Here's our update for the post-Latias metagame! Thanks for all the great discussion we've seen this time. Aside from these changes, one thing to note is that
C and C- have now been merged together, as the VR team decided that a C- rank wasn't quite necessary due to the general lack of difference in viability between the Pokemon in both ranks. My last announcement is that if there's a change that didn't go through, you can always hit me up either here on forums or on discord to ask why that may be the case. Thanks again, and here are our changes:
Rises
from
A+ to
S: Scizor has continued developing into the tier’s most important and centralizing sweeper, its defensive utility notably improving following the Latias ban. The bulky SD + Knock Off set is excellent at playing the long game against checks, overwhelming them in the long-term, while Choice Band and offensive SD also employ fantastic options for bypassing checks. Capable of circumventing nearly all of its counterplay more effectively than anything else in the tier, Scizor has established huge importance in building urgency and influencing metagame trends.
from
A+ to
S: Victini’s special boots set has become central in the metagame thanks to the threat of Blue Flare, the momentum and progress it forces with U-turn, and the excellent customizability its movepool yields allowing it to muscle past the majority of its counterplay. Additionally, Band/Scarf sets still pose huge threats, and Latias leaving has only increased its splashability. Victini’s offensive pressure, versatility, and splashability have been huge in rising it to the top of the meta and centralizing several of the tier’s developments around it, which makes it well worth a spot in S.
from
A to
A+: With consistent usage in tours and high level play since the new metagame’s beginning, Amoonguss has proven its importance as one of the best defensive options available. Between the threat of Spore, its ability to check important stuff like Zeraora/Primarina/Keldeo, and scouting Choice users like Terrakion and Scizor, it just accomplishes a lot right now and makes for a strong, easy fit on many builds.
from
A to
A+: Krookodile is a key glue on several team structures, compressing a ton of useful tools between its typing/ability/knock to hold a niche as the tier’s best scarfer while still performing well with Stealth Rock sets. It’s simply an excellent supportive presence and can tie teams together quite convincingly, which has made it splashable enough to manage a rise to A+.
from
A- to
A: Kyurem lost both heavy competition and a solid revenge killer upon Latias’s departure, largely freeing up its opportunities to excel offensively. Its coverage makes Choice Specs among the most immediately threatening breakers in the tier, while SubRoost sets have also picked up again for their reliability in taking advantage of many defensive staples.
from
A- to
A: Skarmory has seen a significant surge lately, offering a check to top Pokemon like Terrakion, Scizor, and more recently trending threats like Gyarados and Lycanroc-D. With Roost it makes for one of the tier’s steadiest Steel-types, while Spikes only furthers its applications and the overall utility it currently offers.
from
B+ to
A-: Chandelure’s usage has steadily increased, its ability to bypass virtually every relevant Ghost resist making it one of the tier’s most overtly threatening wallbreakers. It offers excellent versatility between Specs/Hex/SubCM, which can all thrive in relevant matchups and bypass its different means of counterplay, while taking advantage of meta staples like Scizor/bulky grasses/Skarmory/Victini to find breaking opportunities.
from
B+ to
A-: Rhyperior is a fairly splashable option right now thanks to its ability to combat Zeraora more effectively than nearly anything else in the tier. With Solid Rock it can 1v1 or trade with presences like Salamence/Victini/Lycanroc, offering a unique blend of defensive utility and difficulty to switch into compared to other trending Ground-types.
from
B- to
B: Seismitoad is on a bit of a come-up recently, offering great role compression with rocks sets. It can reliably handle Zeraora while blanketing foes like Lycanroc and Victini, though it makes excellent additional progress with Knock Off and Toxic in its arsenal and the situational utility the Water immunity can provide every now and then, capitalizing on choice-locked Primarina/Keldeo/Azumarill.
from
B- to
B: Starmie has a lot to love as an offensive presence right now, its Speed tier proving excellent with Terrakion, Keldeo, and Salamence all on top of the meta and its coverage and Analytic being pretty nasty for most teams to deal with. Although it isn’t quite mainstream yet, its tools were being understated in B-.
from
B- to
B: Although it was better with Latias in the tier, Zarude has proven to be one of the meta’s better options for scarfers thanks to the tools it compresses with its typing, natural bulk, and pivoting. Bulk Up + Jungle Healing sets have also seen sparing usage, effectively taking advantage of Slowking.
from
C+ to
B-: Palossand has carved enough of a recent niche to crack into the B rankings, providing virtually the only counter to Terrakion while also matching up excellently against the ever-present Zeraora. It also sports some neat tools over most other relevant Ground-types, like reliable recovery and a U-turn resistance.
from
UR to
C: Glastrier has seen enough exploration on traditional builds to warrant a spot in the ranks, offering great synergy with VoltTurn staples and a key ability to trade with pretty much the entire physical metagame thanks to its amazing power and bulk. Its typing and Speed can be easy to take advantage of, though it has definitely carved a recent niche.
from
UR to
C: Golurk has enough of a niche for a rank thanks to the huge threat it poses with its excellent STAB combo, keeping the meta’s defensive backbones on their toes. It’s a decent pick on certain offenses that can safely pivot it into play, its coverage having virtually no steady switch-ins, though its typing can also be nice for pivoting in on Terrakion.
from
UR to
C: Milotic finds a few key ways to distinguish itself over other bulky Water-types to carve a small niche, justifying a spot in the ranks. With Flip Turn and Heavy-Duty Boots employed, it makes for an awesome check to Victini and mixed Kommo-o that can offer sturdier matchups against various threats than Slowking and co, such as Alakazam, Scizor, and Chandelure. The greater capacity it has to run options like Toxic/Haze/Ice Beam is also really neat at times.
from
UR to
C: Although it lacks defensive utility and its STAB moves aren’t the most reliable, Tyrantrum is a ridiculously powerful force with STAB Head Smash that can find a solid place on various HOs. Dragon Dance and banded sets both have decent claim, applying huge pressure to both offensive builds and defensive cores.
from
UR to
C: Its competition from Amoonguss may be steep, but Vileplume manages just enough unique niches as a defensive Pokemon to find a spot in the ranks. It’s way stronger, is particularly better in the Kommo-o matchup thanks to Moonblast, can abuse Strength Sap more easily with Tentacruel falling off, and has unique utility with Strength Sap and Corrosive Gas if it can be fitted. Although still very niche, it has enough clear applications for some love in the VR.
Drops
from
A+ to
A: Although it is still one of the best wallbreakers in the tier, Azumarill has become pretty well adjusted to in building as several teams feature at least one of Tangrowth/Amoonguss/Zeroara. Its iffy longevity and low Speed can be easy to take advantage of, especially as more offensive and defensive countermeasures naturally find places on teams.
from
A+ to
A: Jirachi’s utility lost a significant amount of its urgency in building once Latias left the tier, while several top threats that can overwhelm it fairly easily still remain. It has also begun facing more competition for a slot with Skarmory surging, while offensive sets still have yet to seriously take off in this metagame.
from
A+ to
A: Tangrowth is marginally worse than Amoonguss enough for them to swap rankings at this stage of the meta. It really isn’t as sturdy a Terrakion answer lately with most sets employing Megahorn, while Amoonguss also very clearly prevails with Spore and in key matchups like Keldeo and Primarina. Tangrowth’s utility movepool, excellent Defense, and Ground resistance are all well worth keeping it in A and no lower, however.
from
A+ to
A-: Tapu Bulu has pretty noticeably fallen off from its former top-tier status, with many teams having no shortage of solid, naturally fitted checks to it. Defensive Grass-types, Skarmory, Scizor, and a whole host of offensive counterplay are all commonplace on builds and pretty significantly stint Bulu’s progress, though enabling Grassy Seed sweepers is still a solid niche, and with the proper support it can still be a fine breaker/sweeper.
from
A- to
B+: Conkeldurr is really weighed down by its poor Speed and longevity in a metagame well equipped to apply pressure to it. There are just many more options for breakers that give it competition due to the better overall utility they provide, despite Conkeldurr’s impressive sheer power.
from
A- to
B+: Diggersby is another breaker that, despite its insane power, struggles to keep up due to its poor Speed and defensive utility. The current ease of offensively overwhelming just makes it hard to find significant breaking opportunities, and in general it’s rather unproven right now.
from
A- to
B+: Nihilego can absolutely wreck the late-game with its Meteor Beam sets and makes for a solid entry hazard setter, but is still pretty awkward given the tier’s bevy of priority that threatens it, as well as staples like Slowking, Nidoqueen, and Terrakion giving it a hard time. It’s very potent, but just isn’t consistent enough for the A-ranks currently.
from
A- to
B+: Tentacruel’s immediate utility has fallen off pretty notably as Celesteela has become a less urgent Pokemon to account for in building. It’s been hurt by a lot of upward trends, like Kyurem and Victini, and due to its iffy Defense and tendency to try compressing too many roles, can’t make for as sturdy a check to Scizor/Keldeo/Azumarill as it’d like to be.
from
B to
B-: Ditto’s niche will always be particular enough for it to have some place in the metagame, though it really hasn’t shown up enough to justify its ranking and suffers pretty significant splashability issues. Always a weird Pokemon to try ranking, but B doesn’t currently seem to be the right fit.
from
B to
B-: Doublade has a place as a strong check to Terrakion that can also blanket foes like Azumarill and Lycanroc. However, its proneness to being worn down, lack of Stealth Rock, Knock Off weakness, and shaky matchups against prominent special attackers all complicate its splashability in comparison to the tier's other Steel-types, while its shoddy immediate power can also be a problem with Tangrowth/Amoonguss/Skarmory all being defensive staples.
from
B to
B-: Stakataka’s claim as one of the better pivots into Latias no longer holds weight, which gives its OTR set less opportunities to set up due to its slightly awkward typing. Cleaning sets are inconsistent, while defensive hazard sets suffer pretty intense competition from the bevy of other available options, which justifies a drop.
from
B to
B-: Togekiss continues dropping as the meta continues to hit it with unfavorable trends. It really struggles to circumvent all of its current weaknesses with Zeraora, Scizor, and Terrakion all on top of the metagame, while other stallbreakers can offer far more offensive/defensive utility with the current makeup of the tier.
from
B- to
C+: Salamence has only persisted as a top threat, which has further served to make Noivern incredibly niche. At this point its only use really lies in the Speed control it brings against Pokemon like Terrakion and stuff like Alakazam, though this is only all too useful when you’re really strapped for slots and need to compress traits with Noivern.
from
C+ to
C: Sharpedo has lost its staple status on a lot of HOs, its issues fitting all the coverage it’d like really preventing it from consistently breaking in the late-game and mandating more support than ever, though it can still work as a pick on various hazard stacking builds.
from
C to
UR: All of the listed Pokemon just don’t have niches strong enough for ranks right now. Barbaracle is far more inconsistent than HO’s several other options for sweepers, Cresselia doesn’t really manage a notable niche over Reuniclus or Galarian Slowbro, Alolan Marowak and Salazzle face pretty steep competition from other breakers with similar typings/roles, Mudsdale is hard to justify over the tier’s bevy of better Ground-types, and Golisopod’s tools are a bit too niche to consistently find use in the meta.