Resource National Dex UU Viability Rankings

I'd like to nom :hatterene: to A-/B+. Ever since :sableye-mega: was banned, hazards stacking cores like skarm hippo have been extremely annoying, and hazards in general are just very hard to deal with, especially with excellent rockers like :nihilego: (which I believe also deserves a rise) beating nearly every fogger out there. Stall became near unviable because of this, but being the fun loving player that I am, I set out to try to build a useable stall team in this meta, which requires mons that can effectively deal with hazards.

This is where :hatterene: comes in. While it doesn't have reliable recovery and isn't insanely fat like :sableye-mega:, it still completely shits on the passive rockers that this tier has. This list of mons that get cockblocked by :hatterene: include :skarmory:, :hippowdon:, :mew:, :swampert:, and :rhyperior: (this is a little bit more dicey but rhyp isn't that common anyways). Now I remember trying to make :hatterene: work a while back, but I found that it struggles against grounds like :hippowdon: and :swampert: if they had some spdef invest, but that was before I discovered the power of giga drain. With giga drain, :hatterene: turns these grounds from a losing matchup to setup fodder, and psyshock, the move being replaced, isn't all that useful anyways since you're not beating :slowking-galar:, 80% of which are phys def, anyways. This is the set that I came up with:

COCKBLOCKED (Hatterene) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 244 HP / 248 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Giga Drain
- Mystical Fire

Lots of hp and def invest lets hat eat eqs for breakfast and also take strong physical hits like cb :urshifu-rapid-strike: surging strikes before using draining kiss to recover almost all of the hp lost back. Speed is for :amoonguss:, :slowking:, and other base 30s.

Here are some replays that show hat in action:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1387162544-ey8hjkp3a5nyegb655gwhi2fcqq37xgpw
uu open game: :hatterene: shits on the :rhyperior: + :skarmory: core and doesn't have any counterplay at all. Takes a laughable 50 from :urshifu-rapid-strike:, which is then immediately healed back with giga drain.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1394943311
uu open vs fc: :hippowdon: :skarmory: gets completely shut down, but I play like shit and have no zam answer.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1391792283
uu open vs adem: hat with heal bell + wish support bullies adem's :swampert: :mew: hazard stacking core and smashes the :bisharp: coming in with mystical fire. poor guy

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1400668054-e49pzc1f6ccl1dupfy73juro7pyxcchpw
uu open semis vs mudkip: even though this was an L, :hatterene: created mindgames with :steelix-mega:, a niche rocker that it can't beat, which would have won me the game if stupid :tangrowth: hit that sleep powder. Once the lix was gone, :hatterene: was pretty much posed to win or at least severely weaken the opposing team for the win, but I lost to :moltres-galar: before that happened.

Weaknesses:
While :hatterene: is a cutie that blocks uglies like hippo and skarm from harming its friends, it does have some weaknesses. No reliable recovery can be a problem in long balance games, which is why I aimed to build bo, which ends games quicker, and stall, which has wish + hbell support, with hat. A lack of immediate offensive pressure can also be pretty annoying sometimes, as dkiss does around 25 to spdef :moltres-galar:. Yet, hat makes up for these flaws with the busted healing that its moves provide and the long term threat that cm brings to the table.
 
It's VR shift time with NDUU Open coming to an end! Another very drop heavy update (for some reason) but it does come with the return of S-. As a result, I've only gone over the drops that aren't pretty obvious and didn't need additional mention.

New Mons:
:tangrowth: Tangrowth: New -> A

:tangrowth: Tangrowth has proven itself to be a welcome addition to the metagame, synergising particularly well with Slowking-Galar. It offers a less passive alternative to Amoonguss on BO teams thanks to Knock Off and Sleep Powder (Knock notably allowing it to cripple things both before and after it has used the sleep move), being stronger and still checking a pretty decent swathe of the metagame. This number goes up considerably when paired with Slowking-Galar, forming a nasty Regen core that, thanks to resistances to the common choice locked moves used to snipe each other and the aforementioned Regenerator, allows teams to comfortably handle most of the meta defensively, save a few of course. While PhysDef is definitely the most viable, AV sees some occasional use.

Rises:
:slowking-galar: Slowking-Galar: A+ -> S-
:mew: Mew: A -> A+
:skarmory: Skarmory: A -> A+
:alakazam: Alakazam: A- -> A+
:jirachi: Jirachi: A- -> A
:grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl: B -> B+
:moltres-galar: Moltres-Galar: B -> B+
:seismitoad: Seismitoad: UR -> B-

:slowking-galar: The Calm Mind set continues to wreak havoc, devouring unprepared teams (and often even prepared ones), spreading status like nobody's business, never dying (except against like CB krook and spike stack), and setting up repeatedly. Additionally, with the newly dropped Tangrowth, AV has somehow improved even more, thanks to Tangrowth being able to deal with the majority of the things that break AV Glowking. These two factors elevate it above the rest of A+, but adaptations to it (namely spike stacking, Swampert's prevalence and other things) keep it below the heights of Melmetal and Mega Altaria in viability.

:mew: Mew is by far the best spike stacker right now, thanks to it being able to 1v1 almost every defogger with Taunt, Soft-Boiled and Knock Off. Additionally, NP sets and double dance sets (especially on screens) are absolutely monstrous vs unprepared teams, thanks to Psychic/Fire being unresisted by everything bar Kanto Slowking, who just gets NPed on to +4 and then turned to dust by Genesis Supernova. Some experimentation with physical sets have been done, but the spikes stacking and sets with NP are the ones that prompted this rise. A case could be made for it to rise higher in the future.

:skarmory: Skarmory dropped almost entirely thanks to Mega Sableye completely shutting it out, and Mega Sableye becoming the best balance mega meant that was a lot of games it was mostly useless. However, Mega Sableye is gone now, meaning it is free to Spike stack like crazy thanks to all the opportunities it gets to come in. And of course, its significant defensive utillity is always appreciated.

:alakazam: With the last 2 bans and the rise of Weavile to NDOU (where it appears it may be staying for a while, thankfully), on top of Scarf Krookodile being subpar in every other scenario, the floodgates are open for Alakazam to finally go crazy. Thanks to its drawback free Life Orb, high SpAtk stat, just barely good enough coverage, and being one of the fastest offensive mons, outsped only by Zeraora, Mega Manectric and scarfers, Alakazam is an immense threat, especially if it gets up a Nasty Plot. It's not like getting up NP is that hard to do due to the amount of switches it forces even unboosted. Very few Pokemon can take it on after a boost defensively, with Slowking-Galar being unable to OHKO or even cripple it before Shadow Ball 2hkos or a potential Psyshock OHKOing outright, most psychic resists being blasted by coverage, and the few things that can stomach a hit not having much in the way of recovery (bar Scizor and Moltres-Galar), making them easily chipped into range. Magic Guard also means chipping it is quite hard. Additionally, it's still a significant threat even with "just" 4 attacks sets, the 4th move (often Grass Knot) being able to bop last ditch checks to NP such as SpDef Swampert. Overall, it's a huge threat that definitely deserves A+.

:jirachi: I hate it, you hate it, it's Z-Jirachi the hax machine. With the meta not being as offensive or as fat thanks to the previous bans and rise, Jirachi is much more free to setup and play the RNG gambling game. It could go higher if it was easier to fit on a team, however. Often you have to build around it for it to not just be awkward to fit.

:grimmsnarl: Double Dance Mew and Jirachi have both helped give HO a bit of a resurgence, and Grimm has risen to reflect that.

:moltres-galar: The recently discovered RestTalk set is an effective response to the plethora of extremely powerful psychics, outright shutting out most of the top tier ones (though it needs Nasty Plot to effectively deal with Slowking-Galar, limiting it against dark resists). It, unlike Mandibuzz, is also somewhat offensively potent, and is capable of dismantling some balance and even stall teams.

:seismitoad: Refresh + a water immune ability makes it a more effective Slowking-Galar check than Swampert, as it immunes the otherwise neutral Scald and can heal off the poisons of the largely ineffectual Sludge Bomb with Refresh. Additionally, Knock Off lets it cripple things as it sits there, it checks a lot of the same stuff, and it can still lay rocks, making Seismitoad a worthwhile alternative to Swampert on some balances.


Drops:
:rotom-wash: Rotom-Wash: A+ -> A
:slowking: Slowking: A+ -> A
:keldeo: Keldeo: A -> A-
:manectric-mega: Manectric-Mega: A -> A-
:celesteela: Celesteela: A- -> B+
:diggersby: Diggersby: A- -> B+
:dragonite: Dragonite: A- -> B+
:infernape: Infernape: A- -> B+
:porygon-z: Porygon-Z: A- -> B+
:terrakion: Terrakion: A- -> B+
:alomomola: Alomomola: B+ -> B
:dracozolt: Dracozolt: B+ -> B
:tapu bulu: Tapu Bulu: B+ -> B
:chandelure: Chandelure: B -> B-
:slowbro-galar: Slowbro-Galar: B -> C
:staraptor: Staraptor: B -> B-
:starmie: Starmie: B -> C
:breloom: Breloom: B- -> UR
:haxorus: Haxorus: B- -> UR
:mamoswine: Mamoswine: B- -> C
:necrozma: Necrozma: B- -> C
:obstagoon: Obstagoon: B- -> C
:pyukumuku: Pyukumuku: B- -> C
:quagsire: Quagsire: B- -> C
:reuniclus: Reuniclus: B- -> C
:volcanion: Volcanion: B- -> C
:aggron-mega: Aggron-Mega: C -> UR
:magneton: Magneton: C -> UR
:mandibuzz: Mandibuzz: C -> UR

:rotom-wash: Rotom-Wash is simply not that effective a defogger anymore, and with the rise of Tangrowth + Slowking-Galar cores it struggles to do much else nowadays. SpDef Swampert can simply Toxic it, it takes little enough from Hydro that it doesn't fear it, and it's immune to Volt Switch anyways, making it capable of both dealing with and keeping rocks up against Rotom-Wash, and as Swampert remains one of the most popular rockers on BO, this is bad news for it. It also fails to defog vs Spikes Mew, and if you thought Swampert was bad for Rotom-Wash, Seismitoad frog jumping back into relevance is even worse, as Refresh Seismitoad fears nothing other than Pain Split.

:slowking: If you're using Johto Slowking, you're not using Galar Slowking. While FuturePort is still good, the opportunity cost makes it much less splashable, especially as Slowking-Galar + Tangrowth is one of the best BO cores right now, and BO being one of Johto Slowking's most common haunts makes this even more unideal for it.

:keldeo: Keldeo rather dislikes Slowking-Galar + Tangrowth cores' prevalence, especially as both have the strength and tools to not care about Taunt or Sub sets. Additionally, as a Specs mon, Primarina is often the better choice, who notably also checks Keldeo. Definitely not bad, as the speed tier and fighting STAB is worth it in some cases, but it is facing more competition and has more trends going against it.

:manectric-mega: Manectric-Mega lacks any way of killing Alakazam from full, while Zeraora does. While previously the choice between the two was mostly down to preference and how much you hate hazards, Zeraora now has a pretty significant edge over it. Additionally, it gets bodied pretty bad by AV Slowking-Galar, which is getting more popular, and Hippowdon is still very popular as part of the well known Skarmory + Hippowdon hazard stack core, which shuts out Mega Manectric completely. The long and short of it is that Zera's just better right now.

:celesteela: Say it with me now: Slowking-Galar! Additionally, Jirachi is now preferred as the steel type HO sweeper of choice, and Mew to a lesser extent.

:diggersby: PhysDef Tangrowth is kinda bad news for it, and it is still extremely awkward to build with. Very scary if done well, but not to the extent that it makes up its shortcomings.

:dragonite: Offensive Dragon Dance is just really not that good at this point due to how pathetically weak it is even at +1 and the prevalence of its checks, and defensive sets aren't splashable enough to keep it A- anymore. Skarmory is also back and better than ever, making it even more awkward. It fits in much more with B+.

:infernape: Alakazam being amazing right now and AV Slowking-Galar just kinda shutting out its best set is not a good look for Infernape, especially as Alakazam resists all of Infernape's priority and takes it quite comfortably, despite its Deoxys-N tier physical bulk, even at +2. Worse still, Aqua Jet is arguably almost as good as U-turn on CB Urshifu-Rapid-Strike at this point (if almost entirely for Alakazam), which further limits Infernape.

:terrakion: Same as Infernape but trade the Slowking-Galar part for being one of the hardest mons to fit on a team in the meta on account of a sorta awkward speed tier, competition for being a wallbreaker, and the lack of a need for an offensive rocker that can get past fat Magic Bounce mons right now. Even if there was space for Quick Attack (hint: there isn't), it still wouldn't OHKO Alakazam at +2.

:alomomola: Weavile is gone, it can't hurt you anymore.

:tapu bulu: SD is honestly just Breloom but viable, and it probably would have sunk further if it was just based on SD. However, some experimentation with sets like SubSeed and pairing it up with Melmetal (just never run into Aegislash lmao) have shown it to be just effective enough to keep it from dropping further.

:chandelure: Choiced Aegislash isn't a joke anymore (still not that great but it's something), and SubCM has its problems with Moltres-Galar and CB Urshi-R.

:slowbro-galar: NDOU (and us by extension) banned Quick Claw, so QCQD is much less reliable. Honestly not sure why it's still ranked, probably because of being budget CM Slowking-Galar, for if you absolutely have to use Johto Slowking.

:starmie: It faces way too much competition with Alakazam, and Rapid Spin simply is not good enough a niche to justify it over Alakazam in 90% of cases.

:breloom: Actual flaming pile of garbage that should have been URed several updates ago, and we all know why - it's literally impossible to build any half decent team that gives it so much as a rogue spit molecule in its general direction unless you're actively trying to lose to it, and oh BOY do you have to try, thanks to it getting stonewalled by no less than 7 top tier mons, 2 of which are immune to Spore, and being offensively checked by oh so many more. SD Facade was brought up as a reason to keep it but while it does get past some of its problems, it does not get past anywhere near enough of them to keep it ranked. It also faces huge competition as a wallbreaker and a stallbreaker and, as it's not Technician, Mach Punch is somehow even weaker, as if being resisted by multiple top offensive mons wasn't bad enough normally. PDef Tangrowth is also still very bad news for it, especially as Sludge Bomb is its most common 4th move slot. Oh yeah, and Aegislash still shuts you out completely. It simply offers nothing of value to any team - if I want a Spore mon, I would vastly prefer Amoonguss, even on offense, because it actually accomplishes something outside of Spore, and if I want a sack mon I'll pull up with Level 1 Magikarp or something. I really honestly just wanted to put ":nauseated_face:" but SD Facade was worth talking about enough to give it its own section.

:necrozma: This thing's entire niche is being a non passive stealth rocker that can avoid being dunked on by common anti leads. However, its non passivity does not outweigh the opportunity cost of not using Mew instead. Offensive sets are also outclassed by Mew, and there are better and more reliable screens setup mons than Stored Power sets.

:pyukumuku: and :quagsire: initially rose because Mega Sableye made stall absolutely stupid. Mega Sableye is gone, and stall has been awfully quiet since then.

:reuniclus: Worse Slowking-Galar in almost all cases. Slowking-Galar is immune to both poison statuses, the only ones that really hinder it and both rocks and 3 layers of spikes have to be up for Regenerator to be negated, at which point you have much bigger problems to be dealing with than setting up.

:aggron-mega: Just use Melmetal instead. Rocks and better spdef bulk isn't worth the mega slot and using a mon that's a downgrade of Melmetal.

:magneton: lmao

:mandibuzz: People were only using Mandibuzz because we thought it was our only stop to the psychics with recovery. Now people have discovered RestTalk Moltres-Galar, who's way better, so much less passive and much more splashable, there's no reason to use Mandibuzz on anything except maybe ultra specific stall teams. If you need Defog + Dark/Flying to check psychic mons and it's not stall, honestly just start the team from scratch, Mandi would be dead weight if there was no psychic (and it loses to Glowking anyways, which RestTalk Moltres-Galar with NP doesn't).

That's all from this VR update, and this time not 3 months after the previous one! Woo!
 
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:ss/obstagoon:

I think Obstagoon dropping to C is a little bit harsh, not to say its good but being in the same spot as Alolan Muk or Scolipede (and also loom´s old home) is just sad. Resttalk Sets are actually quite decent thanks to them being status absorbers and shutting down things such as Amoonguss, Gastrodon, Seismitoad, Both Slowking and Glowking and also stuff being a decent switchin for Hippowdon, Spikes Mew (just pray that you get the good hax), Swampert, Rotom-Wash or Galarian Moltres while still being able to throw strong Facade´s. The main niche i see its how it absolutely walls Sub Toxic Aegislash sets which are really annoying to face while also spreading Knock Off, you might think not having Close Combat is kind of problematic and the issue comes in that it doesnt really help much in his Matchups. Skarmory still walls you and runs Body Press as Standard, Melmetal tanks it and your better wearing it down on the longer game and also clicking Knock Off. This is definetily not something easy to build and play with because of how weak it becomes when you get Knocked while trying to switch into things like Tangrowth or Mew (you need status for power), being forced to Rest constantly and Galarian Moltres being the better absorber in general because of better bulk, typing and more but i think Being on B- fits this mon better. Here some replays in how it played

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1401205744-79ye032bomf1x0liv1z5jiuy8f8s8sqpw SSJ despite having to leave, he started to be overwhelmed with the Knock Off Spam

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1401178074-mj0s7zo5vcdr822synfw6bd9zemeqp3pw not really much to say here (and its a ladder match) but at least it saved me from Tenta potentially being able to spread status on the whole team (and opening up Urshi-RS Surging Strikes spam)
 
Everyone's been asking me to revive the VR so I'll make my case here

Rises:
Aegislash Sword Sprite Animated BW Style by SkidMarc25 on DeviantArt
to S-

Been a while now, but Aegislash can be argued to be the most dangerous mon to face in the tier rn. The recent ubiquity of Calm Mind Psychics and many passive Defensive Staples in the current metagame backed up by it's own stellar defensive profile courtesy of an excellent typing and great bulk often, and likely will provide ample time for the specter to hit the field to cause serious damage in given situations. The severity of its threat level is also heavily magnified by the few checks it has such as Pursuit users like Krookodile struggling to break it and or being easily chipped by other Pokemon that they are tasked at dealing with, and other options such as Bisharp and Zarude dropping in the face of Close Combats, Vest Tang and Mandibuzz (lol) being ruined by Toxic, and bulky Sciz and Amoonguss being evaporated by the sheer power of Specs. Overall, this ridiculous suffocation factor it brings to the table with it's many sets, all of which lack overlapping answers combined with it’s insane splashability as an offensive and defensive behemoth alike make for a huge threat in my opinion and it should move up to reflect this. (tho not comfortably to the same level as Melm alongside techs like RestTalk Goltres being very viable with the great side-effect of checking it nicely)


to A

See N_Mareanie's reasoning.

to B+

Okay okay these two have obviously gotten better with GKing's ban no doubt about that. (Ranking them both because they do similar things) As such a huge competitor gone means that these two will be prime to replicate it's sets, CM and AV. Their lower SpDs definitely mean that they won't be able to stay in on and eat special hits like Specs Primarina's Hydro Pump the way their Psychic/Poison sibling does but otherwise, remain very viable for the same reasons as our favourite hexpert.

to B+


With Mew recently booted out of the tier, DeoD can finally come out of the shadows, having lived the dream in a Utility prison of it's own making ever since. Spikes are hugely abusable in the current meta, as VoltTurn continues to be popular at breaking down oppositions with constant offensive pressure and Skarmory plus the new Roserade having recently enjoyed large spikes (pun intended) in usage as the setters due to their numerous resistances and propensity to force out stuff with how free the move seems to be given previous bans of MSab and more. It's here that our alien friend takes it's cue to rise as a Spiker in Mew's steed, who much like it, can also use Taunt to shut down opposing hazards while maintaining their own, as it's base 90 Speed alongside it's great natural bulk (with just Max HP) access to Recover, and few weaknesses give it many chances in doing so throughout the course of a long match while also further crippling the opposition with Knock Off and even providing easy entry for said abusers by virtue of the move Teleport. Despite not having Wisp to deter Pursuitters and Scizor trying to force it out, and the same set variety, DeoD has proven itself to be a well-worthwhile choice in it's own right on similar bulky teams and for that, I find a spot in B+ to be fitting for it in the context of the current metagame.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1445883123-6scoadykz9lg22d9ut5aqzv6nlmeewupw

DeoD easily outlasts HeatTom and Krook to relay hazards multiple times and even Pressure stalls Melm and WaterShifu, allowing either Zera or Malt to clean up the game despite my opp throwing away the Scarf by accident.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1444713347-1wcb38jl6axgmhnmt2xh8u4m1dm2jotpw

Yes Mareanie was the one using DeoD (and I got smoked by him unironically), but this replay shows just how annoying it is for Foggers and opposing walls to deal with given it's unique speed stat, allowing the Spikes to stay and thus putting my breakers on an effective timer.

to B


Mienshao has been establishing itself as quite the fearsome offensive Scarfer recently, having a great Speed Tier that gets the jump on even Arctozolt under Hail and most other Scarfers up to it/Zarude alongside it's strong coverage options in SEdge and Poison Jab in addtion to a spammable STAB that is CC make it quite the potent revenge killer and cleaner vs offense, while having Knock + U-Turn alongside the everpresent Spikes makes it not to easy to wear down from a defensive standpoint either, especially in conjunction with Regenerator which nulifies the majority of passive damage so many things rely on in order to dish out actual damage. However, it's matchup reliance, and inability to break anything directly versus the likes of Buzz Malt Skarm Tang and Guss to name a few means that it stays a niche pick. In this replay from NDPL demonstrating part of it's uses vs offense (Shao outspeeds and Knocks AlolaTales's Light Clay, neutering the RP Golurk's chances to sweep since even if Shao didn't risk staying in and Veil lasted 8 turns, it would've outsped and revenged it anyway after Nidoqueen failed to do enough damage and thus had a chance to lose the match otherwise since the Skarm in the back was also too weak to take any hits when it happened)

Despite Amoonguss being a better overall pick (with it's Water resistance, higher SpD and Regenerator making it better against the likes of Aegislash and Primarina). I believe that GWeezing's additonal uses are quite coherent, unique and actually good. Being a Fogger that doesn't reinvite Defensive rockers? Mmm. Immovable Wall against so much stuff in the meta atm? (Krook DD Malt Zarude said rockers and so on anyone?) Uh huh. Toxic, Spikes and Ground Immune? Yeeeeee. The Role Compression it brings to the tier in one slot is just so nice even without reliable recovery and it makes slower teams just that much easier to build without being a complete momentum sink/passive af itself because of how easily it also spreads Poison/Burns against everything else by abusing said forced switches with how much you outright wall mons, plus being kinda the only thing we have to switch into Offensive Buzz who doesn't risk dying to potential coverage moves (no one likes you RestTalk Prima) is just icing on the cake for a mon we clearly need rn. Here's a replay showing it's own potential (GWeezing does justice here by pestering the Rotom and Rhyperior with Burns and shutting down Zarude and MAlt so that MSteelix doesn't have to tank the potential coverage moves they might carry otherwise and lose the chance for a sweep, which would've happened eventually despite the forfeit)
Isn't Amoonguss fine enough against the mons you listed already, esp with Regen its not a big deal right?

Well...

252 Atk Choice Band Krookodile Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 176+ Def Amoonguss: 222-262 (51.5 - 60.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Krookodile Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 208+ Def Weezing-Galar: 100-118 (29.9 - 35.3%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery

+1 252 Atk Zarude Black Hole Eclipse (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 168+ Def Amoonguss: 364-430 (84.2 - 99.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 Atk Zarude Black Hole Eclipse (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 208+ Def Weezing-Galar: 121-143 (36.2 - 42.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery

252+ Atk Life Orb Buzzwole Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 168+ Def Amoonguss: 244-289 (56.4 - 66.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Buzzwole Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 208+ Def Weezing-Galar: 81-96 (24.2 - 28.7%) -- possible 5HKO after Black Sludge recovery

Most of these mons have ways around Amoon, with it's instability versus certain sets being potentially further amplified by Spikes damage, GWeezing doesn't have this problem at all, thus not risking anything in the case where you needed a way to deal with them for your team.

May be crazy for nomming Torn to B, especially with Alakazam being known as the premier Nasty Ploter and cleaner of the tier. But regardless, the sheer offensive potential this thing has in a meta where one of the best mons that also outspeeds and or traps it without sacking momentum is gone cannot be overstated. Whether it’s by being a solid Offensive Pivot and Fogger that much like it's Therian counterpart, also easily provides good team utility by virtue of Knock and U-Turn or by being a brutal NP Wallbreaker itself that cucks most slower builds, and who, unlike most Offensive Flying-Types isn’t stopped at all by Rotom-W, everyone’s go-to resist. Defensive sets are not bulky enough to tank a +2 Skystrike after Stealth Rock, and neither is the Zeraora they all seem to be stuffing themselves over, as any one hit followed by said Z-Move will make quick work of the thundercat despite it's ability to outspeed and OHKO. Base 111 Speed is just icing on the cake which also allows it to offensively check the plethora of Fighting types in the tier with either set giving the trickster some kickass role compression to take advantage of in any given matchup. Nevertheless, it still struggles a little to switch into play, with Accuracy and it's fraility + SR weakness giving it less chances to actually get something done than what meets the eye, but definitely not something you should sleep on.

to B

I'm on board with ranking Hail as well but I don't have any replays myself unfort. These are the sets if anyone wants to take over btw.

Drops
to B-

Bad Water check and Bulu has way too much 4MSS to ever be a reliable pick offensively, it wants all of HHorsepower for Aegislash and GBro, Zen Headbutt for Buzz and Amoonguss, SEdge for Moltres and CC for Melm and Skarm, Terrain is still useful for Steels and Psychics but even then you’re stuck using this guy, oh and the fact that Tangrowth still exists is a death sentence anyway.

to C


HO as a whole took a hit by losing Mew/Rachi and Mimi/MShark were inconsistent anyway due to Melm Skarm Tang Sciz Tom.

CM GKing is gone, it can't hurt you anymore.
On a more serious note, Seismitoad still has some cool stuff like Water immune + Knock + Status immunity w Refresh which still makes it good vs foggers like Rotom-W and Toxic Moltres but that requires you to use toad who is otherwise a momentum sink so idk.

to UR


Chandy sucks, Aegislash is strictly a better mon now who isn't SR weak, has immense physical bulk + KS to minimize Pursuit damage and a Psychic resist making it better vs Zam and friends. CM Ghost Z breaks stall sure but where is the stall? :blobshrug:

Nidoking (who's basically Queen but faster and stronger with the extra bulk not mattering anyway) isn't even that good now tbh due to Pert Reu Krook Zam Watershifu, also lol Nihilego exists and also has Rocks.

Stall is dead :fukyu: plus Mew/Rachi/Hoopa-U are gone, they can't hurt you anymore and when was the last time the latter three were used in any halfway serious battle.
 
cool post above, I've been sitting on a Mienshao nom for a while and wanted to add my thoughts, as well as why it should be a bit higher. Also throwing on the PEOPLE'S NOM shoutout ladder

:SS/Mienshao: UR -> B+

Mienshao is a solid mon that really should have been ranked a while ago. It faces tough competition in Urshifu, but has a few notable advantages which create reasons to be used over it.

Mienshao's access to Regenerator not only allows it to ignore chip from Spikes/Rocks/Helmet, it gives Mienshao the option of holding a Life Orb. LO is an extremely powerful item that isn't often seen (outside of HO) due to the huge importance of the chip it causes, but Regen allows Mienshao to negate the deadly recoil that comes with it. Regen also allows Mienshao to act as a one-time switch in to a few mons. Despite its disappointing bulk, it is often able to switch in on neutral hits and gain back the lost HP throughout the game.

Mienshao has access to coverage to beat any one of its switch ins. Stone Edge allows it to bait and remove Moltres, Poison Jab hits Altaria/Hatterene, and Blaze Kick hits Amoonguss/Buzzwole. The most important move Mienshao gets is Knock Off. The ability to remove items is hugely useful, allowing Mienshao to easily outlast most checks through a combination of it and U-Turn. Removal of Helmets is important to maintain HP in games where Mienshao is already taking chip from Spikes + LO, and getting rid of Leftovers/Heavy-Duty Boots invalidates most checks long term regardless of which move you choose in the fourth slot.
252 Atk Life Orb Mienshao Blaze Kick vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Buzzwole: 177-211 (42.3 - 50.4%) -- 93.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Mienshao's above average speed tier is another good reason to use it. Faster than Urshifu, base 100s, and even Nihilego, Mienshao is able to U-Turn on many more mons than Urshifu. The speed tier makes Mienshao a more effective scarfer, which is an area of need in the current NDUU metagame. Ever since the Jirachi ban we've been down bad for scarfers, which is why Mienshao and Zarude are both solid right now. These days Zeraora, Alakazam, and Manectric-Mega are often the fastest mons on their teams, which allows Mienshao to pivot freely in most games.

Glowking's ban also helps out Mienshao in that it removes one of the most reliable switch ins to it. Knock barely tickles CM Glowking (Guaranteed 3HKO after Rocks), and it has access to Slack Off to easily offset the chip Knock + U-turn would pick up on the other Regenerator users in the tier. It was the most reliable Mienshao answer, and Mienshao is one of the mons I've been liking more and more since the ban.

Sets:
Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge / Poison Jab
Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge / Poison Jab / Blaze Kick

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1408938680-wa39bni6cuvv3in513xkdfua6bz3t7vpw
NDUU Open Finals, MudkipBeans vs Royal1604. Mienshao gets 2 kills and a game defining Knock Off on Rotom-Wash turn 1.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1441000071-4l188mxb387lxltfjt2jrt96h6jvh77pw
NDPL, SPBC vs Ryuji. Similar to the last game, Mienshao gets a helpful Knock Off turn 1. Scarf allows it to come in and U-Turn on Manectric, and it is able to clean up with CC. Having speed control dissuades SPBC's sweepers from setting up throughout the game.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1445787086
Me vs Adem. Once Deoxys is removed (thanks to Mienshao forcing it in and pivoting on it) Mienshao is able to claim kills every time it comes in. The defensive utility of Regenerator is shown on turns 7 and 21, where Mienshao comes in on Mega Manectric. Outspeeding Manectric and Infernape was also absolutely essential in this game, holding the team together after Swampert was killed.



:SS/Beedrill-Mega: UR -> C

Yes I am serious.

Mega Beedrill has been up there with Breloom and Donphan as the epitome of ladder for months, but I think the way it has been misused has blinded people to the fact it has some excellent traits which give it a niche in the current meta.

Beedrill's incredible speed tier is the main reason to use it imo. It's faster than the entire tier ignoring scarfers, including Zeraora and +1 Jolly Altaria-Mega. Mega Beedrill is actually the only speed control we have capable of revenging Mega Altaria, the viable scarfers all have unfavourable matchups. Glowking's ban removed a check to what was already the best mon in the tier, meaning the ability to beat Altaria is needed now more than ever. Having legitimate speed control that doesn't require locking into a move is huge, and Mega Beedrill abuses this with its access to Knock and a powerful STAB U-turn.

Adaptability makes U-Turn have actual power behind it, strong enough that once hazards go up, it becomes seriously difficult to switch into it long term.
252 Atk Adaptability Beedrill-Mega U-turn vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Scizor: 85-100 (24.7 - 29.1%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO (adds up, especially if you knock the boots)
252 Atk Adaptability Beedrill-Mega Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 176+ Def Amoonguss: 190-224 (43.9 - 51.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Adaptability Beedrill-Mega Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 88 Def Moltres: 192-228 (50 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (spread is for Jolly Buzzwole, it's a roll on more bulky variants but should always be in your favour)
252 Atk Beedrill-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Aegislash-Shield: 176-208 (54.3 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Mega Beedrill is our only speed control with access to Pursuit. Being able to Pursuit Alakazam is huge in this meta, and we all know the utility Pursuit can provide. Our only Pursuiter close to filling these roles is Scizor, which has to be offensive to easily fit Pursuit (slow for an offensive mon and lacks the defensive utility that normally makes Scizor great). The choice is between limited defensive utility and solid speed control, which does not invalidate Beedrill.

It's been said many times that Beedrill is bad because it's a pivot weak to rocks. This is fair, but in the tier rn we actually have some fairly strong hazard control. Moltres and Rotom-Wash are both excellent defoggers which pair well with Bee, and Hatterene can switch in on the majority of rockers. It's very realistic to be able to keep rocks off in most games.
Beedrill-Mega @ Beedrillite
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
- Knock Off
- Pursuit

Drill Run could potentially see use to hit Melmetal, but Pursuit is part of what makes Bee unique and Melmetal can be handled with Knock + teammates, or even just repeated U-Turns.
I'd like to show a team I've been using recently to demonstrate how Beedrill can be used.
:Beedrill-Mega: :Hatterene: :Moltres: :Tangrowth: :Melmetal: :Swampert: click for paste
An important takeaway from what I said above is that hazards are absolutely crucial. Beedrill hates hazards on its side, and abuses hazards very well. Here we have what I believe is the best way to support Beedrill. Hatterene + Moltres combine to reliably prevent rockers from keeping up rocks, allowing Beedrill to pivot freely throughout the game. Moltres is my choice as the best Defogger for Beedrill because it punishes Scizor and Melmetal (after Beedrill knocks the pads) for attacking. Hatterene abuses the presence of Skarmory, which is by far the most reliable switch in to Beedrill. I find most Skarmory teams have a lot of trouble switching into Hatt, so the MU isn't really a problem. Thunder Wave Melmetal is also here to bait and cripple Skarmory, although Hatterene handles Skarmory teams well enough on its own. Swampert is the best rocker here because it provides a secondary Melmetal switch in, which is especially needed on Beedrill teams.

What I'm trying to show is that while this is a whole lot of support, it is easily achieved by the best mons in the tier, the type of mons that people would be using regardless of their ability to support Beedrill. The difficulty in supporting it does still affect it, but a C rank pokemon doesn't need to be slappable.

Obviously I'm talking mostly about the positives here and there are definitely big problems with this mon. It's nowhere near a top threat in the tier, it simply has a viable niche. Rockers that beat Hatt + Moltres are still nasty to play against, but they're harder to fit than the fat grounds and it's really only Nihilego that can do so safely. The mon has huge flaws, it's just not unusable.

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1445582155
Me vs Mareanie, Hatterene was able to prevent hazards and while the game ended before it got a chance to abuse the weakened team, Beedrill won almost on the spot when Melmetal took a hit.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1444268075-zrtk6wojgucpxcqxtl9hyxwpxpfnxm2pw
Me vs R1C3M4N, Hatterene again prevented Hazards and Beedrill abused the SpDef investment Swampert and a lot of other grounds enjoy running to 2HKO with U-Turn. Mega Beedrill's speed tier was also utilized here, it was able to safely outspeed +1 Mega Altaria (it also lives unboosted EQ making it a surprisingly decent one time switch in to it).

Sorry for the essay, didn't think 2 liners were suitable for UR mons
 
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Hello! I kinda wanted to do what RU is doing rn, and share this Tiermaker for people to show their thoughts on the current VR in a more fun way. The image above isn't my personal list, but the current VR as it stands rn, I included some UR Pokémon that have been talked about a lot / have been seen from time to time, if you miss any lmk and I'll add it

Anyway, here is the link to it! https://tiermaker.com/create/national-dex-uu-vr-130712

Have fun and for sure post what you guys would have the current VR ranked!
 
Might add reasonings later but don't have the time rn. Also, I don't have much experience with some of the lower tier mons like mence, jellicent, celesteela etc so this is definitely biased.
Missing:
:azelf: -> B-/C Azelf is still a pretty decent ho lead with some nice niches like skill swap, super fast taunt, knock, boom, and fire blast to nail steels.
:mandibuzz: -> B/B- Basically gmolt with uturn, defog, and taunt. Really good zam counter, which imo is the #1 threat atm. Can also slot on knock on spike stack teams to good effect.

:magneton: -> C Yes, it turns out magneton isn't that bad after all. specs hp grass sets smash ground types really hard and can also overwhelm amoonguss with some help. It's also one of the only things in this tier that can threaten to ohko malt, which is no easy feat. And, of course, it traps skarm, sciz, and melmetal for its teammates. That being said, I don't think pairing it with :beedrill-mega: is the play. There are much better mons that take advantage of the magnet's trapping abilities such as :urshifu-rapid-strike:, :roserade:, :hatterene:, :krookodile:, and :scizor:. Of course, magneton has its flaws, as it's exceedingly frail, making it pretty useless against offense, so it shouldn't go any higher than C.
 

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I got bored so i said to myself "Why not do something for ND UU now that the VR posts are coming?" and welp, here i am.

Raises:

:ss/celesteela: :ss/moltres-galar:From B+ to A-

Countering (or checking) Alakazam has become the main thing in this tier and these two have rised in respond once people realized they are genuine good mons.

Celesteela has mostly been overshadowed by Skarm and despite the trades it has, no one used them because of the better options available. Once the meta started to develop recently, Mixed DD Mega Altaria and NP Alakazam had become one of the most demonic pieces of the meta while old & new faces like Aegislash, Hatterene, Primarina, Salamence or Roserade popped up as well. Unlike Skarm, its able to check or counter them because of the significantly higher special bulk while also being able to take on a few physical attackers such as Non-Knock Off Scizor, Toxic Melm or Zarude if needed. It may not have the same trades as Skarm such as Spikes, instant recovery or contact punishing but it has found a new light in this stage of the metagame

Offensive Cele is usable but it fails to acomplish the same success the standard defensive one has, it is threatning and fits on HO decently but that playstyle kinda falled off with the ban of Mew and the presence of Electrics to revenge it

G-Moltres falls into the same category as how prominent Psychics are in general, both Resttalk and NP sets are great. Resttalk has been the main set for a while and now its able to afford Hurricane over Nasty Plot (Which was previously used due to Glowking's presence) to threaten anything thats not called Bisharp, this set also comes with the bonus of absorbing status such as Amoonguss Spore or Sub Aegislash Toxic which is something not many mons are able to do. Offensive Sets have started to take some presence once Glowking got banned and the stab combination alongside Flyinium Z is able to threaten nearly the entire meta alongside excellent bulk for an offensive mon.

:ss/hatterene: From B to B+

There isn't much to say about this mon that R1C3 hasn't mentioned but ill say it anyway. The presence of hazard setters such as Swampert, Skarmory or Hippowdon as well as others that this mon is able to soft check such as Krookodile, Rhyperior or Seismitoad and abusing them by not letting them setup hazards that easily is amazing in order to keep your teammates healthy on the long run while also working as a decent wincon with CM which also puts some pressure in the opponent to not let it have free turns. The presence of steels in the meta is definitely a pain but as long as its not Bisharp or Celesteela, you can Mystical Fire all of them before leaving and also melting Scizor.

:ss/bisharp: From B to B+

The last VR post was about Glowking so can i ask why didn't this mon raise? lol, even without Glowking around, Choice Band sets are a menace to switch into since even physical walls like Skarmory or Tangrowth don't like eating Knock Off's while also picking up weakened faster threats or non-sash Zam with Sucker Punch. Punishing Defog attempts is as always a good trade to have and the typing while not really favorable on a Urshifu-RS meta or the ocasional Buzzwole & Keldeo, it crushes or cripples the rest of the meta while also having some interesting defensive utility despite not being bulky or anything with stuff like G-Moltres, Nihilego (kinda lol) and some variants of Sub Aegi. SD Sets are also a good option for HO because they also bring some priority for the team.

Drops:

:ss/skarmory: From A+ to A

Oh man...where do i begin in how the meta changed? Its not that Skarm is bad or anything (its Skarm after all) but the meta has changed into an enviroment where it struggles to check the most common things such as Alakazam, Mixed Mega Altaria, Aegislash, Electrics, Moltres, etc. Its not that the physical attackers it deals with even dropped that much either, in fact quite the opposite, but things turned in a way where its mostly about the special attackers being the most hellish atm and even more spikers started to take some presence like Deoxys-Defense or Roserade. Again its not bad but it could drop at any moment since it feels like the lowest of A+ or the highest in A.
 
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to A+


Hear me out on this one, Tangrowth itself has been nothing-less of a steadily improving presence in the tier, the metagame being more stable and headed towards a current bulkier direction enable it to thrive in a spot where it is highly valuable utility-wise and just damn good in its own right. Both Rocky Helmet and AV sets are highly splashable, and make Tangrowth adept on many sorts of teams as an incredibly solid glue, giving it the potential to legit check or counter (depending on the sets) an insane amount of incredibly threatening Pokemon in the tier when combined, and many variable uses on all sorts of bulkier to more offensive teamstyles, those of which it can be easily adjusted on to provide important coverage specific to what's needed. Seriously, pick your pool from the likes of Non-Tox Melm, MAltaria, Aegislash, Alakazam, WaterShifu, Zeraora, Buzzwole, Krookodile, Primarina, MManectric, Zarude, Bisharp, Rhyperior and friends, slap on the appropriate item and moveset, and go straight to town. The difficulty said mons have in breaking Tangrowth throughout the game alone is already hard enough, but with the help of several great Defoggers who have all have since risen back to promience, old and new, ranging from the previous yet still excellent standbys of Rotom-W and Moltres, to the less-common yet no-less formidable Salamence around to easily mitgate the issue of hazard-stacking that has previously plagued it for so long, and its great options in Sleep, Knock Off and even Sludge Bomb poisons to easily cripple anything coming into it to make valuable long-term progress should the attacker be forced out. Tangrowth is now more immovable than ever and by far the best, most reliable defensive pivot with these factors in mind, being a lot less limited than its main competition in Amoonguss, this thing is genuinely awesome right now and I don't think A Rank is quite able to encapsulate of the full image of what it should be.

Other miscellaneous noms:

to B/B+
Salamence @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe or 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane / Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Defog
- Roost

Mence's combination of offensive potential and team utility it brings to the table of certain balances has recently begun to pay dividends, being a mon that not only outspeeds and threatens out but also resists and easily Roosts on both of WaterShifu's STABs from the defensive spectrum without being as much of a momentum sink against U-Turn compared to other choices (Jet is the better filler on Band sets anyway due to how important being able to revenge Nihilego and Zam are) whilst providing the much desired Fog support, these traits are insanely valuable to have and Mence has both in addition to the ability to stack Intimidates with its common teammate Krookodile to help play around shit like Zeraora and Scizor, making for a very flexible pick overall. With some of Mence's own advantages being more pronounced now in the slower meta, the freedom it offers in the builder by being this nice offensive backbone that doesn't ease up on the gas, courtesy of the famed Dragon/Flying + Fire coverage giving it a respectable offensive presence while simultaneously making things harder for the majority of setters to keep hazards up on is something that allows it to perform pretty well imo and this niche definitely feels above most of the lower ranks for me. Don’t have much else to add, but here’s a replay vs lupla that shows its offensive potential even tho I end up getting a MU where Mence is unable to make use of the utility.

Dragon Dance sets have also seen some use on various HOs, (albeit not to the mainstream level of the Utility set) so I'll briefly mention it here. Unlike its competition DNite and even MAltaria, Mence carries more speed and power with Moxie in this role and can opt to use Life Orb without as much drawback, further highlighting the differences and ultimately giving the squad the leg-up when it comes to translating the limited turns they usually have into important KOs.
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Salamence Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 328-387 (101.2 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Dragonite Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 250-296 (77.1 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Altaria-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 238-282 (73.4 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

+1 252 Atk Life Orb Salamence Earthquake vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 322-380 (76.3 - 90%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Dragonite Earthquake vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 246-290 (58.2 - 68.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Altaria-Mega Earthquake vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 234-276 (55.4 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

4 SpA Life Orb Salamence Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 299-354 (89.5 - 105.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 Atk Dragonite Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 144-170 (43.1 - 50.8%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
4 SpA Altaria-Mega Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 230-272 (68.8 - 81.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Much more immediate, consistent damage


to B-


I think dropping Volcanion to C is a little harsh personally, as it can be quite the offensive menace itself, and also feels above most of the lower-rank stuff for me. The main allure over other fires that are currently thriving against the majority of the defensive meta atm is STAB Steam Eruption, which is critical for allowing it to get around the bulky ground types that would otherwise cause trouble with the exception of the more niche Gastro and Toad (the latter of which hates having to constantly Refresh off repeated poisons anyway), while also being a pain to switch into for other resists like MAltaria with it's Burn chance. On top of this, Volc can also Defog on it's own, which isn't bad due to it terrifying most of the aftermentioned grounds that coincidentally act as rockers, and by extension one of the spikers in Skarm.
 
VR update coming soon and a lot has changed since the last one, here are a few more noms I wanted to get in

:SS/Gligar: B- -> B

The number of threats this thing can check is insane. Being the single best Melmetal counter in the tier is huge, its immunity to both status moves and ability to avoid the 2HKO from DIB is unique in pokemon with recovery. It compresses Fighting resist, Ground immunity, Ground type, Toxic immunity, and one of Defog and Stealth Rock. Toxic, Knock Off, and U-turn are great 4th moves that allow it to generally avoid passivity. Notably, I think Gligar is the only defogger in the tier able to switch in on Nihilego. Immunity to Toxic also allows it to safely Defog on the defensive grounds of the tier, making it a surprisingly impressive defogger. The mon has issues with dealing damage and preserving momentum, but its Herculean ability to eat hits give it a genuinely useful niche in teambuilding.
Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SpD or 252 HP / 32 Def / 224 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Defog / Stealth Rock
- Toxic / U-turn / Knock Off

The 1st spread avoids the 2HKO from modest Hyper Voice Mega Altaria, while dumping Def to be a blanket check to physical attackers.
The 2nd spread sacrifices some of its solidity as a Melmetal answer to avoid the 2HKO from LO Zam's Psychic and speed boosting Nihilego's Meteor Beam into Grass Knot.

There are tons of benchmarks you can hit with this mon, the spreads I've mentioned obviously aren't the only possibilities. Here are a few calcs that show off Gligar's revolting bulk.
252+ Atk Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 148+ Def Eviolite Gligar: 140-168 (41.9 - 50.2%) -- approx. 0.4% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Manectric-Mega Overheat vs. 252 HP / 108 SpD Eviolite Gligar: 119-141 (35.6 - 42.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Infernape Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 148+ Def Eviolite Gligar: 127-151 (38 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 148+ Def Eviolite Gligar: 124-147 (37.1 - 44%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 108 SpD Eviolite Gligar: 124-147 (37.1 - 44%) -- guaranteed 3HKO


:SS/Alakazam: A+ -> S-

Alakazam is arguably the most influential mon in this tier, it's easy to build otherwise solid teams which get absolutely smashed by zam. The combination of speed and power makes Alakazam both an effective breaker and cleaner, but its versatility is also underrated. Life Orb and Focus Sash are the only items it should run, but they both drastically change the counterplay to the Alakazam, and it's nearly impossible to tell which item an Alakazam might have from team preview. Its movepool also offers everything it might need. Psychic and Focus Blast are seen on almost every Alakazam, but I'd say all of Nasty Plot, Shadow Ball, Grass Knot, Hidden Power Fire, Counter, Knock Off, and Substitute (a bit fishy but decent imo) are viable in the final 2 slots. These all have the potential to cripple or simply blow past Alakazam's answers. Adding S- for it might be a bit controversial, but I don't think A+ properly showcases how excellent this thing is right now.


:SS/Manectric-Mega: A- -> B+

This mon has been getting harder and harder to justify imo. Its excellent speed tier and solid coverage are appealing, but it often fails to take advantage of this. Manectric typically requires perfect prediction to have success. For example, overheating on the Amoonguss switch isn't easy when accompanying ground types like Swampert and Rhyperior are valid switch ins to any move other than HP Grass. This mindgame must be won multiple times throughout the match to make progress, and allowing Amoonguss opportunities to Regen off the damage resets all progress. Mega Altaria and Rotom-Heat put Manectric in a similar situation, forcing it to spam Volt Switch to wear them down while somehow avoiding giving a free switch into the opposing team's ground type. There are also mons which completely blank Manectric such as Hippowdon, AV Tangrowth, and Gligar. Finally, it bears the title of speed control which cannot OHKO Alakazam, which is quite a tough pill to swallow in this zam dominated meta. To use it effectively, the team essentially requires spikes, a solid Alakazam answer, and a volt turn core (which Manectric admittedly does contribute to). This is difficult to fit and a lot of support for a pokemon in the A ranks.


Gonna throw in some quick ones these mons are all trash please eviscerate them

:SS/Diggersby: B+ -> B
It still kills things but too hard to build around to be good in the tier. Definitely not on the same level as stuff like Mienshao, Bisharp, Salamence. Honestly it could drop lower but I'll be conservative. Half of B+ could drop, I just haven't used them so I won't write noms myself.

:SS/Suicune: :SS/Dracozolt: B -> C
Who uses this?

:SS/Mimikyu: :SS/Starmie: :SS/Shuckle: :SS/Sharpedo-Mega: B-/C -> UR
lol
Sharpedo and Mimikyu were already nommed to C but they're trash af, should be UR.
 
With NDPL over, it's time to release a new VR update!

Rises:
:zeraora: Zeraora - A -> A+
:nihilego: Nihilego - A- -> A
:rotom-heat: Rotom-Heat – A- -> A
:buzzwole: Buzzwole – B+ -> A-
:celesteela: Celesteela – B+ -> A-
:moltres-galar: Moltres-Galar – B+ -> A-
:zarude: Zarude – B+ -> A-
:bisharp: Bisharp – B -> B+
:hatterene: Hatterene – B -> B+
:seismitoad: Seismitoad – B- -> B
:necrozma: Necrozma – C -> B-
:ninetales-alola: Ninetales-Alola – C -> B-
:reuniclus: Reuniclus – C -> B
:slowbro-galar: Slowbro-Galar – C -> B+
:volcanion: Volcanion – C -> B-
:salamence: Salamence – UR -> B+
:mienshao: Mienshao – UR -> B+
:roserade: Roserade - UR -> B
:jellicent: Jellicent – UR -> B-
:beedrill-mega: Mega Beedrill - UR -> C
:deoxys-defense: Deoxys-Defense - UR -> B+
:tornadus: Tornadus-Incarnate – UR -> B-
:arctozolt: Arctozolt - UR -> B-
:weezing-galar: Weezing-Galar - UR -> B-
:mandibuzz: Mandibuzz - UR -> C
:arctovish: Arctovish - UR -> C
:zygarde-10: Zygarde-10% - UR -> C

:zeraora: Zeraora - A -> A+ - Most of the reasonings I heard for this rise that weren’t just rehashing what it already did were mentioning it as being the only decent speed control faster than Alakazam that isn’t a scarfer and being able to revenge the aforementioned Alakazam. So that such an important rise isn’t short, let’s just restate what we already knew it did – volt switch a lot, spam Knock Off, kind of volt block, and deter most volt immunes. There were also mentions of a Bulk Up set but opinions on that were divided between “it sucks ass” and “it’s better than Boots”.
:nihilego: Nihilego - A- -> A - Arguably overdue, but Nihilego's Meteor Beam speed boosting Beast Boost set is extremely dangerous, as well as offering a number of valuable traits, such as being one of the few offensive Stealth Rockers that don't lose to every defogger. Heck, Nihilego comes in on a fair few of our Defoggers (Moltres and Mega Altaria sets lacking Earthquake) and can deter even the ones it doesn't have the ability to hard into, chip damage notwithstanding, from defogging in its face (Rotom-Wash can't OHKO or cripple it while it takes a whole ton of damage from Meteor Beam or boosted Sludge Wave, and Dragonite and Salamence lose for fairly obvious reasons, especially as Defog Salamence rarely runs Earthquake).
:rotom-heat: Rotom-Heat – A- -> A – Rotom-Heat’s Nasty Plot 3 attacks set (Overheat, Thunderbolt/Volt Switch, and Hidden Power Grass) is extremely difficult if not impossible to deal with defensively right now, and it is one of the few good stops to Mixed Mega Altaria. Scizor becoming more prominent thanks to Alakazam also helps, as Scizor is mostly setup bait for Rotom-Heat. Overall, a very scary Pokemon to face right now, and definitely deserving its rise.
:buzzwole: Buzzwole – B+ -> A- - Offensive Roost sets of Buzzwole are scary to face and act as a decent check (or at least pivot) to a few threats, namely Melmetal, Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, Scizor, and Krookodile. It can also choose to run Life Orb to become a truly devastating wallbreaker, Heavy-Duty Boots to make wearing it down harder, or Rocky Helmet if you really want to deter Urshifu-Rapid-Strike from clicking Surging Strikes.
:celesteela: Celesteela – B+ -> A- - You couldn’t live with your failure, so where did that bring you? Back to meOnce laughed at as a worse, easy to wear down Skarmory whose viability rested on the shoulders of Autosteela, SpDef Celesteela returns with a vengeance to save the meta from dangerous threats like Alakazam (especially Alakazam) and deal with the threats that Skarmory misses out on. Autosteela is of course also still a really solid HO mon.
:moltres-galar: Moltres-Galar – B+ -> A- - RestTalk is still really solid for Alakazam and double dance is insanely scary on HO.
:zarude: Zarude – B+ -> A- - It’s one of the few scarfers that doesn’t suck, and a pretty neat pivot for teams.
:hatterene: Hatterene – B -> B+ - Hatterene is able to keep rocks off its side with ease thanks to it walling most of our rockers by virtue of having just enough bulk and Magic Bounce, to the extent it can make hazard weak Pokemon without boots tolerable to build with. It’s also a pretty scary Calm Minder, with Draining Kiss healing it up enough for it to not die, Giga Drain to deal with Swampert and Mystical Fire to frazzle most steels once Melmetal is dead.
:seismitoad: Seismitoad – B- -> B – Even with Slowking-Galar gone, Seismitoad’s Water Absorb makes it a decent deterrent to Primarina clicking Hydro Pump, and Knock lets it cripple a surprising amount of stuff. Not to mention that Stealth Rock gives it significant utility. It’s no Swampert, but plenty sufficient for what you want it to do it.
:necrozma: Necrozma – C -> B- - Mew left, meaning this thing isn’t so grossly outclassed as an offensive psychic that it’s only being kept ranked by Stealth Rock. Necrozma is a decent offensive rocker that leverages its high all around bulk to get up rocks relatively consistently while slamming a number of typical Defoggers with a rather powerful Photon Geyser, as well as spam Knock Off.
:salamence: Salamence – UR -> B+ - Surprisingly enough, Life Orb (which Dragonite cannot run for obvious reasons) Dragon Dance sets with Outrage/Earthquake/Fire Blast as coverage lacks all of the crippling problems Offensive DD Dragonite has – namely, it can actually break sorta bulky pivots at +1. Outrage may seem strange in a meta with Mega Altaria and Primarina, but you’re only probably going to see one or the other as they’re our only truly good non HO lead fairy types, and if you can get rid of them then Salamence goes off. +1 Earthquake is also reasonably strong as well, doing similar damage to non LO Dual Wingbeat. Additionally, and arguably the more notable set, is its Defog set, which is fast enough to be able to revenge kill Urshifu-Rapid-Strike and with Intimidate it comes in on everything bar Ice Punch pretty comfortably.
:mienshao: Mienshao – UR -> B+ - Mienshao is a pretty solid scarfer with a lot of longevity thanks to Regenerator, being able to revenge kill basically every threat that you want to revenge kill with a scarfer bar maybe Mega Altaria. It can also distribute Knock Offs and U-turn into breakers. It also has a Life Orb set which functions similarly to LO Buzzwole but instead of bulk it has longevity, thanks to Regenerator negating Life Orb’s recoil and it taking half the normal damage from rocks. It’s also relatively speedy even without Choice Scarf, revenging a respectable number of Pokemon with that alone.
:roserade: Roserade - UR -> B – It’s an offensive Spiker (rare enough already) that beats pretty much every relevant Defogger, and has the added bonus of being able to pivot in on Primarina and threaten to revenge kill it.
:jellicent: Jellicent – UR -> B- - Jellicent is a decent bulky physical wall on its own, but also has a really nasty Will-O-Wisp Hex Taunt set which is extremely infuriating for balances to deal with. Thanks to Recover, it is the hardest of hard stops to Urshifu-Rapid-Strike we have, and can spread status to make it truly terrifying to deal with late game.
:beedrill-mega: Mega Beedrill - UR -> C – Yes, you read that right. Mega Beedrill, the former joke mon that everyone only spoke about in terms of “well, at least it’s not as bad as Mega Beedrill!”. I mean, it’s still pretty bad but now it has the niche of being a Pursuit trapper that is faster than Alakazam, isn’t a scarfer and doesn’t entirely suck ass. Yes. You heard that right. It got ranked because of Pursuit. Scarf Krookodile is indeed so bad and pathetically weak that people would rather use freaking Mega Beedrill. It’s still hard walled by a lot (and I mean a lot), has a rocks weakness that mandates no less than two Defoggers (or one Defogger and a Hatterene) but it can at least U-turn on walls and spread Knock Offs if there’s no Alakazam.
:deoxys-defense: Deoxys-Defense - UR -> B+ - Mew got yote so this is pretty much the only good bulky spiker we have that isn’t Skarmory.
:tornadus-incarnate: Tornadus-Incarnate – UR -> B- - A reasonably strong flying type offensive pivot that’s fast enough to revenge kill certain threats. Nasty Plot can also be pretty scary at times, being bulky enough to avoid being OHKOd by most priority.
:arctozolt: Arctozolt - UR -> B- - Arctozolt in Hail can be kinda scary. But, if you plan on building with this thing, I strongly suggest both foregoing the pretense of being able to check everything and focus on pressuring the opponent so much they don’t have time to crush you with one of the 5 mons you will inevitably have issues with, which is helped by pairing it with Arctovish. Yes, I am suggesting double Arcto hail.
:weezing-galar: Weezing-Galar - UR -> B- - Weezing-Galar is a Defogger that doesn't lose to most rockers, checks a reasonable amount of scary mons (Mega Altaria, Zarude and Krookodile) while compressing all of that with a ground immune.
:mandibuzz: Mandibuzz - UR -> C – It’s a much more passive Moltres-Galar with Defog, U-turn and Knock Off, not that it has the space for all three on any given set, lest you ditch Whirlwind or Toxic, which makes you total setup fodder for a lot of things.
:arctovish: Arctovish - UR -> C – It forms the double Arcto Hail core, allowing Hail to keep up enough pressure to hopefully not need to confront the fact the team probably loses to like 5 things.
:zygarde-10: Zygarde-10% - UR -> C – It’s an offensive mon that can check Rotom-Heat and is reasonably difficult to deal with if you're not packing Tangrowth.

Drops:
:skarmory: Skarmory - A+ -> A
:keldeo: Keldeo - A- -> B+
:diggersby: Diggersby – B+ -> B
:gastrodon: Gastrodon – B+ -> B
:grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl – B+ -> B
:dracozolt: Dracozolt – B -> B-
:suicune: Suicune – B -> B-
:togekiss: Togekiss -> B -> C
:chandelure: Chandelure – B- -> C
:crawdaunt: Crawdaunt – B- -> C
:mimikyu: Mimikyu – B- -> UR
:sharpedo-mega: Sharpedo-Mega – B- -> C
:sylveon: Sylveon – B- -> C
:muk-alola: Muk-Alola – C -> UR
:pyukumuku: Pyukumuku – C -> UR
:quagsire: Quagsire – C -> UR
:shuckle: Shuckle – C -> UR
:umbreon: Umbreon – C -> UR

:skarmory: Skarmory - A+ -> A - While Skarmory is certainly still an effective Pokemon, it simply doesn't offer the things a Steel type is preferred to have nowadays. Many things a Steel type is expected to check are special attackers nowadays, and Skarmory is woefully unprepared to take on the ones Steels are needed for most, namely Alakazam and Nihilego. This is of course not mentioning the resurgence of Mixed MAlt, making Skarmory an unreliable check to a mon Skarmory is usually the best check in the tier for. It's still really good but it just doesn't fit with the rest of A+ anymore.
:keldeo: Keldeo - A- -> B+ - Keldo is a hard sell over Urshifu-Rapid-Strike and Primarina, not to mention Assault Vest Tangrowth is now becoming the dominant set which pivots on Keldeo quite dandily, if not outright walling some sets. SpDef Slowking's rise to prominence is also a massive blow to Keldeo, as it completely stonewalls every set and can either take it out itself or Teleport into a revenge killer, of which there are several (Zeraora, Alakazam, etc.). While the extra speed over Primarina it has isn't useless, it's hard to justify over Primarina's sheer power, vastly more spammable Moonblast, and easier time dealing with fat grasses.
:diggersby: Diggersby – B+ -> B – Really hard to set up with, doesn’t like CB Aqua Jet Urshifu-Rapid-Strike being the dominant set now, generally overwhelmed and there’s better physical HO mons, a playstyle that is already suffering. It also doesn’t appreciate faster normal resists being a thing too. Just overall too meh for B+.
:gastrodon: Gastrodon – B+ -> B – Swampert’s Flip Turn and Seismitoad’s Knock Off and its own Water Absorb are considerably more valuable than what Gastrodon offers right now, which is mostly just passivity and Recover, not to mention the former two also have Stealth Rocks.
:grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl – B+ -> B – HO is just kind of meh right now, and Grimm has dropped to reflect that.
:togekiss: Togekiss -> B -> C – There’s no stall for it to break. The only thing really keeping it ranked is a Scarf Healing Wish (how did nobody on the council check if it actually got this? Because it doesn't get HW :/) set's role compression.
:mimikyu: Mimikyu – B- -> UR – HO is at a low and Mimikyu was pretty bad on it anyways. It only really serves as an emergency check to sweepers but the ones it does check either aren’t common or beat it anyways, or HO already runs mons that stop them anyways (e.g Celesteela for Mega Altaria), making Mimikyu pointless.

And before you ask, yes, this IS the first slate in a long time where more mons rose than dropped. Sadly, the trend of 3+ months between each update resumed.
 
Celebrating what might be my post to finally change my name im gonna do some VR noms after a while!


:ss/alakazam:From A+ to S-

This mon is broken, please ban it, i don't wanna repeat EVERY single sentence that i made from this thing because not only people covered it a lot but i also made another post in regards of it.


:ss/deoxys-defense: From B+ to A-/A

Ever since Mew got banned, Deo-D established itself as its own threat that you have to keep in mind despite being a worse version of Mew in some aspects. Spikes sets are a replica of what Mew used to do back then but without the speed or wisp that allows it to deal better with the pursuiters but the extra bulk alongside Pressure is enough to keep the progress while also being a soft check to threats such as Support M-Altaria and Salamence or even Moltres if played correctly and Taunt alongside Pressure helps a lot vs other hazard setters such as Skarmory, Swampert, Hippowdon, the Nidos, etc. The issue with this set is that its often too passive for its own good which makes it somewhat easy to shut down via certain setup sweepers like SD Blaziken, MBeam Nihilego, NP Rotom-Heat or things like Aegislash taking full advantage to mess the team up. Status also destroys this mon's entire defensive utility and makes it harder to keep hazards or check things through a game alongside the common hazard stacking, but despite the drawbacks its still a really good option for Spikes that sets itself apart from Roserade or Skarmory via great support moves as well as not being weak to Psychic or Electric compared to them as well as being able to outlast most of the defoggers.

Now for the REAL deal is the Demon Deo-D set that was causing so much struggling in various matches due to having almost every perfect tool to pull it off effectively (thanks kate), when investing into max speed and not focusing on hazards makes your list of good matchups extremely good as the speed tier allowing you to not only outspeed a decent chunk of the meta but also being a better check to even things like DD Mixed M-Altaria and taking better advantage of the stuff it normally shut downs with Taunt. This set eliminates the weakness that Spikes set had which was the passivity that it brought in exchange of something that can easily win you the game on the spot and if done correctly, it can setup even on the face of things like Zarude or Non-Taunt Krookodile which usually have great matchups but they fall down once a turn of Cosmic Power has been achieved. and if you don't believe me then just watch this replay of me winning agaisn't mareanie despite all the great matchups available on his position due to 1 turn of setup https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1506680270-j4z9nswun0wytit71hds49lcv4db1wipw

The set itself does have its issues (some of them are the same as the spikes set too) like common regen cores are able to shut down the strategy completely, which mandates pursuit support in order to handle things like Guss and Slowking cores, Spikes are needed in order to maximize its potential agaisnt bulkier builds which could outlast deo-d in some ocassions but defoggers like Salamence are able to prevent these from dropping in and just like the Spikes set, status kills the strategy completely, lastly the fact that it wants to remain healthy means it cannot come in as pleasantly as before and its still vulnerable to hazards. This set is really a fishy one as it can either win you the game on the spot or just being dead weight and used as a sacrifice later but it doesn't deny how much of an impact it ended up having, so much so that some people consider it being an unhealthy presence.

:ss/dracozolt: From B- to B

Honestly i found this thing to be really fun to mess around with (even if i was using a really wack set that somehow was a game winner sometimes), Sand is quite interesting to mess around with and SpDef Hippo has always been a great option that also carries Zolt and the current meta has some stuff that Zolt greatly appreciates to take advantage of such as G-Moltres, Celesteela, higher use of Scizor as well as having an interesting typing that gives it quite a good defensive profile in taking a few hits from Zeraora, M-Manectric, Moltres or the Rotoms. it still has most of the same issues of relying in either your Z-Crystal in order to kill Hippo and Swampert or relying on Iron Tail in order to handle M-Altaria, being revenge killed by every scarfer or +1 Nihi and being out of sand has gotten a worse thing with Demon Deo-D being popular but now that i gained more experience with this mon, i think having it on B again might be nice.


:ss/grimmsnarl: From B to B+

Could this mon please not drop and raise for every 5 seconds? fr tho its always whenever we ban something that hurts HO, we end up getting more stuff that pushes it back to where it was. At the moment Double Dance G-Moltres, Belly Drum Azumarill and specially Swords Dance Blaziken alongside old threats such as DD Mixed M-Altaria, MBeam Autotomize Celesteela, SD Sciz or NP Rotom-Heat keep this mon relevant.

Stuff that im not gonna fully cover for now:

:blaziken: Add to A or A+ ngl but im still thinking A should be fine but i get why most people want A+ because of how absurd of a late game sweeper it is as it pmuch breaks everything from that point with barely any options left for the opponent.

:azumarill: Add to A-? Where is the Azu usage even at? even during the suspect there hasn't been much going around it which is kinda sad.

:tangrowth: From A to A+ I find this one kinda funny because of how much i keep using AV Tang since it covers up SO MUCH and Zam has never been more obnoxious to prep for and this, alongside Nihilego, are one of my favorite and fun picks in the tier.

:tentacruel: Add to C Mareanie told me a few things about tenta which are pretty cool trades for something that has been forgotten after a long time but i still gotta test it out (and also he would probably make a post about it before i do lol).
 
I was told by Mareanie to make something interesting for my 100th post but 'better safe than sorry' they say, here's a couple noms that I wanted to get in:

to A

I am possibly the biggest Zarude fan on the planet right now and no one's telling me otherwise. It's a really solid Pokemon in the current meta that packs a lot of the tools needed for it to compress several important tools into one slot that I'm a big fan of having myself, most notably a Water + Ground answer, Status absorber and Pivot vs said mons, DemonAegi + Rotom-W counter, and Scarfer for Offensive and BO teams that revenges stuff like Zam and Nihilego and doesn't suck. BU sets have also been especially threatening at times, being deceptively hard to wear down passively and using Z-Moves to threaten checks after a boost and other options like Pads have been experimented with on the Pivot set in recent times, namely giving it the ability to spam U-Turn versus RH users and Flame Body undeterred to improve its abiltiies as a pivot should the team have proper hazard control, which admittingly isn't hard to gain access to with a lot of options currently in the spotlight. Overall Zarude only looks to be improving as time goes and it's definitely making itself crucial to the success of many important teams.
BU also makes Zarude one of the few things in the tier that beats broken DeoD Kate, so checkmate on that.


to A-

The meta has been craving for a Rocker able to keep up with the rise of Defog, and Rhyp has been fitting the bill quite nicely. It absolutely has more than enough going for it to be considered an effective choice while Celesteela and Scizor are being used over Skarm, Tang is more often than not running AV sets over Phys Def, Moltres Rotom-H and non-Draco Mence are the common Defoggers which it's able to keep hazards against and simultaneously abuse the existence of to make notable progress with strong EdgeQuake coverage, and the tier's propensity to favor it's useful resistances and bulk in combination with the ability to force important trades that ultimately give it an edge over the other Grounds within a more important department on more common offensive structures. This utility really shouldn't be overlooked and Rhyp definitely has more than enough positive traits working together to shine now and offer some new breathing room in this metagame that warrants a niche as a solidified A-Rank Pokemon.

Mence should rise because of the flexibility it brings to the table as a Defogger which has since been discovered to be more useful than at previous glance. Using Mence also means you're running a Offensive Flying that can threaten several common hazard setters and cores like Roserade and Hippo + Skarm, and check other mons aside from Urshifu RS like Blaziken, Scizor and Zarude that unlike Moltres is less weak to Knock removing Boots and has Intimidate to boot. DD sets with Moxie are of course still really good for HOs that got better with the recent drops of Azu and Blaziken.

Other things I wanted to address and bring up, rlly brief:

:deoxys-defense: to A-/A: lupla explained this pretty well.

:gligar: to B: Stuff it offers fat is more than worth a rise, Melm + DemonAegi + Nihilego answer in addition to consistent Defog, Pivoting and immunities with reliable recovery means that it actually has a discernible niche over the other Grounds which is both important and useful in its own ways.

:arctovish: :mamoswine: to B-: A couple mons that were brought up in the cord which I think are more worth supporting than those in C so I'll briefly cover upon them. Arctovish is pretty much a requirement on Hail a second breaker to ensure that the style doesn't get out offensed and should be at the same rank as the other mandates. Mamo should rise because Ice Shard is useful for a lot of threats on offense rn, GMolt, Zam, Mence, Nihilego, Malt, the Skarm drop means that Knock actually sticks into the other answers used to handle it like the Rotoms, and because of the offensive typing that allows it to shit on Defensive staples and Regenerator cores commonly found on balances.

:steelix-mega: :suicune: -> lower: Both terrible mons that no one has ever used seriously over the course of a millennia. MLix is hard outclassed as a Steel by Melm and Rocks + immune vs Zera isn't worth the trade-off 9/10 times since you don't even keep hazards up vs the common Defoggers nor do you block any other Electric since they have moves to beat you anyways. Suicune simply does not get chances to setup in an offensively oriented meta while it loses to a bunch of top tiers, lacks resistances and is passive af. I'd vastly prefer Prima if I really wanted a Water CMer.
 
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I think that the VR currently is super out of place with the current meta. Lots of things are either too high or too low and a lot of them are theoretical stuff that sees no legitimate use, like, ever (or a lot of use and are ranked too low). I know usage doesn't equal viability, and especially in a tier like this where the playerbase isn't that high it can be difficult to keep track of a Pokemon their viability in the tier. However, with samples currently updated and a lot of common Pokemon on the samples sitting in low B tiers just doesn't sit right with me. Here are the current changes I'd make:

New

:bw/blaziken: New --> A+
Blaziken is one of the single best sweepers in the current metagame. Fire / Fighting / Rock coverage is insanely hard to cover defensively, especially since Rockium Z is often (if not always) used alongside it, being able to completely nuke lots of common defensive checks such as Mega Altaria, Slowking, Moltres, Dragonite and Salamence - Pokemon which wall the Fire / Fighting combo. Speed Boost is obviously great alongside this, since at +1 Speed, Blaziken is able to outspeed almost the entire tier barring Mega Beedrill and Scarfers. However, a common Choice Scarf user is Zarude, which Blaziken obviously takes full advantage of.

Setting can be a bit tough sometimes, due to Blaziken lacking a great initial Speed tier and mediocre bulk. However, common NDUU Pokemon like Scizor, Celesteela and Zarude allow Blaziken to actually stay in and set up a Swords Dance - even if they stay in for whatever reason. Don't even get me started on Blaziken behind Screens.

Another set I personally think is quite good is the Choice Band variant. Blaziken got U-turn this Generation, and works really well with pivoting cores. Pokémon like Slowking, normally a great pivot vs Blaziken, has a lot harder of a time to switch in now. Knock Off is also great, being able to Knock Off common switch ins like Salamence, Dragonite and Moltres. Knocking Off their Heavy-Duty Boots and letting them take Stealth Rock damage helps Blaziken immensely throughout the entirety of the game. Banded Flare Blitz or Close Combat also just hit insanely hard kek

There are a couple of reasons Blaziken shouldn't be S rank though. First of all, it just simply lacks the splashability that Melmetal and Mega Altaria have. It offers very little defensively and can be hard to actually get into the game. Azumarill has also recently dropped, and alongside Aqua Jet Urshifu-RS being a great option lately, it's easier to keep Blaziken in check.

:bw/azumarill: New --> A
This 'mon has single-handedly (alongside Blaziken dropping ig) revived Screens HO since Mew got banned. Don't get me wrong, HO was still fine, but it just missed that little oompf to be considered a great playstyle again like it once was. Belly Drum Azumarill is a terrific breaker or late game cleaner, having very little to stop it after a Belly Drum boost. Aqua Jet picks off faster threats like Zeraora and Mega Manectric, while +6 Play Rough and Knock Off just outright kill common defensive checks like Amoonguss, Tangrowth and Skarmory.
Choice Band is also great, and a well played Azumarill with a few Liquidation Defense drops can be an absolute nightmare to switch into.

Unlike Blaziken, Azumarill actually offers some nice defensive qualities to the table as well. Being Water / Fairy means you act as a soft check to common threats in the tier such as Urshifu-RS and Blaziken, which can be tough to find (Azumarill does this better than Primarina, since Primarina has significantly lower Defense + lacks (a strong) Aqua Jet to revenge kill Blaziken).

There are some problems with this 'mon though. Belly Drum sets can be hard to pull off if the opponent still has a faster Aqua Jet resist, which can be quite common at the moment. Zarude, Rotom-Wash, Salamence and Choice Band Urshifu-RS all fall under this category. Outside of Aqua Jet, Azumarill is also just quite slow, meaning it can have a hard time to get into the game and stay there for long. Overall, Azumarill has enough potential and defensive qualities which the tier currently really likes, but has a few problems to keep it from being the best of the best.

Rises

:bw/alakazam::ss/urshifu-rapid-strike: A+ --> S-
Alakazam is stupid and people have commented on this enough. Not gonna waste my time on this except for that I completely agree with it.

Now for Urshifu-RS. This is not going to be a post about if I think Urshifu-RS is broken / unhealthy / restrictive or whatever, but simply me saying that Urshifu-RS is absolutely fucking incredible at the moment. I don't think any other Pokémon in A+ currently (outside of Alakazam) has the same amount of potential to just straight up and be the deciding factor in games. If you're facing a well played Urshifu-RS, it genuinely is one of the scariest 'mons you'll face in this tier (Melmetal is scarier kek).

My biggest reasoning is the newly invented Protective Pads set (I've been using it for a while but now more people are starting to use it). Rocky Helmet is one of the most common items in the tier on defensive staples such as Amoonguss, Skarmory, Defensive Tangrowth and Buzzwole. Rocky Helmet was (and still is) used a lot because of the common multi hit moves the tier has - Double Iron Bash Melmetal and Surging Strikes Urshifu-RS for example. Now enter Protective Pads. Being able to simply ignore any form of passive chip damage from either Rocky Helmet or an unlucky Flame Body from Moltres is HUGE. This means Urshifu-RS will be insanely more consistent throughout the game than it ever used to be, and can pretty much always click Surging Strikes without getting punished, like, at all. U-turn spamming for free alongside breakers like Choice Band U-turn Blaziken which threatens the bulky Grasses for example. Because of this, you can't just slap on a Skarmory or Buzzwole on your team anymore and call your team fine vs Urshifu-RS. You just can't do that anymore, which is huge for Urshifu.

There has been one other invention though, which fully convinced me this Pokemon can go to S-. Taunt Urshifu-RS. It was used in the Triple Crown Tour and I've been kinda trying it out myself, and it's super solid. Since Pads can sometimes lack the initial power to power through Skarmory or Buzzwole as easily as Choice Band could, means that these two could just Roost the damage off and come in next time. Not anymore. They are literally forced to Roost since they'll get 2HKO'd next time, but Taunt totally prevents them from doing so. Also being able to Taunt Slowking from using Teleport and then U-turning yourself on it (meaning you get the momentum and it's relatively risk-free too, Psychic is pretty much never ran on standard Slowking), or if you want to be spicy and stay in on Roosting Mega Altaria. Here's a perfect game where Urshifu-RS would've dominated in a game with even Slowking and Buzzwole if it weren't for an unlucky crit.

This was all just one set too. Bulk Up Icium Z still shits on every check in existence as well (barring Slowking), and Choice Band is 100% still viable. This 'mon has a good amount of sets and it can be really hard to prep for every single one of them in a meta where so many dangerous offensive Pokemon are present.

All in all, I personally think Urshifu-RS has risen to the top of the meta (once again) and its threat level in the tier should really not be overlooked anymore.

:bw/amoonguss::bw/tangrowth: A --> A+
Both of these are like the most splashable walls in the tier currently. Rotom-Wash is insanely good, as well as Urshifu-RS, which both of these Pokémon take on comfortably most of the time. Amoonguss can still be a pain to switch into as always, between Sludge Bomb Poisons and Spore, which no 'mon in the tier really likes outside of stuff like your own Amoonguss and Roserade (or Sleep Talk Chandelure kek).

Tangrowth is just Tangrowth. AV is good as you literally pivot into everything and Knock something Off or Sludge Bomb Poison something as well. AV is also like one of the better checks to Alakazam (pray they're not Counter), Defensively at least. Celesteela is also at an all time high currently, which AV Tangrowth also cucks.

:ss/zarude: A- --> A+
I am possibly the biggest Zarude fan on the planet right now and no one's telling me otherwise. It's a really solid Pokemon in the current meta that packs a lot of the tools needed for it to compress several important tools into one slot that I'm a big fan of having myself, most notably a Water + Ground answer, Status absorber and Pivot vs said mons, DemonAegi + Rotom-W counter, and Scarfer for Offensive and BO teams that revenges stuff like Zam and Nihilego and doesn't suck. BU sets have also been especially threatening at times, being deceptively hard to wear down passively and using Z-Moves to threaten checks after a boost and other options like Pads have been experimented with on the Pivot set in recent times, namely giving it the ability to spam U-Turn versus RH users and Flame Body undeterred to improve its abiltiies as a pivot should the team have proper hazard control, which admittingly isn't hard to gain access to with a lot of options currently in the spotlight. Overall Zarude only looks to be improving as time goes and it's definitely making itself crucial to the success of many important teams.
BU also makes Zarude one of the few things in the tier that beats broken DeoD Kate, so checkmate on that.
This but these reasonings should make it A+ instead. It's also on like 4/9 Sample Teams (two of which are HO, which Zarude is never on anyway, so realistically it's on 4/7), it's just so fucking splashable lmao.

:ss/celesteela::bw/hippowdon: A- --> A
Alakazam is still broken so Specially Defensive Celesteela is our saving grace currently. AutoSteela has also been doing really well currently and can overwhelm many teams, especially since some people have started running Giga Drain more to hit targets like Rotom-Wash.

Hippowdon is the single most splashable Rocker in the tier and y'all can't tell me otherwise. Cucking both Electrics in the tier in one slot is something only Gligar could maybe do (but it hates getting Knocked by Zeraora so yeah...). Y'all may say that Swampert is better, and maybe it is, but Hippo's access to Slack Off is huge for longevity. Sand teams are also getting more experimented with, since Dracozolt can be a big threat under the right circumstances, and Hippo is obviously the weather setter for those teams. It's also just been used a lot in tours and it's present on a lot of the current samples, indicating Hippo is a clear and cut choice for the current meta and is incredibly consistent and viable.

:bw/deoxys-defense::ss/slowbro-galar: B+ --> A
Mfw I face Deo-D and I don't run Bulk Up Zarude or a Regenerator 'mon: :row:

Y'all need to start using Galarian Slowbro man. AV sets are so good since you sponge hits from legit every single Physical and Special Attacker in the tier (at least once) and get off a Future Sight. Has a better matchup vs Zarude than regular Slowking (and Zarude has been insanely common lately), which is great, since Zarude is a common Future Sight absorber.

Calm Mind sets are also still good. Scald + Sludge Bomb can fuck up a lot of checks still, and unlike Galarian Slowking, you can stay in more often vs Pokemon like Hippowdon and Swampert to fish for a burn with Scald because of your way higher Defense stat.

:bw/dragonite::bw/rhyperior::bw/salamence: B+ --> A-
The meta has been craving for a Rocker able to keep up with the rise of Defog, and Rhyp has been fitting the bill quite nicely. It absolutely has more than enough going for it to be considered an effective choice while Celesteela and Scizor are being used over Skarm, Tang is more often than not running AV sets over Phys Def, Moltres Rotom-H and non-Draco Mence are the common Defoggers which it's able to keep hazards against and simultaneously abuse the existence of to make notable progress with strong EdgeQuake coverage, and the tier's propensity to favor it's useful resistances and bulk in combination with the ability to force important trades that ultimately give it an edge over the other Grounds within a more important department on more common offensive structures. This utility really shouldn't be overlooked and Rhyp definitely has more than enough positive traits working together to shine now and offer some new breathing room in this metagame that warrants a niche as a solidified A-Rank Pokemon.

Mence should rise because of the flexibility it brings to the table as a Defogger which has since been discovered to be more useful than at previous glance. Using Mence also means you're running a Offensive Flying that can threaten several common Hazard setters and cores like Roserade and Hippo + Skarm, and check other mons aside from Urshifu RS like Blaziken, Scizor and Zarude that unlike Moltres is less weak to Knock removing Boots with Intimidate to boot. DD sets with Moxie are of course still really good for HOs that got better with the recent drops of Azu and Blaziken.
Quote applies to Rhyperior and Salamence.

Dragonite should also rise. It works different from Salamence, trading more bulk for less Speed, and Multiscale over Intimidate / Moxie. I personally think that's pretty big. First of all, you act as a way better check to a decent amount of 'mons in the tier, such as Zeraora, Mega Manectric and Alakazam - all because of Multiscale and added bulk that Salamence doesn't have. This is insanely valuable and can lead to your team not being overwhelmed immediately, which Salamence can sometimes struggle with.

:ss/grimmsnarl: B --> B+
HO is good again kek

:bw/roserade: B --> B+
One of the more splashable Spikers we have currently. Takes huge advantage of Rotom-Wash, our best Defogger, and has been showing up on more teams lately. Even non-Spikes sets are great (just Giga Drain / Sludge Bomb / HP Fire can be quite hard to wall actually).

:bw/gligar: B- --> B+
Stuff it offers fat is more than worth a rise, Melm + DemonAegi + Nihilego answer in addition to consistent Defog, Pivoting and immunities with reliable recovery means that it actually has a discernible niche over the other Grounds which is both important and useful in its own ways.
This, and being a Pokemon that legit counters both the TWave and Toxic Melm slot in one is insanely big. Also a part of the currently succesful Mega Bee + Hatt + Gligar core and Hatt is B+ sooo :blobshrug:

:ss/dracozolt: B- --> B
Honestly i found this thing to be really fun to mess around with (even if i was using a really wack set that somehow was a game winner sometimes), Sand is quite interesting to mess around with and SpDef Hippo has always been a great option that also carries Zolt and the current meta has some stuff that Zolt greatly appreciates to take advantage of such as G-Moltres, Celesteela, higher use of Scizor as well as having an interesting typing that gives it quite a good defensive profile in taking a few hits from Zeraora, M-Manectric, Moltres or the Rotoms. it still has most of the same issues of relying in either your Z-Crystal in order to kill Hippo and Swampert or relying on Iron Tail in order to handle M-Altaria, being revenge killed by every scarfer or +1 Nihi and being out of sand has gotten a worse thing with Demon Deo-D being popular but now that i gained more experience with this mon, i think having it on B again might be nice.
Just wanted to show my support here.

:bw/mamoswine: C --> B
Mamo should rise because Ice Shard is useful for a lot of threats on offense rn, GMolt, Zam, Mence, Nihilego, Malt, the Skarm drop means that Knock actually sticks into the other answers used to handle it like the Rotoms, and because of the offensive typing that allows it to shit on Defensive staples and Regenerator cores commonly found on balances.
This but it should be B instead. Also Ground + Ice STAB is broken.

:ss/beedrill-mega::bw/chandelure::ss/zygarde-10%: C --> B-
If anyone's been watching the latest tour, Mega Beedrill has been insanely good. Not gonna write too much about it here since I wrote a bit about here and here, but tl:dr meta is favourable for it because Alakazam is broken and Mega Bee outspeeds + a lot of teams use Melmetal or Steela as their Steels and Mega Bee has an easier time dealing with that than Skarmory + Scizor.

Chandelure takes advantage of Amoonguss being incredibly potent right now with using this particular set. Fire + Ghost STAB is incredibly hard to switch into and even resists take a shitload from Specs Overheat. Definitely more viable than some of the other crap in C rank.

Zygarde-10% is good because nothing like Arrows + Toxic. Also is like the only Pokemon in the entire game that gets a free switch into Rotom-Heat, the impossible-to-wall-Pokémon.

:bw/tentacruel::bw/vanilluxe: Unranked --> C
I don't have replays UUUUUUUUHH but basically Tentacruel is quite potent right now because it hard cucks Specially Defensive Celesteela and acts great as a secondary check to a lot of Pokemon like Mega Altaria, Blaziken, Urshifu-RS, Azumarill, Scizor and SubTox Aegi. We're in dire need of removal sometimes and Tentacruel has Rapid Spin which is great obviously.

Vanilluxe is good! Specs Blizzard overwhelms our Steels quickly and is just a generally fantastic breaker. I've been using this set and it's been good. Vanilluxe also has good showcases in current tour, here are some replays;
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1503270853-7n2ngqxr9zejexhcxiiay2g0ks5r1fppw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1507730516-6rx5s1r2hrbycildfmfol0dsmnhaoy4pw

Drops

:bw/skarmory: A --> A-
Lots of things going against it rn. Spikes are still really good, but ways to deal with Skarmory been popping up a lot more. Hatterene has been more common which cucks Skarmory since Body Press is its most common move, Defog Flamethrower Salamence exists now, Taunt Shifu is now a thing, Aegislash takes huge advantage of Skarm, free switches to the Rotoms etc. etc.

:bw/keldeo: B+ --> B
Has not been relevant much at all. Literally no one's using this, and whenever they're using it it's a Specs set - and all that happens is that they miss Hydro Pump and die as a sack somewhere mid game. It's probably because other Water-types are better fit on teams currently, and Grasses are really good rn so you don't want to stack too many Waters on your team, and Keldeo is likely one of the last Waters you're considering. Alakazam being at an all time high also ofcourse doesn't do it well.

:bw/infernape: B+ --> B-
Step aside Infernape, Blaziken dropped. On paper Infernape seems okay-ish (not sure), but realistically there will rarely be a scenario where you'd want Infernape as your breakers / sweeper. Blaziken is simply a better sweeper and breaker Infernape with AoA can just feel lacking sometimes.

:ss/diggersby: B --> C
This 'mon is shit. It should be really strong but no regular team wants to use this since it doesn't offer much defensively. Offensively it's strong, but then it fails to be an insane threat because of the ridiculously awkward Speed tier it provides. It can do something, sometimes, maybe on Offensive oriented teams. I'd love if people prove me wrong but every replay I see this 'mon just MISSES.

:bw/suicune: B- --> Unranked
Not relevant at all in a meta where Jungle Healing Zarude / Spikes Roserade and Regenator cores are at an all time high.

Can anyone genuinely explain to me why some of these are ranked and other Pokemon aren't? I just don't really understand the bar anymore. I know C rank is just weird like that but when's the last time anyone has seriously used Crawdaunt, Obstagoon, Scolipede, Mega Sharpedo, Starmie, Sylveon or Togekiss? And then a lot of currently Unranked Pokémon that are getting used (with success) like Venomoth or Noivern are nowhere to be seen. We need a tour people!!! I just don't see these 'mons and they never fit on my teams so I'm just confused what to think about them. Fuck C rank. All my homies hate C rank.
 
This is a fairly substantial update for rises, with the notable reintroduction of S- rank. This update's voting slate began during the Alakazam suspect but its effect was mostly on sets that mons ran rather than actual mon viability. That said, we did update our votes and discuss some things for the post Alakazam meta. Doing a mid suspect VR slate vote was debated but we agreed that given the time since the last updated, having one sooner than later was preferable to waiting another week for the post zam meta to settle. We also have in general lowered the requirements to be A+ worthy, especially given that, with Alakazam gone and (spoilers) Urshifu-RS rising to S-, A+ would be pretty barren otherwise and is no longer significantly higher than A rank to the extent it should be that way.

Rises:

:azumarill: Azumarill New -> A-
:blaziken: Blaziken New -> S-
:urshifu-rapid-strike: Urshifu-Rapid-Strike A+ -> S-
:amoonguss: Amoonguss A -> A+
:moltres: Moltres A -> A+
:rotom-wash: Rotom-Wash A -> A+
:tangrowth: Tangrowth A -> A+
:celesteela: Celesteela A- -> A
:hippowdon: Hippowdon A- -> A
:zarude: Zarude A- -> A+
:deoxys-defense: Deoxys-Defense B+ -> A
:rhyperior: Rhyperior B+ -> A-
:salamence: Salamence B+ -> A
:mienshao: Mienshao B+ -> A-
:slowbro-galar: Slowbro-Galar B+ -> A-
:grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl B -> B+
:roserade: Roserade B -> B+
:dracozolt: Dracozolt B- -> B
:gligar: Gligar B- -> B+
:jellicent: Jellicent B- -> B
:necrozma: Necrozma B- -> B
:volcanion: Volcanion B- -> B+
:chandelure: Chandelure C -> B
:mamoswine: Mamoswine C -> B
:zygarde-10: Zygarde-10% C -> B-
:tentacruel: Tentacruel Unranked -> B-
:vanilluxe: Vanilluxe Unranked -> C
:azelf: Azelf Unranked -> B-
:regieleki: Regieleki Unranked -> C
:noivern: Noivern Unranked -> C

:azumarill: - While the recently freed Azumarill is a pretty strong wallbreaker with one of the strongest priority moves in the tier, it generally faces competition from Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, and its low speed and lack of recovery can make it difficult to get in sometimes, neat defensive typing and all. However, its spammable Play Rough, ability to deter several typical Urshifu-RS checks from switching in like Mega Altaria, PDef Slowking and Buzzwole, and still pretty impressive powergive it plenty of merit over Urshifu-Rapid Strike. Additionally, its very dangerous Belly Drum set has almost singlehandedly revived Hyper Offense. Overall, we believe A- is a pretty accurate to its current standing in the metagame right now.

:blaziken: - Since it was discovered that Rockium was actually the best set due to it being able to hit several of its checks even after blowing the Z move, dealing with Blaziken has become far harder. It has few to no reliable answers and several have expressed concerns that preparing for it in the teambuilder is so hard its basically impossible. If it gets an SD, that's often the game. Additionally, it sets up on a few prominent defensive Pokemon like Amoonguss, Tangrowth and Skarmory, and Defensive Mega Altaria, which can usually stomach the Z at +2, is incapable of actually killing Blaziken, not to mention it has a good chance to die after rocks. It is an incredibly terrifying Pokemon to deal with, and we believe that S- is more than appropriate for the sheer respect this Pokemon commands in games.

:urshifu-rapid-strike: - Protective Pads + Taunt has breathed a new breath of fresh air into already one of the best Pokemon in the meta, allowing it to not only fire off Surging Strikes unimpeded by contact punishing, but use Taunt to keep several checks (namely Skarmory and Buzzwole, though of course a few others apply) to it from recovering, allowing it to chip and weaken them in the long run for later, and still U-turn out of undesirable matchups. This means that it can not only function for longer, but weaken shared checks for teammates. Compound this with the very effective Choice Band set and it's clear that Urshifu-Rapid-Strike is a cut above the rest of A+.

:amoonguss: - It's a balance staple that never dies and usually bags at least one mon with Spore. It is, without question, one of, if not the most important defensive Pokemon in the meta, and easily merits being A+.

:moltres: - Offensive Moltres is and has been for a while one of the most effective Defoggers and scariest Pokemon to switch into, having a near unresisted set of STABs and a substantial special attack stat of 125 to use. Additionally, it checks and breaks several prominent Pokemon and has few reliable defensive checks, the list basically only consisting of SpDef Hippowdon, Nihilego and Rhyperior. Overall one of the most splashable and effective Pokemon in the meta, it definitely has earned a spot in A+.

:rotom-wash: - It's our best defogger by a pretty decent margin, and also checks some pretty important things, namely Melmetal, Moltres, Belly Drum Azumarill, and more, all while being an effective Volt Switch pivot. It's easily one of the best VoltTurn mons around, and definitely one of the easiest to fit.

:tangrowth: - It's non passive, its fat, its tough to kill, and it checks a bunch of things - what's not to love about using it? While AV is much less mandatory with Alakazam gone, it's still pretty splashable, and PhysDef is still solid, especially given it's an Urshifu-RS check that doesn't get worn down by Pads Taunt. Oh, and it still cripples every switch in and its mother with Knock Off.

:celesteela: - While Alakazam is gone, it has become clear that Celesteela is generally the more useful Steel/Flying Pokemon right now by virtue of not being a fake steel like Skarmory has begun to feel like. It's an infinitely more effective check to Mixed Mega Altaria, checks Salamence, and doesn't have to fight a lengthy drawn out PP stall-off with Bulky SD Scizor like Skarmory often does. Oh, how the turns have tabled.

:hippowdon: - SpDef sets are very useful right now, checking Moltres, Rotom-Heat, Zeraora, and more, all while being the most reliable Volt immune in the tier. It's also a pretty reliable rocker too.

:zarude: - I think the number of sample teams with Zarude on them say it all. Zarude is an extremely splashable Pokemon with a diverse array of effective sets - from the pivot set making Aegislash, Rotom-Wash, Hippowdon, Slowking, Swampert and more non-problems, not to mention all the little sub variants of it like Protective Pads, Taunt, and more, to the Bulk Up Darkinium set tearing unprepared teams (which is a fair amount) a new one, to the Scarf set... existing, there aren't many teams where Zarude isn't at least a good option to consider.

:deoxys-defense: - Cosmic Power sets, often referred to as "Demon Deo", can be pretty scary, if a little matchup fishy. And by "pretty scary" I mean "crit multiple times in a row or lose". Granted, it's pretty useless against teams with multiple Regenerator mons/a regen mon + a mon with faster recovery like Salamence, a faster Toxic mon or Arceus forbid a Taunt or Bulk Up Zarude, but Spikes stack sets can be a little crazy at times, if passive. Demon Deo-D is the main reason it's placed so high at the minute, however.

:rhyperior: - Rhyperior has established itself as quite the effective Stealth Rock user with its SpDef Rocks + SD set, which allows it to set rocks against almost every defogger bar Rotom-Wash while also doubling as a pretty neat wallbreaker and checking dangerous Pokemon like Moltres and unboosted Rotom-Heat (sometimes being able to take a +2 Hidden Power Grass if it's full in a pinch with more spdef oriented spreads). Overall, it's one of the most consistent rockers that fit on BO right now, and a rise is definitely merited to reflect that.

:salamence: - Well if this mon isn't one of the biggest comeback stories in competitive mons? It got URed soon after Dragonite was freed, to being ranked again, to B+, and now it's outranking the mon that supposedly outclassed it in every relevant way. The extra speed allowing it to stop any Bulk Up Icium Urshifu-R shenanigans, the better power, and Intimidate make Salamence a generally much easier to fit Pokemon, also doubling as a sidegrade to Moltres. It's not as good as Moltres, obviously, but with how splashable Salamence is, it would be silly to not put it as high as it is. Life Orb Dragon Dance can also still pull some shenanigans too.

:mienshao: - Life Orb sets are nasty to switch into and, thanks to Regenerator, feel like they never die. The extra speed also gets the jump on several would-be checks and lets it U-turn out of several undesirable matchups. Choice Scarf sets are also pretty good for speed control, even if Alakazam going has made this slightly less mandatory. It's of course still pretty frail, but between Regenerator negating dealing with it via wearing it down with repeated pivots and being just fast enough that it can execute a hit and run strategy if needed, it would be wrong not to raise such a dangerous Pokemon.

:slowbro-galar: - While, of course, nothing like its Slowking equivalent, Slowbro-Galar is still an effective Calm Mind user and Assault Vest pivot, AV being one of the best Mega Altaria checks around and checking Pokemon like Moltres and Primarina on top of that.

:grimmsnarl: - Azumarill (and Blaziken to an extent) has made Hyper Offense relevant and effective once again, and Grimmsnarl is rising to reflect that.

:roserade: - It's still pretty much the best Spiker in the tier, and the only offensive one at that. Most importantly, it exploits the continued popularity of Rotom-Wash, the meta's best defogger, and can force out a fair number of other Pokemon, many of which rose this update, to boot.

:gligar: - Despite hitting only marginally harder than a wet blanket with Earthquake, there's no denying that Gligar can completely blank out several top tier Pokemon, like Melmetal, Aegislash and Blaziken, and its ability to U-turn largely mitigates its passivity.

:necrozma: - Alakazam is gone so it seems only fair to rise Necrozma. It's still a rocker that can beat every single Defog user we have while still packing a punch, after all, especially after a Meteor Beam.

:volcanion: - It might appear to just be a budget Primarina or Keldeo at first, but Volcanion has a number of traits these Pokemon simply don't have. It has Defog, and Fire STAB is generally quite lacking in resists here, especially when Steam Eruption vaporises (heh) most of the more common Fire resists. Additionally, it pretty comfortably deals with Azumarill and Primarina, while also checking Mega Altaria with Sludge Bomb. Substitute + Toxic sets can also be nasty to deal with, especially as it negates one of the most common status sponges around right now by virtue of its Fire STAB, while still hitting pretty hard.

:chandelure: - While initially glossed over in favour of Specs Aegislash, Choice Specs Chandelure's Fire STAB is currently quite beneficial in such a Zarude infested meta, and more than a justifiable use over Aegislash. Chandelure also deals with SpDef Celesteela much more easily than Aegislash does, wheras Aegislash has to fish for SpDef drops. Energy Ball also hits Hippowdon and Swampert, who would otherwise harass Aegislash, and its slightly higher speed does somewhat give it more opportunities to come in, and there is of course the matter of Chandelure having a free slot to mess with checks via Trick or other shenanigans.

:mamoswine: - Rising Mamoswine in the same update Rotom-Wash rose to A+ might seem a bit peculiar, but Mamoswine has a few traits and meta shifts in its favour that make it worth raising. For one, Skarmory, who otherwise walled it, has taken quite a hit in viability, and Celesteela simply can't handle Mamoswine as well. Its rocks set also keeps rocks up vs Salamence, and Ice/Ground is, as we know, almost unresisted. Ice Shard also handles Pokemon like Nihilego, Moltres-Galar, Salamence and Mega Altaria, and Knock Off cripples Rotom-Wash and Rotom-Heat, its only decent switchins right now (Knock and Ice Shard are slashed with each other on rocks btw).

:tentacruel: - Tentacruel has some decent role compression, compressing an Urshifu-R, Primarina and Azumarill check with a decent form of hazard control (it's also one of the very very few viable Rapid Spinners, with Starmie being about the only other viable one right now).

:vanilluxe: - Choice Specs Blizzard is pretty nasty to switch into, 2hkoing most relevant steels. It can also Freeze-Dry Rotom-Wash, negating it as a solid switchin, and Hail can chip down the enemy team to boot. It requires a fair amount of support but it's workable.

:azelf: - Alakazam is gone so it's no longer hideously outclassed as a psychic type beyond being a pretty decent suicide lead, possessing both Rocks and Explosion, as well as the speed to actually use both effectively.

:regieleki: - A Grimmsnarl alternative on HOs that need a way to quickly get in a sweeper like Belly Drum Azumarill or Blaziken with minimal chip. Any other set is still a total meme, by the way.

:noivern: - Fast Salamence, basically. It's a neat alternative on teams that need to fit speed control with an Urshifu-R check. It also has U-turn, unlike Salamence. Infiltrator can also mess with some Screens squads and Substitute mons. Mostly a carryover from Alakazam meta but still good enough that we decided to keep it ranked.


Drops:

:skarmory: Skarmory A -> A-
:manectric-mega: Manectric-Mega A- -> B+
:infernape: Infernape B+ -> UR
:porygon-z: Porygon-Z B+ -> B
:diggersby: Diggersby B -> C
:gastrodon: Gastrodon B -> B-
:nidoqueen: Nidoqueen B -> B-
:steelix-mega: Steelix-Mega B -> B-
:toxtricity: Toxtricity B -> B-
:arctozolt: Arctozolt B- -> C
:ninetales-alola: Ninetales-Alola B- -> C
:staraptor: Staraptor B- -> Unranked
:suicune: Suicune B- -> Unranked
:crawdaunt: Crawdaunt C -> Unranked
:obstagoon: Obstagoon C -> Unranked
:scolipede: Scolipede C -> Unranked
:sharpedo-mega: Sharpedo-Mega C -> Unranked
:sylveon: Sylveon C -> Unranked
:togekiss: Togekiss C -> Unranked

:skarmory: - Skarmory continues its fall from grace as more and more meta trends work against it. Pads Taunt Urshifu-R significantly hampers its effectiveness as an Urshifu-RS check, and has begun to suffer from massive Fake Steel syndrome, as steel types are needed more and more to deal with special attackers rather than physical. Its effectiveness as a Spiker is dampened significantly by Rotom-Wash and Moltres, and more and more Pokemon exploit the Body Press set, which it can't afford to drop lest it be a totally ineffective Melmetal check, of which it is one of the few solid switchins to (and even then, Thunder Wave can let Melm paraflinch its way through at the cost of a decent amount of PP). Ironically, Celesteela is now generally preferred.

:manectric-mega: - I accidentally typed 'L' instead of a colon for this thing's sprite, which I guess is a fitting description of this mon recently. SpDef Hippowdon and AV Tangrowth have grown in usage considerably, making it vastly less effective, especially in the former's case. Additionally, Amoonguss is as common as ever and can regen away Overheat chip without much difficulty while still forcing MMane out, Rhyperior can tank Hidden Power Grass (heck its even a roll to 2HKO SpDef somehow) and volt block it, Zeraora is still really good and generally outclasses it... I could go on. Even if using the mega slot isn't much of a downside due to it being the only not total booty mega aside from Mega Altaria, it's still a downside. Oh yeah, and basically any MAlt variant deals with it. Nothing's going right for Mega Manectric right now.

:infernape: - Blaziken outclasses its SD set entirely, and the NP set is walled by way too much. Choice Specs was mentioned, but in many MUs all it can do is click U-turn. Unranking it seems more than appropriate.

:porygon-z: - HO simply can't fit it right now and prefers Moltres-Galar, and AV Tangrowth and SpDef Hippowdon are huge pains for it too.

:diggersby: - We have much more reliable, easier to fit options than Diggersby, and as a priority sweeper BD Azu is just better. As a whole, the meta prefers its wallbreakers to have some utillity, usually defensive, aside from just breaking things, which Diggersby lacks. All it has are two immunities, one it can't use at all save for extremely brave clutch plays, and another it can only really use against Zeraora, who occasionally runs Close Combat for Krookodile - I don't need to explain Rotom-Wash, +2 Rotom-Heat outspeeds and vaporises it with Overheat, and Mega Manectric can 2HKO with Hidden Power Grass or even Overheat after rocks.It remains ranked mostly for its role as one of the chief abusers on Sticky Webs teams.

:gastrodon: - Hard to justify over other Ground types - Swampert and Seismitoad offer much more role compression, having rocks and either a pivoting move or Knock and a way to absorb status. Not bad, just out of place in a meta that tends to require a decent amount of role compression.

:nidoqueen: - Hard sell over Nidoking and generally faces competition from Hippowdon as a bulky rocker. It's stronger, sure, but it's not as bulky and has no recovery. Toxic Spikes exists I guess, but it's not super useful right now. It's generally awkward to fit.

:steelix-mega: - Generally just outclassed by Melmetal. Volt immune is nice but when am I using it over Hippowdon?

:toxtricity: - HO just prefers Moltres-Galar and other sweepers.

:arctozolt: and :ninetales-alola: - Hail just isn't a B- playstyle right now. Hippowdon being everywhere isn't great for it in general considering it can just reset the weather to sand.

:staraptor: - Scarf is outclassed by Mienshao, and otherwise it's got very similar issues to Diggersby. There's basically no situation where Staraptor is a good fit for your team.

:suicune: - It's overwhelmed by the plethora of wallbreakers we have, it especially despises the rise of Zarude, and we have better, more consistent Calm Minders with actual recovery options. Suicune at this point is just a relic of past gens of UU, funny PP stall shenanigans and all.

:obstagoon: - There is no stall for it to break and it is otherwise just a rehash of Diggersby. Which also outclasses Obstagoon as a wallbreaker. Yikers.

:scolipede: - It's a shitty version of Blaziken now and it wasn't very good even before that. It fails to kill many, if any at all of our defensive mons in a very balance oriented meta, even with Skarmory at a low.

:sharpedo-mega: - Spikes Stack non Screens HO, its previous haunt, hasn't been relevant for a long time, and it faces a lot of issues with Pokemon like Zarude, Melmetal, and others. Also Blaziken lmao

:sylveon: - If you want a wish passer, just use Wish Salamence if you already have another Defogger. It is hideously and hilariously outclassed in every other regard. There's not even any Alakazam for it to be an ineffective check to anymore. Honestly its unranking is long overdue.

:togekiss: - It was previously kept ranked for the Choice Scarf set's ability to Trick things, but I guess we realised that Trick Scarf is not really a good reason to keep a mon ranked. Bodying Zarude was brought up but we already have enough Zarude checks that keeping this thing ranked simply isn't worth it. With no stall for it to flinch to death, and a plethora of checks to it around, there's no reason to keep it ranked.

Voted on but weren't ranked:

:venomoth: Venomoth - funny meme mon that apparently won a tour game or two is funny but not necessarily viable. Sorry, but it's not a repeat of Mega Beedrill, folks. A more serious reason is why would you use this over our existing HO mons? I'd sooner use Porygon-Z or Toxtricity than use this, and both already compete heavily with Moltres-Galar.
:quagsire: Quagsire - A really hard sell over Gligar, especially as stall still isn't doing too good. It was discussed mainly for being a Blaziken counter but Gligar does the job almost as well while being a much more reliable answer to more relevant Pokemon. Granted, Quag is not negated as an answer to several of these mons by Knock Off but being somehow more passive than Gligar offsets this significantly.
 
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So I've noticed that the Viability Rankings have changed quite a lot in recent times, and thus I wanted to revamp the original TierMaker idea to be more in line with the current metagame. Several mons have also since been considered for a retest in the tier and discussed extensively within the community, so I'll also be giving people the choice to decide on that themselves.

Certainly looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks about the VR as it is. Keep in mind that other people's rankings will often be subjective and that your opinion is not a fact, but rather, you should use facts to support your opinions.

my-image (2).png

(Example VR based on current rankings)

TierMaker: https://tiermaker.com/create/natdex-uu-personal-rankings-v2-1620262

Excellent stuff as always N_Mareanie, like this post if you wanna show your appreciation for his commitment to the tier guys!

Edit: Noticed that some of the mons didn't port over to the TierMaker first time around, so this is fixed now. My bad.
 
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So I've noticed that the Viability Rankings have changed quite a lot in recent times, and thus I wanted to revamp the original TierMaker idea to be more in line with the current metagame. Several mons have also since been considered for a retest in the tier and discussed extensively within the community, so I'll also be giving people the choice to decide on that themselves.

Certainly looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks about the VR as it is. Keep in mind that other people's rankings will often be subjective and that your opinion is not a fact, but rather, you should use facts to support your opinions.

View attachment 415689
(Example VR based on current rankings)

TierMaker: https://tiermaker.com/create/natdex-uu-personal-rankings-v2-1620262

Excellent stuff as always N_Mareanie, like this post if you wanna show your appreciation for his commitment to the tier guys!
Cool idea! Imma join in.

Since I think generally the Viability Rankings are quite solid right now, I'll also be trying to rank all the 'mons on the VR in order of viability, instead of just alphabetical order.

1648640737981.png

(Lycanroc-Dusk, Gastrodon, Primarina, Mienshao were absent btw. I'd rank Lycanroc-Dusk between below Azelf, Gastrodon below Tornadus, Primarina below Salamence and Mienshao below Buzzwole)

Changes:
:zarude: A+ --> S-
:celesteela: A --> A+
:moltres-galar: A- --> A
:rhyperior: A- --> A
:gligar: B+ --> A-
:terrakion: B+ --> A-
:azelf: B- --> B
:steelix-mega: B- --> B
:zygarde-10%: B- --> B

:keldeo: B+ --> B
:manectric-mega: B+ --> B
:nidoqueen: B- --> C
:arctovish: C --> UR
:beedrill-mega: C --> UR
:mandibuzz: C --> UR
:vanilluxe: C --> UR

:ss/zarude:
I personally think Zarude is one of the most splashable and important glues in the meta right now. Between Aegislash being good as fuck, Rotom-Wash being on a shitload of teams and generally offering nice traits makes me believe it's one step ahead of every A+ mon. It can even achieve huge threat levels between Bulk Up Z-Move sets and even CB sets which I have experimented with a bit. Also Steelium Z kek

:ss/celesteela::ss/moltres-galar:
Rose both of these for the same reason. Incredibly potent HO sweepers which can sweep entire teams with a well timed flinch (be it from Air Slash or Fiery Wrath).

:ss/steelix-mega:
If dual status Melm is running TPunch, this 'mon walls it, which I think is enough to warrant a slight bump to the bottom of B.

:ss/arctovish::ss/beedrill-mega::ss/mandibuzz::ss/vanilluxe:
All these 'mons are just eh. Hail hasn't been seen a lot lately and Arctovish isn't even always present on that playstyle. Mega Beedrill lost a huge niche in Alakazam and Blaziken being banned, as it could outspeed both and revenge kill. Mandibuzz is shit. Vanilluxe is a funny niche breaker but requires too much team support to remain relevant in this meta.
 

Pubo

bom dia
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
my-image (2).png


Ok so here's my VR list! I tried to limit the number of Pokémon in the catagories S through A- so that it wouldn't be a complete mess. Also, Pokémon order in each category doesn't represent from best to worst, except S Rank ( where are primarina and shao lmao, prima would probably be a- (bye azu) and shao b+) Deo-D and Skarmory could be A- but we don't have space:row:

:ss/toxtricity: :ss/arctovish: :sm/beedrill mega: :ss/starmie: :ss/vanilluxe:

unrank all this Pokes please.
:toxtricity: Toxtricity is terrible, Specs is good on paper until you see that tox is really fucking slow and nihilego, rhyperior, aegislash, and scizor are everywhere, you can't find much opportunities to wallbreak or even set up with shift gear. Zeraora and even Mega Manectric are way more consistent as an Electric-type.

:arctovish: Hail is bad, Arctovish hits like a truck but it's slow even under Hail, while Mienshao and Zarude being the most popular Choice Scarf users right now is really terrible for this playstyle.

:beedrill mega: Well, Zam and chicken are gone, rip bee's niche.

:starmie:most hazard setters outlast starmie and salamence is way better defogger for offensive teams.

:vanilluxe:Interesting on paper, but trying to build a good team around this is annoying + most of the time you are playing a 5v6 game.

Pokes that should be ranked:

:infernape: Blaziken is gone so nape isn't completely bad, it's just bad.

:diancie: i already made a post on metagame discussion about dia. post

Future Retests:

:heat rock: :venusaur mega: Honestly i don't want to see Venusaur destroying NDUU so Drought and Venusaurite should't be the focus right now.

:Thundurus Therian: Nasty Plot sets would probably be really good but you can't find much setup opportunities with it, boots sets can be used too but they are generally worse Zeraora.

:latias: every single psychic-type in NDUU eventually become broken lmao. Latias versatility can be a pain do deal with but this also means that it has a really sad 4MSS, i would like to see Latias impact in the metagame.

MEGA CHARIZARD X AND MEGA MEDICHAM SUS WHEN?????
 
We have decided to update the main thread to include the VR thread rules and guidelines at the bottom of the OP after recent activity here, as it turns out those weren't actually there. The rules and guidelines for reference:

Posting Rules (PLEASE READ):
  • No one liners.
  • When nomming a currently unranked Pokemon, replays are mandatory.
  • Be polite and respectful. Flaming, namecalling, personal attacks and the like will not be tolerated.
  • Do not talk about ongoing suspects here. Use the Suspect thread for that. The VR thread is for the current meta, not what the meta might be in two weeks time after X mon is banned or Y mon is unbanned.
  • Do not make posts saying "I think X Pokemon should be Y rank" with no further elaboration or explanation.

Posting Guidelines:
  • Don't state obvious facts about a Pokemon (e.g "Urshifu-Rapid-Strike has a high base attack stat and high base power STABs"), talk about their position in the current metagame (e.g "Urshifu-Rapid-Strike significantly exploits the presence of <x core> in the metagame right now"). We are capable of looking their stats up on Pokemon Showdown as well, after all.
  • When nomming a currently unranked Pokemon, we strongly recommend only including replays against good teams/players - we're not going to take a nom seriously when its only replay features a Breloom or Donphan or a game where one player sacked every single one of their Mega Altaria checks for no reason, or let Scizor set up to +6 on their STAB choice locked Sylveon.
  • Usage is a valid argument to back up your point, but it absolutely should not be the entire argument for it. Remember, there have been multiple occasions where very clearly unviable Pokemon like Donphan have been used more than A+ or even S rank Pokemon.

If you have any questions, drop me a message either in DMs here or in the NatDex Discord.
 
:ss/gligar:

B+ to B

This Pokemon still has plenty of merit, as checking mons like Nihi and Aegi are important as well as the important role compression it provides like a Ground immune + Elec immune + removal in one slot, but its value has waned as of recent imo. Gligar is one of the few Pokemon that heavily dislikes Melmetal leaving, as it was basically the hardest check to it, meaning using Gligar is starting to become questionable. What also doesn't help is the fact that the builder is now less restricted. The meta is beginning to turn away from the fatter balances Gligar finds itself on, and towards bulky offenses, which tend to use more practical Grounds like Pert, Rhyp, and Krook. While they can't match Gligar's defensive profile, they are much easier to slot into teams and are much less passive. Other, less specialized removal options have become more popular, such as Rotom-W, Salamence, and Moltres.
 

Pubo

bom dia
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
it's me again but this time posting the VR nominations on the right thread :zonger:

Rises

:scizor: A+ -> S-

Melmetal's ban was pretty good for Scizor imo. Choice Band sets have one less "check" now, and basically every single check is in a bad situation after Knock Off (Moltres, Rotom-H, Celesteela). Skarmory being less popular than Celesteela is also epic for Scizor. Revenge killing most sweepers with Bullet Punch is especially good rn especially after Light Clay ban. SD sets or even 3A Pads are good too, this should definetely be S-.

:Terrakion: B+ -> A- or A

Terrakion is insane and idk why this thing is so low on VR. After SD, Rockium Z has no switch-ins and you can easily threaten most Defogers and find a good time to setup rn. Unboosted Rockium Z is also free KO against most offensive buids. Scizor being more popular is bad for it so A- is fine for me.

:infernape: UR -> B-

Already said abt this, look at metagame discussion posts :blobthumbsup:

:cobalion: B- -> B or B+

Rocks? Check!
Scizor/ Nihilego/ Zarude / Bisharp check? Yes!
Pivot with Volt Switch? Check!

Compressing a lot of important roles in one is really good for offense and Cobalion should rise some ranks to reflect that.


Drops

:deoxys defense: A -> A-

I really dont think DeoD is super threatening rn especially with Choice Band Scizor, CB Bisharp and BU Zarude being everywhere, + Roserade is way better as Spikes setter on offensive teams. A drop is valid here imo.


:celesteela: A -> A-

Well, Bisharp and Scizor are increasing in popularity and Celesteela is a really bad check for them. Knock Off removing its Leftovers is especially bad, and Alakazam isnt here anymore to haunt you. Celesteela still take on threats like Malt and Mence well unlike Skarmory, but i feel that a drop is valid here.

:grimmsnarl: B+ -> C or UR

Grimmsnarl without Light Clay is completely unviable and just a worse Regieleki. Regieleki can at least set both screens and use Explosion to generate momentum. I don't know how HO will be from now on but I think a relevant drop could reflect this. (honestly HO will probably not use Screens anymore)

:toxtricity: B- -> C

Use Gmoltes on HO instead of Tox please + this thing is fucking slow. Specs hits hard but you will generally use other, more viable Electric-types.
 
Alright so melm ban happened and now the tier is livelier than ever with a whole new spin on teambuilding and all that jazz. This post is meant to show some initial thoughts on where the meta is trending and whats falling off.
I won't be thorough with everything cuz that would take FAR too long but I'll highlight the bigger things that changed and some stuff on the lower end that I feel we've sorely underrated for quite a while.

:altaria-Mega: RISES :altaria-mega:

:ss/Aegislash: to S- and :ss/Zarude: to S-

These two mons along with Altaria I think now shape practically most of the tiers dynamics and are so versatile and slappable on most teams that if you lose to one of them, the team isn't good. With Melmetal being banned, a check for Zarude is gone and steel competition from Aegislash is lessened. Zarude is by far the most common answer to Psychics and Aegislash, and Aegislash is incredibly resilient and is able to almost always make significant progress no matter the scenario. Neither of these mons are infallible or overcentralizing in any way, but their consistency across every single game I think warrants them S-.

:ss/Terrakion: to A
Broken breaker, amazing speed, SD + Rock z has nearly 0 walls. Super underrated, but only A because it sometimes is pressed to get a slot over good rocks like Nihilego and Rhyperior, prediction reliant on CB sets and common priority and faster revenge killers are able to keep it at bay, idk why it's B+.

:ss/Mienshao: to A
This thing is fucking impossible to kill sometimes if it really gets going and is just one of the absolute best scarfers in the tier, singlehandedly keeping teams safe vs fast offense through its great coverage, Regenerator and U-turn. Life Orb sets picking up recently have made this mon incredibly scary to deal with and being faster than 105 is a really good trait for some mons nowadays.
:ss/Conkeldurr: to A-

I have no idea why anyone ever thought this mon was bad, but now that Melmetal is gone, it practically has no competition in the slot it fills. Unparalleled immediate power with Facade and CC, scares out ghosts and removes Mence boots with Knock Off, and has Mach Punch to clean up games. Not no mention its got an immunity to Amoonguss Spore, making it all that much better. Seriously, Altaria taking over 70% from a Facade on the switch from any fighter is kind of crazy. I'll give it some leeway on ranking here since it's still a bit untested and also it still has that same problem Melmetal had of low speed and being worn down by various things, but this mon is hard slept on.

:ss/Azelf: to A-:
No Zam = Pepega
This mon does a lot of what zam did but without the broken Magic Guard shit, NP + Focus Blast and 120 speed. Psychic + Flamethrower + U-Turn is quite effective with the added versatility of Knock Off/Shadow Ball/Nasty Plot/Encore in its last slot combined with either boots or expert belt make it quite effective.

:ss/Keldeo-Resolute: to A-
108 Speed is really good and being able to viably run Scarf to outspeed really scary things like a +1 Speed Nihilego and faster than Scarf Mienshao are really good traits. Calm Mind and Specs having really strong coverage in things like Focus Blast and Air Slash, with Calm Mind potentially using Z Hyper Beam, make it really hard to switch into for it's Speed and something we should take more note of in the builder.

:ss/Cobalion: to B+ and :ss/Bisharp: to A-
Once again, with Melmetal gone, these steels have much more room to shine, and Bisharp shows itself to be once again a ridiculous breaker once its in and incredibly tough to switch into. Cobalion comes in and gives BO teams recourse vs its powerful moves and sets rocks. Being an answer on BO to Zarude that can volt switch on its switches is also invaluable in facilitating it's own breakers.

:ss/Tentacruel: to B
Spinner that checks the stupid strong Special Altaria with Toxic, Keldeo, Primarina and Volcanion all in slot, and Knock Off support is always appreciated. SO to Mareanie for this mon.

:ss/Ninetales-Alola: and :ss/Arctozolt: to B
Hails Public Enemy #1 has always been Melmetal and now that it's gone its free reign for team structures. I would only give it B since Arctozolt still suffers from not being able to fit all of Freeze Dry, Substitute and Hydro Pump, and ends up suffering from finding opposing Rotom-H, while not really having the power to break things like AV Tangrowth. Also every single scarfer outspeeds it in hail, with Hippowdon being a real nuisance for clicking Bolt Beak, but still finds some effectiveness if it can get its turns correct.

:ss/Zygarde-10: and :ss/Mamoswine: to B+
I think Zydog is sorely underrated atm, with Thousand Arrows still being a really broken move combined with Toxic on CB sets, and Extreme Speed being a nice thing to have VS offensive teams. 115 Speed puts it faster than Terrakion, an invaluable speed tier to have atm, while not being too deterred by fat grasses running around. Mamoswine similarly also has a terrific Ice shard to pick off the ridiculously popular Salamence and makes me want to shit my pants everytime it comes in. Of course it's speed and Fighting weakness still leave something to be desired, but really underrated atm as well.

:ss/Mandibuzz: to B:
A check to both Zarude and Aegislash in one slot being this low is a sin. It's still Knock Off vulnerable and weak to Altaria but being a sponge to a lot of non-boosted and even some boosted physical hits is pretty good. U-turn gives it most of it's niche, but you have to pair it with breakers that will wear down rockers it doesn't like for it to be able to use Defog effectively, but Melm being gone removed one of its massive pains for doing damage sponging on teams.

:ss/Starmie: to B
No ones really using this thing but I think the uptick in fighting types really helps this mon out. Rapid spin is most cases sucks since Slowking does what it's spin set does but better, with Defog being easy to slot elsewhere. Instead, a set of Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Recover is not easy to switch into for most of the tier, with longevity given to it through free Recovers on forced switches from all the fighting types flying around.

:ss/Golurk: to B or B-
Banded Poltergeist + CC is pretty much unstoppable when combined with other things like it's powerful STAB EQ with Trick/Ice Punch to compliment it. Surprisingly potent at taking advantage of Psychics, but sometimes lacks the defensive qualities a ground might have along with its slow speed, being effectively better at Physical sets than Aegislash is typically. Pursuit is quite the pain along with its speed tho.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexuu-1559213630

:ss/Salazzle: to B
We've all been talking about this mon in the discord (SO ND Discord) and it's pretty good at what it does. All the Nihilego and Slowbro-G running around get toxiced, and it's 117 speed means its faster than everything else not a speedy electric. Knock Off gives it great utility vs boots and being able to stave off Hyper Voice + Fire Blast Altaira, despite not having any defenses, is a terrific quality. (I'll let Frank get replays)

:trubbish: DROPS :trubbish:


:ss/urshifu-rapid-strike: to A+
It's never been simpler to have an answer to this mon on your team, with Salamence being one of the best BO defoggers and special attackers in the tier, it's become plagued with a minor form of 4MSS, where it wants Aqua Jet to ensure faster things like Terrakion or boosted Goltres/Steela won't sweep but wants Ice Punch to break through all of the Altaria, Salamence, and Amoonguss sitting around, making it's Choice Band set slightly less effective as compared to before. Sacrificing CB for Pads for some more versatility reduces your power quite a bit and ensures Primarina has an easier time coming and clicking buttons. Fighting types as a whole are getting much better but I think Urshifu is starting to feel the competition.

:ss/grimmsnarl: to UR

Screen Shot 2022-05-01 at 10.23.48 PM.png



:ss/Seismitoad: to B-
No Melmetal isnt very good for it, as Swampert now possesses alot of what it had before, but still has its Water Absorb for strong Hydro Pumps and Rotom-W, with Refresh and Knock Off as good options for it.

:ss/Gligar: to B
No Melm, end of story. Still does Ground + Defog tho.

:ss/Arctovish: to UR
Idk man use Barbaracle?

:ss/Beedrill-Mega: to UR
I've said it enough times, the rockers are far too good for a lot of defoggers to keep rocks off and Zam being gone eliminates it's entire Pursuit niche compared to Krookodile, with Azelf being much harder for Bee to trap while Krook can directly switch in.

:ss/Weezing-Galar: to C
Pretty niche for something already niche as is, hard to fit and not hard to break. Does still have that fighting resist + NGas tho for fucking over Mienshao.
 
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Alright so melm ban happened and now the tier is livelier than ever with a whole new spin on teambuilding and all that jazz. This post is meant to show some initial thoughts on where the meta is trending and whats falling off.
I won't be thorough with everything cuz that would take FAR too long but I'll highlight the bigger things that changed and some stuff on the lower end that I feel we've sorely underrated for quite a while.

:altaria-Mega: RISES :altaria-mega:

:ss/Aegislash: to S- and :ss/Zarude: to S-

These two mons along with Altaria I think now shape practically most of the tiers dynamics and are so versatile and slappable on most teams that if you lose to one of them, the team isn't good. With Melmetal being banned, a check for Zarude is gone and steel competition from Aegislash is lessened. Zarude is by far the most common answer to Psychics and Aegislash, and Aegislash is incredibly resilient and is able to almost always make significant progress no matter the scenario. Neither of these mons are infallible or overcentralizing in any way, but their consistency across every single game I think warrants them S-.

:ss/Terrakion: to A
Broken breaker, amazing speed, SD + Rock z has nearly 0 walls. Super underrated, but only A because it sometimes is pressed to get a slot over good rocks like Nihilego and Rhyperior, prediction reliant on CB sets and common priority and faster revenge killers are able to keep it at bay, idk why it's B+.

:ss/Mienshao: to A
This thing is fucking impossible to kill sometimes if it really gets going and is just one of the absolute best scarfers in the tier, singlehandedly keeping teams safe vs fast offense through its great coverage, Regenerator and U-turn. Life Orb sets picking up recently have made this mon incredibly scary to deal with and being faster than 105 is a really good trait for some mons nowadays.
:ss/Conkeldurr: to A-

I have no idea why anyone ever thought this mon was bad, but now that Melmetal is gone, it practically has no competition in the slot it fills. Unparalleled immediate power with Facade and CC, scares out ghosts and removes Mence boots with Knock Off, and has Mach Punch to clean up games. Not no mention its got an immunity to Amoonguss Spore, making it all that much better. Seriously, Altaria taking over 70% from a Facade on the switch from any fighter is kind of crazy. I'll give it some leeway on ranking here since it's still a bit untested and also it still has that same problem Melmetal had of low speed and being worn down by various things, but this mon is hard slept on.

:ss/Azelf: to A-:
No Zam = Pepega
This mon does a lot of what zam did but without the broken Magic Guard shit, NP + Focus Blast and 120 speed. Psychic + Flamethrower + U-Turn is quite effective with the added versatility of Knock Off/Shadow Ball/Nasty Plot/Encore in its last slot combined with either boots or expert belt make it quite effective.

:ss/Keldeo-Resolute: to A-
108 Speed is really good and being able to viably run Scarf to outspeed really scary things like a +1 Speed Nihilego and faster than Scarf Mienshao are really good traits. Calm Mind and Specs having really strong coverage in things like Focus Blast and Air Slash, with Calm Mind potentially using Z Hyper Beam, make it really hard to switch into for it's Speed and something we should take more note of in the builder.

:ss/Cobalion: to B+ and :ss/Bisharp: to A-
Once again, with Melmetal gone, these steels have much more room to shine, and Bisharp shows itself to be once again a ridiculous breaker once its in and incredibly tough to switch into. Cobalion comes in and gives BO teams recourse vs its powerful moves and sets rocks. Being an answer on BO to Zarude that can volt switch on its switches is also invaluable in facilitating it's own breakers.

:ss/Tentacruel: to B
Spinner that checks the stupid strong Special Altaria with Toxic, Keldeo, Primarina and Volcanion all in slot, and Knock Off support is always appreciated. SO to Mareanie for this mon.

:ss/Ninetales-Alola: and :ss/Arctozolt: to B
Hails Public Enemy #1 has always been Melmetal and now that it's gone its free reign for team structures. I would only give it B since Arctozolt still suffers from not being able to fit all of Freeze Dry, Substitute and Hydro Pump, and ends up suffering from finding opposing Rotom-H, while not really having the power to break things like AV Tangrowth. Also every single scarfer outspeeds it in hail, with Hippowdon being a real nuisance for clicking Bolt Beak, but still finds some effectiveness if it can get its turns correct.

:ss/Zygarde-10: and :ss/Mamoswine: to B+
I think Zydog is sorely underrated atm, with Thousand Arrows still being a really broken move combined with Toxic on CB sets, and Extreme Speed being a nice thing to have VS offensive teams. 115 Speed puts it faster than Terrakion, an invaluable speed tier to have atm, while not being too deterred by fat grasses running around. Mamoswine similarly also has a terrific Ice shard to pick off the ridiculously popular Salamence and makes me want to shit my pants everytime it comes in. Of course it's speed and Fighting weakness still leave something to be desired, but really underrated atm as well.

:ss/Mandibuzz: to B:
A check to both Zarude and Aegislash in one slot being this low is a sin. It's still Knock Off vulnerable and weak to Altaria but being a sponge to a lot of non-boosted and even some boosted physical hits is pretty good. U-turn gives it most of it's niche, but you have to pair it with breakers that will wear down rockers it doesn't like for it to be able to use Defog effectively, but Melm being gone removed one of its massive pains for doing damage sponging on teams.

:ss/Starmie: to B
No ones really using this thing but I think the uptick in fighting types really helps this mon out. Rapid spin is most cases sucks since Slowking does what it's spin set does but better, with Defog being easy to slot elsewhere. Instead, a set of Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Recover is not easy to switch into for most of the tier, with longevity given to it through free Recovers on forced switches from all the fighting types flying around.

:ss/Golurk: to B or B-
Banded Poltergeist + CC is pretty much unstoppable when combined with other things like it's powerful STAB EQ with Trick/Ice Punch to compliment it. Surprisingly potent at taking advantage of Psychics, but sometimes lacks the defensive qualities a ground might have along with its slow speed, being effectively better at Physical sets than Aegislash is typically. Pursuit is quite the pain along with its speed tho.

:ss/Salazzle: to B
We've all been talking about this mon in the discord (SO ND Discord) and it's pretty good at what it does. All the Nihilego and Slowbro-G running around get toxiced, and it's 117 speed means its faster than everything else not a speedy electric. Knock Off gives it great utility vs boots and being able to stave off Hyper Voice + Fire Blast Altaira, despite not having any defenses, is a terrific quality. (I'll let Frank get replays)

:trubbish: DROPS :trubbish:


:ss/urshifu-rapid-strike: to A+
It's never been simpler to have an answer to this mon on your team, with Salamence being one of the best BO defoggers and special attackers in the tier, it's become plagued with a minor form of 4MSS, where it wants Aqua Jet to ensure faster things like Terrakion or boosted Goltres/Steela won't sweep but wants Ice Punch to break through all of the Altaria, Salamence, and Amoonguss sitting around, making it's Choice Band set slightly less effective as compared to before. Sacrificing CB for Pads for some more versatility reduces your power quite a bit and ensures Primarina has an easier time coming and clicking buttons. Fighting types as a whole are getting much better but I think Urshifu is starting to feel the competition.

:ss/grimmsnarl: to UR

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:ss/Seismitoad: to B-
No Melmetal isnt very good for it, as Swampert now possesses alot of what it had before, but still has its Water Absorb for strong Hydro Pumps and Rotom-W, with Refresh and Knock Off as good options for it.

:ss/Gligar: to B
No Melm, end of story. Still does Ground + Defog tho.

:ss/Arctovish: to UR
Idk man use Barbaracle?

:ss/Beedrill-Mega: to UR
I've said it enough times, the rockers are far too good for a lot of defoggers to keep rocks off and Zam being gone eliminates it's entire Pursuit niche compared to Krookodile, with Azelf being much harder for Bee to trap while Krook can directly switch in.

:ss/Weezing-Galar: to C
Pretty niche for something already niche as is, hard to fit and not hard to break. Does still have that fighting resist + NGas tho for fucking over Mienshao.
[Gen 8] National Dex UU replay: MudkipBeans vs. TheShowdownHoedown - Pokémon Showdown (pokemonshowdown.com)

This replay shows a solid performance from the lizard as it quickly wears down Rhyperior and threatens to make some progress almost each time it comes in. Even though Salazzle's bulk is bad, it as able to hard on mons like Coba and Guss during this battle, and rewarded my aggressive play. Especially eased the burden off of things like those 2 in this match because they were both annoying for the rest of the team. Against bulkier builds like this Salazzle does very well. This mon isnt too bad fr
 

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