TPO3
Never practice; Always perform.
Let me just start this post by saying I think Sharpedo should be A-rank and not S-rank. I'm saying this now because a lot of the things I'm about to quote are just flat-out wrong, and I don't want to be misunderstood as arguing Sharpedo for S-rank. (Because I"M not.)
As for Virizion, congrats, you found ONE pokemon in the tier that is a hard-counter to Sharpedo. If you're running the Physical set, and not the Special Set, which BTW, is completely viable, because with a moveset of Hydro Pump/Dark Pulse/Ice Beam, you basically wreck all of sharpedo's normal checks and counters (Zapdos, Bronzong, Shaymin, Hitmontop, Virizion, Slowbro at higher HP, and Gligar above 50%)
Also, I don't see why anybody would keep their sharpedo in after Waterfalling a Slowbro unless you could KO. That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Nobody even remotely competent is going to leave their Sharpedo in to eat a potential Scald/Twave/Grass Knot. That's like saying Togekiss shouldn't be S-ranked because when it's at +2 it can't OHKO Zapdos. Nobody who knows what they're doing is going to leave it in, so it's completely irrelevant.
ANYWAYS
I believe Sharpedo should be A-ranked for a few reasons. First of all, while a lot of its "counters" can be worn down via hazards or repeated attacks, Sharpedo needs them to be weakened or it loses. Period. It's not like say, Zapdos, which can still do plenty of work even if its counters are alive. You can wear things like Snorlax down, you can phaze stuff, you can SubRoost on stuff, etc. Another example would be Snorlax. Just because your opponent has a Rhyperior or a Cobalion alive doesn't mean Snorlax can't function. Snorlax can still fulfill its roll of being a special tank (that shits on chandelure) that provides an offensive presence. Sharpedo, on the other hand, can't properly fulfill its role (cleaning/sweeping) if its counters aren't weakened enough. It can still pick off a pokemon here and there, sure, but until its counters are in KO range, it's not doing its job.
Secondly, Sharpedo's paper-thin defenses make it weak to all forms of priority in UU. Espeed Arcanine does a MINIMUM of 80%, Ambipom, although it's bad, is still present with Fake Out, Honchkrow and Bisharp both do enough to cripple Sharpedo with Sucker Punch (which isn't /that/ unreliable considering the only thing Sharpedo can do to avoid getting hit is spamming Protect), Azumarill does a bare minimum of 43% with Aqua Jet (and isn't OHKO'd by Crunch).
I'd also like to point out that anything in the tier with Intimidate, even if you're only sacrificing it, will still indirectly force Sharpedo out because it has no way to raise its attack. Qwilfish, Hitmontop, CB Scrafty, and even Arcanine can all force Sharpedo out and hinder its sweep in this way. There are also Several Choice Scarfers in the tier (Raikou, Mienshao, Flygon, Victini, Jolly Darmanitan, Timid Meloetta, and Timid Rotom-H) that will all outspeed Sharpedo even after a Speed Boost, forcing it (if played properly) to rely on getting a Double Protect.
All in all, Sharpedo is a VERY threatening sweeper since most, if not all of its counters can be worn down sufficiently enough to be KO'd, but I think Sharpedo needs too much support for it to be S-rank. A-rank is perfect for it, IMO.
Sharpedo is perfectly capable of taking on bulky water-types, it just needs them weakened first, which isn't really that hard since none of the common ones except for Slowbro and Milotic have any kind of reliable recovery, and Slowbro is weak to crunch (and Dark Pulse!!!) anyways. Why you're even bringing alomomola into this is beyond me, that pokemon is NU for a reason. Not because it's bad, but because you never ever see it used. Also, 252 Life Orb Adamant Sharpedo's Crunch 2HKO's Offensive Shaymin WITHOUT any hazard support at all 100% of the time. So you really just need to hit it for 50% damage with literally any other pokemon on your team, and your Sharpedo is golden.so basically sharpedo is completely incapable of taking on almost any water types in the tier? It cant even 2 hit the better water types, so even with perfect prediction, a shitty predication on an S-rank anyways, it's going to take scalds against standard pokemon. How is it S-rank then. I mean suicune, and blastoise are the the two biggest ones but what does sharpedo do against alomomola, or bulkier grass types like shaymin, or virizion? A waterfall, followed by a crunch is not going to KO any slowbro, yet thunder wave is carried by most slowbro, and scald does ~35%, meaning your speed is neutered, and the 3hko involved in killing slowbro, a pokemon with a weakness to your best STAB means youre losing 65% of your health.
As for Virizion, congrats, you found ONE pokemon in the tier that is a hard-counter to Sharpedo. If you're running the Physical set, and not the Special Set, which BTW, is completely viable, because with a moveset of Hydro Pump/Dark Pulse/Ice Beam, you basically wreck all of sharpedo's normal checks and counters (Zapdos, Bronzong, Shaymin, Hitmontop, Virizion, Slowbro at higher HP, and Gligar above 50%)
Also, I don't see why anybody would keep their sharpedo in after Waterfalling a Slowbro unless you could KO. That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Nobody even remotely competent is going to leave their Sharpedo in to eat a potential Scald/Twave/Grass Knot. That's like saying Togekiss shouldn't be S-ranked because when it's at +2 it can't OHKO Zapdos. Nobody who knows what they're doing is going to leave it in, so it's completely irrelevant.
I fail to see how "wasting" a turn on Protect is any different than "wasting" a turn on Nasty Plot or on Dragon Dance. Cofagrigus is A-rank and it needs not just one, but TWO turns to set up, but I don't see anybody taking shots at that pokemon. Also I'd like to point out that there are SEVERAL times you really don't need to drop a turn on protect. If you can get Sharpedo in against a non-scarfed Chandelure, a Rhyperior, a Nidoqueen, or anything at all that's slower, you can just start doing work. Whether it's through sacrificing or through U-turn/Baton Pass, there's several ways to get Sharpedo in without "wasting" a turn.I cant stress enough that sharpedo is forced into protect first turn all too much. So, many things like snorlax who can be 2hko'd arent in the same kind of danger that fighting against something that doesnt require protect does. Because sharpedo is incapable of switching into many attacks, and because sharpedo isnt all tha fast before a boost, and because sharpedo has such weak defenses, switching in is challenging, and coming in after a KO doesnt confer a speed boost, not protecting on the first turn can mean instant death, so it requires excellent prediction, something that is not a merit, or it faces death. Due to this protect dilemma, sharpedo is fails to bust through counters more often than it shoud, and many 2hko calculations are not as impressive as they ought to be.
ANYWAYS
I believe Sharpedo should be A-ranked for a few reasons. First of all, while a lot of its "counters" can be worn down via hazards or repeated attacks, Sharpedo needs them to be weakened or it loses. Period. It's not like say, Zapdos, which can still do plenty of work even if its counters are alive. You can wear things like Snorlax down, you can phaze stuff, you can SubRoost on stuff, etc. Another example would be Snorlax. Just because your opponent has a Rhyperior or a Cobalion alive doesn't mean Snorlax can't function. Snorlax can still fulfill its roll of being a special tank (that shits on chandelure) that provides an offensive presence. Sharpedo, on the other hand, can't properly fulfill its role (cleaning/sweeping) if its counters aren't weakened enough. It can still pick off a pokemon here and there, sure, but until its counters are in KO range, it's not doing its job.
Secondly, Sharpedo's paper-thin defenses make it weak to all forms of priority in UU. Espeed Arcanine does a MINIMUM of 80%, Ambipom, although it's bad, is still present with Fake Out, Honchkrow and Bisharp both do enough to cripple Sharpedo with Sucker Punch (which isn't /that/ unreliable considering the only thing Sharpedo can do to avoid getting hit is spamming Protect), Azumarill does a bare minimum of 43% with Aqua Jet (and isn't OHKO'd by Crunch).
I'd also like to point out that anything in the tier with Intimidate, even if you're only sacrificing it, will still indirectly force Sharpedo out because it has no way to raise its attack. Qwilfish, Hitmontop, CB Scrafty, and even Arcanine can all force Sharpedo out and hinder its sweep in this way. There are also Several Choice Scarfers in the tier (Raikou, Mienshao, Flygon, Victini, Jolly Darmanitan, Timid Meloetta, and Timid Rotom-H) that will all outspeed Sharpedo even after a Speed Boost, forcing it (if played properly) to rely on getting a Double Protect.
All in all, Sharpedo is a VERY threatening sweeper since most, if not all of its counters can be worn down sufficiently enough to be KO'd, but I think Sharpedo needs too much support for it to be S-rank. A-rank is perfect for it, IMO.
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