Resource SS Monotype Viability Rankings [Crown Tundra]

[Neko]

I disagree with your assessment that Spectrier should be dropped. The higher Speed tier matters as outspeeding the Latis, Cinderace, Torn-T, Barraskewda not under rain, and Weavile matters. Also, Grim Neigh is an op ability, allowing it to snowball pretty quickly, unlike Gengar. Also note that 394 Speed at +1 outspeeds Excadrill in sand and nearly all choice scarf users should you use a NP-Salac or Scarf set. Spectrier doesn't need the coverage as most Ghost resists in the tier (Ttar, Zarude, Drapion/Skuntank, Hydreigon, and Weavile) have limited forms of recovery and are pressured by Spectrier's teammates. The majority of them also hate to get burnt. And if you're a type that doesn't have a ghost resist, like Elec, Fairy, or Water? Your best bet would be outspeeding and revenge killing it. Oh it Subbed and Calm-Minded? :D

That said, I would like to nominate the following mons to get a raise
(Steel)

B->A

It can stop BU Landorus-T and ID Kommo-o with a Taunt+Bulk Up set. It can also run a ton of sets from Iron Defense and Agility + BU Power Trip to pick its matchups it wants to beat. It also sports good mixed bulk and recovery in roost.

(Fairy)

B->A

Extremely good fat breaker + priority that can clean Ground / Flying / Steel / Poison types late game.

(Water)

C-> B

This is a great asset for rainless teams, as this slaps Steel very, very hard. It also staves off meanies like Tapu Bulu, cripples Flying teams with Mantine with the threat of Toxic + Fire + Water coverage, and also works as a Defogger that beats most hazard setters.

(Water)

D->B

This mon scary. It's standing there menacingly and it can either First Impression or set Spikes on me. Bonus points if the opposing team is Dark or Psychic, and it also acts as a Ground resist for Rainless teams trying to weather out Excadrill.

(Dragon)

C->B

Iron Defense sets are very good vs types Dragon struggles with, such as Steel, Dark, Normal, and (sometimes) Ice.

(Ground)

A->S

Provides useful immunities for ground and can run a variety of sets that can work for Sandy and Sandless teams. BU sets bully Steel and Poison extremely hard, while Choice Scarf provides speed control that's hard to find on sandless teams

And the following mons to get a drop
(Ground)

S->A

Sandless Ground teams are very viable, and you only need Hippo for Sand...so...

(Water)

S->A

Same reasoning as above, Rainless teams can work and aside from setting rain...it doesnt really do much

(Dark)

S->A/B

HO Dark doesn't use this, and balance Dark has been rarer recently... + Sableye can act as a good disruptor for Fighting-types should you want that...

 

[pikachu<3]

Time for some obvious nominations. A lot of these have already been put out by others, but it merits repeating:

D -> S (Ice)

The rise of this mon is almost singlehandedly causing ice to reach respecatable amounts of tour play; D is clearly too low for this. This is almost mandatory on ice right now, hence the S ranking.

S -> A (Ground)

Sandless ground is viable and arguably the better build; as such, this shouldn't stay S.

A -> S (Ground)

This is on every ground team as it's the only strong special attacker. As such, this should be S.

A -> S (Ground)

This is on every ground team as it's the only decent ground immunity on a type that often runs multiple mons (Excadrill, Nidoking) weak to ground without ground resists. As such, it deserves S.

S -> B (Dark)

Moltres-Galar and screens dark are on the rise as it's the better build; therefore this drops.

B -> A (Dark)

See above reasoning

B -> A (Dark)

See above reasoning

A -> S (Dark)

Should be on every dark team; make this S already.

C -> B/A (Dragon)

Ice is on the rise; therefore, this should be higher.

S -> A (Water)

Rainless builds are perfectly viable and are more common; as such this shouldn't be S.

S -> A (Water)

Toxapex has a quite a few issues. It's hard to fit on a rain team--here, Slowking is often the better regenerator mon because momentum is at a premium. Even on rainless squads, it has issues; for one thing, it's weak to ground, which is an issue as water doesn't have any viable ground resists and only a few immunities; most of the time you'll run this alongside Rotom-W or Mantine. Running Rotom-W as the ground immunity has its own set of problems, among them being weak to Mold Breaker Earthquake, while running it alongside Mantine pidgenholes builds, as Mantine is quite passive and lacks versatility (and is honestly not that good).

Even ignoring the unfortunate ground weakness, Toxapex in general suffers from being bait to many dangerous sweeper/wallbreakers in gen8--Moltres-Galar, Kyurem, Spectrier, and Zapdos all take advantage of Toxapex and are incredibly painful to deal with for water teams. This isn't to say Toxapex isn't an amazing mon--it is--but in light of all these flaws, it no longer deserves S rank.

A -> S (Water)

Fits on every team. Stealth Rock, Filp Turn momentum, and an Electric immunity is too good of a deal to pass up; I would go as far as to say teams need a reason not to run Swampert.

UR -> D (Water)

Reason is obvious lol.

A-> S (Electric)

An electric team without Zapdos is a bad electric team.

UR -> D (Electric)

Shoutouts to Memomiguel

 

[roxie]

I wouldn't necessarily say Screens Dark is better than Balance Dark. Mandibuzz is not a staple but the reasoning for it to drop is it's not a Staple on Dark teams (similar to Hippowdon on Ground not being a Staple because Sandless is a thing and it's a little passive). Even Non-screens Dark can go without Mandibuzz. Galarian Moltres is a hot topic in the metagame at the moment and it's really easy to slap it on a Hyper Offensive team but honestly, it works on all Balance / Offensive playstyles of Dark. Sableye is a cool Pokemon and it's mainly used to pivot into Fighting-type attacks of course from the likes of Urshifu-R and Galarian Zapdos and using (Defog Hydreigon + Sableye + Galarian Moltres) is how I add Galarian Moltress to my balanced Dark.

 

[Dead by Daylight]

Time for some obvious nominations. A lot of these have already been put out by others, but it merits repeating:

D -> S (Ice)

The rise of this mon is almost singlehandedly causing ice to reach respecatable amounts of tour play; D is clearly too low for this. This is almost mandatory on ice right now, hence the S ranking.

I don't mean to disrespect your idea, but I believe that this is a bit of an overreach.

While Hail is necessary for Ice to function properly (name a Hail-less team composition, please), Arctozolt is not the only reason that Ice is viable. Kyurem is massively impactful since it can eliminate Water-types, while Ninetales-Alola is essential. Combine this with Darmanitan-Galar, a hard competitor for an Ice slot, and I think it should go down to A. D is a massive under-ranking for it, though.

 

[ChrystalFalchion]

Question: why is Mew S rank? What does it do that’s so special on Pyschic teams?

 

[Neko]

Question: why is Mew S rank? What does it do that’s so special on Pyschic teams?

It can do pretty much everything due to its access to almost all moves, so it acts as a glue for some Psychic teams, providing what's not there yet.

1.)It can act as a Entry Hazards setter + Taunter due to its not bad speed even if uninvested. Moves are Taunt/Roost/Spikes or Stealth Rock/Knock Off or Spikes.

2.)It can also act as an annoying setup sweeper with a Cosmic Power set, as its nice speed allows it to shut down Haze and Roar users such as Mantine and Heatran. Moves are Cosmic Power / Roost / Taunt / Stored Power, you'd typically use Weakness Policy with this set. To be able to sweep tho you need to remove the Dark-types, which Tapu Lele / Hatt can do.

3.) Access to Dragon Dance, Swords Dance, and Nasty Plot allows it to break certain teams late-game with its chosen coverage. This set can virtually run anything, because it has almost every move. For example, a Swords Dance set with Knock Off, Close Combat, and Taunt or Drain Punch or Roost can break Steel teams late-game due to its excellent speed and decent bulk.

4.)It can also act as a disruptor that can also Defog due to its alright bulk especially if you give it a Kasib / Colbur Berry. Moves would be Knock / Will-o-Wisp or T-Wave / Defog / Roost.

 

[Floss]

VR Updates:

Updates

Bug -
Araquanid A -> B
Shuckle A -> C
Galvantula B -> A
Heracross B -> A
Scolipede B -> C
Ribombee C -> B
Golisopod D -> C

Dark -
Mandibuzz S -> A
Hydreigon A -> S
Zarude A -> S
Moltres-Galar B -> A
Drapion C -> B
Krookodile C -> B
Sableye D -> B
Sharpedo D -> UR

Dragon -
Garchomp A -> B
Dragonite C -> B
Zygarde-10% D -> C

Electric -
Raichu-Alola S -> A
Zapdos A -> S
Thundurus-I B -> C
Raikou C -> B
Regieleki C -> B
Thundurus-Therian D -> C
Xurkitree D -> UR
Vikavolt UR -> D

Fairy -
Clefable A -> S
Azumarill B -> A
Mimikyu B -> C
Togekiss B -> C
Tapu Fini C -> B
Diancie D -> UR

Fighting -
Keldeo S -> D
Buzzwole B -> A
Urshifu-R UR -> B
Scrafty UR -> C
Kommo-o UR -> D

Fire -
Torkoal S -> B
Heatran A -> B
Blacephalon B -> A
Volcanion B -> A
Rotom-Heat B -> C
Talonflame C -> D
Charizard C -> D/UR
Alolan Marowak D -> C
Ninetales D -> UR

Flying -
Celesteela A -> S
Moltres-Galar A -> S
Mantine A -> B
Zapdos A -> B
Tornadus-Therian B -> A
Skarmory B -> C
Thundurus C -> B
Moltres C -> D
Mandibuzz C -> D
Pelipper D -> UR
Salamence UR -> C

Ghost -
Corsola-Galar A -> B
Gengar A -> B
Palossand C -> B
Froslass D -> B
Golurk UR -> D

Grass -
Cradily A -> B
Whimiscott A -> B
Celebi B -> C
Tapu Bulu C -> B
Appletun C -> UR
Virizion D -> C

Ground -
Hippowdon S -> B
Landorus-T A -> S
Mamoswine A -> S
Garchomp B -> A
Steelix C -> B
Stunfisk-Galar UR -> D

Ice -
Kyurem A -> S
Darmanitan-Galar A -> B
Cloyster B -> A
Sandslash-Alola C -> D
Avalugg C -> D
Arctozolt D -> B
Rotom-Frost D -> C

Normal -
Ditto S -> A
Blissey S -> C
Heliolisk A -> S
Diggersby A -> C
Bewear B -> S
Obstagoon B -> A
Porygon2 B -> A
Braviary C -> B
Chansey D -> A

Poison -
Nidoking A -> S
Galarian Slowking A -> S
Skuntank C -> B
Crobat D -> B
Dragalge D -> UR

Psychic -
Mew S -> A
Tapu Lele S -> A
Jirachi A -> B
Latias A -> B
Hatterene B -> A
Latios B -> A
Slowking-Galar B -> A
Alakazam B -> C
Gardevoir D -> UR
Slowking D -> UR

Rock -
Coalossal A -> C
Barbacle B -> A
Lycanrock-Duck B -> C
Cradily B -> D
Omastar C -> B

Steel -
Aegislash S -> A
Excadrill A -> S
Melmetal B -> A
Scizor D -> B/C

Water -
Pelipper S -> A
Toxapex S -> A
Slowking A -> S
Swampert A -> S
Tapu Fini A -> B
Keldeo B -> C
Volcanion C -> B
Primarina C -> D
Suicune C -> D
Slowbro D -> B
Golisopod D -> C
Kabutops D -> UR
Vaporeon D -> UR
Walrein UR -> D

 

[roxie]

&

Obstagoon Set

Obstagoon @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Obstruct / Switcheroo
- Facade
- Knock Off
- Close Combat

Obstagoon is a cool wallbreaker on Normal teams that's good in the Steel, Poison, Flying, Ghost, Psychic (especially with the Monotype-Stored Power Players), etc matchups. I've found it hard for Diggersby to be good in the matchups it's supposed to be, in theory, it's supposed to do well in the Steel, Poison, and Electric matchups. Choice-locked Diggersby has a hard time breaking past Steel's defensive core with scouters such as Celesteela and Ferrothorn scouting out its next attack. Diggersby "can" also use a Swords Dance set with Earthquake, Fire Punch, and Quick attack making it effective in the Steel matchup, but, it falls short in the Electric matchup (Rotom-Wash) and the Poison matchup (Galarian Weezing). Knock Off is always going to force progress and remove items and literally, nothing resists its coverage in Facade / Close Combat / Knock Off. I generally run Obstruct but after playing RU, I'd even consider Switcheroo as an option to really cripple walls like Celesteela, Landorus-T, etc (kinda funny that RU is testing him xd).

Calculations vs. Fat

252 Atk Guts Obstagoon Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 142-168 (46.7 - 55.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Guts Obstagoon Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Amoonguss: 240-283 (55.5 - 65.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Guts Obstagoon Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Weezing-Galar: 169-201 (50.5 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Guts Obstagoon Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Celesteela: 180-213 (45.2 - 53.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Guts Obstagoon Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Celesteela: 130-154 (32.6 - 38.6%) -- 99.1% chance to 3HKO

I kinda rank these mons at: 1. Snorlax / 2. Chansey / 3. Blissey. Snorlax is really nice against matchups like Ice, Electric, Fairy, and Psychic, and I was hooked on it honestly after seeing dahli 6-0 some Fairy team in DLC 1. I believe actually covering matchups could lead to Normal getting more wins. Look at Bug, Bug is being played a little more aggressively with SD Heracross, Volcarona, and Scizor (with more "support"-type slots like Armaldo and Shuckle at lower rankings). In other words, Snorlax benefits to the matchups itself rather than Chansey/Blissey just being a "general special sponge + setter".

Normal's main switch-in to Tapu Lele is supposed to be Blissey, yet it doesn't like taking Choice Specs Psyshocks. (Focus Blast is nearly a 2HKO on Defensive) Normal isn't running Defogless commonly and if you do run Braviaryless, I'd highly suggest Blissey, otherwise, Chansey / Snorlax outclass this mon with a Defogger on the team.

Normal Template + Matchups each Pokemon covers

Snorlax: Fairy / Electric / Ice / Fire / Psychic / Dragon
Obstagoon: Ghost / Steel / Poison / Flying / Psychic
Braviary: Grass / Checks Urshifu (scouts the set aswell) + Provides Defog
Porygon2: Flying / Steel (with Substitute) / Ground / Dragon / (hits a lot with BoltBeam)
Heliolisk: Water / Flying / Steel / Dark
Bewear: Dark / Normal / Steel / Rock / Ground / Ice

 

[Snapteryx]

I would just like to say that mono rock sucks anyway and it's not exactly a huge deal, but this is something I just want to mention for a moment.

C -> B (Rock)

I am aware that Rock-Fire is an absolutely atrocious defensive typing. 2 quad weaknesses really make it worse than many other rock types. But not only is Coalossal your best option for hazard removal (Armaldo isn't great and you can't possibly tell me with a straight face that Aerodactyl is a good defogger), but it's also a decent answer to Corviknight and Ferrothorn. Yes, you have thunderbolt on Nihilego and fire punch on Tyranitar and Rhyperior but Coalossal actually doesn't die to grass type attacks and it's your only real switch in to Ferrothorn. Coalossal's flaws still can't be ignored which is why it's not A tier material in the slightest. It's speed sucks, has no recovery, 2 quad weaknesses, I'd be lying to myself if I said these weren't valid points. But it still functions well as a spinner on top of having good coverage against Corviknight and especially Ferrothorn.

Edit: You could say that body press kills it but it really doesn't. It's a 4hko for both Corviknight and Ferrothorn. Physically defensive Coalossal can be surprisingly bulky at times and this is no exception.

 

[mushamu]

some noms:

flying

A -> S
thundy t is one of those mons where u automatically use if ur trying to build a flying team. its not mandatory, but its on 75% of flying teams for good reason; it covers a lot in one slot and can do a lot of things depending on the set it runs. ranging from np 3 attacks, toxic 3 attacks, 4 attacks boots, knock + 3 attacks, and choice scarf, thundy t is one of the best pokemon available to flying teams because of its consistency thanks to its set flexibility

B -> A
forced to use this to not lose to rain. it can be passive compared to dnite yeah but both nasty plot torn and gmolt alleviate that issue

Unranked -> D
this might seem dumb at first glance but cb archeops is pretty legit in this tier. rock resists just arent common, and it gets switcheroo as well. cb rock blast messes up kyurem under sub and u turn annoys psy

poison

S -> A
idt nidoking is good enough for s rank on poison. its really droppable on poison if you use glowking as a steel breaker provided u dont run into the 5% usage regieleki and poison is quite compressed for slots so yeah. nidoking is still good for punching holes in basically every balance ever but it doesnt really define the type. i think just putting triple regen at s for poison is chill cause those three are the reason that poisons on the map to begin with

C -> D
this mon sucks balls. it beats psy sure but 1. bronzong makes things hard and 2. it doesnt really cover anything else that cant be covered through other means. tox and lazzle are way better

psychic

(Psychic)

C -> Unranked
cress does nothing that other psychic mons cant do. as for defensive levitate u have zonger. defensive stored power u have a bunch of mons

Unranked -> C
ghost resist that has healing wish. ghost resist is nice for common mons like dpult, aegis, blace, and spectrier, and hwish makes it not completely useless otherwise. i think female should be ranked over male because they have pretty much the same role but hwish makes it such a big difference

steel

A -> S
steel's wildcard. i dont believe aegislash should have dropped because it is one of the most influential pokemon on steel to the point where id say it defines the type. everyone knows what aegislash does that makes it a good mon in general but i feel like offensive sets have been on the rise recently and people are realizing that defensive isnt that great. ghost stab is op and collecting kills against something like water with specs shadow ball is very valuable

Unranked -> D
magneton is a magnezone that can outspeed cinderace. it has slightly less bulk but its not a huge deal considering u still take corviknights body press and celesteelas flamethrower to trap those two mons

water

A -> S
i believe these two pokemon should go back to being s ranked. toxapex is the ultimate glue for water teams and is imo the pokemon that is the most deserving of being s ranked on the type. it fits everywhere as well, even on rain. sure, some balances dont run toxapex but its still incredibly good.

much like swampert slowking and toxapex, urshifu is also just really good. whenever i build water, urshifu is the to-go pokemon as a scarfer and its incredibly splashable. i dont think cb is a good enough reason by itself for it to be s ranked, but scarf urshifu makes it s rank material. it brings so much to the table as a scarfer; it hits really hard, has u-turn, and has good coverage options as well as a secondary stab which lets it cover a good portion of the tier.

the thing about s ranks on water is that they dont need to be on every team to be considered up there. neither slowking or swampert fit those criterial; slowking is very much droppable for teams that run toxapex + crawdaunt as the lele answer; swampert is droppable on gastrodon teams which are incredibly good provided they have an extra way to prepare against flying given the lack of rocks. i talked a lot about this in the mono room today and i think waters vr is interesting where its one of the types where u can just slap the best mons at s which would be toxapex, urshifu, swampert, and slowking imo

B -> A
volcanion is really good on water for role compression. being one of the defoggers that dont get 1v1ed by ferrothorn is huge considering its the best spiker in the tier. alongside that, it has the offensive pressure to basically threaten all the top types which further cements its role as the best defogger available for water teams

C -> B
golis is really nice as an offensive spiker. theres not much to say besides its good and it doesnt fit with the rest of the c ranks. strong bug priority will always be nice for a water team to pick off grasses as well as a huge threat in galarian moltres provided its against dark. water also has the issue of finding good ground resists for stuff like lando t, mamoswine, and exca and goliso fits that bill well because it has 140 defense. even though grass doesnt get serious usage in ss monotype, golis also seals the matchup against those teams too by overwhelming them with spikes and its bug stab

B -> C
water wants 7 pokemon and rotom w is niche. volcanion is the best defogger, and urshifu-r is the best scarfer. rotom w is an awkward midground but the bottom line is its really hard to fit and outclassed by just generally stronger options

C -> D
these two pokemon both only fit on niche archetypes. webs water and stall are not good enough for them to be even c ranked, so they should both drop. it would make sense to put araquanid on the same rank as other mons on webs like tenta and azu on the same rank as other mons on stall like lanturn and vapo

D -> C
checks kyurem which is one of the most dangerous threats in the tier which makes it automatically better than the ??? mons sitting in d. im not gonna pretend like walrein does something other than check kyurem because it really doesnt, but checking kyurem in itself is really valuabe

thanks for reading

 

[roxie]

Bug

& C -> B

Golisopod is an amazing Spikes user and it contributes to the Offensive Playstyle of Bug. Bug for pretty much every single Monotype generation is played offensively. It also has Taunt which cripples Pokemon like Galarian Weezing and Celesteela. This prevents Galarian Weezing from trying to remove entry hazards and Celesteela from spamming Leech Seed / Toxic on your team. Emergency Exit is a weird ability but then again, it contributes towards Bug's offensive playstyle. Emergency Exit + Spikes is great as it positions Flame Orb Heracross against types like Poison and Steel.

Vikavolt is pretty much like a bulkier Galvantula that lasts longer for Flying and Water. I'd say its key moves are Toxic, Thunderbolt, and Energy Ball. The former two are great against Flying-teams and the latter two are good against Water. Thunderbolt / Energy Ball / Toxic / Roost is probably the most ideal Vikavolt set. The main thing is its very slow speed but its bulk makes up for that.

C -> D

Shuckle's role in many Bug generations is outclassed by Pokemon simply covering the actual matchup. Yeah Shuckle can free up Galvantula or Araquanid's Sticky Web role, however, that means you're dropping something else and you're most likely weak to another matchup. Shuckle is also passive and that isn't good for a fragile + lack of momentum typing. This Pokemon also has SR but at the very least just use unviable Armaldo since it can outspeed Celesteela and use Knock Off.

D -> UR

Frosmoth is extremely hard to fit again as Bug has very limited slots. In theory this is supposed to good against Flying, Water, and Ground. Frosmoth does win Ground, however, there are better options like Spikes Golisopod and the offensive pressure of Scizor, Heracross, Buzzwole, and Volcarona. Frosmoth can't do anything to Toxapex as it lacks Freeze Dry. In the Flying matchup you'd require extreme support like Knocking Off Celesteela/Corviknight + Paralyzing a lot of Pokemon just for this mon to have a chance. Bug has a chance against Flying believe it or not with Pokemon like Scarf Buzzwole + Scizor + Toxic Galvantula.

(Fairy) B -> A

Tapu Fini is a beast behind screens. Calm Mind + Light Screen allows it to take on threats such as Galarian Slowking, Tapu Lele, and Thundurus-T. Misty Terrain is also amazing for Tapu Fini as it prevents Tapu Fini from taking on any status ailments while setting up. Its last slot is either Taunt for Haze Toxapex (and other status moves) or Substitute for Leech Seed and status later on in the match.

(Fighting) A -> S

Cobalion is glue on every single Fighting-team due to its fast Speed outpacing threats like Mimikyu and Tapu Lele. It provides Stealth Rocks and positions other teammates in with Volt Switch. CM + Rest + Flash Cannon + Taunt is also a great set for Fairy and Dragon but overall there is no dropping this Pokemon.

(Fighting) B -> A

Momentum is important on Fighting and Galarian Zapdos provides that. Being able to outspeed threats like Tapu Lele and position other teammates such as Toxicroak and Pangoro on defensive walls is something other Choice Scarfers can not provide.

(Fighting) B -> A

Toxicroak is a great Poison, Fairy, and Water check. Toxicroak utilizes Toxapex notably (and other Water attacks) to setup Swords Dance and force progress. Swampert is a nice check to Toxicroak but using Knock Off on the switch-in and repeating that sequence later helps a lot. Fighting loses to Toxic Spikes on preview if you aren't using this Pokemon.

D -> B

I dropped Keldeo too low I apologize. I don't actually think that Urshifu-R or Keldeo is better than another. I've been liking Substitute Keldeo a lot for the Dragon and Flying matchups. You Substitute on Celesteela and spread status ailments (Scald burn & Toxic) throughout the match. Toxic Keldeo also doesn't lose to Mantine unlike Choice Specs. I don't see Choice Specs Keldeo straight up breaking anything unless you're literally running a team like: Skarmory / Landorus-T / Thundurus-T / Emolga / Moltres (with very little special switchin-in).

Virizion is nice against Ground / Water and it checks Tapu Fini and Azumarill. Covering matchups is what is apart of Monotype and this set is a fish yes, but its Fighting and if you're running Toxicroak alone you're probably going to lose to Future Sight Slowking. Galarian Zapdos also isn't a guaranteed win against Ground so yes, this Pokemon is good. Taunt + Calm Mind + Synthesis + (Roselia/Payapa/Leftovers) is amazing.

UR -> B / C -> D

Immediate Wallbreaker is better than DD Scrafty which loses to Slowbro + Scarf Lele / Hatterene & Mimikyu. Slowbro freely pivots in on Scrafty and Knock Off doesn't do enough. Scrafty just prevents you from losing to Wisp+Hex Spectrier which is why it should be at D instead of UR maybe.

(Fire) A -> S

This Pokemon is glue. Its coverage makes it good against Dragon, Ground, Poison, Psychic, and Flying / Water (varied on the set). This Pokemon appreciates Heavy-Duty Boots a lot. Bug Buzz is pretty nice for Galarian Slowking and Psychic helps with Toxapex and Nihilego. There really isn't much to say but l2p if you don't have a Volcarona..

(Fire) C -> B

Incineroar's Dark-typing is useful for Tapu lele. Knock Off, Parting Shot, and Toxic are also great utilities. The Ghost matchup is a thing people so having a check for Dragapult / Spectrier is nice for Fire. Close Combat is also a cool move for midground against: Tyranitar / Heatran.

Alolan Marowak's Lightning Rod is amazing for the Electric matchup. This Pokemon is threatened by Rotom-Wash but overall it prevents you from being 6-0d by Volt Switch Tapu Koko. Other components matters in this matchup like QD Volcarona and pivots like Incineroar / Cinderace.

Other noms my hands are tired:
Dragonite (Flying) B -> A
Mantine (Flying) B -> B (this mon does not need to rise)
Tornadus-T (Flying) A -> B
Aerodactyl (Flying) C -> D
Malamar (Psychic) UR -> C
Orbeetle (Psychic) D -> UR

 

[WhiteQueen]

thanks for nominating Malamar, roxiee. I second it; Malamar’s a decent mon that’s been overlooked on psychic teams

 

[Dead by Daylight]

thanks for nominating Malamar, roxiee. I second it; Malamar’s a decent mon that’s been overlooked on psychic teams

Question: Besides hitting Dark-types with Superpower, what can it do? Contrary + Superpower is fun, yeah, but it doesn't seem to have another role. It should be D-ranked for me; hitting Dark-types doesn't seem like a big enough niche to justify C-rank.

 

[Neko]

Question: Besides hitting Dark-types with Superpower, what can it do? Contrary + Superpower is fun, yeah, but it doesn't seem to have another role. It should be D-ranked for me; hitting Dark-types doesn't seem like a big enough niche to justify C-rank.

Based on a few MLT battles I've watched it can trap an unsuspecting mon (eg. Ferrothorn, non Clear Smog Gastrodon) and use them as setup fodder and sweep the rest of the team. It has access to Rest so getting toxic'ed/leech seeded isn't really that much of an issue

The set would be something like Block/Knock off/Superpower/Rest

Neutrality to ghost also goes a long way in matchups with one Ghost (eg. Aegis, Mimi, Pult) and eases the Ghost mu (which is super hard to begin with...)

 

[Aqua Jet]

Ground
UR -> D

Choice Band

Stay (Trapinch) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- First Impression
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Superpower

What does it do?
First Impression is the primary reason that you're using Trapinch. It allows Trapinch to easily soften up (or even OHKO) Dark- and Grass-type foes such as Tyranitar, Zarude, and Rillaboom, the latter two of which would otherwise pose a neusince to Ground-type teams. Earthquake takes advantage of Trapinch's ability to trap foes like Slowking-Galar, as well as being a good STAB move that allows it to win the 1v1 against Substitute + Toxic Aegislash. Crunch is used to threaten more passive Pokémon that are weak to Dark like Xatu. Superpower allows Trapinch to threaten to KO any of Aegislash's teammates, so it cannot safely switch out. It also helps in the Grass matchup, as Trapinch can threaten to OHKO Ferrothorn with Stealth Rock up and will always win the 1v1 against it. Unlike Dugtrio (who is currently D rank on the VR), Trapinch has access to First Impression that allows it to threaten the Grass-type Pokémon that often give Ground-type teams trouble.
What are its drawbacks?
I'm not going to sit here and pretend that Trapinch is the new Landorus-T, because its quite bad into a lot of matchups. Fairy is the most notable one, where the best thing it can accomplish is doing approximately 40% (on a high roll) to specially defensive Tapu Bulu with First Impression. However, this is hard to pull off, considering Tapu Lele's Psychic Terrain completely cockblocks it from using First Impression. In addition, it is hard to get onto the field due to its frailty, and will usually come in on a free switch.

 

[Day Healer]

^About time Trapinch get the rank it deserves. Also since

Stunfisk-Galar UR -> D

and

Lycanrock-Duck B -> C

I dont see why Trapinch cant enter rankings too. Here an infographic to better explain my thoughts on the matter:

 

[Dead by Daylight]

Ground
UR -> D

Choice Band

Stay (Trapinch) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- First Impression
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Superpower

What does it do?
First Impression is the primary reason that you're using Trapinch. It allows Trapinch to easily soften up (or even OHKO) Dark- and Grass-type foes such as Tyranitar, Zarude, and Rillaboom, the latter two of which would otherwise pose a neusince to Ground-type teams. Earthquake takes advantage of Trapinch's ability to trap foes like Slowking-Galar, as well as being a good STAB move that allows it to win the 1v1 against Substitute + Toxic Aegislash. Crunch is used to threaten more passive Pokémon that are weak to Dark like Xatu. Superpower allows Trapinch to threaten to KO any of Aegislash's teammates, so it cannot safely switch out. It also helps in the Grass matchup, as Trapinch can threaten to OHKO Ferrothorn with Stealth Rock up and will always win the 1v1 against it. Unlike Dugtrio (who is currently D rank on the VR), Trapinch has access to First Impression that allows it to threaten the Grass-type Pokémon that often give Ground-type teams trouble.
What are its drawbacks?
I'm not going to sit here and pretend that Trapinch is the new Landorus-T, because its quite bad into a lot of matchups. Fairy is the most notable one, where the best thing it can accomplish is doing approximately 40% (on a high roll) to specially defensive Tapu Bulu with First Impression. However, this is hard to pull off, considering Tapu Lele's Psychic Terrain completely cockblocks it from using First Impression. In addition, it is hard to get onto the field due to its frailty, and will usually come in on a free switch.

Is this for real? No shade, but...that's a Trapinch.

 

[mushamu]

Is this for real? No shade, but...that's a Trapinch.

Even if it looks dumb on paper since its a lc mon with 290 bst, i think its worth ranking. at the end of the day it does have a tangible niche in monotype because of how powerful trapping is. Aside from rillaboom against grass which is not that common, being able to remove stuff like zarude crawdaunt and weavile against dark-a super common type-which could otherwise literally 6-0 u granted the opponent plays well is great. trapping glowking is also super nice because if u remove it then nidoking can click its moves more freely compared to glowking otherwise being able to midground it, making things harder when breaking the two types. putting it on the same rank as dugtrio makes sense since theyre both really niche trappers that deal with different things; if dugtrio is ranked then trapinch should be; dugtrio 100% deserves to be ranked. its true ur not gonna be using trapinch on 95% of ground teams, but it should be at least ranked to show it has a niche in monotype despite being a tiny one.

 

[Dead by Daylight]

Even if it looks dumb on paper since its a lc mon with 290 bst, i think its worth ranking. at the end of the day it does have a tangible niche in monotype because of how powerful trapping is. Aside from rillaboom against grass which is not that common, being able to remove stuff like zarude crawdaunt and weavile against dark-a super common type-which could otherwise literally 6-0 u granted the opponent plays well is great. trapping glowking is also super nice because if u remove it then nidoking can click its moves more freely compared to glowking otherwise being able to midground it, making things harder when breaking the two types. putting it on the same rank as dugtrio makes sense since theyre both really niche trappers that deal with different things; if dugtrio is ranked then trapinch should be; dugtrio 100% deserves to be ranked. its true ur not gonna be using trapinch on 95% of ground teams, but it should be at least ranked to show it has a niche in monotype despite being a tiny one.

Fair enough, but if Dugtrio, a 425 Base Stat Pokémon that can utilize Arena Trap better (and has Sucker Punch for coverage) is also D-rank, where do we go with this?

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Reversal
- Sucker Punch

vs.

Trapinch @ Eviolite
Ability: Arena Trap
- Earthquake
- First Impression
- Superpower
- Feint

While I concede Trapinch deserves a ranking, Trapinch and Dugtrio are...shall we say, not of the same power level. However, Dugtrio is not worthy of C-rank IMO (Why is Zydog-10% so low?).

Dugtrio RN:

 

[mushamu]

Fair enough, but if Dugtrio, a 425 Base Stat Pokémon that can utilize Arena Trap better (and has Sucker Punch for coverage) is also D-rank, where do we go with this?

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Reversal
- Sucker Punch

vs.

Trapinch @ Eviolite
Ability: Arena Trap
- Earthquake
- First Impression
- Superpower
- Feint

While I concede Trapinch deserves a ranking, Trapinch and Dugtrio are...shall we say, not of the same power level. However, Dugtrio is not worthy of C-rank IMO (Why is Zydog-10% so low?).

Dugtrio RN:
View attachment 423791

My point was that dugtrio does not necessarily utilize arena trap better than trapinch does. it traps a lot of things yeah, but is reliant on rocks being off the field and cant trap crawdaunt/zarude/weavile etc as well. its more of a general trapper with different attributes while trapinch traps certain things that can flip games in the ground player's favor. i dont think dugtrio is good enough for c rank; in monotype its around the same as trapinch is viability wise. theyre both awful pokemon but exist to a point due to the trapping they provide

Bst/coverage should not be looked at when looking at a pokemons viability. sableye has 380 bst but is essential in order for balance dark to function due to the utility it provides along with its defensive typing; spectrier only really gets shadow ball and hex for coverage but that alone can rip apart teams in monotype. its about what the mon provides for the type as a whole in a building sense and covering bases. similarly, despite having nice offensive stats and coverage, zydog is ranked really low on ground because it doesnt provide a lot compared to other threats like chomp/mamo/lando-t/nido which all cover more offensively and have better defensive utility

 

[Snapteryx]

Here's my second nomination for the mono rock viability rankings. I might make this into a monthly thing if I'm bored enough.

Nihilego (Rock) A -> S
​

Note: I've never used the scarf set before so this nomination will mainly be talking about the meteor beam set. Terrakion is the better scarf user anyway.

Nihilego is arguably the most crucial pokemon in mono rock teambuilding. Sure, you have Terrakion as your best revenge killer and Shuckle is basically God's gift to mankind, but Nihilego is the one that glues all of them together into a cohesive team. If you just look at it from face value, Nihilego seems pretty decent. It's a meteor beam sweeper with decent speed and pretty good special bulk. But what makes it incredible is it's coverage combined with it's snowball potential with beast boost.
The moveset I typically run is meteor beam, sludge wave, thunderbolt, grass knot. The most important part is thunderbolt and grass knot. Nihilego is the perfect water check. Look at the mono rock viability rankings right now. What do you see that could reliably take down defensive water types? Thunder punch Rhyperior? Cradily? Sure, let me giga drain this Toxapex with my base 81 spatk Cradily (It's tempting to make a full ass rant about why Cradily should be unranked in mono rock but I'll leave it be for now because Nihilego is a more interesting pokemon to talk about). Nihilego can take down chipped Swampert and Gastrodon while still winning the 1v1 with Toxapex. It's an invaluable role for a monotype weak to water. Stab boosted sludge wave is also great for bulky fairies since mono rock lacks a good steel type that can hit them super effectively. Also, if you run 176 spatk evs and max speed (put the rest in hp ig), you can gain a speed boost from beast boost, allowing you to snowball after your first kill. This makes Nihilego one of your best mono rock sweepers.
Let's talk about Nihilego's special bulk for a moment. It's easy to forget that Nihilego has 131 base spdef and 109 base hp. Even for an offensive set, Nihilego is deceptively bulky and can survive more hits than you think. Here are a few calcs to prove my point.

Defensive Calcs

->252 SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego: 316-372 (83.3 - 98.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
->0 SpA Slowking Future Sight vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego: 204-242 (53.8 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
->252 SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego in Psychic Terrain: 306-360 (80.7 - 94.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
->252 SpA Hydreigon Earth Power vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego: 304-360 (80.2 - 94.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
->252 SpA Tapu Fini Scald vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego: 168-200 (44.3 - 52.7%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO
->252 SpA Rotom-Wash Hydro Pump vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego: 246-290 (64.9 - 76.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
->252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Hydro Pump vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego: 238-280 (62.7 - 73.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
->252 SpA Thundurus-Therian Psychic vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego: 170-200 (44.8 - 52.7%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO
->252 SpA Zapdos Weather Ball (100 BP Water) vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego in Rain: 254-300 (67 - 79.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And lastly, the most important thing about Nihilego is how well it synergizes with other offensive rock types. Let's look at Nihilego's weaknesses for a moment. The most obvious one is spdef Lando. This is a pretty relevant weakness for most rock types. The most effective solution is Barbaracle and Omastar. You can also cripple it with toxic on Shuckle or get an ice punch on it with Tyranitar or Rhyperior. 2 other weaknesses I can think of on the top of my head are bulky steel types and Nidoking. Nidoking can easily be checked by Barbaracle, Omastar and Terrakion. As for bulky steels, Coalossal is your main Ferrothorn switch in (I've already talked about why Coalossal is kinda slept on before) and every other steel type that would wall Nihilego can be beaten by Terrakion, Tyranitar or Rhyperior. Nihilego can also open room for other rock types. Almost every rock type appreciates Nihilego removing water types, making a great offensive core with Barbaracle. It's also one of the few special attacking rock types which can let you deal with physical walls a lot better. Overall, Nihilego is mandatory for every mono rock team and every mono rock that doesn't have Nihilego should burn in hell.

TLDR

Nihilego is the most important and mandatory pokemon in mono rock. It's a deceptively bulky special sweeper that can snowball teams if they aren't careful. It's also your best way to beat water types and it has amazing synergy with other mono rock staples.

 

[Azick]

Feeling relatively comfortable with the meta and wanted to throw in my two cents on some rankings

Fairy
-

B-A - I believe Fini deserves A rank as it one of fairy's greatest assets in numerous matchups. The Calm Mind Taunt set itself is game changing and can pull out victories against many types such as water or flying and if played around well even against types such as poison. It's relatively good bulk also allows for switch-ins against various mons as well, specifically in the fire matchup where fairy struggles to switch in anything against a sun boosted fire move. I see no argument myself about zumi over fini, they fill completely different roles despite the same typing, and I think both can very easily be fit on a team.

Fire
-

B-A - Honestly I was surprised to see Torkoal classified as B when sun setting is probably fire's greatest advantage and I think it deserves a spot on nearly every fire team. Torkoal's bulk allows for multiple switch ins most games to keep the sun up throughout allowing for mons such as Cinderace or Blacpheon to abuse their powerful fire moves that lack switch ins when sun is up. Beyond this Torkoal has options for hazard setting, hazard removal, and access to yawn which can be very beneficial when setting your own hazards while spinning away the opponents(assuming you choose to run both) or to stop sweeps and provide momentum by forcing opponents to switch out allowing you an easy pivot.
-

C-B - Might be a controversial take but I believe Alola Maro is heavily underrated on fire and while it can be difficult to fit on teams I believe it is well worth it. The original reason I started running it was simply because Fire lacks anything to switch in to electric moves and with pokemon such as Koko or Rele running around it seemed worth it to me. Thick club makes this mon incredibly strong and poltergiest itself is excellent for wall-breaking and in itself can beat many of these stall oriented water teams I have seen over the latest MLT cycle. Beyond this Maro gets access to flame charge and swords dance which while difficult to set up at times(generally needs 2 charges to rly get going due to its low speed tier) allows for it to become extremely menacing against types such as Psychic. In general I think its electric resistance allows it to stand out significantly enough among the other C-tier pokemon on fire and along with my other reasoning I think it deserves a spot in B-tier.
-

A-S - Volcanion is a staple on fire teams for good reasons. It's obvious water resistance makes the matchup far more playable especially with sun set up and access to a good movepool with fire, water, and poision type moves allows it to hit mostly everything, specifically fairies and making the steel matchup quite easy as it takes out tran itself or gets another kill which cinderace oftentimes fails to do because of the aegi heatran switching potential. It has solid bulk and access to hazard removal in the form of defog takes advantage of this. It's one of fires most ballonable mons in my opinion allowing it to switch in to ground types and gain some momentum although heavy duty boots can still be utilized to take better advantage of its bulk. The only drawback to volcanion is a relatively poor speed tier but I believe that is made up for by it's good bulk, strong attacks, movepool, and a water resist. It deserves a spot up in S with Cinderace in my opinion.
Flying
-

A-S - Ok I realize 3 rankings in a row are all partly due to a type absorption ability but I did not plan it this way lmaoo. Anyways Thundurus-T is obviously made a staple on flying teams due to this ability to stop electric type spam similar but it also fills the role of flying's most diverse special attacker. The biggest thing going for thundy t in my opinion is it's movepool; I would go as far to say as it is one of the most versatile in the game and allows for excellent variability depending on what your team needs. Want some speed control? Scarf is a viable option. Setup Sweeper? Nasty Plot works well. An all around excellent special attacker with a good speed tier that breaks teams? Throw whatever four attacks fit best on your team(Thunderbolt, G Knot, Knock, Focus Blast, Psychic(s/o felines for making me realize it gets this, Nidokings always flabbergasted), Volt, Sludge Wave/Bomb) Thundy t is an excellent lead against many teams as well due to this diverse movepool allowing it to hit so many things. and access to grass knot is exceptional as it allows thundy to solo water teams if played well. Definitely an S-Tier contender in my eyes.

Grass
-

C-B/A - Been playing a bit of grass as of recent and I find Decidueye to almost always be one the most important mons in various different matchups. It's access to Poltergeist along with Swords Dance and Sneak combined with Spell Tag make it an excellent wall breaker that can rip through teams if set around well taking advantage of the hazards that grass commonly relies on setting with Ferro/Cradily. Makes the steel matchup quite winnable and obviously provides a switch-in to fighting moves which nothing else on grass answers very well. Don't have much else to say as I haven't played a ton with it but I would consider it to be one of grass's greatest assets for it's powerful set-up capability and solid typing.

Ground
-

A-S - Nidoking is far and away Ground's most potent special attacker and with its diverse move pool and ability coupled with LO it is an immensely strong wall breaker which changes the tide of many important matchup such as flying, fairy, or steel. Nothing else on the type compares to the raw special attacking power of Nidoking and it's ability to dent holes in physical walls opens up various opportunities for ground's plethora of physically biased attackers. It is an absolute staple on any ground type team and I believe it is deserving of S-Rank due to this ability to fill the role of an immensely strong special attacker which can scare many of the meta's most common typing's, specifically flying as aforementioned.
-

B-A -While the popularity of non-sand ground has been increasing in recent times I still believe that sand oriented ground is extremely viable and Hippodown being the most viable setter in itself makes it deserving of A-rank. Beyond this Hippowdown is an excellent hazard setter opening up more options for other mons and it's excellent bulk allows for it to eat hits such as CB Exca(along with landy t to bait Iron Heads) and stop sweeps such as Dragapult with it's access to Whirlwind. It makes an excellent wall with sand setting capabilities to push for wins against types such as ice making use of Excadrill's Sand Rush.


Ice
-

B-A - Arctozolt is an absolutely menacing Pokémon which has carried the type in recent competitions in my eyes. It's common usage in BLT shows how excellent it is and a solid move pool(specifically Bolk Beak) combined with slush rush can be game changing in many matchups. It has quickly become a staple on nearly all ice teams and for good reason. With access to low kick it can help immensely with the steel matchup by hitting Ferrothorn and access to freeze dry can bait water teams into giving up their Electric immunity early allowing for zolt to sweep late game. I'd say the only drawback to zolt is that while slush rush is helpful it still sits at a pretty low speed tier and can still be outsped by many scarfers if not choosing to run a scarf of it's own which of course gives up quite a bit of power or HDB. Despite this it is still an excellent wall breaker that has great momentum on the type and is useful in many of the most common typing matchups such as flying or water and makes difficult matchups such as Steel or Psy all the more winnable. I would definitely say it deserves to at least be A rank.

Psychic
-

A-S - Lele is an excellent addition to psychic teams for obvious reasons. It sets terrains(stopping priority issues such as a set up azumarill or shadow sneakers), threatens dark types and opposing psychic types with shadow ball, and hits extremely hard with it's own psychic type move. It is an excellent scarfer and provides valuable speed control that psychic teams would otherwise lack as scarf Victini makes little sense this generation. Terrain setting is invaluable to psychic teams and coupled with these other reasons I believe it deserves a spot in S.


Steel
-

B-A - While Celesteela fullfills the role of a ground immunity on Steel there is certainly room for another and Corviknight with it's excellent bulk and variability makes it stand out from other B tier mons such as Skarmory. The weakness policy agility set is excellent and Corvknight's bulk allows for it to get set up for a power tripping sweep quite easily if played well. With one simple bulk up already set it can go on to survive moves such as a Volcanion's flamethrower or Thundy T's thunderbolt allowing it to agility and set off weakness policy opening up for power trip to absolutely rip through various teams. Coupled with a secondary ground immunity I think Corv deserves a spot in A tier.

 

[Woofrie]

As of now, I only have one mon to mention, and that's Carracosta.

Carracosta is untiered on the monotype roster for both its types, despite it having access to one of the most busted setup moves in the game: Shell Smash. On top of that, it gets its choice of three great abilities: Solid Rock, allowing it to be more defensive and run a Weakness Policy; Sturdy, which allows it to take an extra hit, which can be crucial due to the Shell Smash debuffs; and Swift Swim, which gives it functionality on water-type teams with Pelipper.

Its speed is not the best, being a mere base 32, but with a Pelipper teammate with Tailwind, Carracosta becomes a much faster threat with Swift Swim, even without Shell Smash. With a Jolly nature and 252 EVs, Swift Swim and Tailwind raise Carracosta's speed to 716, which outspeeds every scarfer. But even if it doesn't run Swift Swim, it could run Weakness Policy AND Shell Smash on the same set, given its other two abilities. I was playing a random FFA once with a Shell Smash Weakness Policy Carracosta and I instantly became a target. Even if it isn't fast enough, it has access to Aqua Jet, which makes it ignore speed and do chip damage.

In short, I think Carracosta is an underrated mon and deserves a spot on the VR, however low it may be.

 

[Snapteryx]

As of now, I only have one mon to mention, and that's Carracosta.
View attachment 426328
Carracosta is untiered on the monotype roster for both its types, despite it having access to one of the most busted setup moves in the game: Shell Smash. On top of that, it gets its choice of three great abilities: Solid Rock, allowing it to be more defensive and run a Weakness Policy; Sturdy, which allows it to take an extra hit, which can be crucial due to the Shell Smash debuffs; and Swift Swim, which gives it functionality on water-type teams with Pelipper.

Its speed is not the best, being a mere base 32, but with a Pelipper teammate with Tailwind, Carracosta becomes a much faster threat with Swift Swim, even without Shell Smash. With a Jolly nature and 252 EVs, Swift Swim and Tailwind raise Carracosta's speed to 716, which outspeeds every scarfer. But even if it doesn't run Swift Swim, it could run Weakness Policy AND Shell Smash on the same set, given its other two abilities. I was playing a random FFA once with a Shell Smash Weakness Policy Carracosta and I instantly became a target. Even if it isn't fast enough, it has access to Aqua Jet, which makes it ignore speed and do chip damage.

In short, I think Carracosta is an underrated mon and deserves a spot on the VR, however low it may be.

Idk about mono water but for mono rock, it's extremely hard to justify using it over Barbaracle and Omastar, who are just fundamentally better pokemon. Although, it does seem better than all the pokemon in D tier by a fair portion (cough cough Cradily cough cough) so I'm a bit torn. Thinking about it, a weakness policy set with sturdy does sound good on paper but I have zero clue how well it would actually work in practice since I'm too lazy to actually playtest it. Maybe C tier is a good spot for it? It's biggest weakness is easily it's speed. Even at +2 speed it gets outsped by Raikou, Weavile, Spectrier, Tapu Koko, Barraskewda outside of rain, Dragapult and Zeraora, neither of which die to a +4 aqua jet. Not to mention Arctozolt and every scarf user ever. Compare this to Barbaracle who speed ties scarfed Blacephalon after a shell smash. Even Omastar can outspeed Zeraora and speed tie Arctozolt. While I do agree it should be ranked in mono rock, I don't see it being anywhere above C tier.

Oh and I'd just like to mention that you don't need to attach an image to show pokemon sprites. You can use :ss/pokemonname: to show that mon's 3d sprite and :pokemonname: to show it's 2d icons. You can also do this with items.

 

[Woofrie]

UR -> At least C

While base 20 speed is dismal, to be sure, it's got great bulk and a base 135 attack. One can run a double dance set, but with a single Swords Dance, it practically 2HKOs the entire metagame. Sure, there's not much of a reason to use it over Durant or Scizor, but I still think it's a great and underrated mon.


UR -> C

Scarf or Band Passimian is terrifying, simply put. Try it, Lando-T, you'll only make it stronger (Defiant). However, it's not too reliable, and the choice sets are about the only sets it uses, thus keeping it from ranking higher.


UR -> D
145 Defense + Iron Defense + Will-O-Wisp = Wall. If Runerigus is on the rankings, I think Cofagrigus, which has the same role, should be at the same spot.


UR -> B
It's basically the fighting-type version of Lando-T. It's the tankiest fighting type that isn't legendary and has access to Intimidate, allowing it to function as a stallbreaker with Toxic. It could also use offense, with Moxie and access to Dragon Dance. Scrafty is, simply put, an underrated and unpredictable mon.