Part Two:
No Changes: (With only 6 voters, a tie results in no change).
T2 -> T1
T3 -> T2
T3 -> T4
T3 -> T4
T4 -> T3
T1 -> T2
T3 -> T2
T4 -> T3
T5 -> T4
T3 -> T4
T4 -> T5
T1 -> T2
T2 -> T3
Low Tier Sweep (and Pokemon in the top 3 tiers that were not nominated for changes):
Results:
T2 -> T3
T2 -> T3
T2 -> T3
T2 -> T3
T3 -> T2
T2 - > T3
T3 -> T4
T3 -> T4
T4 -> T3
T5 -> T3
T4 -> T3
T5 -> T4
T5 -> T4
UR -> T5
UR -> T5
T4 -> T5
No Changes: (With only 6 voters, a tie results in no change).
T2 -> T1Actuarily: T2. It’s got some great versatility and good matchups, as evidenced by Nails’ picture. But each of its sets have some serious drawbacks, they’re each like t3 on their own. Scarf has good disruption with trick & can snipe some of the faster threats like Lando & Pheromosa, but without bulk investment it’s not nearly as good a switchin as Fini wants to be, and it doesn’t hit very hard. Specs is good with like Whimsicott tailwind (and occasionally on TR too), but Rillaboom just switches in on it so easily, and for a specs mon it doesn’t hit that hard. You often rather specs was an Urshifu. Also you basically have to run a lot of speed on it still, otherwise weather mons or opposing tailwind negate it, once again leaving you not a lot of bulk to “hold back the dam”. CM is VERY slow, often taking 3-4 turns to get into the position it wants (cm, protect, cm, protect, finally attack is such a common sequence for CM fini) that so many forms of disruption just ruin it. Encore whimsicott, haze Volcanion, and trick scarf just neuter it. Often something like Zygarde is a better set up mon, and teams have to be built around CM fini so much that there’s not much flexibility (basically always requires Incin, and if you want to use it with wisp mew you likely need your own Rillaboom too). Just so many CM fini teams are passive and get overrun by offense, and the other sets have such a Rillaboom problem. It’s obviously highly used as it’s one of two real psyspam checks, and it is one of the few switchins to many offensive threats, but in so many games it doesn’t really accomplish enough to be t1.
Yoda2798: Tier 1. I’ve just become more sold on this since last time, joint 2nd in usage for Invitationals with a 58% winrate (14-10). Choice Specs is the biggest factor pushing this to Tier 1, combining immediate offensive presence with the natural defensive utility from its stats, typing, and ability. Tapu Fini provides a lot of defensive value, but can otherwise struggle with being passive, which Choice Specs covers. Calm Mind is still one of the best setup options in the tier, and Choice Scarf is a decent option too, making Tapu Fini one of the most important and splashable Pokemon in the tier and well deserving of Tier 1.
Nido-Rus: Tier 1. Initially I was iffy on this back when we were stuck on CM sets which were particularly not great into Rillaboom, but time has shown the utility and constant field presence of choice scarf and particularly choice specs sets to be particularly valuable. This combined with recent metagame shifts to teams that are better able to deal with rillaboom makes it much easier for fini to thrive. Greater presence of hazards has also been great for choiced fini sets as they’re better able to abuse forced switches compared to CM sets.
SMB: Tier 1, fini is solid in every matchup, even in the “bad” ones where it just switches terrains it can be clutch and enable other stuff. Choice scarf sets might be to best one, it nullifies many fast frail threats and is able to trick bulky wincons or offering support in the likes of heal pulse or taunt. CM and specs are not that good but give it some versatility while keeping most of the things fini is good for.
JRL: T2. I think that scarf is the best set if we look at the last moments of the meta, due to the great offense with pokes like pheromosa, dragapult or urshi that do a lot of damage to balanced teams and tr, also trick does a good job locking up poke boosters or tr setters like gross, p2, mew, diancie or amoongus.
CM is very good but he needs a lot of support to function and sometimes it is difficult to win with him, especially if we play vs offensive teams.
specs fini falling short on damage, and the loss of bulk can cause fini to suffer going into some hits.
I also mention in its favor the good control of psyquic spam and amoongus, but I think that T2 is a good place for tapu fini
Madaraaaa: T2. I think this is the closest pokemon to T1. Changes terrain, and that's really important and good to prevent status and to nerf rillaboom and psyspam. Offensively, I still think that cm set is the best with a proper pivoting and maybe a coaching mon as allie. Choice item are good and can take some kills if not scouted properly. Trick/haze could solve some critic situations vs setup pokemons or pokemons with recovery. But I think is a little disappointing offensively and rillaboom is everywhere, most of times with the hammer. So I believe tier 2 is correct for tapu fini.
Yoda2798: Tier 1. I’ve just become more sold on this since last time, joint 2nd in usage for Invitationals with a 58% winrate (14-10). Choice Specs is the biggest factor pushing this to Tier 1, combining immediate offensive presence with the natural defensive utility from its stats, typing, and ability. Tapu Fini provides a lot of defensive value, but can otherwise struggle with being passive, which Choice Specs covers. Calm Mind is still one of the best setup options in the tier, and Choice Scarf is a decent option too, making Tapu Fini one of the most important and splashable Pokemon in the tier and well deserving of Tier 1.
Nido-Rus: Tier 1. Initially I was iffy on this back when we were stuck on CM sets which were particularly not great into Rillaboom, but time has shown the utility and constant field presence of choice scarf and particularly choice specs sets to be particularly valuable. This combined with recent metagame shifts to teams that are better able to deal with rillaboom makes it much easier for fini to thrive. Greater presence of hazards has also been great for choiced fini sets as they’re better able to abuse forced switches compared to CM sets.
SMB: Tier 1, fini is solid in every matchup, even in the “bad” ones where it just switches terrains it can be clutch and enable other stuff. Choice scarf sets might be to best one, it nullifies many fast frail threats and is able to trick bulky wincons or offering support in the likes of heal pulse or taunt. CM and specs are not that good but give it some versatility while keeping most of the things fini is good for.
JRL: T2. I think that scarf is the best set if we look at the last moments of the meta, due to the great offense with pokes like pheromosa, dragapult or urshi that do a lot of damage to balanced teams and tr, also trick does a good job locking up poke boosters or tr setters like gross, p2, mew, diancie or amoongus.
CM is very good but he needs a lot of support to function and sometimes it is difficult to win with him, especially if we play vs offensive teams.
specs fini falling short on damage, and the loss of bulk can cause fini to suffer going into some hits.
I also mention in its favor the good control of psyquic spam and amoongus, but I think that T2 is a good place for tapu fini
Madaraaaa: T2. I think this is the closest pokemon to T1. Changes terrain, and that's really important and good to prevent status and to nerf rillaboom and psyspam. Offensively, I still think that cm set is the best with a proper pivoting and maybe a coaching mon as allie. Choice item are good and can take some kills if not scouted properly. Trick/haze could solve some critic situations vs setup pokemons or pokemons with recovery. But I think is a little disappointing offensively and rillaboom is everywhere, most of times with the hammer. So I believe tier 2 is correct for tapu fini.
T3 -> T2Actuarily: T3. I’m a big believer in Dragapult, but it absolutely still has some huge flaws, namely how bad it is into Incin/P2/Fini. It’s always been an excellent anti-offense mon, but offensive teams have found more and more ways to deal with it using pokemon such as whimsicott, pheromosa, and archetypes like sand. Against balance & semiroom teams it struggles as it doesn’t hit hard enough to break through bulky pokemon. Still has a good place in the meta and is worth running on some teams, but not worth a rise. DD is a fun set, but needs a ton of support to pull off a sweep.
Yoda2798: Tier 3. 18th in usage in Invitationals, and its SCL performance didn’t quite sell me on a rise either. Yes Ghost-types are good, and pairing Dragapult with sand/hazards does help make up for its lack in damage, but not every team has those. Even adding in the SemiRoom teams it fits onto as a fast mode, those are two specific team styles it works best on, Dragapult’s general purpose performance isn’t quite there for Tier 2 in my opinion. Spectrier is also real competition as a Ghost-type, I think they both belong on the same level in Tier 3.
Nido-Rus: Agreeing with the tier 3 votes. It likes current meta more than the previous one, but still suffers from low damage and just generally requiring a lot more chip than other mons to be very threatening. Better than spectrier but not by enough for a full tier difference.
SMB: Tier 3, specs is solid but that’s it, it’s not excellent. DD sets are threatening vs the right teams but I don’t consider this set something that you’d want to use most of the times. Daily reminder to not use special life orb + clear body!
JRL: T3. Draga seems good to me against balanced teams, with its set specs it can cause problems for them but I think that on certain occasions it falls short of damage if we don't have rocks or spikes in the opponent's field.
Its type is very good at making it so that nothing in the meta can resist it and with its DD set if it has good support it can destroy teams, since they can't intimidate it.
I think tier 2 is too high for it, it's a good pokemon, but it has limited bulk and needs specific support to work well.
Madaraaaa: T3. Dragapult is extremely fast and avoids fake out (not bad) and in semiroom teams is okay even if specs doesn't hit hard as you want. I think dragon dance set could be a good pick and wincon in specific teams.
Faints really quickly, needs a lot of support, and I think many of pokemons of tier 1-2 are on a higher level.
Yoda2798: Tier 3. 18th in usage in Invitationals, and its SCL performance didn’t quite sell me on a rise either. Yes Ghost-types are good, and pairing Dragapult with sand/hazards does help make up for its lack in damage, but not every team has those. Even adding in the SemiRoom teams it fits onto as a fast mode, those are two specific team styles it works best on, Dragapult’s general purpose performance isn’t quite there for Tier 2 in my opinion. Spectrier is also real competition as a Ghost-type, I think they both belong on the same level in Tier 3.
Nido-Rus: Agreeing with the tier 3 votes. It likes current meta more than the previous one, but still suffers from low damage and just generally requiring a lot more chip than other mons to be very threatening. Better than spectrier but not by enough for a full tier difference.
SMB: Tier 3, specs is solid but that’s it, it’s not excellent. DD sets are threatening vs the right teams but I don’t consider this set something that you’d want to use most of the times. Daily reminder to not use special life orb + clear body!
JRL: T3. Draga seems good to me against balanced teams, with its set specs it can cause problems for them but I think that on certain occasions it falls short of damage if we don't have rocks or spikes in the opponent's field.
Its type is very good at making it so that nothing in the meta can resist it and with its DD set if it has good support it can destroy teams, since they can't intimidate it.
I think tier 2 is too high for it, it's a good pokemon, but it has limited bulk and needs specific support to work well.
Madaraaaa: T3. Dragapult is extremely fast and avoids fake out (not bad) and in semiroom teams is okay even if specs doesn't hit hard as you want. I think dragon dance set could be a good pick and wincon in specific teams.
Faints really quickly, needs a lot of support, and I think many of pokemons of tier 1-2 are on a higher level.
T3 -> T4Actuarily: T3. I don’t really agree with the nomination’s premise that ID ferrothorn is a matchup fish, it is a defensive set up sweeper that can beat many of its checks under TR. Its easy enough to find partners that are good at setting TR and beating Volcanion alongside it (P2 & Diancie), and it beats the other two fire types under TR with an ID up anyways. It does run into the same issues that many set up sweepers in the tier have, mostly that there’s so much disruption (trick scarves, encore, phasing, etc.) in the tier, but as it still can win games tier 3 seems appropriate. (There’s also fun other sets like using it as a hazard setter)
Yoda2798: Tier 4. Ferrothorn is really good with rain, but rain isn’t as good now. Zero non-rain uses in SCL and Invitationals, the 4x Fire weakness really holds back Iron Defense as a win condition without rain support. With recent meta trends it also struggles with general passivity, increased Ghost-type usage (immune to Body Press), many teams having Urshifu-R or Pheromosa for another way to threaten it, and utility moves like Trick, Encore, Will-o-Wisp and more being common and limiting its potential.
Nido-Rus: Tier 3. More iffy than before with its passiveness holding it back in a meta where the ability to pivot is a lot more important than it used to be, but it still does a very good job of forcing the game to be focused around it.
SMB: Tier 4, it has many glaring weaknesses to be tier 3, trick, taunt, urshifu, fire type moves are common… That’s for id sets which i’d say it’s the main set, av sets only really see usage in rain and it’s not a key part of these teams. Band set is solid but needs tr and it’s more vulnerable than the other sets
JRL: T3. He has a good type, in rain it is very conditioning and you always have to be careful not to lose your iron check. Iron def + body press seems to me his best set and in defensive teams he does a good job and becomes a wincon.
There are other sets that do it very well as well, AV or Band can also do a good job, plus it learns Steel Roller which also allows it to break fields.
Madaraaaa: T4. The iron defense set is strong but needs a lot of support and also in rain a special fire move does a lot. Trick/haze/taunt are popular. Having only body press as attack is not great. I think you don't have time to setup with ferro, that's why I prefer band or av set in rain. Ouside of rain doesn't have space, fire moves are everywhere. And rain is not so used as before. Good to switch in front of many pokemons defensively for sure. But tier 4.
Yoda2798: Tier 4. Ferrothorn is really good with rain, but rain isn’t as good now. Zero non-rain uses in SCL and Invitationals, the 4x Fire weakness really holds back Iron Defense as a win condition without rain support. With recent meta trends it also struggles with general passivity, increased Ghost-type usage (immune to Body Press), many teams having Urshifu-R or Pheromosa for another way to threaten it, and utility moves like Trick, Encore, Will-o-Wisp and more being common and limiting its potential.
Nido-Rus: Tier 3. More iffy than before with its passiveness holding it back in a meta where the ability to pivot is a lot more important than it used to be, but it still does a very good job of forcing the game to be focused around it.
SMB: Tier 4, it has many glaring weaknesses to be tier 3, trick, taunt, urshifu, fire type moves are common… That’s for id sets which i’d say it’s the main set, av sets only really see usage in rain and it’s not a key part of these teams. Band set is solid but needs tr and it’s more vulnerable than the other sets
JRL: T3. He has a good type, in rain it is very conditioning and you always have to be careful not to lose your iron check. Iron def + body press seems to me his best set and in defensive teams he does a good job and becomes a wincon.
There are other sets that do it very well as well, AV or Band can also do a good job, plus it learns Steel Roller which also allows it to break fields.
Madaraaaa: T4. The iron defense set is strong but needs a lot of support and also in rain a special fire move does a lot. Trick/haze/taunt are popular. Having only body press as attack is not great. I think you don't have time to setup with ferro, that's why I prefer band or av set in rain. Ouside of rain doesn't have space, fire moves are everywhere. And rain is not so used as before. Good to switch in front of many pokemons defensively for sure. But tier 4.
T3 -> T4Actuarily: T3. Zeraora can still be extremely disruptive between the fastest fake out, knock off & taunt. These moves are great into many of the popular hazard stack balances that have gained popularity recently, and it’s reasonable into sand as it absorbs drazolts bolt beak. That speed also makes it one of the best coaching users, as the nomination mentioned, but I don’t think that’s the best set. There’s even been a few offensive sets (SMB absolutely wrecked me with a CB Zera) that have seen some play and have a lot of positive matchups with Zeraora’s good coverage.
Yoda2798: Tier 4. Disappointing Invitationals coming 23rd in usage with a negative win rate, after a similar performance in SCL. Zeraora is a Pokemon that’s sad to have on your team, so often it feels like it clicks Fake Out then does nothing. Speaking of which, there’s three better Fake Out users, all Tier 1, who you’d much rather have instead. Incineroar and Rillaboom also have Knock Off, and Mew can replicate most of its other utility. The biggest selling point is Zeraora’s Speed, but other fast Pokemon can provide that Speed while being much less passive (which also takes advantage of the Speed better). Zeraora can be the right fit on certain teams, but most of the time you can get what you’d want from it by using one of the three better Fake Out users plus something fast instead, and avoid having a bad Pokemon on your team in the process.
Nido-Rus: Tier 3, coaching remains a tier 3 set. Still does bulky pivot stuff but boosting a genesect, urshifu, or other such mon can absolutely be a game deciding factor and is always a threat to watch out for. Band is also not bad but tier 3.5ish, works well until you click a move and they find out its band and then it's much easier to play around.
SMB: Tier 3, some of the bad opinions about this pokemon are just because people use bad sets, let’s keep it real. Do not use mono electric attack sets. Do not use coaching. Do not use life orb. What’s left after that? Bulky taunt or thunder wave sets with 2 attacks + fake out and choice band sets. These sets are tier 3.
JRL: T3. Zeraora is a great support with great speed. Taunt, snarl, fake out, knock, t wave are very useful moves, it can do speed control, bother psychic spam and vs balanced taunt is very good avoiding TR, hazards or any boost.
Madaraaaa: T3. Fastest pokemon in the tier apart from pheromosa. Fits well in balanced teams. Generally used and really good in lead: fast fake out, taunt, but also coaching, snarl, knock off are amazing moves to face and control multiple situations on the field helping allies to endure a hit or to set up, and preventing hazards/tr/tailwind (and other options) by the opponent. For sure if we want damages is not the best pokemon, plasma fists/knock off/close combat/blaze kick in a band set could be decent, but I think the main reason to have zera in a team is to support (sitrus best item) and only then to chip some pokemons (maybe with magnet plasma fists). Surely sometimes is too passive, struggles vs ground types, but is a good supporter and I think Tier 3 is correct.
Yoda2798: Tier 4. Disappointing Invitationals coming 23rd in usage with a negative win rate, after a similar performance in SCL. Zeraora is a Pokemon that’s sad to have on your team, so often it feels like it clicks Fake Out then does nothing. Speaking of which, there’s three better Fake Out users, all Tier 1, who you’d much rather have instead. Incineroar and Rillaboom also have Knock Off, and Mew can replicate most of its other utility. The biggest selling point is Zeraora’s Speed, but other fast Pokemon can provide that Speed while being much less passive (which also takes advantage of the Speed better). Zeraora can be the right fit on certain teams, but most of the time you can get what you’d want from it by using one of the three better Fake Out users plus something fast instead, and avoid having a bad Pokemon on your team in the process.
Nido-Rus: Tier 3, coaching remains a tier 3 set. Still does bulky pivot stuff but boosting a genesect, urshifu, or other such mon can absolutely be a game deciding factor and is always a threat to watch out for. Band is also not bad but tier 3.5ish, works well until you click a move and they find out its band and then it's much easier to play around.
SMB: Tier 3, some of the bad opinions about this pokemon are just because people use bad sets, let’s keep it real. Do not use mono electric attack sets. Do not use coaching. Do not use life orb. What’s left after that? Bulky taunt or thunder wave sets with 2 attacks + fake out and choice band sets. These sets are tier 3.
JRL: T3. Zeraora is a great support with great speed. Taunt, snarl, fake out, knock, t wave are very useful moves, it can do speed control, bother psychic spam and vs balanced taunt is very good avoiding TR, hazards or any boost.
Madaraaaa: T3. Fastest pokemon in the tier apart from pheromosa. Fits well in balanced teams. Generally used and really good in lead: fast fake out, taunt, but also coaching, snarl, knock off are amazing moves to face and control multiple situations on the field helping allies to endure a hit or to set up, and preventing hazards/tr/tailwind (and other options) by the opponent. For sure if we want damages is not the best pokemon, plasma fists/knock off/close combat/blaze kick in a band set could be decent, but I think the main reason to have zera in a team is to support (sitrus best item) and only then to chip some pokemons (maybe with magnet plasma fists). Surely sometimes is too passive, struggles vs ground types, but is a good supporter and I think Tier 3 is correct.
T4 -> T3Actuarily: T4. Agree with what Yoda said, celesteela is better as a meteor beam attacker due to its way better typing and bulk. Nihilego can pull off a sweep if the opponent doesn’t even consider it in the builder or makes serious misplays, but it has too many checks to reliably do this, which is why it’s rarely used. A good case for T4.
Yoda2798: Tier 4. Nihilego had ZERO uses out of the 66 teams used in Invitationals, that does not strike me as a Tier 3 Pokemon, and it didn’t have a super notable SCL to make up for it either. If anything, recent trends have been slightly unfavourable for it, there’s a new better Rock-type to use instead (Tyranitar), hazards push it into Grassy Glide range, and Genesect is a worse Steel-type for it to face than Celesteela. Nihilego isn’t a bad Pokemon, but it struggles to find a place on teams over other Pokemon. It does have nice snowball potential, but its physical frailty holds it back, especially in a metagame dominated by Rillaboom. Landorus offers practically the same Speed tier and more balanced defences while trading snowball potential for consistent damage, not relying on Power Herb or Beast Boost to get things going. Spectrier is another competitor, offering snowball potential with several positives at the cost of losing Meteor Beam for damage and boosting in one: outspeeding Naganadel, having a better typing with Fake Out immunity and fewer weaknesses, being really good into top Pokemon Mew, and having a free item slot since Power Herb isn’t forced, giving the option of Grassy Seed for much better physical bulk. Naganadel is a similar Speed Poison-type with Beast Boost, but has Fire coverage for Steels, access to Tailwind, and takes Grassy Glide infinitely better. Like I said, Spectrier isn’t bad, but it is niche, usually other Pokemon will fit better.
Nido-Rus: Tier 4. Still a good mon but continues to have incredibly lopsided matchups, with particularly bad matchups against most of the best mons in the format right now. Also it really doesn’t like most of more recent meta changes.
SMB: Tier 3, massive offensive threat and the pokemon with the best snowballing potential. Has some really bad matchups vs steel types, zygarde, weather and strong priority moves but it’s solid vs everything else, specially lando-i celesteela teams.
JRL: T3. Nihilego does a good job against tier 1 and 2 pokes. Meteor beam + 1 spe ata is very good and can snowball it if it can 1 ko.
Inci + rilla + fini are very threatened by it, and it also combines very well on HO teams with whinsi.
Madaraaaa: T3. Agreed with Jrl. Poison and rock cover a lot of high tier pokemons. With tailwind and good pivoting could be really oppressive offensively after a ko. The speed and spatk are great. Meteor beam really gives it the boos needed to be dangerous from turn 1. Unfortunately completely walled by steel and ground types.
Yoda2798: Tier 4. Nihilego had ZERO uses out of the 66 teams used in Invitationals, that does not strike me as a Tier 3 Pokemon, and it didn’t have a super notable SCL to make up for it either. If anything, recent trends have been slightly unfavourable for it, there’s a new better Rock-type to use instead (Tyranitar), hazards push it into Grassy Glide range, and Genesect is a worse Steel-type for it to face than Celesteela. Nihilego isn’t a bad Pokemon, but it struggles to find a place on teams over other Pokemon. It does have nice snowball potential, but its physical frailty holds it back, especially in a metagame dominated by Rillaboom. Landorus offers practically the same Speed tier and more balanced defences while trading snowball potential for consistent damage, not relying on Power Herb or Beast Boost to get things going. Spectrier is another competitor, offering snowball potential with several positives at the cost of losing Meteor Beam for damage and boosting in one: outspeeding Naganadel, having a better typing with Fake Out immunity and fewer weaknesses, being really good into top Pokemon Mew, and having a free item slot since Power Herb isn’t forced, giving the option of Grassy Seed for much better physical bulk. Naganadel is a similar Speed Poison-type with Beast Boost, but has Fire coverage for Steels, access to Tailwind, and takes Grassy Glide infinitely better. Like I said, Spectrier isn’t bad, but it is niche, usually other Pokemon will fit better.
Nido-Rus: Tier 4. Still a good mon but continues to have incredibly lopsided matchups, with particularly bad matchups against most of the best mons in the format right now. Also it really doesn’t like most of more recent meta changes.
SMB: Tier 3, massive offensive threat and the pokemon with the best snowballing potential. Has some really bad matchups vs steel types, zygarde, weather and strong priority moves but it’s solid vs everything else, specially lando-i celesteela teams.
JRL: T3. Nihilego does a good job against tier 1 and 2 pokes. Meteor beam + 1 spe ata is very good and can snowball it if it can 1 ko.
Inci + rilla + fini are very threatened by it, and it also combines very well on HO teams with whinsi.
Madaraaaa: T3. Agreed with Jrl. Poison and rock cover a lot of high tier pokemons. With tailwind and good pivoting could be really oppressive offensively after a ko. The speed and spatk are great. Meteor beam really gives it the boos needed to be dangerous from turn 1. Unfortunately completely walled by steel and ground types.
T1 -> T2Actuarily: T1. It’s the best hazard setter in a metagame where hazards have become very good, it’s a top 3 tailwind setter, a top 3 TR setter, gets a ton of useful moves like FO/snarl/wisp/coaching/pollen puff. Tied for 2nd in invitationals and was 2nd in scl in usage. Definitely a t1 mon.
Yoda2798: Tier 1. Joint 2nd in usage for Invitationals, Mew is still one of the easiest Pokemon to fit on your team. Making the role of hazards setter its own has solidified its place in Tier 1, on top of being one of the best speed control options and having a deep movepool that lets it adapt to whatever the team needs. There has been a rise in Pokemon which OHKO it because of how good it is, but Mew remains one of the best Pokemon in the tier.
Nido-Rus: Tier 1. Top of the usage charts and for good reason, defines the meta right now with hazards sets along with the multitude of other support options it has. Probably still the worst tier 1 with more recent meta changes introducing mons that are better into hazards and into mew as well as other good hazard setting options, but still one of the defining glues in the format.
SMB: Tier 3. I’ve explained this several times but 0 tier 1 sets, arguably 0 tier 2 sets and a bunch of tier 3 sets don’t make a pokemon tier 1. I could respect tier 2 votings if you consider any of their sets tier 2 (ig tailwind + 2 attacks could be, but it has only gotten worse so to me it’s not). Ghost types are more common, faster tailwind setters are more common, and they are being voted with higher ranks which is fair, so why are we keeping mew at 1? I honestly don’t know :shrug:
JRL: T1. This pokemon can enter almost any team and with an infinite variety of sets.
Snarl + Wow vs balanced team, expanding force + meteor beam in psyquic spam team, rocks + spikes, cosmic power and it is also one of the best speed control of the meta in trick room and tailwind.
It is true that they have increased the use of pokes that condition him like pheromosa, dragapult or spectrier, but even so, his work does it wonderfully.
Madaraaaa: T1. Speed control, hazards, fake out, offensive sets: mew can have everything. Most annoying and one of the strongest pokemon in the metagame. Almost impossibile to kill in one hit, in lead always manages to do something good and open spaces and useful scenarios for the rest of the team. Then even if dies is not a real problem. Best supporter in the tier with Rillaboom and Incineroar, tier 1.
Yoda2798: Tier 1. Joint 2nd in usage for Invitationals, Mew is still one of the easiest Pokemon to fit on your team. Making the role of hazards setter its own has solidified its place in Tier 1, on top of being one of the best speed control options and having a deep movepool that lets it adapt to whatever the team needs. There has been a rise in Pokemon which OHKO it because of how good it is, but Mew remains one of the best Pokemon in the tier.
Nido-Rus: Tier 1. Top of the usage charts and for good reason, defines the meta right now with hazards sets along with the multitude of other support options it has. Probably still the worst tier 1 with more recent meta changes introducing mons that are better into hazards and into mew as well as other good hazard setting options, but still one of the defining glues in the format.
SMB: Tier 3. I’ve explained this several times but 0 tier 1 sets, arguably 0 tier 2 sets and a bunch of tier 3 sets don’t make a pokemon tier 1. I could respect tier 2 votings if you consider any of their sets tier 2 (ig tailwind + 2 attacks could be, but it has only gotten worse so to me it’s not). Ghost types are more common, faster tailwind setters are more common, and they are being voted with higher ranks which is fair, so why are we keeping mew at 1? I honestly don’t know :shrug:
JRL: T1. This pokemon can enter almost any team and with an infinite variety of sets.
Snarl + Wow vs balanced team, expanding force + meteor beam in psyquic spam team, rocks + spikes, cosmic power and it is also one of the best speed control of the meta in trick room and tailwind.
It is true that they have increased the use of pokes that condition him like pheromosa, dragapult or spectrier, but even so, his work does it wonderfully.
Madaraaaa: T1. Speed control, hazards, fake out, offensive sets: mew can have everything. Most annoying and one of the strongest pokemon in the metagame. Almost impossibile to kill in one hit, in lead always manages to do something good and open spaces and useful scenarios for the rest of the team. Then even if dies is not a real problem. Best supporter in the tier with Rillaboom and Incineroar, tier 1.
T3 -> T2Actuarily: T3, I agree that it does have a lot of good matchups, but oftentimes it gets walled once it uses its meteor beam by either steels or fires (depending on if it’s flamethrower or air slash). Also fires frequently are able to lure Ceesteela’s meteor beam and then beat it afterwards. Has an awkward speed tier where it has to invest all its EVs into offense just to outspeed stuff in Tailwind.
Yoda2798: Tier 3. 20th in usage in Invitationals with a negative winrate, Celesteela hasn’t really gotten better recently. A lot of its effectiveness hinges on Meteor Beam, which people are more aware of to play around, using Protect to burn it, baiting it with a Fire-type then switching out so it's safe for later, or using Knock Off to remove Power Herb and make Meteor Beam two turns. If you can force Celesteela out after getting a good hit on it or after it uses up Power Herb it’s also much less threatening when it switches in a second time, in part due to its middling Speed which holds it back. Celesteela doesn’t fit easily onto enough teams to be Tier 2, especially compared to Genesect, the better and much more splashable Steel-type.
Nido-Rus: Tier 3, has been dropping in viability for a while now. Meteor beam sets are still good but easier to play around. Other sets like 3 attacks, leech seed sub, etc are decent but roughly tier 4 at best.
SMB: Tier 3, 3 attack sets without meteor beam are the best sets for it. Meteor beam gives a fake feeling that you are ok vs fire types when it’s as easy as just click protect or switch out and switch back in the next turn to check celesteela while you have wasted your item and you are left with 2 coverage moves. I can respect tier 3 for meteor beam tho since it can be very good in some situations or to start breaking teams. But yeah the point is that neither the best set nor the most common set are good enough for 2.
JRL: T2. It can be used on both offensive and balanced teams, with its set meteor beam +1 spe attack for +1 ko incineroar and starting with the snowball, in addition to its great type and its fantastic bulk make celesela a tank pokemon, which can hold very well defensively, which its leech seed + sub set can be very annoying.
We can also adapt its speed to play in tailwind and in trick room. In short, it is a very complete poke both offensively and defensively and I think it deserves tier 2.
Madaraaaa: T3 for Celesteela. Yoda explained perfectly.
Yoda2798: Tier 3. 20th in usage in Invitationals with a negative winrate, Celesteela hasn’t really gotten better recently. A lot of its effectiveness hinges on Meteor Beam, which people are more aware of to play around, using Protect to burn it, baiting it with a Fire-type then switching out so it's safe for later, or using Knock Off to remove Power Herb and make Meteor Beam two turns. If you can force Celesteela out after getting a good hit on it or after it uses up Power Herb it’s also much less threatening when it switches in a second time, in part due to its middling Speed which holds it back. Celesteela doesn’t fit easily onto enough teams to be Tier 2, especially compared to Genesect, the better and much more splashable Steel-type.
Nido-Rus: Tier 3, has been dropping in viability for a while now. Meteor beam sets are still good but easier to play around. Other sets like 3 attacks, leech seed sub, etc are decent but roughly tier 4 at best.
SMB: Tier 3, 3 attack sets without meteor beam are the best sets for it. Meteor beam gives a fake feeling that you are ok vs fire types when it’s as easy as just click protect or switch out and switch back in the next turn to check celesteela while you have wasted your item and you are left with 2 coverage moves. I can respect tier 3 for meteor beam tho since it can be very good in some situations or to start breaking teams. But yeah the point is that neither the best set nor the most common set are good enough for 2.
JRL: T2. It can be used on both offensive and balanced teams, with its set meteor beam +1 spe attack for +1 ko incineroar and starting with the snowball, in addition to its great type and its fantastic bulk make celesela a tank pokemon, which can hold very well defensively, which its leech seed + sub set can be very annoying.
We can also adapt its speed to play in tailwind and in trick room. In short, it is a very complete poke both offensively and defensively and I think it deserves tier 2.
Madaraaaa: T3 for Celesteela. Yoda explained perfectly.
T4 -> T3Actuarily: T4. The nomination mentions a bulky spdef version as the reason for a rise, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a set. I think it’s great on rain (but not required, Tornadus is a good tailwind setter on rain too) and not too useful elsewhere.
Yoda2798: Tier 4. Zapdos had a single non-rain use across SCL and Invitationals, on sand, where it is an option but even less required than it is on rain. Outside of that Zapdos is so meh though, there’s much better Tailwind setters available to use instead of this, even if its typing is a bit better in a few cases.
Nido-Rus: Tier 4. Rain is pretty much the only use for this. Still think it’s a tier 3ish mon on rain, but rain as a whole has been dropping in viability, and recently tornadus has been an alternative option over zapdos with a better matchup into landorus, whimsicott, etc.
SMB: I’ve been repeating for 1 year that this is a rain pokemon and shouldn’t be used outside of that archetype, please let’s not return to bad habits :/ tier 1 pokemon mew will do better than zapdos in any non rain team… tier 4
JRL: T4. In rain it does its job very well, hurricane doesn't miss and a good tailwind setter, but outside of rain it looks somewhat limited due to the loss of precision in hurricane 70% and the loss of power from thunder to thunderbolt. I think tier 4 is his place.
Madaraaaa: T4. Decent in rain with 2 powerful STAB moves, struggles in other matchups or, simply, exist more reliable tailwind setters.
Yoda2798: Tier 4. Zapdos had a single non-rain use across SCL and Invitationals, on sand, where it is an option but even less required than it is on rain. Outside of that Zapdos is so meh though, there’s much better Tailwind setters available to use instead of this, even if its typing is a bit better in a few cases.
Nido-Rus: Tier 4. Rain is pretty much the only use for this. Still think it’s a tier 3ish mon on rain, but rain as a whole has been dropping in viability, and recently tornadus has been an alternative option over zapdos with a better matchup into landorus, whimsicott, etc.
SMB: I’ve been repeating for 1 year that this is a rain pokemon and shouldn’t be used outside of that archetype, please let’s not return to bad habits :/ tier 1 pokemon mew will do better than zapdos in any non rain team… tier 4
JRL: T4. In rain it does its job very well, hurricane doesn't miss and a good tailwind setter, but outside of rain it looks somewhat limited due to the loss of precision in hurricane 70% and the loss of power from thunder to thunderbolt. I think tier 4 is his place.
Madaraaaa: T4. Decent in rain with 2 powerful STAB moves, struggles in other matchups or, simply, exist more reliable tailwind setters.
T5 -> T4Actuarily: T5. While it has a place in the metagame especially alongside stuff like P2 & Diancie, it requires a lot of positioning and support, and every team is very prepared to deal with Rillaboom, which limits Lurantis’ matchups. It wants to be run alongside Rillaboom to be able to use grassy glide outside of TR, but running double grass has its shortcomings. Just has stiff competition between Rillaboom/tsareena/ferrothorn.
Yoda2798: Tier 5. The others summed it up well. Lurantis is a nice option but wants two Trick Room setters (and ideally Rillaboom) to justify using, and even then there’s teams with two setters which work fine without it. It’s very limited by it not being a Trick Room setter and being very bad outside of Trick Room outside of a boosted Grassy Glide.
Nido-Rus: Tier 5. Almost no usage on this, 1-3 in Invitationals and 1-1 in SCL. It’s usable and it works and can win, but it’s always been a fringe usage mon and continues to be that.
SMB: Tier 5, I don’t think anything has changed for it. If it could fit in teams with only 1 tr setter as it can do in sm it could be tier 4, but I’m not going to be the one risking playing 6v5 so for me it’s 5.
JRL: T4. Contrary in the key of lurantis, superpower + attack up +1 when intimidated, makes it a danger if you have speed control.
It does a great job in full room and semiroom teams pairing well outside of the trick room with rillaboom + grassy glide if it's already gotten a boost before.
Madaraaaa: T4. Is a rare pick that could work in semi/full room teams. In tr is a nightmare, immune to spore, faces well rillaboom and incineroar and fini pivoting to stall turns. Is a grass type with superpower as a key move: after some boosts could be unstoppable. I like sub with sitrus/leftovers/occa, but also 3 attacks is okay. Anyway, the stats are a little disappointing, fire moves are everywhere, and you really need a team to support it properly.
Yoda2798: Tier 5. The others summed it up well. Lurantis is a nice option but wants two Trick Room setters (and ideally Rillaboom) to justify using, and even then there’s teams with two setters which work fine without it. It’s very limited by it not being a Trick Room setter and being very bad outside of Trick Room outside of a boosted Grassy Glide.
Nido-Rus: Tier 5. Almost no usage on this, 1-3 in Invitationals and 1-1 in SCL. It’s usable and it works and can win, but it’s always been a fringe usage mon and continues to be that.
SMB: Tier 5, I don’t think anything has changed for it. If it could fit in teams with only 1 tr setter as it can do in sm it could be tier 4, but I’m not going to be the one risking playing 6v5 so for me it’s 5.
JRL: T4. Contrary in the key of lurantis, superpower + attack up +1 when intimidated, makes it a danger if you have speed control.
It does a great job in full room and semiroom teams pairing well outside of the trick room with rillaboom + grassy glide if it's already gotten a boost before.
Madaraaaa: T4. Is a rare pick that could work in semi/full room teams. In tr is a nightmare, immune to spore, faces well rillaboom and incineroar and fini pivoting to stall turns. Is a grass type with superpower as a key move: after some boosts could be unstoppable. I like sub with sitrus/leftovers/occa, but also 3 attacks is okay. Anyway, the stats are a little disappointing, fire moves are everywhere, and you really need a team to support it properly.
T3 -> T4Actuarily: T3. While people have gotten used to playing vs the traditional psyspam set with meteor beam, there’s been enough innovation between weakness policy sets and sets with other coverage moves like heat wave to keep reliable checks on their toes. Psyspam as an archetype has gotten slightly worse due to how many checks teams are running, but, you can often decide on preview whether you can beat the opponent with psyspam, or if they have multiple checks like Fini/Rilla/Steel/dark types, you can often use the partners to win and just accept you won’t get terrain control.
Yoda2798: Tier 3. Necrozma is the actually worthwhile part of Psyspam: being bulky, helped by its ability; good offensively with Expanding Force, Meteor Beam, and coverage moves, and has Trick Room. As others have mentioned, metagame trends have been unfavourable for PsySpam, but Necrozma still has enough to narrowly hold its place in Tier 3 for me, for now.
Nido-Rus: Tier 4. Metagame has adapted hard to this thing, to the point where a lot of recent psychic terrain teams simply don’t even feature this at all, instead opting for just lele. Still a good mon but much easier to play around right now.
SMB: Tier 3, this thing just does stuff that no other pokemon can do, when you see stuff like beating the ttar sample (which has 6 psychic spam checks) pretty easily with this, man… It just gives psychic spam teams another dimension. I don’t think they have gotten worse since the last slate tbf. I wouldn’t say it’s a “solid” archetype but it can coinflip almost any game and that’s mainly because of necrozma
JRL: T3. I think the meta has had to adapt a lot to the power of necrozma in psyquc terrain, meteor beam (+1) + expanding force + earth power perfect coverage.It is also a great trick room setter and can run WP since its great bulk and ability can resist super effective attacks.
I think it's great but the teams are very prepared for this pokemon, pheromosa, dragapult, metagross or ferro with steel roller taking the field, tyranitar, mew or zeraora + snarl, rilla + fini control the field, but if you're not careful, 1 turn can win your entire team.
Madaraaaa: T3. I think this mon is still strong overall. Bulky, has tr, has a good moves coverage. Power herb is the main item but also weakness policy could surprising. Of course without the presence of psy terrain is not optimal, but if I judge overall the single mon is T3 for me.
Yoda2798: Tier 3. Necrozma is the actually worthwhile part of Psyspam: being bulky, helped by its ability; good offensively with Expanding Force, Meteor Beam, and coverage moves, and has Trick Room. As others have mentioned, metagame trends have been unfavourable for PsySpam, but Necrozma still has enough to narrowly hold its place in Tier 3 for me, for now.
Nido-Rus: Tier 4. Metagame has adapted hard to this thing, to the point where a lot of recent psychic terrain teams simply don’t even feature this at all, instead opting for just lele. Still a good mon but much easier to play around right now.
SMB: Tier 3, this thing just does stuff that no other pokemon can do, when you see stuff like beating the ttar sample (which has 6 psychic spam checks) pretty easily with this, man… It just gives psychic spam teams another dimension. I don’t think they have gotten worse since the last slate tbf. I wouldn’t say it’s a “solid” archetype but it can coinflip almost any game and that’s mainly because of necrozma
JRL: T3. I think the meta has had to adapt a lot to the power of necrozma in psyquc terrain, meteor beam (+1) + expanding force + earth power perfect coverage.It is also a great trick room setter and can run WP since its great bulk and ability can resist super effective attacks.
I think it's great but the teams are very prepared for this pokemon, pheromosa, dragapult, metagross or ferro with steel roller taking the field, tyranitar, mew or zeraora + snarl, rilla + fini control the field, but if you're not careful, 1 turn can win your entire team.
Madaraaaa: T3. I think this mon is still strong overall. Bulky, has tr, has a good moves coverage. Power herb is the main item but also weakness policy could surprising. Of course without the presence of psy terrain is not optimal, but if I judge overall the single mon is T3 for me.
T4 -> T5Actuarily: T4. As mentioned above, I think Indeedee has become the lesser psychic terrain setter, just because most teams just pivot in front of Indeedee. Heal pulse is nice, but psyspam teams often aren’t running enough bulk to take advantage of this. (The best sets run the move psychic terrain, so they can catch the opposing terrain setter on the switchin).
Yoda2798: Tier 4. Indeedee sets Psychic Terrain and clicks Follow Me, it does enough for Tier 4 even if PsySpam is in a downturn. It’s not just a strictly worse setter than Tapu Lele either, in SCL it actually had more uses for example.
Nido-Rus: Tier 4. Worse than lele on an already declining archetype, but it still accomplishes enough of worth for tier 4 to be justified. Still has worth on more hyper offensive psyspam teams with eject button or sitrus HH as well as being particularly good on setup spam teams (not something seen in tournament games but through personal experience with my own setup teams).
SMB: I’m fine with both ranks, wherever a follow me and terrain setter bot fits better, which is 5 most likely.
JRL: T4. The best psychic terrain setter with a lot of moves to support the team, follow me, helping hand, heal pulse...
He also has good bulk and a very good type.
With the set eject button you can set the terrain and exit the field to return to the field later leaving other pokes in a better position vs priorities or expanding force hit more hard.
Madaraaaa: T5. Is worst than lele, offers a lot of support moves and with e-button still works but not now. In the field with a fini/rillaboom switch is simply useless.
Yoda2798: Tier 4. Indeedee sets Psychic Terrain and clicks Follow Me, it does enough for Tier 4 even if PsySpam is in a downturn. It’s not just a strictly worse setter than Tapu Lele either, in SCL it actually had more uses for example.
Nido-Rus: Tier 4. Worse than lele on an already declining archetype, but it still accomplishes enough of worth for tier 4 to be justified. Still has worth on more hyper offensive psyspam teams with eject button or sitrus HH as well as being particularly good on setup spam teams (not something seen in tournament games but through personal experience with my own setup teams).
SMB: I’m fine with both ranks, wherever a follow me and terrain setter bot fits better, which is 5 most likely.
JRL: T4. The best psychic terrain setter with a lot of moves to support the team, follow me, helping hand, heal pulse...
He also has good bulk and a very good type.
With the set eject button you can set the terrain and exit the field to return to the field later leaving other pokes in a better position vs priorities or expanding force hit more hard.
Madaraaaa: T5. Is worst than lele, offers a lot of support moves and with e-button still works but not now. In the field with a fini/rillaboom switch is simply useless.
T1 -> T2Actuarily: T2, I’ve always felt Incin is T2, there’s a lot that exposes it, as the nomination mentioned. Obviously intimidate + fake out + parting shot + knock off has merit, but there’s a lot of reasons teams would rather use Volcanion or Heatran. As the nomination correctly said, Incin fits best on set up & pivot heavy teams out of the 3 fire types, while Heatran fits best on Tailwind offense, and Volcanion is the best coverage attacker on Semiroom.
Yoda2798: Tier 1. Refer to my in-depth reasoning last time, this is a mile above the other Fire-types and still provides the same utility as always. It’s one of the best partners for Genesect, is good at pivoting to rack up hazards damage, and with hazards being prominent Heavy-Duty Boots means its item slot gets even more value than Sitrus Berry gives usually. It was joint 2nd in usage for Invitationals with a 67% winrate (16-8), after also doing well in SCL as I discussed before, I don’t see how this could not be Tier 1.
Nido-Rus: Tier 2, same as my vote from the last slate. Since then there’s been quite a bit less ID body press stuff running around, but sand, genesect, hazards, and more offensive fini sets have made a big comeback, all of which incineroar doesn’t really like to see. Incineroar still does incineroar things, but right now I don’t see this as the clear dominating team glue it has often functioned as in the past.
SMB: eh it feels like we have had this nom a thousand times, it is fun to read that kyub is bad when this thing is the main thing holding dd kyub from being a massive threat to almost every team tho. I already covered why incineroar doesn’t care about hazards on previous slates and why using boots incineroar is like using itemless incineroar, what has changed for it? Nothing, it still does the same and it’s great at it. Tier 1.
JRL: T2. It is true that it is the best intimidation, fake out + parting + knock is incredible and gives very good support to balanced teams, trick room or spikes + rocks.
But, it is also true that depending on the archeotype we use we are going to want another fire type, heatran + off, volcanoion + semiroom, volcarona in booster teams.
It should also be noted that it loses to some steel pokes like meteor beam celestela or genesect band / SG that it can't deal with for sure at times. Also, rocks + spikes hurt him, which he needs 100% boots if you want to pivot him against this archeotype.
Madaraaaa: Tier 1. Best pokemon in the tier. Literally can do anything you need. Has intimidate and is bulky. Offers too many good options depending by the turn. You don't have to be too creative in incineroar's set: fake out, parting shot, flare blitz, knock off. That's all you need. Sometimes in specifiic teams overheat, toxic, u-turn, will-o-wisp, taunt are good too.
Too versatile, is like the glue for every team: makes it really solid, helps allies to set up or endure hits (protect+switch in of inci oldest but safest play ever) and balances many situations. Tier 1.
Yoda2798: Tier 1. Refer to my in-depth reasoning last time, this is a mile above the other Fire-types and still provides the same utility as always. It’s one of the best partners for Genesect, is good at pivoting to rack up hazards damage, and with hazards being prominent Heavy-Duty Boots means its item slot gets even more value than Sitrus Berry gives usually. It was joint 2nd in usage for Invitationals with a 67% winrate (16-8), after also doing well in SCL as I discussed before, I don’t see how this could not be Tier 1.
Nido-Rus: Tier 2, same as my vote from the last slate. Since then there’s been quite a bit less ID body press stuff running around, but sand, genesect, hazards, and more offensive fini sets have made a big comeback, all of which incineroar doesn’t really like to see. Incineroar still does incineroar things, but right now I don’t see this as the clear dominating team glue it has often functioned as in the past.
SMB: eh it feels like we have had this nom a thousand times, it is fun to read that kyub is bad when this thing is the main thing holding dd kyub from being a massive threat to almost every team tho. I already covered why incineroar doesn’t care about hazards on previous slates and why using boots incineroar is like using itemless incineroar, what has changed for it? Nothing, it still does the same and it’s great at it. Tier 1.
JRL: T2. It is true that it is the best intimidation, fake out + parting + knock is incredible and gives very good support to balanced teams, trick room or spikes + rocks.
But, it is also true that depending on the archeotype we use we are going to want another fire type, heatran + off, volcanoion + semiroom, volcarona in booster teams.
It should also be noted that it loses to some steel pokes like meteor beam celestela or genesect band / SG that it can't deal with for sure at times. Also, rocks + spikes hurt him, which he needs 100% boots if you want to pivot him against this archeotype.
Madaraaaa: Tier 1. Best pokemon in the tier. Literally can do anything you need. Has intimidate and is bulky. Offers too many good options depending by the turn. You don't have to be too creative in incineroar's set: fake out, parting shot, flare blitz, knock off. That's all you need. Sometimes in specifiic teams overheat, toxic, u-turn, will-o-wisp, taunt are good too.
Too versatile, is like the glue for every team: makes it really solid, helps allies to set up or endure hits (protect+switch in of inci oldest but safest play ever) and balances many situations. Tier 1.
T2 -> T3Actuarily: T2. Porygon was used a ton in scl & invitationals, and is the premier trick room setter. As I’ve said before, it beats nearly all its checks under TR, so if properly positioned it can be really hard to stop. I don’t really buy that it is bad into hazards, as it’s not a pivoting Pokémon. I also think P2 semi-room is an excellent team comp into a lot of what’s popular right now.
Yoda2798: Tier 2. 5th in usage in Invitationals with a 61% winrate (11-7) shows Porygon2 is still a great Pokemon. It’s still the best Trick Room setter, able to reliably do its job with its bulk and Recover, and BoltBeam coverage is very threatening once TR is up. P2 is a centrepiece to SemiRoom teams, which are pretty good still.
Nido-Rus: Despite being a certified porygon hater, can’t quite put it down to 3 just yet. Still has enough usage and does its job of getting trick room up and hitting things reasonably hard with solid coverage. Doesn’t like recent meta developments but is still common and has decent performance. Everyone stop using this so it can finally be voted down properly
SMB: tier 3 but sr and spikes have nothing to do with it… (I’ve never voted this to tier 2 iirc). Knock off, taunt, no slots for protect, passive without the boost and a long etc is why this is tier 3. “Hates hazards” is no argument, almost every pokemon that doesn’t have magic guard or it’s not sm incineroar which gets healed with them “hates hazards”, and this one probably much less than others since it learns recover and is neutral vs rock…
JRL: T2. It is the 2 best setter in the trick room, it has great bulk and the boltbeam coverage is very good, its type makes it only fight to hit it super effective, also with good intimidation support it can be immortal, but there are many resources to stop it what It makes me think a lot about its position in the tier.
Pheromosa, urshifu, trick scarf, knock off, toxic, encore whimsi, teams with a lot of offensive presence and amoongus as a check condition him to put trick room if he doesn't want to be asleep.
Finally I think that tier 2 is correct, but I understand that tier 3 can be a place for him too.
Madaraaaa: Tier 2. Best tr setter, ice beam and tbolt with spatk boost turn p2 not only into a bulky but also into a little offensive pokemon. Recover is fantastic and is a wincon sometimes. P2 endures also many double hits and can put trickroom safely.
Yoda2798: Tier 2. 5th in usage in Invitationals with a 61% winrate (11-7) shows Porygon2 is still a great Pokemon. It’s still the best Trick Room setter, able to reliably do its job with its bulk and Recover, and BoltBeam coverage is very threatening once TR is up. P2 is a centrepiece to SemiRoom teams, which are pretty good still.
Nido-Rus: Despite being a certified porygon hater, can’t quite put it down to 3 just yet. Still has enough usage and does its job of getting trick room up and hitting things reasonably hard with solid coverage. Doesn’t like recent meta developments but is still common and has decent performance. Everyone stop using this so it can finally be voted down properly
SMB: tier 3 but sr and spikes have nothing to do with it… (I’ve never voted this to tier 2 iirc). Knock off, taunt, no slots for protect, passive without the boost and a long etc is why this is tier 3. “Hates hazards” is no argument, almost every pokemon that doesn’t have magic guard or it’s not sm incineroar which gets healed with them “hates hazards”, and this one probably much less than others since it learns recover and is neutral vs rock…
JRL: T2. It is the 2 best setter in the trick room, it has great bulk and the boltbeam coverage is very good, its type makes it only fight to hit it super effective, also with good intimidation support it can be immortal, but there are many resources to stop it what It makes me think a lot about its position in the tier.
Pheromosa, urshifu, trick scarf, knock off, toxic, encore whimsi, teams with a lot of offensive presence and amoongus as a check condition him to put trick room if he doesn't want to be asleep.
Finally I think that tier 2 is correct, but I understand that tier 3 can be a place for him too.
Madaraaaa: Tier 2. Best tr setter, ice beam and tbolt with spatk boost turn p2 not only into a bulky but also into a little offensive pokemon. Recover is fantastic and is a wincon sometimes. P2 endures also many double hits and can put trickroom safely.
Low Tier Sweep (and Pokemon in the top 3 tiers that were not nominated for changes):
Results:
T2 -> T3 T2 -> T3 T2 -> T3 T2 -> T3 T3 -> T2 T2 - > T3 T3 -> T4 T3 -> T4 T4 -> T3 T5 -> T3 T4 -> T3 T5 -> T4 T5 -> T4 UR -> T5 UR -> T5 T4 -> T5
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