Resource [Series 6] Battle Stadium Singles Viability Rankings

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Psynergy

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Welcome to the Battle Stadium Singles Viability Rankings thread for Series 6. Here, we as a community will rank all viable Pokemon into tiers. Everyone is encouraged to post thoughts and opinions on Pokemon that are usable in the metagame and what rank they should fall under. The general idea of the thread is to rank Pokemon based on their effectiveness in the Battle Stadium Singles metagame, and posts in this thread will be taken into account when deciding rank changes. Remember that this thread is maintained by players just like you so this list can never be truly objective, but these rankings strive to be as accurate as possible so every post helps.

This is a temporary metagame which bans the Top 10 Pokemon in usage from both Singles and Doubles during the month of July, so as such this is a different thread from the normal Viability Rankings thread. These rankings will be updated appropriately as the metagame progresses and we will take posts in this thread into consideration. Keep in mind that due to the shorter period in which this metagame exists, these rankings will not be judged as rigorously as usual and so the ranking updates will be less in-depth than usual. There is no concrete schedule to when these updates will happen, but the VR Council has the final say on what gets moved in the ranking list. These users are all well informed players that gather the community's input to make final decisions on any individual Pokemon:
Battle Stadium Singles Rankings
(In alphabetical order)

S rank:
Reserved for the best Pokemon in the BSS Series 6 metagame. These Pokemon are usually able to perform a variety of roles effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.
S rank
Dracozolt
Primarina
Urshifu (Rapid Strike)


A rank:
Reserved for Pokemon that are fantastic in the BSS Series 6 metagame, and can sweep, support, or wall significant portions of the metagame. These Pokemon require less support than most others to be used effectively and have few flaws that can easily be overlooked when compared to their positive traits.
A+ rank
Charizard
Diggersby
Urshifu (Single Strike)

A rank
Gengar
Ferrothorn
Rhyperior
Rotom (Heat)
Snorlax

A- rank
Aegislash
Amoonguss
Azumarill
Clefable
Hydreigon
Lapras
Ninetales (Alola)
Porygon-Z
Rotom (Mow)
Sylveon
Toxapex


B rank
Reserved for Pokemon that are great in the BSS Series 6 metagame. These Pokemon have more notable flaws than those above them that affect how they function in the format. Their positive traits still outshine their negatives, but they require a bit more team support to bring out their full potential.
B+ rank
Darmanitan (Galar)
Durant
Grimmsnarl
Noivern
Rotom (Wash)
Scizor
Volcarona

B rank
Blissey
Corviknight
Dracovish
Gastrodon
Hatterene
Seismitoad
Skarmory
Vileplume
Weezing (Galar)

B- rank
Arcanine
Chandelure
Comfey
Corsola (Galar)
Goodra
Haxorus
Kingdra
Krookodile
Lycanroc (Dusk)
Mudsdale
Quagsire
Tangrowth


C rank
Reserved for Pokemon that have a niche in the BSS Series 6 metagame. These Pokemon fill unique roles that are valuable on certain teams but have numerous flaws that hold them back. Pokemon in this rank may actually outperform those in higher ranks with specific team support but often depend too much on their teammates to function.
Butterfree
Chansey
Cloyster
Dragalge
Duraludon
Eiscue
Gardevoir
Klefki
Lanturn
Lucario
Luxray
Magneton
Mamoswine
Marowak (Alola)
Polteageist
Reuniclus
Shedinja


Rules
  • Post intelligently. Posts like "I think Pokemon X should be in this tier" without giving any reasoning will not be tolerated.
  • Usage statistics may be used to support an argument or a claim, but avoid basing your entire argument around them.
  • No flaming, if you disagree with someone please be civil about it.
  • No one-liners or useless comments.
 
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Psynergy

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Welcome again to the Series 6 VR thread! As noted, this will be a temporary thread for this huge metagame change that we expect to simply be the metagame we have to work with for the duration of Series 6. We started a bit on the light side, you'll notice that almost everything from the Top 50 in current usage is ranked in some fashion and not much else, but that doesn't mean these are the only things we believe are viable. If you notice something you think is good that is not listed, absolutely bring it up! We didn't want to be too speculative on what we think might be viable, especially for metagame we won't see for a long time.

Feel free to discuss any metagame shifts you believe haven't been captured well enough by our current list too, this is very early meta after all so chances are things will change very quickly. As such, we'll probably be more prompt with the VR changes since there will probably be less of those happening throughout the next few months. Once Crown Tundra releases, this thread will probably be closed as the end of this series will likely mark the beginning of Crown Tundra. When this comes, the regular VR thread will be re-opened, and honestly that will need a revamp of its own when that comes.
 
After much playtesting this season and reaching top 600 on wifi, I have to take note of Blissey's effectiveness as a blanket special check and wincon. Particularly the modest chople berry set. If the opponent lacks substantial physical pressure (and I do mean SUBSTANTIAL) Blissey is just taking the entire game.

Of course, with the prevalence of Urshifu and other dangerous physical hitters running wild, it isnt an auto win. But it also isn't an auto loss. For example in most situations blissey will come out against something it can freely click cm against (a ton of the meta), in which the opponent will answer with urshifu (assuming they have one) blissey can then dynamax and take 40% from close combat ( even assuming they also dynamax back) thanks to chople berry and easily ko their one answer with dazzling gleam.

It wins similar 1v1 scenarios vs common physical attackers like dracozolt and easily blanket checks and beats almost all special setups like cm prima and dance volc.

Because of its ability to blanket check the special meta and consistently 1v1 its own checks, I would call to move Blissey to A rank. It has real potential as a bulky offensive presence in the current meta rather than its typical defensive blob strats.

Reserving post space for relevant calcs.
 
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Pelliper and Politoed should be ranked, since Rain is very strong playstyle with Hippowdown, Mimikyu, Rillaboom, and P2 gone, there’s a lot less counters aside from Primarina and Azuramarill. B for both.

Roserade should also get a rank. It’s typing allows it to check Primarina nicely and sits at a useful speed tier, being able to outspeed Rotom forms. 125 Sp. Atk is nothing to scoff at. I’ve managed to reach the 1000s using it. The maindrawbacks are it’s poor bulk and the fact that Grass/Poison is not a good attacking type.
 

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Pelliper and Politoed should be ranked, since Rain is very strong playstyle with Hippowdown, Mimikyu, Rillaboom, and P2 gone, there’s a lot less counters aside from Primarina and Azuramarill. B for both.

Roserade should also get a rank. It’s typing allows it to check Primarina nicely and sits at a useful speed tier, being able to outspeed Rotom forms. 125 Sp. Atk is nothing to scoff at. I’ve managed to reach the 1000s using it. The maindrawbacks are it’s poor bulk and the fact that Grass/Poison is not a good attacking type.
Unfortunately, I personally disagree with Pelipper and Politoed being B. They aren't really that great on their own, and Seismetoad and Kingdra are usually better off setting up their own rain via Dynamax. I think C might fit them at best, but they don't do a whole lot besides set up the weather, they aren't really comparable to say, Hippowdon for example who does a lot more than set up sand.

Roserade on the other hand, I actually saw quite a few of in team preview recently. I'm pretty interested in investigating that Pokemon soon myself, since it does take advantage of a few metagame trends atm such as the Water Fairies, and it outspeeds most Water-types (though sadly not Urshifu). Though Speaking of Urshifu, due to that handy Water resist, it can't ruin Sash sets with Surging Strikes either!

Here are the uasge stats for Roserade in this current season btw. https://www.pikalytics.com/pokedex/homebss/roserade

It seems to be low in usage, so I'm not exactly sure where I'd rank it yet. Drawback wise, it needs sun support to even do anything to Ferrothorn which is gonna be a huge issue. I can't say I know where exactly I'd rank Roserade before testing it, but I guess I'll find out soon!
 

marilli

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Uh I had a long-af TL;DR written but the draft got lost, so you'll have to make do with a shortened version without the minisprites. Writing as individual not representative of council opinion:

S rank: seems fine. Urshifu-SS may not belong there but that's close enough.

A+ rank: highly suspect Lapras at A+. I know it's good in a vacuum but it losing to Dracozolt and both Urshifu (yes you can live a hit but you'll be left in range and yeah barely surviving to trade with a nonmax Pokemon isn't good). CM Prim can also actually set up on Freeze Dry Lapras which can be really disappointing. It's not good vs Ferrothorn either. Just really not the right fit for the current metagame.

Rhyperior, Snorlax, annd Ferrothorn deserves A+ for sure. The rest I'm not really sold on being significantly better than the rest of the As.

Durant and Darmanitan are big threats in theory but less so in practice. Darmanitan especially suffers with high usage of Water-types that can trade favorably.

Charizard / Rotom-H may need to end up rising, as Fire is a very important coverage type.

A rank: all seems fine mostly, nothing big missing.

B+ rank: Lycanroc is unironically much worse with all the bans. I'd drop it to B and sash is so valuable.

A lot of current metagame involves having defensive Pokemon that can still match dynamax and beat Dracozolt in 1v1. Things like Weezing, Sylveon, Clefable, Hatterene, can all match Zolt's Dynamax and KO it through the x2 HP. Fairy is one of the best offensive typing rn and Comfey is not a meme, that's right.

Low tiers:
Ninetales-A: C-> B. Fairy typing is good! And Ninetales actually threatens to win 1v1s in addition to setting veil. It's quite good.

Gengar, Gardevoir, Duraludon: I doubted all of these mons despite their usage, I think they are still overrated / overused, but Gengar I see as a pretty decent sash user with a fast offensive pace. It's very common for teams to have multiple fairies and also have a sash user that loses to gengar 1v1. However, it can end up leading poorly into a Dynamax first Pokemon and that makes Gengar difficult to use correctly. Gengar to C. Gardevoir always gets too high usage for how good it is but I think if there's a meta to use Gardevoir, this is it. Fairy is so darned strong right now and having type advantage vs Dracozolt is nice. Lesser than all the other Fairies with same conditions though because of not resisting Wicked Blow (and lesser Defense). Duraludon and Gardevoir are also 2 Pokemon that are also faster than Dracozolt, and can Max move it to oblivion - and even if it gets a Speed boost these Pokemon can still come in after a KO and survive and KO in a max off. both seem pretty legit. C for all.

In response to other posts

Blissey isn't rising to A because it mandates a host of physically defensive partners like Quagsire, Clefable, Toxapex, Corsola, w/e. No other Pokemmon in A mandates such a thorough team support ass Blissey needs. B+ is not unreasonable, though, and that's as far as I'd say in favor of Blissey.

Pelipper and Politoed are very meh. you're much better off setting rain with Max Geyser. And if those were to be ranked, Pelipper is far superior to Politoed so they will never be ranked in the same rank.
 
I think Rotom-Mow needs a bump into A. Its currently sitting at #14 in usage per Pokemon Home and for good reason. As a defensive pivot/crippler, it is seeing one of the best metas it could ask for:
  • Fire moves are at a premium right now, meaning there are far fewer things that hard-counter it and by extension want to hard-switch into it. Even one of the premium fire-type users that remain--Charizard--has to be mindful of switching into Electric STAB.
  • On the same note, look at several of the top offensive threats : Primarina, Urshifu-S, Rhyperior... these pokes have little to no business trying to switch into it because they either get outsped or risk eating big damage on the switch-in. Then add on top of that the threat of Will-O-Wisp. Even Dracozolt is pressured by the fact that it risks eating a burn and having Bolt Beak walled by the x4 resistance.
  • The defensive options left in this meta are nearly all ones that already didn't like Rotom-Mow; it pressures them either by threatening/using Trick-Choice shenanigans or through its unique typing. And as already mentioned, there are far fewer teammates around to bail them out of these matchups.
Rotom-Mow's problems from previous metas haven't gone away; its just that there are far fewer things that are able to capitalize on them. As a defensive pivot, I think the matchup swings of Series 6 are more than favorable enough to justify rising into low A rank.
 

Psynergy

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I did mention the VR would be getting updated more frequently due to the limited nature of this meta, so here we are. I've been meaning to do this for a few days but keep getting caught up with other stuff. We've been discussing a few changes for awhile in addition to the ones that have been posted in the thread, so thanks for all the nominations so far! Of course, the limited nature of this meta means we didn't formally vote like we do for the normal meta, but I will be sure to note suggestions and changes that were less clear-cut.

The rain setters were ultimately not ranked at this time because we mostly felt that for rain sweeping purposes, Kingdra and Seismitoad are better off setting their own rain with Max Geyser rather than using up a team slot for it. This metagame isn't exactly lacking in bulky Water resists so running a rain setter feels like it ultimately worsens your matchups rather than improve much. Roserade on the other hand is something that we think doesn't sound bad in theory, but it's hard to quantify that in practice since it doesn't really see much usage. It might be worth ranking in C, but we probably need more convincing on that front. With that said, here are the changes we've made for this update.




Lapras, Darmanitan-G, and Durant drop from A+ to A. While these are all still powerful Pokemon in the metagame, all three of these Pokemon suffered a bit more than expected due to a few metagame trends.
  • Lapras faces tough competition with Primarina as the premier bulky Water slot, and unlike Primarina it faces poor matchups against both Urshifu forms which are both very relevant. Primarina is also just such a strong pick in this meta that Lapras just doesn't stand out as much as expected.
  • Galarian Darmanitan also struggles a bit with the high concentration of bulky Waters in the metagame, which makes its Ice STAB much more awkward to lock into. Being a decent Dracozolt check is still very useful, but its poor matchups against the rest of the S tier is a big problem for it.
  • Durant is more unusual, as it doesn't seem like it suffers noticeably from the meta trends. However, Durant's biggest struggle is the fact that if you want a dedicated Dynamax sweeper with Hustle, Dracozolt is often a better pick. Durant is undoubtedly still a powerhouse and boasts a much better Speed tier that puts it ahead of a lot of the metagame, but its STAB combination and movepool are just not quite on the level of Dracozolt and that sets it back a bit when the two are fairly similar in role.


Charizard rises from A to A+. This one was a little more contested, we initially placed Charizard lower than its insanely high usage suggests since it often gets inflated usage due to popularity. However, this metagame is genuinely a good environment for Charizard to stand out, especially with good Fire-types being at a premium. To quote a good explanation from Tox on Discord, Charizard's huge movepool, strong Speed tier, and G-Max Wildfire all make it a very unique and effective sweeper in this metagame. In particular, G-Max Wildfire lets Charizard combat the very annoying rise of Focus Sash usage, letting it play more efficiently with Dynamax turns than most Dynamax sweepers can do against Focus Sash users.


Rotom-Mow rises from B+ to A. Rotom-Mow's typing has always been unique and this is a metagame where those traits stand out. This is the Rotom that best deals with all the bulky Water/Ground-types, it threatens Rhyperior, and it's one of the good Rotom forms that resists Bolt Beak so it can often survive a hit to get a Will-o-Wisp off. This meta is definitely a good time to be Rotom-Mow.


Lycanroc-Dusk drops from B+ to B. Somehow, the bans made this thing worse. While being a fast Stealth Rock user with Counter and strong priority is useful, it trades poorly with most of the top threats in the current meta. Focus Sash also becomes an increasingly competitive item in this meta, and that's bad for something like Lycanroc who basically requires Focus Sash to function. It still does the same thing as before, the niche is just in lower demand than before.


Blissey rises from B to B+.
While this was nominated for a higher rank, we think B+ is a more appropriate place than A. Its initial rank was admittedly too low for what it can provide, but marilli explained our thoughts pretty well. Blissey demands team support more than anything else in A, but it does perform very well if you do provide it with that support which puts it ahead of the B tier. Its usage appears to be on a downswing though so it's going to be a tough sell to put it much higher than B+ though.


Alolan Ninetales rises from C to B, and Gengar is ranked from UR to B as well. These are some of the Pokemon that we initially overlooked despite pulling in notable usage because they're normally pretty mediocre, but being fast works in favor of both of them in this meta. Both of them are also rapidly rising in usage, so these might actually be worthy of an bigger rise.
  • Alolan Ninetales is actually more interesting for its offensive utility than the Aurora Veil utility, though the latter is obviously a plus. It's not a particularly powerful Pokemon, but if there's any meta where being a fast Fairy-type is a good thing, this is the one. Sheer Cold is also relatively threatening in a metagame where base 109 is one of the higher Speed tiers you'll see.
  • Gengar's place as a fast Poison-type is actually relevant now, especially with Dragapult and Mimikyu out of the picture. Of note, Will-o-Wisp is a great tool to have in this metagame on something that can outspeed non-Scarf Dracozolt, and it can also annoy Urshifu with this option. It does generally demand the Focus Sash, but it definitely makes good use of it.


Shedinja, Duraludon, and Gardevoir rise from UR to C. These are more low-key additions, but as marilli mentioned previously, having a good matchup against the top level threats is important and all of these definitely offer that in one way or another. Shedinja is great at checkmating a lot of the bulky Waters in the metagame, which can be a major pain for Primarina and Rapid Strike Urshifu. Duraludon and Gardevoir aren't quite as good at it as other Pokemon, but they're both Pokemon that outspeed Dracozolt and can threaten it with super-effective STAB moves. Duraludon has notably high defense and isn't weak to Dragon-type moves unlike most dragons, while Gardevoir is a fairly strong Fairy-type in a metagame where being Fairy-type is very good.


[Not a final change yet] This still under discussion, but we are currently discussing dropping Single Strike Urshifu to A+ too. As marilli noted, it feels slightly out of place compared to the rest of S rank, with Dark-type being generally than fantastic for it at the moment with Fairies being everywhere. Rapid Strike Urshifu stands out slightly better for general use, though one could argue that it's Urshifu as a whole that deserves S rank rather than just Rapid Strike, since them sharing the same mini sprite adds to annoying mindgames that benefit both of them. Any additional comments or arguments on this front would definitely be appreciated, though at the moment we are definitely leaning towards dropping Single Strike Urshifu and it might happen sooner rather than later.
 

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Couple of lower mon rankings that we have discussed as a VR council, but figured Id share

Vileplume: UR --> B or B+, Gloom UR --> C
I'd argue for higher but its mostly unprecedented to bring an unranked mon to an A rank. I think Amoonguss is a super solid mon in this meta (currently A rank), but Vileplume might even be better. Its fantastic defensive typing in this meta allows it to shut down a lot of prominent threats that are everywhere right now: Dracozolt, Rapid Strike, Primarina (no psychic), Rhyperior, and Azumarill. Unlike Amoonguss though, its not dependent on sleeping its threats: it can simply stall out many prominent Dynamax abusers then handle them with sleep when terrains have expired. Gloom does mostly the same thing, but the drop in attacking power is notable and it is vulnerable to being setup on by Taunt and Substitute users.

Cinccino: UR --> C or B
Cinccino has a sneaky good speed tier for this meta and sports excellent coverage. Bullet Seed beats out Primarina, Rapid Strike, and Rhyperior. Triple Axel beats Dracozolts if they do not Dynamax. Rock Blast massacres the omnipresent Charizard and Rotom-H. And anything else it can hit very hard with his potent Skill Link'd STAB, Tail Slap (for example, Urshifu-SS takes 80+% from banded sets). Noivern has shown that a top speed tier and good coverage is very potent in this meta, and theres no reason for Cinccino to not share similar success.

Reuniculus: UR --> C
Reuniculus isnt doing things that are too different from previous metas, and it wasnt really ranked then. Theres also two prominent Dark-type attackers that cause it huge problems: Single Strike and Hydreigon. That being said, the overall power of this meta is lower, giving it a lot of setup opportunities. If you dont have one of the two aformentioned checks, you are susceptible to being set up on by Reuniculus, and its definitely a win condition that NEEDS to be played around carefully on team preview.
 
Vileplume: UR --> B or B+, Gloom UR --> C
I'd argue for higher but its mostly unprecedented to bring an unranked mon to an A rank. I think Amoonguss is a super solid mon in this meta (currently A rank), but Vileplume might even be better. Its fantastic defensive typing in this meta allows it to shut down a lot of prominent threats that are everywhere right now: Dracozolt, Rapid Strike, Primarina (no psychic), Rhyperior, and Azumarill. Unlike Amoonguss though, its not dependent on sleeping its threats: it can simply stall out many prominent Dynamax abusers then handle them with sleep when terrains have expired. Gloom does mostly the same thing, but the drop in attacking power is notable and it is vulnerable to being setup on by Taunt and Substitute users.
Honestly, I almost never see Amoongus and his usage rating (just outside of Top 50) seems to back that up. There are several mons in B rank/C rank with higher usage than it has. I know Spore is a highly-sought after move and usage rating isn't everything, but I just don't see the evidence to back up Amoongus being in A rank.
 

marilli

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Amoonguss is in fact very good. Its usage on high cartridge ladder in my experience is much greater than anything in 30s like Arcanine / Gastrodon / Lycanroc and such. In fact, more and more people are picking up on it and its usage is rising quite fast as the season comes to a close and more people are talking about and picking up on what's popular in higher ladder. Amoonguss usage has stagnated in the 100s in early half of the season, it's climbed up to 55 at the time of your post, 47th yesterday, and 44th today. Its usage is constantly rising this isn't a trend that seems to stop - and its usage on higher ladder in 1900~1800 feels like it is in the top 20s, not top 45. My guess is that its usage will settle far lower than high ladder usage around 30~35. but that would certainly be in the B+ range and be higher usage than, and certainly better than the C Pokemon that currently have higher usage than it.

We always need to take usage stats with a grain of salt, especially on the lower rung of the usage. The lowest rung of the usage stats are very volatile because placings can easily shift many slots when the actual usage just differ by low percentage points. But 22 Pokemon are in S/A+/A right now, so this seems just about right on the bottom of A, or top of B+ (There are 34 pokemon up to B+), or in A- if we were to subdivide out the VR, which is pretty appropriate and in line with its usage - all of these are acceptable ranges for Amoonguss in my opinion, though I'm leaning towards an A- rank. Using Vileplume made me think it is about as good as Amoonguss, but Amoonguss has a few benefits that Vileplume don't have, mainly its larger Special Defense (repeatedly switching Villeplume into Primarina can actually get dicey really quick) and more reliable Sleep, so I'm ok with putting it on the same rank as Amoonguss even though Strength Sap is a broken move. I wouldn't be too mad about B+ or B on Vileplume on the basis of more people needing to be convinced, though.

For Amoonguss, we should look at the reason behind its meteoric rise in usage, It has great matchup against both formes of Urshifu, not hit super effectively by either Iron Head or Thunder Punch. Also good vs Primarina, also forces Dracozolt's hand into using Max Lightning. Every team needs a good sleep answer that doesn't involve just hitting Max Lightning turn 1 rightaway, which currently isn't true now - its high rating suggests that Amoonguss puts a lot of teambuilding strain because otherwise you can just lose to it single-handedly. Even against Max Lightning one could easily Synthesis twice on the Max Lightning into Max Airstream then switch out to completely neuter Dracozolt's Dynamax if they fall into the trap line of Max Lightning turn 1 (it's especially tempting if you don't have a Ground-type. ) Good vs Snorlax and Rhyperior, very difficult to OHKO and thus good at neutering Dynamax. I think its rise is based on its merits as a competitive Pokemon, not as a meme. The reason I think it is better at A- than a raw A is that it can be teched against quite easily, after which it turns into an absolute setup fodder and loses the game at times. A lot of Sub CM Primarina aren't running the Special Defense necessary to set up on Amoonguss comfortably, but once they do adjust for this, that is one matchup gone. Random Substitutes and Taunts can really ruin you, and so forth.

I believe a big part of having a Viability Rankings on top of usage stats is that usage stats don't always reflect how good a Pokemon is. I think it's a good thing that we picked up on Amoonguss being very potent in the metagame before the general playerbase is currently finding out about it. We the VR council always strive to keep updated information about the metagame, which isn't always possible with the new update schedules, but we are doing the best we can.

My personal opinions on other Pokemon on A/B+ range. I'm sure theres a way to express these metagame opinions without a A- rank, but I'll assume they exist here for now. Posting as an individual, and does not reflect opinions of other VR members:

:ninetales-alola: Ninetales-A: this thing needs to rise more than B right now. Its offensive type combination is very potent with Ice / Fairy. Veil is just an added bonus, and a great one at that on the turn it faints. A- and B+ seems both fair, depending on how you look at it.

:noivern: Noivern: Noivern hype is dead quite honestly. It's not a terrible Pokemon, but you can say that about a lot of things in B+, Clefable, Volcarona, Hatterene - all of these are great Pokemon that apply a lot of offensive pressure, but Noivern just does depressing levels of damage without Life Orb, a very high-demand item. A- and B+ seem all decently fair for it.

:scizor: Scizor: A great Pokemon and a good Steel-type in a meta full of Fairy-types, many of which are physically frail. One shots Urshifu with CB Dual Wingbeat. Bit weak against Zolt and Zard, but U-turn lets you keep momentum against them. U-turn in general is so good in the current meta as well, because a free switch into Dracozolt / Urshifu / Charizard / Primarina with a positive matchup can easily forfeit a quick KO. Clear contender for the possible A- tier.

:rotom-wash: Rotom-W: good matchup vs Waters, but not good enough. AV E-Ball Primarina being mainstream hurts a lot, both of the other Rotom formes having a better niche hurts it a lot. All the Grass-type anti-meta popping up hurts him a lot, too. Think it's better than its usage makes it look, though, and another clear condender for the B+ -> A- promotion alongside Scizor.

:durant: Durant: Prime candidate for A- drop - it just simply is not easy to put into teams for various reasons. It doesn't switch well into things, especially with all the Fairy-types being special, they can just OHKO Durant on the switch in with a prediction, or even if they Moonblast that's doing a fat 50%. Very dynamax-hungry. Still a good mon though obviously

:darmanitan-galar: Darmanitan-G: another prime candidate for A- drop: Darmanitan is Struggling. Partly at the heavy anti-Dracozolt trends, but also with high amounts of Urshifu and Physically Defensive Primarina, all the other Water-types, Airstream Charizard, Scarf Hydreigon, etc. that leave it with little room to maneuver around. It beats Dracozolt, sure - just remember you can't OHKO Dracozolt cleanly with Scarf Icicle Crash against a bulkless Dracozolt.

:grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl: Another fairy-type benefitting from the trends, except it's a physical attacker. Primarina takes tons from Spirit Break and cannot set up CM against it, and in fact makes it setup fodder for the follow-up Pokemon. A safety valve for hyper offense teams, which raises its stock.

:arcanine: Arcanine: I don't think this Pokemon is good at all, yeah, it has wisp, but what does the defensive set switch into in the meta again? A defensive Pokemon that cannot pivot in = sucks.

Everything I didn't mention seems pretty OK at its place. As for some unrankeds, I think Vanilluxe and Bellossom are pretty cool in the meta right now, but yes, no real sample size to back it up.

finalss_50.png

Ordered-Ish. The upper line of Pokemon I think is better than the lower line.
 
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Psynergy

Triumph and Glory
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Battle Stadium Head
Following up on the above, the first season of this series is effectively over so it's time for some updates. We've been discussing stuff for awhile but ultimately I'm not going to go in depth on a lot of them because when it comes down to it, all of marilli's proposes changes are happening and he already gave his explanations for why he thinks they should be moved as such. This means we are creating a separate A- tier to spread out the tiers a bit since we think there's enough of a difference in power to easily distinguish those. We may add in a B- tier as well later, but we'll look more at that next time.

Additionally, Reuniclus from 1_TrickPhony's post is being ranked in C. While Hatterene is generally a stronger TR sweeper due to its Fairy-typing, Reuniclus does have unique abilities and higher overall bulk that set it apart for this role. Refer to his post for further explanation. Vileplume is also being ranked in B+ for his same reasoning, though it'll be tough to justify putting it much higher since very few people outside of our community seem to be even considering Vileplume over simply using Amoonguss. That said, those who have used it have vouched strongly for it, and at the end of the day Strength Sap is still a broken move. Gloom and Cinccino aren't being ranked at the moment since neither of them had the support or sample size usage to support them, but they could theoretically end up ranked at a later time.

The only additional comments I'll make here are that Gengar is actually rising up to A- rather than B+ simply because it continues to stand out as an effective pick in this metagame that B+ doesn't properly reflect it anymore, and honestly could even be argued to go up to A. This applies even more to Ninetales who may already be worthy of raising to A tier, but we'll hold off on that for now. Additionally we decided to keep Single Strike Urshifu in S tier for now as well, since our doubts about it have mostly been relaxed. Diggersby for A+ and Charizard for S are a few other discussions that have some attention, though there's no certainty that we'll actually move those two up.

For simplicity though I'll archive all the changes that are currently happening. Again, refer to the previous posts for reasonings since they already provide good reasonings for these changes.

Vileplume rises from UR to B+
Grimmsnarl rises from B to B+
Arcanine drops from B+ to B
A- rank is created
Durant drops from A to A-
Darmanitan-Galar drops from A to A-
Noivern drops from A to A-
Amoonguss drops from A to A-
Ninetales-Alola rises from B+ to A-
Gengar rises from B to A-
Scizor rises from B+ to A-
Rotom-Wash rises from B+ to A-
Volcarona rises from B+ to A-
Clefable rises from B+ to A-
 

Psynergy

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is a Site Content Manageris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
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Hi, so Series 6 is coming to an end soon and with Crown Tundra is right around the corner it's clear that interest is sort of fading on this meta that will soon become irrelevant. With that, we've decided it would be best to get one final update out now while there's still a purpose to having this reference updated. This may end up being the final post in this thread, but once again, if you notice anything that looks very out of place, feel free to point it out. There's probably plenty of small adjustments between subranks that can be made but most of us are probably ready to just move on to Crown Tundra next month so we might not bother. If you strongly disagree with something here though don't be afraid to say so!

Truthfully, there's not that much else that realistically needs updating here and that's probably why there's not been any posts since the last update, but there are a few changes happening. The biggest change you'll notice is that the S rank and A+ rank have been slightly adjusted to create a "new" A+ rank. Most of the previous A+ rank has been dropped into a "new" A rank and every existing rank name below has simply been shifted down in name accordingly so that we now have a distinct B- rank (C rank remains the same). This doesn't mean we think everything from the previous A+ ranks down to B rank have become worse (though you can argue this is the case for the A- -> B+ Pokemon), this is simply for organizational purposes that we believe ultimately represents the meta better as well.

I'll try to outline the changes that come as a result of this as best as possible, noting the fact that rank names have been adjusted for the most part. Otherwise, this will be the last major update for this thread, and the next time you'll see this will be for the Crown Tundra meta when we revamp the main thread.

The new A+ rank consists of Single Strike Urshifu, Charizard, and Diggersby. This backpedals a bit on the decision to keep Single Strike in S, but with the new distinctions it felt appropriate to put it in this new group. You can sort of consider this tier an S- tier though and that's almost universally been our opinion on it before, so it's less of a drop and more of an appropriate rebranding of its tier. This also follows up on our thoughts about Charizard and Diggersby before, we felt last time that they stood out a bit among their appropriate subranks and this still holds in current usage trends so this is what we're going with.

The new A rank consists of the previously listed A+ rank with two new additions in Gengar and Rotom-Heat. Gengar is rising from what is now the B+ rank while Rotom-H is rising from what is now A- rank, the former being a more notable rise as Gengar continues to remain very high in usage and comfortably breaks into the Top 10 in usage. Rotom-Heat is another stand-out in the Top 10 usage, being the Rotom form with the most to offer in this metagame since Fire is a rarity that many teams can benefit from.

The new A- rank consists of the previously listed A rank Pokemon that weren't otherwise placed in higher ranks (Diggersby and Rotom-H). However, Amoonguss, Alolan Ninetales, and Clefable join this list to "maintain" their previous rank because we think it reflects their strength in this metagame better than a B+ rank distinction. While Alolan Ninetales and Clefable usage have settled a little bit and are probably past their peak, they're still very strong representations of how advantageous it is to be a Fairy-type in this metagame so it feels wrong to place them in the B tier. Amoonguss is another Pokemon that has probably peaked as well, though a bulky Grass/Poison with Spore is still extremely strong in this metagame and its meteoric rise throughout this series is a reflection of that.

The new B+ rank consists of previously listed A- rank Pokemon that didn't otherwise see a rise, with one new addition in Grimmsnarl. Again, being Fairy-type is usually a boon in this metagame, and with people taking note of the fact that Grimmsnarl still has a very high Attack stat and solid movepool, it becomes a more versatile pick beyond just a screens bot. As far as physical Fairy-types it's mostly between this and Azumarill, so that's another unique trait in favor of Grimmsnarl as an offensive choice.

The new B rank consists of previously listed B+ rank Pokemon, as well as Dracovish who would otherwise be in B- rank. Dracovish hasn't exactly gotten better in this metagame and some of us still don't like it in this metagame as is, but Dracovish still sees much more usage than would accurate for a B- rank Pokemon. If nothing else it's absolutely more stand-out than the other Pokemon in B- rank, though every issue that Dracovish faced before is still as much of a problem now.

The new B- rank consists of previously listed B rank Pokemon that weren't otherwise raised, with the addition of Goodra and Tangrowth. Tangrowth saw brief discussion early on but never really stood out in usage, and historically it hasn't had much of a presence in BSS. However, it turns out that Tangrowth was the flavor of the month for several high ranking teams last season, as its lopsided bulk ultimately proved useful with Rocky Helmet against the likes of Urshifu. It also has Earthquake to directly threaten Dracozolt, with other tools like Reflect, Leech Seed, and Knock Off that Amoonguss doesn't have. Bad special bulk and lack of Spore access compared to Amoonguss are still real downsides, but it definitely has its place. Goodra on the other hand is just seeing a huge surge in usage that C rank is not really appropriate for it, but we still don't think it's much better than before so it's just staying in B- here.

C rank sees a few changes but there's not a whole lot to say about them. Luxray drops down to C rank since its usage has fallen off and it feels far more niche than the other Pokemon in B-. A few quick additions in Magneton and Polteageist are also seen here to reflect new usage trends, or otherwise reflecting their proven success on some high ranked teams. Butterfree is also finally being ranked in C, if you've seen cant say stream you're probably wondering why this wasn't already ranked since he's been an avid supporter of it from the start. Mostly accurate sleep is still broken but you still have to get lucky sometimes so C is as high as it'll get.
 
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