Resource SV BSS Viability Rankings (Regulation F)

[Psynergy]

Welcome to the SV Battle Stadium Singles Viability Rankings. As always, the goal of this resource is to rank Pokemon based on their effectiveness in the Battle Stadium Singles metagame. Posts in this thread will be taken into account when deciding rank changes, but ultimately the final decision will fall on the VR Council. This is not meant to be an objective list and there may or may not be placements you disagree with, but that's all the more reason to discuss your opinions here!

The Viability Rankings will be updated appropriately as the metagame progresses or when new Pokemon become available, and we will take posts in this thread into consideration. There is no concrete schedule to when these updates will happen, but the VR Council has the final say on what gets moved in the ranking list. These users are all well informed players that gather the community's input to make final decisions on any individual Pokemon. This is a fairly large group that will cycle in and out of activity, but at the moment the rankings have been discussed by the following users:

• Butch Hardnight
• DerpySuX
• greilmercenary9
• Kiby
• luisin
• papiloco
• Pearl
• Photon
• Psynergy
• StarkGod
• Theorymon
• Thick Fat Azumarill

Previous BSS Viability Rankings
Regulation A
Regulation B
Regulation C
Regulation D
Regulation E


S Tier:

These are the biggest, most relevant threats in the metagame. You better prepare for them, as they can fit a large majority of teams very well!


S rank
Dragonite
Flutter Mane

S- rank
Archaludon
Chien-Pao
Ursaluna-Bloodmoon
Urshifu (Rapid Strike)


A Tier:

These are very metagame relevant threats that fit on a wide variety of teams, or do a specific role very well.

A+ rank
Chi-Yu
Gholdengo
Landorus-Therian
Ogerpon-Hearthflame
Ogerpon-Wellspring
Scizor
Urshifu (Single Strike)

A rank
Basculegion-M
Iron Bundle
Latios
Primarina
Raging Bolt
Roaring Moon
Ting-Lu

A- rank
Alomomola
Annihilape
Garganacl
Glimmora
Latias
Ninetales-Alola
Ogerpon-Cornerstone
Porygon2
Sneasler
Toxapex


B tier:

These Pokemon have at least a few flaws that hold them back from being huge threats in this metagame, but they still have unique selling points that make them good picks for some teams.

B+ rank
Dondozo
Gliscor
Gouging Fire
Hippowdon
Iron Crown
Mimikyu
Rillaboom
Serperior

B rank
Amoonguss
Breloom
Clodsire
Corviknight
Dragapult
Entei
Garchomp
Grimmsnarl
Incineroar
Indeedee
Iron Hands

B- rank
Blaziken
Cresselia
Heatran
Hydrapple
Iron Moth
Kingambit
Meowscarada
Ogerpon-Teal Mask
Pelipper
Torkoal

C tier:

These Pokemon are fairly niche, though not unviable. If your team uses one of these Pokemon, make sure your team needs their specific selling point, and isn't a job better done by more relevant Pokemon.

C+ rank
Avalugg
Blissey
Excadrill
Metagross
Scream Tail
Skeledirge
Swampert
Ursaluna
Volcarona
Whimsicott
Wo-Chien

C rank
Araquanid
Azumarill
Espathra
Fezandipiti
Goodra-Hisui
Iron Valiant
Pawmot
Suicune
Tinkaton
Tyranitar
Walking Wake
Zapdos

C- rank

Arcanine-Hisui
Baxcalibur
Great Tusk
Iron Treads
Kommo-o
Lucario
Magnezone
Okidogi
Palafin
Rotom-Wash



Rules

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

 

[Psynergy]

This thread is coming out later than I would've liked but better late than never. As stated in the past, we are going to be having separate threads for each Series ruleset, or Regulation as they have now decided to call them now. The Series 1 / Regulation A VR thread will be unpinned but it will be kept as an archived thread in case we happen to have this ruleset available again in the future. It's also a nice resource to have so we can see how the viability of Pokemon fluctuate throughout the generation if you want to reflect back on that, rather than just gradually overwriting the same thread with each new Regulation.

As always, this is not meant to be an objective list, so if you have any comments or corrections then please feel free to post! Once again, I'm sorry this took so long to get up, but hopefully next Regulation's list will be quicker to get posted.

 

[Omastar68]

I'm so glad Drifblim made it! Even just C, so cool. It gives me confidence to nom what I think is more often good on my team, to C or even C-if that's worth the space. The mon is Alomomola.

She lacks some of the base stat points of Dondozo, but gets Play Rough and Mirror Coat. Mirror Coat is really great, and what does the most. Flutter Mane will just die, unless it's the Charm set that boosts up...Iron Bundle also loses since it pretty much has to click Freeze-Dry to start w/, unless they somehow predict and switch. I took +4 Gholdengo Shadow Ball to ko back w/ coat, iirc was even chipped a bit and it did like 211 damage. Gets Magnezone, Rotoms, etc. Just an awesome move and there aren't exactly a ton of users. Play Rough has been harder to use to great effect, Hydreigon will often tera away from the fairy weakness, and other dragons don't take enough. But Liquidation is also good, if not unique. Like for Iron Moth, Unaware Clodsire, or, since I'm tera fire, Skeledirge(not a 2hko, but you can get def drops on them.) Regenerator is great, I use AV and they really go together. Looking through though, there are a lot of threats to Alomomola. I don't count how much I bring her, so it may be not that often and I'm judging by times she works which makes for bias, Idk, I kinda expect to get shot down, but at least I'll have tried.

 

[DerpySuX]

cat still putting in work, love to see it

 

[Omastar68]

I was also wondering, isn't Rotom-W to Rotom-H the same as Tauros-Water to Tauros-Fire? If so shouldn't water be higher than fire, like w/ rotom? Alternatively, because fire was higher than water in the past VR, should it be like that?

 

[DerpySuX]

I was also wondering, isn't Rotom-W to Rotom-H the same as Tauros-Water to Tauros-Fire? If so shouldn't water be higher than fire, like w/ rotom? Alternatively, because fire was higher than water in the past VR, should it be like that?

Tauros and Rotom have different things they check. Wash Rotom tends to be preferred due to it always having access to will o wisp in conjunction with the fact that Hydro Pump is generally a better STAB to have against the wider metagame (a lot of mons like to tera ground, notably baxcalibur) as well as discouraging fire types from coming in to absorb wisp.

Conversely, Tauros HAS to be the Blaze Breed to have access to wisp, Tauros’ advantages are its superior physical bulk in tandem with Intimidate to really lock down the physical threats that it checks, but it pays for these advantages by losing a lot of special bulk and the ground immunity that Levitate offers. Aqua Breed does not have wisp or any similar move, and while Aqua Jet is a great move, it doesn’t help in the role Tauros usually fills on a team as much as Wisp.

tl;dr - Rotom W is preferred to Rotom H, and Blaze Breed is preferred to Aqua Breed

 

[Omastar68]

Tauros and Rotom have different things they check. Wash Rotom tends to be preferred due to it always having access to will o wisp in conjunction with the fact that Hydro Pump is generally a better STAB to have against the wider metagame (a lot of mons like to tera ground, notably baxcalibur) as well as discouraging fire types from coming in to absorb wisp.

Conversely, Tauros HAS to be the Blaze Breed to have access to wisp, Tauros’ advantages are its superior physical bulk in tandem with Intimidate to really lock down the physical threats that it checks, but it pays for these advantages by losing a lot of special bulk and the ground immunity that Levitate offers. Aqua Breed does not have wisp or any similar move, and while Aqua Jet is a great move, it doesn’t help in the role Tauros usually fills on a team as much as Wisp.

tl;dr - Rotom W is preferred to Rotom H, and Blaze Breed is preferred to Aqua Breed

Thank you for explaining. I'd then agree on blaze breed>Aqua, however then it should move up to C+ to reflect this.

Also, suggesting Dragonite be the ONLY S tier mon. Flutter Mane's phys def certainly doesn't make it bad, but it IS a very notable flaw. Meanwhile DNite has no real flaw stat wise, the closest thing to one it has is species clause lol. Kinda bonkers mon, esp. when it can Encore PLUS actually use that turn you have to switch, to set up. If someone has had more trouble w. Flutter then Dnite I'd like to know.

 

[Psynergy]

Surprise update! So after further discussion, Theorymon pointed out that constantly making a new main VR thread each ruleset change is a bit tedious for updating resources, bookmarks, and hyperlinks, so from this point forward this thread will simply be the main VR thread and we will update accordingly. To maintain the archiving of old VR threads, we will still have old threads for both old Viability Rankings and sets/analyses, the only change is that the pinned thread will stay the same throughout.

With that out of the way, the VR is now updated with the preliminary rankings for the new Ruin Quartet, along with a few immediate changes that felt appropriate as a result of their introduction. Obviously Regulation C has only been around for a few weeks but better to have a general idea sooner rather than later. Critiques and comments are a part of the discussion process after all.

Ting-Lu - S-
Chien-Pao - A+
Wo-Chien - A
Chi-Yu - A

Baxcalibur - Down to A
Azumarill - Up to A-
Skeledirge - Down to B+
Breloom - Up to A-
Iron Moth - Up to A+
Annihilape - Up to A
Meowscarada - Down to A-
Volcarona - Down to A-
Dragapult - Down to A-
Toxapex - Up to B+

One notable discussion point with these changes, though, is Azumarill. The consensus is that Azumarill benefited from the introduction of the Ruin Quartet but raising it from B to A solely due to the introduction of four Pokemon is a bit drastic. Some people felt that Azumarill is worthy of A but there was also an argument for Azumarill staying in B, but for now we settled for A-.

Additionally, Baxcalibur dropping from S- to A seemed a bit drastic, but the general argument is that Chien-Pao is just a bit better as an Ice-type attacker so Baxcalibur in the same tier doesn't feel appropriate. That doesn't mean Baxcalibur isn't good, but it does hurt its viability slightly having that competition.

Dragapult is another Pokemon that came up as something that should drop, but we're not sure how far down to drop it yet so we settled for mild drop to A-. For the time being, the main focus was just updating with the new Pokemon so that this thread can be useful for more than like 2 weeks.

 

[DerpySuX]

I think we should add ur mom to a+ rank. She just eats everything

admittedly this joke was funnier in my head where I knew it was ironic

 

[DerpySuX]

Serious post now

IRON MOTH - DROP TO A
Iron Moth and Chi-Yu are very interchangeable. Personally I actually feel that Chi-Yu is a bit better, so it doesn’t really make sense to have Iron Moth ranked higher. Pretty sure this was just an oversight, at least I didn’t notice it while discussing placements.

KINGAMBIT - RISE TO A+
With the influx of Fairies and the shift to offense (most of the time) that has happened in response to the ruins, Kingambit’s STAB combo and strong priority are more valuable than ever. Perhaps I am biased, as I have been using it a lot and seeing great results so far, but I think it’s worth considering.

MAGNEZONE - DROP TO B+
Ting-Lu being so good and so popular really makes Magnezone tough to use. It just ends up thudding against Ting so often, definitely not an A tier mon anymore sadly.

I have a few more ideas but that’s all I feel super validated in as of now.

 

[furyofyuriy]

I would like to motion to move Wo-Chien to A+ tier. From what I have been seeing in the 5000-12,000 rating of Masterball tier is this thing spreading it's leech seed everywhere it goes, leaving a snail trail of slow destruction in its wake.

Wo-Chien is a wall that specializes in killing walls, from both my personal use and expiernce from other players playstyles. While Grass/Dark is a terrible typing, in a 3v3 meta this weakness is flipped on its head with powerful defensive tera options. The two most common I have seen is Tera Poison and Ghost. Tera Poison ensures that it can resist common Fairy and Fighting threats like Iron Valiant and Flutter Mane (and in particular, burn these two's Booster Energy to force a switch). Tera Ghost I see less, but functionally makes Garg regret it's move set choices when you wall its ability to Body Press and heal off it's salt cure with leech seed+ leftovers.

As for my comment about killing walls, the combination of Leech Seed + Ruination is crippling with the reduction of PP in common healing moves like Recover and Roost. The three tanks I have found that typically can win the 1v1, regardless of the set are Skeledirge, Dondozo, and ... Wo-Chien.

Skeledirge is strong because no matter what variant the snail runs, if the croc runs slack off and torch song, it will eventually punch through Wo-Chiens defenses.

Dondozo has the disadvantage (Technically) but with how common it runs Fissure and Rest variants, it can stay in and burn a couple turns of Leech Seed.

And lastly the match up against itself is hilarious because if the opponent tera'd into anything that isn't grass, your snail wins because the other snail can't leech seed. Otherwise it is quite literally a snail paced deathmatch.

Final thoughts. Despite it's horrendous typing, it absolutely is a threat that should not be taken lightly. Honestly I would rate it at S- tier in terms of usage and performance (for now) but that's more or less "new toy" syndrome talking. However, I do believe that the snail is deserving of A+.

 

[DerpySuX]

I do not think Wo-Chien deserves A+ for a few reasons, firstly, it is extremely tera dependent, and this can constrain a lot of things. While I don’t think the typing is “horrendous” per sey, it does lend itself to wanting to terastallize in order to surprise something that might otherwise do well against it. This can lead to difficult choices where one wants to terastallize, say Dragonite, but if you want to use Wo-Chien as a win condition, you are crippling yourself by taking that option away from it. Wo-Chien is also more adept at locking down physical offense than anything else. While, yes, it can be a good stallbreaker, it cannot do so independently, and again, heavily relies on tera, specifically Tera Poison, to beat most stall teams.

Wo-Chien can also struggle greatly with a number of offensive pokes. Chien-Pao can potentially flinch it down if luck if favoring it, Chi-Yu is easily capable blowing right past it, and Pokémon like Flutter Mane and Iron Bundle are very bad news for it, these are all excellent Pokémon that feature prominently on the style of team Wo-Chien is supposed to do well against.

This is not to say that Wo-Chien is bad, personally I love it, and most of my Regulation C teams include Wo-Chien, but it does not have the qualities that would make an A+ mon imo. The Pokémon in A+ tier (with some exceptions that should change shortly) are mons that stand out even among the higher tier mons, and can consistently perform on a variety of team structures and in a wide array of scenarios. Wo-chien, simply put, is not that.

 

[Omastar68]

I'm glad the posts in the previous VR thread were ported over. However I think the one's from the one before that weren't. So even though I like Alomomola better, I'm going to reiterate Forretress to C. I bet there's value in IronPress, Counter, and hazard setting, but I'll just share what I use, Loaded Dice. I think the 3 ruins who are quite weak to Pin Missile being let in helps. Chi-Yu will die to Rock Blast on the switch, or if you tera/are sturdy and don't flinch.

Ice Spinner is also great, for after you've Rock Blasted the DNite. Forretress can do a lot or better to Bax, Meowscarada, Espathra, Chomp, and much more if you get them on the switch. 5 hits of Rock Blast ohkoed a Rotom-h for me, for instance. Then there's Volcarona and Iron Moth, Hydreigon, etc. It's true you can't get past Dondozo, Gholdengo, Rotom-W, Garg, Iron Valiant, and Corv at all, but you can go Overcoat to beat Loom and other spore users. So that's why I say C, although even high rank mons all have stuff IN the high ranks that they can't really beat usually. I love the Chien-Pao match-up the most, as I have no other clear answer to it(though oiginally I put Forretress on for Sub Espathra.) The 4th moveslot is pretty flexible, after the 2 multi-hits and Ice Spinner. I used to use EQ for Manezone, but now use Electric Tera Blast for what few times I can tera and use it on Azu. I'm sure other moves can be good, maybe even Volt Switch lol. The typing is good too, which can reduce tera dependency unless you need to block fire or get a tera blast. Anyways, no one bothered to shoot me down the 1st time, and I'm pretty confident it's better now w/ ruins.

 

[Theorymon]

So here's my current takes on how I think the VR list should change! I'm going to basically go down the list from highest to lowest in its current form for these noms!

Just note too that this is almost entirely based off of laddering on the Switch, so just take that into account when you read my takes!

Drop Nominations

A+ -> A-

Magnezone is still pretty damn good, but Ting-Lu was a really unwelcome change for it in my eyes. While you can certainly wear Ting-Lu down enough that Magnezone can prevail.. its pretty tough, especially against SpD and AV Ting-Lu. Because of this, Magnezone really isn't my first choice for Assault Vest compression anymore.

A+ -> A

Some of us on cart have noted the big usage drop in Iron Valiant, and I'd argue its because Chien-Pao is REALLY hogging the spotlight in terms of Sash leading right now, which was Iron Valiant's big thing. Thankfully though, Iron Valiant can do more than that (and I'd argue it even has untapped potential!), and its STABs are great with the ruins around, so this is as far of a drop as I'd go!

A -> A-

Roaring Moon feels like it got impacted by Chien-Pao quite a bit, really forcing even the non acro sets to tera more. Still, the Taunt sets really mess with the defensive ruins, and its got a diverse amount of viable sets, so I still think its good enough to stay in the A ranks!

A -> A- / A

This honestly might be my biggest hot take: I've been struggling to use Kingambit more and more lately, as a lot of the stuff aiming for the ruins (like all the fighting type stuff) smacks Kingambit pretty hard, and it feels harder than ever to go "ehh I'll Sucker Punch it" with Chien-Pao and Chi-Yu resisting it and threanting big damage without Kingambit Terastallizing. That being said I'm still split on this more than any other mon (except Tyranitar at the end of this post lol), because its one of the few Dark-types that scares the hell out of Flutter Mane, even being able to run Defiant stuff to mess with Charm sets, and I can't deny that really the only other "bulky offense Dark" on this level is Ting-Lu, and Ting-Lu doesn't have priority or Steel STAB! IDK, maybe I'm just crazy and Kingambit should stay A ranked, but this is just something I felt was worth bringing up (even as I seriously consider it for a team I've been using recently lol).

B+ -> B

This is one I was teetering on, and to be clear, I think Hydreigon still makes really nasty use of Tera thanks to Levitate! However, competition among Dark-types is REALLY fierce right now, especially when it's really easy for a lot of teams to go "eh I'd rather wall break with Chi-Yu". Of course Hydreigon is also a bigger pain in the ass to revenge kill, so I certainly wouldn't say its outclassed. But with Chi-Yu (and to lesser extent, Ting-Lu tanking unboosted stuff a lot), I'm not really as quick to consider Hydreigon for teams as I used to be, and you can certianly see that reflected for other folks in home usage too atm. But I'm not gonna complain if it stays in B+, it's still a dangerous mon!

A- -> B-

A full letter grade may seem harsh, but I think Espathra might really be the biggest loser in the meta shifts so far. Ting-Lu REALLY made its life hell: Baton Pass sets have nothing beyond like.. using Espeon or Hatterene to stop the Whirlwind, Tera Blast sorta bounces off Ting-Lu too for CM sets.. Ting-Lu in general just made this so much harder to use, and you can see it in its sharp drop in usage too. I think its still usable and the type of Pokemon you have to respect in team preview, but Ting-Lu dunked on Espathra so hard that I think its glory days are behind it this season...

B -> B-

Another common story: Ting-Lu is miserable for another mon, and Sandy Shocks doesn't really like Wo-Chien without using Tera either, so it def feels harder to use. However, I still put it in B- because I think outspeeding Chi-Yu IS pretty cool, and Earth Power freaking out Iron Moth is a pretty good quality for a fast volturner imo too! And with the rise of Tera Poison, it IS possible to pressure foes into becoming weak to Sandy Shocks, so I don't think all hope is lost!

B -> B-

I sorta feel like Scream Tail ended up being a tad overhyped, and I think that still rings true. It's a very passive Pokemon most of the time (especially against Gholdengo where you can't even Encore it lol), and Ting-Lu made the Baton Pass sets harder to use for sure. Still, it's also a solid Stealth Rock setter and slower set up mons do get dunked on it, so I wouldn't put it any lower than B-.

B- -> C+

Maybe I'm being too harsh, but with Ting-Lu really crowding the SR setting space, I'm finding Treads harder to justify using. Its not bad per se: Its fast, not weak, and a Steel-typing is always cool, I just think its hard to justify over other SR setters. I do feel there might be some potential to explore, like Endeavor and Tera Bug stuff, but for now I think C+ fits because you need a pretty specific reason to use Iron Treads!

Rise Nominations

A -> A+

This is my one new A+ nom! Annihilape has always been a good mon, but I feel with the ruins being around, despite the lack of a Dark-type resistance, Annihilape really feels like the "default" other option for setting up Stealth Rock. What makes that scary is that, Annihilape has a TON of viable ways to mess with you: Speed control, fling, Final Gambit, Taunt... combine this with the fact that Bulk Up + Taunt sets are still as good as ever and can mess with stuff like Ting-Lu, and I feel like this mon's variety is on a level that puts it above most A rank Pokemon.

A- -> A

I noticed this when looking at Japanese blogs last season, and its become clearer to me as I played: Scizor has started to diversify. Sure, its almost always pivoting, Bullet Punching, and sometimes setting up SD... but its the EV spreads and items that really started to take off, as well as a big rise in Tera Water! It isn't just "offensive items and maybe Assault Vest" anymore, with stuff like Rocky Helmet REALLY taking off. It helps that it scares the hell out of Chien-Pao and does good chip against Ting-Lu too, and those really bulky Helmet sets, if played well, are good at chipping stuff down into revenge kill range! The thing holding me back from going higher is that the lack of recovery means you really have to play Scizor more carefully than the typing suggests. Still, I think the metagame shifts have generally been kind to Scizor, so A reflects its current place imo!

B+ -> A-

Wo-Chien really helped out Toxapex here, its one of the biggest Tspike setters outside of Iron Moth and Meowscarada, and in general is REALLY good at spreading poison for Wo-Chien and Dragonite. It can be a bit passive, but Haze and Toxic go a long way towards messing with set up mons, and Mental Herb means Annihilape feels less safe than you'd expect! And of course, it doing alright against Chien-Pao is a bonus as long as they dont tera! However, I think A- fits rather than A because I find that ground weakness to be a bit of a weak link, and I feel like Toaxapex means you are probably using some sort of slow, stally toxic team most of the time.

B -> A-

Toxic Spikes absorption is at a premium right now, and Amoonguss is pretty good at this task! While it can't set up Tspikes like Toxapex, hey gotta love Spore! It doesnt do too great against the offensive ruins without tera, but it does mess with some Wo-Chien sets and Ive even seen some speed creep Ting-Lu lol... its also one of the best checks to Azumarill around since most of them are using Superpower over Ice Spinner currently, and the Eject Pack set is a useful way to pivot in a way Toxapex can't do. I think at minimum, I'd at least put it above Brute Bonnet, who while dangerous, doesn't offer Amoonguss's nice defensive utility.

B -> B+

The Toxic Spikes sweep continues! Beyond having a nasty new buddy in Wo-Chien, Glimmora in general has been diversifying over the past few seasons, going beyond the usual suicide lead stuff, and doing stuff like AV sets, Scarf, and imo most prominently of all, defensive Air Balloon sets! You can actually EV Glimmora to avoid 2HKOs from some cool stuff, like Specs Flutter Mane Moonblast and Sash Chien-Pao. Mortal Spin also continues to be great in this format, gotta love not only threatening to remove Ting-Lu's SR but also poisoning it! Finally, while it's not too common yet.. watch out for Corriosion Glimmora, I've been seeing more of those and it can RUIN stuff like Toxapex or Tera Poison Ting-Lu! Honestly the only two things making me not argue for A- on Glimmora is that, the typing sucks defensively and the lack of recovery hurts. Overall though, I think we're undervaluing what Glimmora currently does in this metagame!

C+ -> B-

With Chien-Pao being a big deal, I find Arcanine to be quite a bit better than it used to be, thanks to Intimidate AND recovery. Extreme Speed is always nice for picking stuff off too. The lack of Ghost and Dark weaknesses is a big deal over Skeledirge in my eyes, though I don't put it above Skeledirge because beyond the lack of Unaware, the increasing usage of Defiant on Annihilape and Kingambit is a bit scary (blame Charm Flutter Mane lol).

C+ -> B-

A trend you might notice: Fighing-types really like the ruins being around! Lucario has been a sleeper, niche pick all gen, but I feel like Sash Chien-Pao gave Lucario a nice little shot in the arm in terms of viability and usage. Besides just "hey Bullet Punch and Extreme Speed are cool", Inner Focus means Chien-Pao can't even FLINCH Sash Lucario leads. I'm interested in special attacking sets too, but the Sash SD set is nicer than it used to be, and is why I think B- fits Lucario more than C+. Sure its no Dragonite, but +2 Normal Espeed CAN totally sweep you if it gets the chance, just make sure that Sash is intact!

C+ -> B+

This might actually be the biggest rise for me! I think Slither Wing partly suffered from us maybe not totally getting it last series, but with this new regulation, Slither Wing LOVES facing most of the ruins! First Impression hits like a truck and none of the ruins like taking that without tera, and Slither Wing's U-turns hit even harder than Scizors! Combine this with pretty good coverage, and stuff like Skeledirge falling, and I think Slither Wing really stands out more than it used to! I realize C+ to B+ is a really big change so I'm willing to compromise, but at least when I was playing with it, it really feels so much nicer to use offensively than it used to! My gripes with it is that it basically needs to tera to deal with Flutter Mane if its not using Scarf, and First Impression, while awesome, can be sorta awkward to use with the whole first turn aspect.

C -> B-

OK I realize this one may be sorta a hot-take, maybe C+ would fit more even, but let me explain: I think between Abroliva's Harvest based Leech Seed + Strength Sap stuff, and how shockingly bulky and hard hitting AV can be with Seed Sower, Arboliva is actually being slept on a bit! The Normal typing also hilariously makes Tera Blast less of a "risk", and the AV sets in particularly are pretty diverse at being annoying with their Tera Types. Arboliva has always had lowkey hype on Discord and Japanese streamers, and I think it does make some sense: its just an annoying Pokemon to predict in general because its two main sets are like total opposites of each other!

C -> B / B+

I remember when one of the high ranking teams last season was hyping up their Quaquaval, saying it was going to get better with the ruins... and I think they were mostly right! Resisting Chien-Pao and Chi-Yu's STABs rule, and I find Quaquaval to actually be rather annoyingly diverse at the moment, between its Sash sweeping sets, bulky AV, and Encore + Roost shenigans. I actually wouldn't even mind this thing being in B+ tbh, at the very least you can see on the Switch ladder how its usage had a huge spike this season! The two things holding it back for me though, is that the Fairy weakness and lack of a Fighting resist is annoying compared to Azumarill, and the reliance on Close Combat for Fighting STAB sorta sucks for the bulkier sets. Still, I think this metagame feels much better for Quaquaval than the last one, so I think it needs a big rise on the VR to reflect its current place!

C -> C+

I don't think Fire Tauros is incredible, but I think the ruins have given it a solid boost in viability. Gotta love resisting so many of their STABs, and Intimidate is really cool, even if I think it does compete with Arcanine a bit on that front with the lack of recovery and no Fairy resist. Still, it feels like a solid pick that has some specific niches that have gotten better.

C -> C+

Pretty similar story to Fire Tauros: it resists a lot of Ruin STABs, and Intimidate rules. I actually personally give it the edge over Fire Tauros right now because Aqua Jet is pretty cool, and I like that it's not weak to Ting-Lu's Earthquake (though Ting-Lu hates Wisp from Fire Tauros lol), but not quite enough for me to put it in B- for me, especially when "Dark resistance Water type" is something I think Azumarill and to a lesser extent, Quaquaval tend to fit more teams for. Still, I think its got a solid bundle of tools that make it a reasonable pick for some teams!

C -> C+

Honestly I feel like being able to set up Aurora Veil or having the option to make Iron Bundle, Chien-Pao, and Baxcalibur REALLY physically bulky is worth the upgrade alone. I don't even think Abomasnow is that amazing of a mon on its own, I just think those qualities alone put it above the rest of the C rank pack lol.

C -> C+

This one is really minor, but I feel like the Chien-Pao mirror match and reverse sweeping with Chi-Yu has risen Ditto stocks a bit. Nowhere near the insanity that was "LOL GONNA COPY ZACIAN", but enough where I feel like it fits in more with the C+ stuff.

New Addition Nominations

-> B / B-

Look I'm not just nominating Gallade for all the "lmao why is Gallade usage so close to Iron Valiant" memes (though I'm amazed that happened, check it out on home stats, pretty shocking stuff LOL), but that powerful Sharpness boosted Sacred Sword is starting to pay some dividends in this metagame. Having Shadow Sneak helps picking off stuff, and it even gets Feint which I have had the displeasure of losing my Sash Chien-Pao to because of the +3 priority LOL. I've also seen Scarf and AV sets, so Gallade seems to be shockingly diverse at the moment. I personally prefer B rank because I find Gallade to be a pain in the ass to guess against, especially since the whole "go Tera Poison" strat fails because of Psycho Cut compared to other Fighting-types stuff like Ting-Lu has to face. I wouldn't go higher than B mainly because that Speed stat is sorta lame...

-> B-

Iron Hands at home actually has some more going for it than I think we assumed earlier on! The most obvious thing is Bullet Punch, wow zapping Flutter Mane and Chien-Pao with priority rules! Headlong Rush is also pretty nice for Toxapex and pals, and with Thick Fat and AV, Hariyama actually takes on Chien-Pao, Chi-Yu, and Ting-Lu better than Iron Hands! There's also that Flame Orb set that hits REALLY hard with guts, or you can be one of those crazy people that uses AV + Guts JUST to mess with Toxic Spikes lol. The big thing holding me back from going higher than B- is that, while it does have some really cool stuff over Iron Hands... its got MUCH less physical bulk too, which I find to be an issue.

-> C+ / B-

Gardevoir has a really funny trick with Trace this gen: it can mess with the ruins abilities with it! Imagine that: not getting the SpA drop against Ting-Lu, being able to actually survive shocking Chien-Pao attacks, and not to mention that Tracing stuff like Multiscale always rules! I haven't seen these a ton despite the big spike in usage home suggests (its in the top 50 as I write this), so I'm being conservative with the C+ perhaps. The Speed stat is sorta lame, but this format in general seems to have some big ticket mons that do NOT like dealing with Trace, so I think Gardevoir needs to be ranked somewhere!

-> C+

With the rise of powerful hazard setters in this format, I think Hatterene brings some cool stuff to the table with Magic Bounce, especially since it does good damage to a lot of the SR setters right now. That Speed stat feels like a big issue though, even though hey it CAN Trick Room. I haven't seen a ton of these to be clear, but I just find them pretty irritating when using Ting-Lu, and its been rising a bit in usage, so I think placing it in C+ for now makes sense.

-> C+

You don't see Goodra often, mostly because Baxcalibur sorta stole its role as an AV Dragon, and when it comes to AV Acid Spray shengians, usually Iron Moth and Bellibolt are the go-tos for that. However, I can not deny that Goodra has OBSCENE special bulk for an AV mon, good lord that SpD stat! It's not really passive either, and Sap Sipper is actually quite good right now, with both the Spore immunity and making Tera Water pretty easy to justify on Goodra. It ain't perfect and I feel like it does rely on Tera a lot, and I think for a lot of teams they're just gonna go "eh what about Baxcalibur though", but I think Goodra has JUST enough unique attributes that it can make sense on some teams, especially with it being rather annoying to wall.

-> C

So I think Forretress's potential is REALLY held back by the lack of Custap Berry, but I've noticed a few of these pop up, and it doesn't match that badly into a lot of the ruins: Pin Missle is pretty cool right now (home stats seem to suggest quite a lot of Loaded Dice on it), Rapid Spin is pretty irritating for Ting-Lu, and Body Press and Rock Blast means that hey with Sturdy... Chi-Yu is not 100% safe against it! Sturdy of course is also always nice against OHKO nonsense. The thing really holding it back is that unless you go nuts with like Pawmot + Forretress (that did come accross my mind last night lol), Forretress often has to choose between trades or support, which is something Custap Berry would really help with if we had it back... Still, certainly not on the level of other Rapid Spin stuff, but I think it's probably worth ranking!

-> C

So the other Magic Bouncer I think is probably worth bringing up, it does have good damage output and outspeeds some prominent stuff. I do think the lack of bulk is a big issue compared to the already niche Hatterene though, but I think the Speed and Magic Bounce are juuust enough to justify this for C rank, or maybe a future C- rank.

-> C

Vaporeon has one really funny trick... if you Tera it into an Ice resistant type (mostly Fire it seems), it DUNKS on any Iron Bundle that lacks Encore! Like seriously, you can just Calm Mind against them at that point! Issue is, Vapreon really relies on that Tera, and like... that's its main trick, there's plenty of better Water-types to consider otherwise. But maybe there's untapped potential here... regardless, that one thing it does is enough to often make me bench Iron Bundle at team preview if I don't have Encore lol.

-> C

OK I'm sorta pushing things here, maybe a future C- is a better fit for Lycanroc-D, but besides Accelerock being really cool, its got Endeavor and Taunt in terms of stuff that makes it unique for an SR mon, and Tough Claws Close Combat actually hits pretty hard! At the very least, I think it's viable, just not something we often think about.

-> C

OK again I'm probably pushing things here, but the few times I've seen Salazzle, I've noticed it has a fairly irritating toolkit: Its got Toxic Corriosion so you can't just go "lol eat a Toxapex / Glimmora", high Speed, and.. it has ENCORE AND TOXIC SPIKES. Yep, its one of those mons: really fast nasty Encore stuff!

Some Maybe Surprising Holds

I've seen these Pokemon talked before in terms of "should this rise / drop?", so here's my takes on them!

-> A+

This is something I've gotten some questions about on Discord, "why is Iron Moth ranked above Chi-Yu?!". I have an answer: I think Iron Moth's set diversity makes it lot tougher to have a gameplan for than Chi-Yu currently. Don't get me wrong, Chi-Yu is generally the better wall breaker, and the Scarf set is an excellent revenge killer, but Iron Moth goes beyond just "powerful Special Attacker", despite what those stats may suggest! There's a TON of bulky Iron Moths flying around the Switch ladder atm, and they can pull off unbelievable stunts like surviving Chien-Pao (some even avoiding a 2HKO from Sash Chien-Pao via Sitrus, not kidding!). It makes for an extremely effective Toxic Spikes setter, and it even has Whirlwind to REALLY pressure you to react to its Toxic Spikes right away, or Whirlwind has a shot of just ruining that! And don't even get me started on how many ways Iron Moth can use Booster Energy or Assault Vest... point is, Iron Moth can be a total guessing game at team preview compared to Chi-Yu, since even teams that use it with Wo-Chien might surprise you with some OTHER set. With these factors in mind, that's why I personally feel like Iron Moth is the best Fire-type in the metagame at the moment, not to mention a key absorber of Toxic Spikes for a lot of teams!

-> A+

So a lot of us predicted that Gholdengo was going to suffer, and I don't actually totally disagree with that: all the ruins generally can give Gholdengo trouble in some way. However, Good As Gold is still INCREDIBLE against the slower bulkier teams, especially with Wo-Chien and Toxapex giving that kind of stuff more credence. All the stuff Gholdengo is already known for: Trick Scarf / Specs, Covert Cloak + Nasty Plot, super bulky Rocky Helmet sets: all of these things are still really damn good, and worth using even in the face of stuff like Chi-Yu. It's also already good at using Tera to mess with the ruins, though I guess you can make that argument for a lot of mons lol. Point is, I still think Gholdengo generally fits in the A+ crew due to its typing, ability, and set diversity, even if I do agree that ruins can make it a tad harder to justify.

-> A

So as expected, Chien-Pao made Baxcalibur take a meaty hit to usage, though it's still certainly around. It makes sense: Sash, LO, and CB Chien-Pao has made running the faster Baxcalibur sets more of a question than they used to be. However, beyond those sets still working fine on Baxcalibur.. its the bulky stuff like AV and CB that still fits Baxcalibur REALLY well in my eyes. Baxcalibur's combination of bulk, power, and priority are why its still both common and relevant, even with Chien-Pao. I do feel like Baxcalibur's heavy reliance on Terstallization does mean that A+ might not be the right fit for it, but it's still a big enough part of the metagame that I think A is just fine for it right now!

-> C+???

I don't know where else to talk about this but... I'm not quite sure we should handle Tyranitar, because maybe its just me, but its matchups feel REALLY polarized to me. Like, it either tends to do good damage and make good trades, or it gets dunked on before it does anything. It's that typing: its weak to a TON of Pokemon right now, and the whole "you need to be Tera Rock to keep the crazy SpD' is pretty awkward. That being said, Sandstream is always nice to have in such a Focus Sash infested metagame, and while its not fast, Dragon Dance is JUST fast enough where you outspeed some important stuff like Chi-Yu! I can't deny though, a lot of stuff that I feel has risen in reaction to the ruins, tends to be bad news for Tyranitar as well, such as all the Fighting-types. I'm really stuck here, anyone else got some opinions on Tyranitar?

 

[DerpySuX]

Bro really made me read all that

 

[Omastar68]

Wow great! So glad Forretress is getting support, neat mon just 4MSS(I want Seed Bomb and Counter and Body Press...plus the 4 I actually run and then some lol. I've run Hatterene, I support that being on here(that HP is miserable though.) Soe cool takes, I've also heard of Hariyama(haven't seen it,) and Gallade hits too hard. I use Annihilape as my one common mon, it's great so also especially agree there. But I disagree nowhere(then again maybe I just got what I wanted so I'm not gonna pick a fight now lol.)

I'm going to tentatively say Mence should move up from C+, probably just to B-. I've had some success with a very, very odd set, and I think something more common could do pretty good. I think with the typing and DD DNite is a clean comparison. You give up phenomenal bulk and Multiscale for Intimidate, quite a bit of spe, and the option to reasonably go mixed(DNite is fine special, but idk about mixed ever.) There's also moxie as an option, though I really like Intimidate. This gives utility after rocks, w/o having to roost first. Mence doesn't get many move options over DNite though, and misses out on some stuff, so I would never consider it going very close to top of VR, but I think there's room to improve with the spe stat.

 

[Psynergy]

Hi, it's that time again. So Theorymon's mega post is more or less hitting the nail on the head for this update. Pretty much everything from his post is reflective of the current update. Notably though, Gallade and Gardevoir are leaning towards higher placements due to the surge in their usage this past season. I don't really have a lot to say though since Theorymon already gave a good summary of everything.

I know some of these changes are long overdue, but if there's anything you want to discuss further moving please feel free to bring it up. Don't feel like you need to wait for a major monthly update for changes if something looks like it's in the wrong place. Also let me know if I moved anything wrong! Very possible with how many things were moved around.

With that, here is a summary of changes if you don't want to go through Theorymon's mega post:

Drops
Magnezone: A+ -> A-
Iron Valiant: A+ -> A
Roaring Moon: A - > A-
Kingambit: A -> A-
Hydreigon: B+ -> B
Espathra: A- -> B-
Sandy Shocks: B -> B-
Scream Tail: B -> B-
Iron Treads: B- -> C+

Rises
Annihilape: A -> A+
Scizor: A- -> A
Toxapex: B+ -> A-
Glimmora: B -> B+
Amoonguss: B -> A-
Arcanine: C+ -> B-
Lucario: C+ -> B-
Slither Wing: C+ -> B+
Arboliva: C -> B-
Quaquaval: C -> B
Tauros-Fire: C -> C+
Tauros-Water: C -> C+
Abomasnow: C -> C+
Ditto: C -> C+

New Additions
Gallade B
Hariyama: B-
Gardevoir: B-
Hatterene: C+
Goodra: C+
Forretress: C
Espeon: C
Vaporeon: C
Salazzle: C
Lycanroc-Dusk: C

 

[Omastar68]

Some I f these are really interesting. Did everything suggested get voted on? Even my precious Alomomola? If the vote was no I'll just try to produce results before nomming again, I just can't seem to win well, though it's clearly not her. But if there wasn't a vote would like one ty.

 

[DerpySuX]

Some I f these are really interesting. Did everything suggested get voted on? Even my precious Alomomola? If the vote was no I'll just try to produce results before nomming again, I just can't seem to win well, though it's clearly not her. But if there wasn't a vote would like one ty.

I can summarize why Alomomola isn’t ranked in one word

Dondozo

 

[Omastar68]

That's fair. It does seem like the only reason, though it's a decent one. Dondozo mainly lacks Mirror Coat, but also does a lot Alomomola won't. I may at some point train one for AV and compare.

 

[Malicious Muffin]

I don't have any authority here, but I feel that chien-pao is S tier and meta defining for regulation C. It's been way more impactful than flutter mane and the plethora of viable builds/teras it can run is a nightmare to deal with. I almost consider Ting-Lu there too because of how long it takes to kill him.

 

[Theorymon]

I don't have any authority here, but I feel that chien-pao is S tier and meta defining for regulation C. It's been way more impactful than flutter mane and the plethora of viable builds/teras it can run is a nightmare to deal with. I almost consider Ting-Lu there too because of how long it takes to kill him.

I've been thinking about this, haven't really determined a final "thought" for my opinion yet, but I would say that I think Chien-Pao is the closest to reaching S- compared to the other A+ Pokemon, because it is starting to do the same stuff as Flutter Mane where it'll run bulk or surprise bulky sets to mess with its checks and counters. Iron Moth can sorta do this, but Chien-Pao's crazy Speed and power I feel do make it more dangerous at this than Iron Moth, even if I think Iron Moth has the edge in variety.

I personally wouldn't put Chien-Pao above Flutter Mane though. My big reason for this is that Booster Energy REALLY ups the variety of bulky spreads / surprise sets Flutter Mane can run, and its bulky Choice Scarf set is a godsend revenge killer in a way Chien-Pao can't really pull off (though bulky Scarf Chien-Pao is viable I think)

The other knock against Chien-Pao compared to Flutter Mane is that Chien-Pao's typing is really bad defensively, not really an issue for the all-out offensive sets, but the bulky sets rely on Terastallization a LOT more than Flutter Mane does.This is sorta a similar reason why back in Series 2, I felt Baxcalibur fit S- more than S: Being really focused on Terastallization makes a Pokemon less flexible for putting in a team.

All that being said, I think Chien-Pao being S- is a reasonable idea. At the very least, Chien-Pao has had a VERY strong performance for Season 5, its been on a majority of the top 10 teams, and its clearly started to diversify in ways I feel like the other ruins haven't. I just don't think I'd put it on the level of Flutter Mane and Dragonite because there's more of a drawback to Chien-Pao's diversity than those two.

That's fair. It does seem like the only reason, though it's a decent one. Dondozo mainly lacks Mirror Coat, but also does a lot Alomomola won't. I may at some point train one for AV and compare.

I actually have seen Alomomola before, and while its a really niche Pokemon, I think C rank is fair for it personally. Mirror Coat + Regen on AV and Wish passing is something Dondozo can't do, and we already have Pokemon with hyper specific niches like that on C rank anyways like Lycanroc-D.

 

[Omastar68]

I've been thinking about this, haven't really determined a final "thought" for my opinion yet, but I would say that I think Chien-Pao is the closest to reaching S- compared to the other A+ Pokemon, because it is starting to do the same stuff as Flutter Mane where it'll run bulk or surprise bulky sets to mess with its checks and counters. Iron Moth can sorta do this, but Chien-Pao's crazy Speed and power I feel do make it more dangerous at this than Iron Moth, even if I think Iron Moth has the edge in variety.

I personally wouldn't put Chien-Pao above Flutter Mane though. My big reason for this is that Booster Energy REALLY ups the variety of bulky spreads / surprise sets Flutter Mane can run, and its bulky Choice Scarf set is a godsend revenge killer in a way Chien-Pao can't really pull off (though bulky Scarf Chien-Pao is viable I think)

The other knock against Chien-Pao compared to Flutter Mane is that Chien-Pao's typing is really bad defensively, not really an issue for the all-out offensive sets, but the bulky sets rely on Terastallization a LOT more than Flutter Mane does.This is sorta a similar reason why back in Series 2, I felt Baxcalibur fit S- more than S: Being really focused on Terastallization makes a Pokemon less flexible for putting in a team.

All that being said, I think Chien-Pao being S- is a reasonable idea. At the very least, Chien-Pao has had a VERY strong performance for Season 5, its been on a majority of the top 10 teams, and its clearly started to diversify in ways I feel like the other ruins haven't. I just don't think I'd put it on the level of Flutter Mane and Dragonite because there's more of a drawback to Chien-Pao's diversity than those two.



I actually have seen Alomomola before, and while its a really niche Pokemon, I think C rank is fair for it personally. Mirror Coat + Regen on AV and Wish passing is something Dondozo can't do, and we already have Pokemon with hyper specific niches like that on C rank anyways like Lycanroc-D.

Yay I mighta got one more on here. What's your take on Farigiraf? I use TwistedSpoon, and that Twin Beam hits really hard. Breaks sub, and many times Cloyster(even if they don't drop their SpD!) Well by many times I mean it's happened a few, Farigiraf has never not beat Cloyster leads when leading. Darks are immune, but there's Dazzling Gleam(I use Quiet Low Kick to ohko Chien-Pao.) T-bolt hits Iron Bundle, there's Shadow Ball for Flutter/Gholdengo/etc. Tons of move options, reasonably good stats imo. Problems include losing the ghost immunity terad psychic,, and Ting-Lu who, even w/ its weight, tanks uninvested and unboosted(think Sap Sipper) Low Kick. 3 good abilities too. Very good vs. Annihilape if you haven't terad(the ghost immunity might make it one of the best, considering it's also not weak to fighting.) Needless to say, I'd be pushing for C if anything. Why start higher really ever, if the mon is unranked to begin w/.

People may know I used Bronzong Gen 8 a lot. This gen though idk, why is it here?

 

[Photon]

Time for my first round of Gen 9 nominations. Whoo!

Rises

A+ >> S / S+

Gholdengo has always been amazing, but perhaps it just took some time for its metagame to fully develop. It has excellent typing, great Tera opportunities and a straight broken ability that carries its entire metagame presence in spite of the other things. Its set diversity is incredible: Scarf sweeper, Specs sweeper, Air Balloon wall, Rocky Helmet defensive... and its got a movepool to back it up with reliable boosting, cripple moves and recovery. This thing has all the hallmarks of an S mon and should rise as soon as possible.

A- >> A

Breloom is popping off right now. This seems somewhat ironic given who I just mentioned above, but it isn't Spore that Gholdengo has to be worried about: its Loaded Dice; its Tera Fire and Tera Blast; its new teammates in Ting-Lu and Chi-Yu who can switch into and pressure Gholdengo. Adamant 5-hit Bullet Seed, even as a resist, can still take max HP Gholdengo down to half. That's nuts. And despite continuing to cause major team preview pressure with Spore, you can't assume that is what it is clicking on turn 1 anymore; its got some serious wild card vibes going on for it, and the guessing games it causes can blow up opposing teams. From Loaded Dice to Focus Sash to even SubSeed, this thing is moving with the force of a freight train right now and deserves the bump.

B- >> B

Shell Smash Cloyster is a bit feast or famine, but I think its a little lower than it should be right now. Skill Link Icicle Spear and Rock Blast are major problems for a lot of top mons (Focus Sash Chien-Pao, Iron Bundle, Multiscale Dragonite, etc.) Its biggest problem is that is suffers from 4MSS and is sort of passively checked by the meta's top Steel-types, with the latter being a pretty bad weakness to deal with (Edit: totally forgot to mention Booster Paradox mons outspeeding it even after a Shell Smash.) Nonetheless, its the kind of mon where if you know what you want out of it, it can bully some of its checks and run away with games. It has three very strong Tera types (Ghost for blocking priority and Tera Blast, Ice for damage, and Ground for Drill Run and Volt Switch blocking) and the option of Ice Shard priority. Its not nearly as splashable as the A rank mons above it, but when properly focused it can put in major work. B seems appropriate to me.

Drops

A >> B+

Where on earth did this thing go? I barely even see it anymore. Look, there's no denying that Iron Valiant has some incredible tools in the toolbox and may even be a bit slept on. I think where my main justification for dropping comes from is comparing it to its competition. We already know that Sash Chien-Pao is intruding on its niche, but Breloom and arguably Meowscarada have also diversified and eclipsed it. Booster Energy is a hot commodity item so its rare for it to take that. It can do Choice Trick but Gholdengo and the Rotom formes tend to be more versatile and have better defensive profiles for being long term threats. Even Gallade is creeping up on this thing in the usage stats. Unlike the mons above, it looks to me that Iron Valiant's metagame has stagnated. Compared to its competition in the A ranks, it sticks out like a sore thumb and it needs a substantial drop.

A- >> B+

Ting-Lu, Garchomp and Iron Hands climbing up the usage have all been terrible for Magnezone. Furthermore, the surge in Tera Fire usage combined with Ting-Lu entering the fray means that finding a way to stop Flutter Mane isn't quite as elusive as it once was. Meta trends continue to be harsh towards Magnezone and I don't think it belongs in the A ranks anymore.

--------

There are a couple of other mons that look kinda out of place to me like Bellibolt and Brute Bonnet , but I feel more uncertain about them and they are only B Rank mons, so I will leave that nomination to someone else should they feel so inclined.

 

[Omastar68]

I think Iron Hands should be A, at least. It's shockingly bulky, a clear AV set wasn't even tickled by +1 252 SpA Modest Iron Moth's Psychic after tera to neutral, and non-AV unterad still lives(w/ proper EVs, which aren't at all a strain!) Stat wise it's plainly better than a lot of things(Hippowdon strongly comes to mind.) Very wide movepool, base typing seems ok. It hits A+ and S mons all for SE damage if it has the right move. I can't see any problem w/ it, other than personally it's kinda too strong so I'd rather use something else lol.

I think Scream Tail is too low, even if it's not used much or great, it acts a lot like a Tinkaton w/ better stats, as both tend to set rocks and spread para. So perhaps meet them in the middle at B for both. Tinkaton's Knock Off and Hammer are really cool, but stat-wsie it only has a bit of Atk over Scream Tail. Also you lose booster energy as an option.