruled metagame.

:pheromosa: C --> B - Pheromosa is the only (viable) Pokemon that can outrun Calyrex-S without a Scarf, which is a huge plus. It can run CB and spam U-turn to bring in strong breakers and is an excellent cleaner of weakened teams with CC or Dark-type coverage. Still struggles with Ho-Oh and the usual being extremely frail, but Pheromosa is a solid offensive presence rn.

:reshiram: D --> C- - D rank was wrong for Reshiram, it's a step above the rest of the Pokemon there with incredible breaking power, but it suffers from mediocre defensive capabilites, a rocks weakness, and being slow.

:audino: :suicune: UR --> C- - Audino has good support moves and Regenerator while checking Calyrex-S so it has some utility in the metagame, and Suicune jumps between UR and C- a fair bit due to Pressure being good but it being fishy overall, still has merit though.

Drops:
:calyrex-shadow: S- (1) --> S- (2) - As mentioned before, Kyogre just took its place as the top S- Pokemon due to having an easier time bypassing checks and more defensive utility, but Calyrex-S is still amazing.

:zygarde-complete: A+ (1) --> A (1) - Nothing really happened to Zygarde itself, it just slowly got outclassed by easier to use Pokemon. Kyogre is on a ton of teams and can prevent set up, while Weavile has been more popular than when it rose to A+. Ferrothorn also got better, so Zygarde just sees it hard to set up sometimes and offensive sets can't switch into NDM safely anymore eithout risking taking a Knock Off and losing Leftovers. Still a very powerful force, just fell a bit.

:darmanitan-galar: A- (1) --> A- (2) - Fell a bit, just swapped with Weavile.

:lunala: A- (3) --> B+ - Lunala is harder to fit on teams than ever, with Ho-Oh and Kyogre stuffing most of the defensive sets and offensive sets being bad against fast Yveltal. Toxic Groudon, Toxic Zygarde, and mixed Zekrom only make it harder to check the things it wants to, so Lunala's quite limited rn and dropped as a result.

:dracovish: B+ --> B - Vish is a very paper Pokemon, theoretically 6-0'ing everything on preview but in reality it's too slow to do that most of the time. It can't afford to take a twave from NDM, either is slower than Yvel with CB or always needs rain to do anything with scarf, and can be played around effectively since it naturally has to be played super offensively to put in work.

:buzzwole: B --> B- - Offensive Groudon picked up Heat Crash more for Lando-T and general damage, BU Marshadow can overpower it after some chip, and a lot of things can abuse Buzzwole generally like Ho-Oh, Kyogre, and Calyrex-S. It does still have good qualities like its dark resist and ground resist, but it fell off a lot in usage recently so is dropping as a result.

:giratina-origin: :zamazenta-crowned: B --> C+ - Zamazenta-C was overhyped at the height of Weavile popularity, and struggles a lot against common team structures rn. It still can get going in a lot of matchups and Howl through an endgame while still checking the Ice-types, but it's fallen off recently. Giratina-O lacks recovery, meaning Toxic Groudon can sometimes just keep rocks in the face of what's supposed to be a hard counter. Spreading status and having Stone Edge is nice, but not enough to keep its usage and viability up.

:clefable: B- --> C+ - Clef has relatively poor bulk for the metagame, and although it has rocks and is a cleric it competes with the already falling off defensive Xerneas for a role while not checking things as well as Xerneas. Still decent but fell off a bit.

:ditto: :heatran: :tyranitar: B- --> C - All 3 see virtually no tour usage, and the meta isn't super kind to them overall.

:garchomp: :grimmsnarl: C --> UR - Both were on the fringe of viability as is, and Garchomp only has 1 use in recent tours where it lost even after clicking SD 4 times because Scale Shot is inconsistent, showing the exploitability of it. Grimmsnarl is just never used, screens are committal when hazard leads are good.

:magearna: :tangrowth: C --> C- - Never really used, Magearna still has some good qualities like Heal Bell, Trick, and gimmick ID CM Stored Power sets to keep it above D rank, but just barely. Tangrowth has good support moves and Regenerator so it'll almost always have a place, but it's passive and loses to common sets on Pokemon it wants to check or just lets hazards up like against Groudon and NDM.

:regieleki: :tapu-fini: C- --> UR - Also never used, exploitable with very common Pokemon and take up a team slot for little utility outside of scenarios that are too specialized to warrent using suboptimal Pokemon.

:zamazenta: C- --> D - Not good, has funny Howl sets but it just outclassed a lot and is never used in serious games.
 
Genesect requires its team to have extra protection against Xerneas, as well as other common threats such as Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh that can turn into Genesect. The burden on a team to deal with these threats further reduces Genesect's viability as an attacking pokémon and reduces the number of sets Genesect can use to benefit his teammates in return.
 

SparksBlade

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Community Leader
I'm gonna delete a few posts. And after that I better not see this kind of conversation here again. If you still want to discuss, focus on what the metagame is in reality and not what it could have been if [things]. If you have something very niche you want to discuss about, be very detailed in why that niche is worth discussing and exploring. If you think someone is trolling, you're making things worse by replying to them - just report and let us handle it.
 

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