Other XY OU Viability Ranking Thread (V3) (Rank changes are over until ORAS)

[Gloating]

After playing with Zard X more, I'm having second thoughts about it's S placement, it's not that easy to just slap on a team like the other S ranks. SR weakness makes it hard to come in and you lose momentum because it takes like 2 turns to get rid of Stealth Rock and against hyper offense teams it's not going to be that easy. A lot of the time I'd just rather use another Mevo like Mega Heracross or Mega Tyranitar because it pairs well with Excadrill and they don't have that Stealth Rock weakness. They are easier to switch in on something because Mega Heracross has some nice resistance to ground and neutrality to rock which is common and Mega Tyranitar can come in on special attacks easy. Tailwind + SD is nice but if it locks itself into Outrage, Sand Rush Excadrill can easily revenge or Talonflame with a powerful BB and it's easier said then done to get an SD plus a Tailwind so things like Landorus-T and Tyranitar can check it before it does much. WoW set faces competion from Mew who has Taunt, no SR weakness and better bulk plus Psychic typing to take on Fighting types like Terrakion, Medi, Hawlucha that are on the rise. That being said 3 attacks + Roost is nice and probably my favorite set as it performs pretty well and might justify it keeping in S-rank along side the fact that there's a lot of room for error when facing this (could be Y, DD, SD, WoW,) Still on the fence about Zard X but I wouldn't oppose dropping it to A+.

Mega Tyranitar: With Scarf Keldeo and Terrakion and fighting types in general seeing more usage, sweeping with this has become much harder and you're going to be screwed over 1/5 of the time because Stone Edge couldn't hit in that crucial moment. Almost everything has a super effective move against this so while it can take pretty much anything that's not 4x effective like Hydro Pump from Greninja it's going to end up pretty low being easier to pick off with a priority move. Mega Tyranitar also faces competition from his non Mega self, I sometimes wish I had a Scarf/CB Tyranitar to Pursuit a Talonflame or a Slowbro. However Mega Tyranitar can still plow trough teams late game and be a good win condition and makes for a nice offensive combo with Excadrill. Mega Tyranitar can drop to A. If Tyranitar is going to be in in A+, normal Tyranitar deserves it more in my opinion.

Doublade: It should go up a rank or two because it's probably stall teams best option to handle Mega Medicham, Mega Heracross, Terrakion, Mega Pinsir, all in one.

 

[Clone]

clefable s: easily the most defining pokemon of balance and incredible versus almost all matchups whether it be stallbreaking ability or resistances; incredibly hard to check and counter with the banning of many threats that impeded it and requires specialized counters e.g taunt tran; common checks like scizor and excadril do not appreciate flamethrower

I can kinda agree with this one, tho clef really fucking hates sand offense

garchomp a: i don't really like it enough to be a, but that's probably personal bias. oftentimes it's hard to justify it instead of landorus unless you need a scarfer for zard-x and thundurus; sr is only good with some kind of physical spam or a rotom-w weak team (zard-y too i guess.........) landorus is just typically better

Base 102 speed May not be what it used to be, but it just fucking trolls all the base 100s that are running around. The sash lead set is still fucking good against any non lead Mamo set, as nothing apart from defensive Lando T can really take his hits (Terrakion straight up loses cuz of rough skin =] and he's like top tier rn). Then the scarf set is great. His natural bulk, good speed tier, good stabs and resistance to Rocks allow him to either come in on things and force them out, or just clean up late game. It also beats dd mega tar and weakened megados cuz they can't outspeed him. Same with the Latis (who are fucking everywhere on offense).

Honestly, I don't see how Landorus is comparable to him, seeing as he's a special wallbreaker. They're both 4x weak to ice I guess?

greninja a: lost its main defensive niche but still powerful as a water type of course. checking gengar is still huge and it has a free moveslot now to play with

Lolwut. I know you're a great player, so I don't have any idea of why you mention Greninja and defensive in the same sentence. He's one of the few checks to Terrakion (non scarf ofc), and cleans up late game exceptionally well. Protean is amazing giving him stab on everything, and has great coverage moves in grass knot, hp fire (OHKOes ferro and Scizor), ice beam, and hydro pump. Also not seeing what this free slot is seeing as the standard set nowadays is hydro / ice beam / Extrasensory / hp fire | grass knot/hp grass. He shouldn't move down either

mega gyarados a-: similar to greninja except ferrothorn is ridiculously common now and it checks even less as gengar can wisp it. not the best choice in the current meta

I'm not opposed to him moving down, but a- is too low IMO. See all the posts from the last few pages in the previous thread for reasoning.

slowbro b: it's hard to justify anyway given that it kinda of treads on lati@s's / azumarill's territory and it's slow and kinda bleh. regen is cool sure but i've never found myself leaning toward slowbro on almost any team as a different water type usually works better

He hard counters Medi and Terrakion along with a plethora of other physical attackers, can t wave things, burn with scald, or hit hard with ice beam /Psyshock. He's fucking amazing rn and there's no need for him to move down

tyranitar mega a: it's probably on par with gardevoir / hera in terms of mega usability and the former are much more common. losing aegislash checking abilities made it fall off some and only 5 turn sand means you can't use excadrill very well which blows

Agree with the drop but mega tar was never really a good aegis check lol. Kings shield and sacred sword fucked him over

mamoswine / mega medicham a-: neither of these pokemon feel like they belong in the a tier; the others are far more splashable and easily thrown on teams. they are also far more consistent

Don't rly give a fuck about Medi cuz I find him meh compared to Hera and Garde, but Mamo? He stays. He fucks up offense with his stabs alone, and makes a great sash lead for HO. Shard OHKOes Lando and Garchomp (with like 12% prior damage or so iirc), while the only thing he fears from Thundy is focus blast. He a hits on genie spam (even tho it's died down a bit), and is completely anti meta. DNite gets fucked over by spear, while EQ hits hard in general. Then there's the fact that he can lure in Rotom w with freeze dry (while also fucking over Gyarados and quag), and revenge kills shit with the most powerful ice shard in the game (mega Obama is shit and never runs Atk investment). He performs consistently whenever I use him so idk where that argument comes from. It should also be noted that the Latis are taken out by shard after prior damage (not rly hard cuz of LO), who are fucking amazing now. So no, he shouldn't move Down and should stay in A.

 

[Megoodraggon]

Mega Aggron ==> B

Mega Aggron is one of the most reliable pHazers in the game, with Dragon Tail being un-Tauntable and his mono-Steel typing and ridiculously strong Heavy Slam making him an ideal choice to take on Fairies now that MMawile with its Intimidate and SD Fire Fangs is gone. He's a great asset to stall, shutting down most physical attackers, even those with SE coverage (or STAB, for weak 'mons/moves) and racking up hazard damage with Dragon Tail. Additionally, he beats Defoggers such as Lati@s, meaning that the opponent is hardpressed to remove hazards once Mega Aggron gets his mojo going lest their Defogger be KOed, so their best chance is often to wail away at him until they get lucky and are DTailed into something that can actually take him on - unfortunately for them, if his HP dwindles into the range where he's at such a risk it is relatively simple for Mega Aggron to drop a quick Rest and keep shuffling with Sleep Talk. Rest also cures Burn, and his Steel typing makes him immune to Toxic, so wearing him down residually is often not an option. Additionally, Mega Aggron fits into Dragon/Fairy/Steel cores like a Mega Aggron-shaped peg in a Mega Aggron-shaped hole (best analogy 2014 y/y?), as Dragons like Garchomp can set up Stealth Rock, Fairies like Clefable and Sylveon can roust Aggron from its Rest with Heal Bell or just heal it without resorting to Rest with Wish, and Aggron takes the physical hits, Poison, and Steel attacks aimed at the Fairies as well as the Dragon, Ice, and Fairy attcks aimed at the Dragons like a metal-plated triceraBOSS while just doing his thing and racking up that Rock damage. His Fire and Fighting weaknesses are covered nicely by his Dragon and Fairy partners, respectively, and unlike that pansy bitch Heatran he can eat an Earthquake without forcing a delicate Fairy or glass cannon Dragon to take it for him. He can also take Special attacks much better than Skarmory, as his physical bulk is so massive the tip hangs out of his shorts even uninvested, so he can spend EVs to beef up his SpDef and Filter further softens blows from things like HP Fire. He also resists Ice, unlike Skarmory, so he can eat an Ice Beam for his Dragon buds unlike the bird.

All that said, he does have his flaws - he is reliant on support from a cleric with either Wish or Heal Bell (if he has Rest) to prevent chip damage from wearing him down, and his main STAB reduces in power against fatasses like Terrakion, so he sometimes has to resort to dropping Sleep Talk to run coverage like Earthquake or Ice Punch, making him even more reliant on Heal Bell so he doesn't waste turns Resting like a lazy jackass. Finally, his being a Mega Evolution means that you can't use Mega Venusaur or Mega Charizard X, the kings of XY Stall, but lets be honest the meta is overprepared for those douchebags anyway. This is why I'm not advocating a jump to like B+ or A-. Aggron has a niche as, I would argue, the most reliable pHazer in the game (even Mold Breaker Gyara can be Taunted!), but that niche is relatively meaningless outside of stall with the Baton Pass ban and he basically needs a cleric partner to avoid wasting a teamslot, hence B ranking. He's great, but has notable flaws. In the end, his positives definitely outshine his negatives and I think he should be considered whenever building a stall team.

Relevant Calcs

Vs Lati@s:
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Mega Aggron: 127-151 (36.9 - 43.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Filter Mega Aggron: 119-140 (34.5 - 40.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
-2 252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Filter Mega Aggron: 60-72 (17.4 - 20.9%) -- possible 5HKO
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 208-246 (68.8 - 81.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Latias Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Mega Aggron: 113-134 (32.8 - 38.9%) -- 99.7% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Latias Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Filter Mega Aggron: 105-125 (30.5 - 36.3%) -- 47.7% chance to 3HKO
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latias: 189-223 (62.7 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Vs Clefable:
-Magic Guard CM, Physically Defensive
+1 4 SpA Clefable Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Filter Mega Aggron: 129-153 (37.5 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 306-360 (77.6 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
-Stealth Rock
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 160 Def Clefable: 368-434 (93.4 - 110.1%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
0 SpA Clefable Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Filter Mega Aggron: 105-124 (30.5 - 36%) -- 47.7% chance to 3HKO
-Tank (can switch in on CM, take hit, OHKO; just flat-out wins with ~45% remaining if it's already in when Clef is brought in via DTail)
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Clefable Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Filter Mega Aggron: 287-337 (83.4 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Clefable: 446-528 (113.1 - 134%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Vs Sylveon
-Cleric
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0+ Def Sylveon: 450-530 (135.9 - 160.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
-Specs
252+ SpA Choice Specs Sylveon Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Filter Mega Aggron: 133-157 (38.6 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 244 HP / 0 Def Sylveon: 492-578 (125.5 - 147.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Vs Azumarill
-BellyJet
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 16+ Def Mega Aggron: 273-322 (79.3 - 93.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 92 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 208-246 (57.1 - 67.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock, Belly Drum, and Sitrus Berry
-Choice Band
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 16+ Def Mega Aggron: 102-121 (29.6 - 35.1%) -- 18.4% chance to 3HKO
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 228 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 208-246 (52.2 - 61.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-Assault Vest
252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 16+ Def Mega Aggron: 69-82 (20 - 23.8%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 16 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 208-246 (60.2 - 71.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Vs Mega Gardevoir
-Offensive Calm Mind
+1 232 SpA Mega Gardevoir Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Filter Mega Aggron: 160-190 (46.5 - 55.2%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 24 Def Mega Gardevoir: 474-560 (171.1 - 202.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
-Offensive 3 Attacks
252 SpA Mega Gardevoir Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Filter Mega Aggron: 216-255 (62.7 - 74.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Gardevoir: 492-578 (177.6 - 208.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 Atk burned Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Gardevoir: 246-289 (88.8 - 104.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

 

[trc]

i asked dice and he said the defensive niche was "switching into aegislash's shadow balls"

good player,,

 

[AM]

So I guess I'll just continue on what people are saying here that is of particular interest or some things I've noticed in general.

Viability Placements get a snack

Clefable A+ -> S Dice made a mention of this and I pretty much agree with this. Clefable is so easy to fit on a team. Every time I'm building balanced, bulky offense, or stall I'm either slapping Clefable on to the team or playing with the team, and then realizing, "Oh gee why the hell did I not just put Clefable in here." Fairy typing is just a fantastic typing and Clefable's positive traits in particular forces team builds into running a dedicated or at the very least a partial answer to Clefable if they hope not to fail. Clefable has a wide array of options that include but are not limited to, Calm Mind Sweeper with Magic Guard CM, a check to set up sweepers with access to Unaware, clerical support, offensive capabilities to handle numerous threats in the tier, bulk along with its own form of self recovery regardless of the ability being used due to move tutor/breeding mechanics, etc. Similar to how the S ranks define the meta game or are the epitome of the roles they are assigned to, Clefable I feel is one such mon that not only exceeds these roles as a stand alone member of the team, but is an integral cog of the teams it resides upon to improve its offensive and defensive capabilities.

Suicune B+ -> A- "Suicune basically says gg if it can setup" Unfixable summed it up in just 8 words. The potential that Suicune has is just stupid sometimes. It's one of those things that you look at it in team preview and pray to whoever you believe in that if you're the one facing it, that you aren't screwed over by a shitty team match up cause chances are Suicune is the factor in that or will exploit it. It's super bulky and for the most part requires the toughest of the tough to break it from a neutral effectiveness positon. The utility of getting potential burns with Scald improves its defensive capabilities and allows Suicune to much more easily wear down opposition in the long run. Suicune isn't that hard to really use as well and fits on many forms of teams which is always a bonus when considering team building options. The aces in the hole though is Calm Mind and Pressure. Once Calm Mind gets going, it's hard to stop it without a handful of dedicated checks/counters to it and with Pressure it makes Stall annoying to play with when the PP of your clerical moves such as Wish and Heal Bell are dropping down twice as fast. It's an underrated threat and should be reflected as such accordingly.

Edit: Pressure doesn't effect moves not targeted towards the user. Learning something new everyday lol.

CharX S -> S Ok so while I do agree that Zard X has gotten worse as the meta has changed in the past several months, I don't agree with these particular statements to the point that it should drop to A+. One of the main common traits that the S ranked tier members hold is their ability to adapt to the meta game and or are able to cater its particular move set to suit the individual mons needs or the teams need. The only check I feel is consistent is Sand Offense, which we all know requires two mons to accomplish this, Sand Setter + Excadrill. The fact that two mons are forced to handle one single variant of its set shows that CharX is still a threat in the meta game. With this being said every other "check" is handled with a simple move variation or minimal support by Char X's teammates, which is a basic necessity of any mon, no different than that of the S ranked mons believe it or not. The notable flaws of Charizard X are mitigated by the previous points mentioned, its fantastic typing which contributes to its defensive traits in the form of Roost and Will-O-Wisp in particular, and the fact that new sets are coming into play just shows Char X's ability to adapt to such a hostile environment. Even with all of these traits taken into consideration, somehow it's less effective? To a degree as the time has passed yes, but to the level of A+, I can't agree with that.

Celebi B- -> B I think Celebi is underrated. Like it's not the greatest of great, but I think Celebi excels in the OU environment primarily as a solid support mon. It has a good pool of options such as Thunder Wave to help slow down some faster threats, makes for a decent SR setter, Status absorber with Natural Cure and has access to some clerical options such as Healing Wish which as we all know is pretty damn nice. It's actually got a decent scarf set that allows it to check a plethora of things such as Lando-I, Keldeo, Greninja, + 1 M-Gyarados, the usual stuff a base 100 speed tier mon can revenge kill. Trick's also nice to help stall break a bit or just screw something over if using the set. Keldeo and Lando-I checks are always in high demand anyways and I think it deserves a bump up at this point in time when I consider how the meta is right now.

M-Absol B- -> B- Ok so now people are really resorting to pointing out every single flaw of M-Absol to try to get this down when they're tip toeing around the traits that solidifies its current rank, lol real clever you guys, real clever. 115 speed tier is suuuuuuper trolly against most offensive teams. You guys are missing the point of what M-Absol actually does. It's not wall breaking stuff so don't act like this is some sort of wrecking ball. It's not the Great Wall of China and what day of the week is any sane person switching into stupidly powered mons like Azumarill or into potentially bad situations like Stealth Rock Lando-I, like come on guys and gals I thought you knew better than that. It's designed to revenge kill either through its speed alone or through the use of Sucker Punch. It's designed to use STAB Knock Off to cripple such archetypes as Stall more effectively or just knocking off items in general which is always nice. Its ability is designed to pressure opposing teams to not resort to support moves that harm you freely, which is fantastic considering this includes one of the most prominent of all of the support moves, Stealth Rocks. It has a decent move pool to cover ground a wide array of threats. Yeah it has its share of flaws and that's why it's settled at B- rank. If we're really advocating this to move down to where Smeargle is based off of some nitpicking at some flaws, I really don't know what else to say.

Doublade D -> C "Doublade in D is pretty damn rude" Dadoux is absolutely right. Doublade is one of the key mons in this tier right now that is able to consistently check and or counter M-Medicham, M-Heracross, M-Pinsir, among some others that I can't think off the top of my head. Its typing along with Eviolite allows it to pivot into a wide array of options in a similar vein to that of Aegislash, but with even more bulk due to Eviolite, which is pretty nice. 110 BST on its Attack stat isn't something to brush off either. It's got some useful offensive stuff to work with which from a typing perspective, was the bane of so many things that were irrelevant cause of Aegislash, which includes the majority of Psychic types. Doublade is underrated and the fact its "niche" is checking some of the most dangerous mons in the current tier right now I think Doublade deserves more credit than it's currently getting.

D -> Unranked Ok the first two I've already explained why I think they should be unranked. The first two in a nutshell is where their niches aren't even worth while in the OU environment. Had some posts about them in the old thread so if you care you can find it there.

Ok so I'm advocating the last two to be unranked. Now I'm going off of the fact that when the Deos and Aegislash left, we were assuming that spike hazard stacking would be a general thing with these two. From what I've been able to tell, that's not the case what so ever, as people have resorted to simply using something like Chesnaught or Ferrothorn for spike stacking. It's understandable that Froslass is an ok spin blocker if that's why it's at D, but it doesn't change the fact that it is kind of shitty to begin with and can only accomplish so much realistically. Roserade has spikes stacking I guess and having the potential of being a solid offensive grass type but seriously, wth does this thing even do outside of that, check Rotom-W I guess? Who's really using this on serious team builds that it deserves a mention on the thread? I mean it's fine if someone can establish why they should stay but man it's Version 3 of this thread. I think it's time to clean up the nonsense and solidify the rankings more concisely than before, cause now we possibly got a healthy meta going for us at this point in time, at least healthier now with all the bans that have taken place.

I might elaborate more tomorrow or as I test some more stuff out.

 

[MilkyWay]

I think we should chill with the nominations for a little bit and see how the new meta unfolds. I really hate it when people are like "Mega Mawile just got banned so x has to move up or down" without even playing the new meta (arcanine and weezings are exceptions though). This is probably going to be the best meta since xy came out as nothing is obviously broken so lets go enjoy while we can until ORAS comes out. However, As hypocritical as this may sound i actually have a nomination. Im just going to repost what I said in the last thread as with the banning of Mega Mawile another pokemon that offense uses Keldeo to check has left or fallen from popularity and now the Lati@s, one of Keldeo best checks/counters, are even better.

Keldeo should go back to A+.

Keldeo isn't as good as other S rank pokemon and lacks versatility. It is over reliant on choice items, which in tandem with it's lack of versatility make it very predictable.
While Keldeo is a great pokemon, it is undoubtedly the worst S rank mon. In comparison, it isnt nearly as versatile as the other S rank pokemon. It's two most common sets are both choice sets with little variety between the moves. The other (less common) sets it runs are expert belt and calm mind. These sets arent nearly as good as the choice sets and dont really get past any checks and counters to the more choice sets as well, unlike other S rank pokemon, such as Mega Mawile. Mega Mawile has only two sets yet it is far more versatile than Keldeo as both sets have a different list of checks and counters, while Keldeo's sets all struggle with the same set of checks and counters. Of course, Keldeo can change its coverage move to adapt to hitting these checks and counters, but its not that easy. All of Keldeo's coverage moves are piss weak and cant reliably 2hko these checks and counters without choice specs. With choice specs keldeo has to predict the switch in correctly and if it is wrong it is locked into a low base power move. Even if it is right the checks and counters could switch out, leaving Keldeo locked into its low base power coverage move. Keldeo has this problem on all of its sets as well. As good as it's choice sets are, being locked into one single move isnt ever a good thing. It is forced to predict correctly or lose a ton of momentum. Lets say Keldeo KO's something with a water move. Now Ferrothorn can come in and set up stealth rock or terrorize switch ins with Leech Seed + Protect. Or Ferrothorn could predict correctly and switch in, or it could switch in after Keldeo damages something with a water move. Obviously Ferrothorn isnt all that can take advantage of a Keldeo locked into a move either, it was just my example. The Mega wall breakers can all come in on secret sword and wreck shit too as well as anything that resists the move Keldeo is locked into. However, the most important reason why Keldeo should drop is that the metagame is slowly shifting away from it. With the banning of the Deos and now Aegislash the metagame has shifted drastically. Bisharp, whom Keldeo was offenses' best answer to, has gone down in usage. With the lack of Aegislash and hazards birdspam has gotten a lot better too. Pinsir is now free to run Close Combat and Staraptor is that much better at wall breaking, both of which greatly bolster birdspam's popularity as a playstyle. After the banning of Aegislash the Lati@s have improved a lot and they are both some of the best switch ins to Keldeo. Starmie is a lot more viable too and the bulky set with recover, reflect type, and natural cure is gaining in popularity which makes Keldeo's life that much worse. Assault Vest Azumarill, one of the best glues to offensive teams, is now better and more common than ever as it is no longer cock blocked by Kings Shield. And the icing on top of the cake (although it doesnt apply currently) is that Mega Mawile is going to be banned. Keldeo is one of offenses best checks to that monster because it resists Sucker Punch and can outspeed and OHKO with specs Hydro Pump (I think). Due to this combined with Keldeo's lack of versatility and dependency on choice items are why it should go back to A+ and why it probably shouldnt have gone to S to begin with.

 

[Gloating]

I personally think Keldeo is better overall than Landorus-I. Landorus-I can't even spam it's most powerful move a lot of the time because of Levitate and flying types everywhere. Keldeo has a great typing for an offensive mon and a great speed tier as well as being both a special attacker and physical attacker. Keep Keldeo in S, it's very easy to slap on a team and all around just really good.

 

[Salemance]

Versatility doesn't necessarily make it a criteria for being S rank. M-Pinsir and Char Y were S rank for the longest time even though they only ran one set (before Char Y started running round with its defensive sets) and were able to fufill its criteria of S rank by being the best of their respective roles. Keldeo fills that niche in a way of being one of the best Specs users in the current meta. Unlike say Latios, it doesn't have mons that are immune to its STABs everywhere (Gengar for all I love bout him aint taking the risk of getting blasted by Hydro Pump and its been a long while since Jellicent was even really seen). Its also got the great speed tier that allows it to out speed most mons. Sure its hard walled by a few mons (hell even Lando-I is by Sp Def Gliscor) but just being the worst of the best I don't think justifies it dropping from S rank in its entirety (mind you I despise the thing to death).

The rise of Psychics is a viable argument for fall of Keld tho, and I wouldn't object to him dropping but the arguments haven't exactly stemmed further than him just being a one trick pony (hehe, pun) and I can see the recent shifts in the meta making it worse for wear I'm still a little split on the issue as the damn horse is still always something to watch for.

 

[Klobb]

Should Mega Banette really be unranked? It's the most reliable stop to any sweep the opponent might try to pull off. You can alternate between destiny bond and knock off to slowly wither down the opponent, and if they switch you may knock off the in coming Pokemon's item. Forcing them to switch ends the sweep too, so Banette still does its job.
Thunder wave is a lot less reliable than destiny bond because it isn't guaranteed to end the sweep, and if the opponent is behind a sub (Mega Gyarados, Hawlucha for example) then it's not going to help at all.

It sucks that you are practically forced to run protect, and Banette takes up a valuable mega slot, but it's nowhere near as bad as some people say. Don't get me wrong, Banette has its problems, but it fits D Rank perfectly.

Sharpedo on the other hand needs to go, it's become pretty obvious at this point.

 

[boudouche]

Ok so after seeing the whole ranking, I found some incredible bullshit. Let's repair the damages ^.^

A -> A+ : Probably the best offensive pivot, it has the fantastic ability to "check" Mega Heracross (by U-Turning after its move), Mega Zard X. Terrakion, Excadrill, Garchomp, etc. The Scarf set is excellent too since you can revenge kill most of the DD users and surprise some things like Ti@s & Thundurus.

B+ -> A- Yeah this thing is ridiculous. Its HP + Wish + Regenerator makes it very hard to deal with. With Ferrothorn and Gliscor, they form one of the most effective defensive cores in the actual metagame.

B -> A- : Manectric is an excellent offensive teams wrecker (except excattar core) thanks to its very high speed, its great coverage and Intimidate, making it excellent against birdspam teams. To deal with stall you have the possibility to use a great VolTurn core with Talonflame, Landorus-T, Mienshao etc.

B -> C+ Lucario is pathetic this gen. Seeing this shit sharing the same rank as Mega Manectric is shameful. Physical versions have 200 threats, and same for the special ones. Shouldn't be used.

C -> B- : Goodra is an excellent offensive support which can check a plethora of powerful threats (Landorus-I, Mega Charizard Y, Thundurus, Mega Manectric, Gengar) with a decent offensive movepool. It lacks of a possibility to recover itself but its a very good mon nonetheless.

B -> B+ : Despite the fact it hasn't Intimidate, I think Raikou can be seen as a "defensive" version of Manectric. Its indeed less powerful and fast and has some great defensive stats allowing it to check (with an AV) Mega Manectric itself, Thundurus, Greninja, Rotom-W and some birds.

B- -> C+ : It sucks and I don't need to explain why. Use it and you'll see by yourself. God damn it of course its movepool is cool but it has probably the worst 4mss I've ever seen and despite that, Clefable and Azumarill will never encounter difficulties against it. Its not only bad as a Pokemon, its pathetic as an OU mega evolution (even if its bad ass x.x).

B+ -> B : Full physical sets are outclassed by standard Chomp and the mixed sweepers set needs Smooth Rock Ttar (or Hippowdon!) to be effective (and only against stall teams).

B -> B+ : Megadactyl has an excellent matchup against offensive and some balanced teams. Its speed and its coverage (Aerial Ace / Stone Edge / EQ / Aqua Tail / Fire Fang / Ice Fang) are both fantastic. Its typing allows it to check birdspams (Talonflame, Pinsir and Tornadus-T) and some sweepers like Diggersby.

B- -> B : Since Mawile and Aegi are gone, Staraptor becomes a powerful threat. It has 2 ridiculous STABs (Skarm is the only real counter) and its a great birdspam team mate. Its frail and dies quickly but it shouldn't be underestimated.

C+ -> B : C+, really? wow that's rude. I mean ok this one is easily checked by Mega Heracross and by common stall teams but it's just one of the best Mew's switch-ins and its still an annoying threat to face of because it can run Poison Jab to destroy fairies or Stone Edge to K.O. Charizard.

D -> C+ : D? lol that's fucking ridic. Haxorus is a very underrated wallbreaker. The Swords Dance version with Outrage / Superpower / Poison Jab is one of the best Mega Gyarados/Mega Tyranitar partner as it destroys their counters/checks. However I can't deny it is (more or less) useless against offensive teams.

C -> B : Three great abilities, amazing double STAB, great movepool, cool speed. Hawlucha is good. Its attack stat is maybe not very high but its still a dangerous threat, especially as a late game sweeper and coupled with the right partners (Mega Heracross for example).

S -> A+ : Like I said in my last post, I don't think it deserves S. Any stall team checks it and most of offensive teams have Azumarill / Lati@s / Thundurus / Talonflame etc... Its a big threat thanks to its speed / amazing double type/STAB but its very predictable and is just not a top threat. A+ is the perfect rank for this one.

A -> A+ : Mew is a god... The Stallbreaker set is in fact very effective against offensive teams that hasn't a fire type / Conkeldurr / a fast Taunt user. Of course, as seen as its fantastic movepool, you can lure with a ridiculous ease its standard set counters or just use it as a SR + Defog support.

would've maybe change Hippo's rank for A -> A- but i'm too tired to explain why. sorry n_n

 

[Jacks0n]

clefable s: easily the most defining pokemon of balance and incredible versus almost all matchups whether it be stallbreaking ability or resistances; incredibly hard to check and counter with the banning of many threats that impeded it and requires specialized counters e.g taunt tran; common checks like scizor and excadril do not appreciate flamethrower

garchomp a: i don't really like it enough to be a, but that's probably personal bias. oftentimes it's hard to justify it instead of landorus unless you need a scarfer for zard-x and thundurus; sr is only good with some kind of physical spam or a rotom-w weak team (zard-y too i guess.........) landorus is just typically better

greninja a: lost its main defensive niche but still powerful as a water type of course. checking gengar is still huge and it has a free moveslot now to play with

mega gyarados a-: similar to greninja except ferrothorn is ridiculously common now and it checks even less as gengar can wisp it. not the best choice in the current meta

slowbro b: it's hard to justify anyway given that it kinda of treads on lati@s's / azumarill's territory and it's slow and kinda bleh. regen is cool sure but i've never found myself leaning toward slowbro on almost any team as a different water type usually works better

tyranitar mega a: it's probably on par with gardevoir / hera in terms of mega usability and the former are much more common. losing aegislash checking abilities made it fall off some and only 5 turn sand means you can't use excadrill very well which blows

mamoswine / mega medicham a-: neither of these pokemon feel like they belong in the a tier; the others are far more splashable and easily thrown on teams. they are also far more consistent

Sorry but I have too disagree with quite a few of you're points bar Garchomp and im on the fence about mega ttar.

Greninja was never switching into Aegislashes Shadow Balls. If you are using it in any defensive way, then thats stupid. Its frail as hell and dies to like 2 shadow balls with stealth rock up, and aegi couldv'e even sacred sworded if it wanted to. Greninja is still ridiculously threatening for offensive teams and balanced teams, and IMO is one of the best pokemon in A+, definately not one of the worst. Its coveredge, ability and good sp.attack and amazing speed make it unrivalled as something that completwly punishes HO.

Mega gyara in A- is a joke. Its got sensational bulk, and great resistances before and after mega evolving that make it one of the most reliable mega sweepers in the whole tier. It can set up on things like excadrill, keldeo pre mega evo (bar hp electric), choice locked chomp, bisharp after mega evolve, -2 latios/as and it can even tank a hit when they haven't got the sp.attack drops. Yes ferrothorn is everywhere, which could justify for a very possible drop to A, but its one of the most reliable and bulky mega sweepers in OU, and should not be in A- at the least.

Slowbro in B is also a joke. Slowbro is like azumarill and latios combined, making it a bulky defensive threat than can beat a large number of pokemon. It can beat zard x, excadrill, mega ttar (lacking crunch), keldeo, azumarill (non-bd), scarf lando t, scarf chomp, non sub mega gyara, terrakion and mega medicham among others. Its great recovery in regenerator and slack off make it so hard to take down.

Im not sure about mega ttar, the ridiculous popularity of keldeo on offence and balanced means it has a really hard time sweeping, as well as azumarill, scarf lando t and breloom which all make its life really hard. But it can check a myriad of threats as well as sweeping, meaning it can be a great win-con as well as patching up deadly holes in you're team. It could move down, but we should really think about it first.

Mamoswine is the most anti-meta pokemon in OU. With great attack, great offensive typing and good priority it can threaten so many common offensive pokemon such as bisharp, genies, zard x, chomp, lati's, dnite ect. It can also provide stealth rock which it can lay on the plentiful switches it forces.

Mega medi has ridiculous power that let it crush defensive teams, as well as being decent against balance and all right against offence. It cetrainly shouldn't rise, but it is a better wallbreaker/stall breaker than kyube, and the rankings should reflect that.

And it has been covered why keldeo deserves S, and nothing has changed since we decided that.
keldeo fits the definition of an s rank perfectly. it is a powerful, dominant, meta-defining force that is the posterchild for the powerful water-types that exist in ou. it requires little-to-no support, as it can cripple its counters/wear them down/lure and kill them on its own, not to mention things like amoonguss, venusaur, latis, keld . weighed against pokemon like landorus and charizard x, it requires significantly less support. it excels in one role (its powerful choice specs set), but can fill multiple other roles effectively, whether as an all-purpose revenge killer for dd mons and greninja (choice scarf), or as a good sweeper (subcm), or as a lure for walls/faster mons (subendeavor salac). in a nutshell, a powerful, defining, low-cost/high reward mon.

Also, no way should these two be A-. This ridiculous popularity of sand offence really hurts them. I can see them both moving up to B+, but any higher is a joke. Scarf lando t and scarf chomp are also really annoying for these two, but the simple fact that sand offence is the most common playstyle atm, and it destroys both means that they don't deserve A-.

 

[MrCookiepants]

I agree, M-Banette is a great answer to any setup sweeper. The ones packing priority (M-Scizor and M-Pinsir) can be Wisp'd.

It usually pulls its weight, getting a kill with D-Bond and maybe even crippling a few physical attackers along the way.

 

[Karxrida]

D -> Unranked Ok the first two I've already explained why I think they should be unranked. The first two in a nutshell is where their niches aren't even worth while in the OU environment. Had some posts about them in the old thread so if you care you can find it there.

Ok so I'm advocating the last two to be unranked. Now I'm going off of the fact that when the Deos and Aegislash left, we were assuming that spike hazard stacking would be a general thing with these two. From what I've been able to tell, that's not the case what so ever, as people have resorted to simply using something like Chesnaught or Ferrothorn for spike stacking. It's understandable that Froslass is an ok spin blocker if that's why it's at D, but it doesn't change the fact that it is kind of shitty to begin with and can only accomplish so much realistically. Roserade has spikes stacking I guess and having the potential of being a solid offensive grass type but seriously, wth does this thing even do outside of that, check Rotom-W I guess? Who's really using this on serious team builds that it deserves a mention on the thread? I mean it's fine if someone can establish why they should stay but man it's Version 3 of this thread. I think it's time to clean up the nonsense and solidify the rankings more concisely than before, cause now we possibly got a healthy meta going for us at this point in time, at least healthier now with all the bans that have taken place.
I might elaborate more tomorrow or as I test some more stuff out.

I agree with everything here except for Froslass. Froslass has a niche as a Spikes suicide lead that can stop other leads (like Garchomp or Terrakion) from setting up SR. Cursed Body is haxy but can potentially let you get another layer of Spikes.

Should Mega Banette really be unranked? It's the most reliable stop to any sweep the opponent might try to pull off. You can alternate between destiny bond and knock off to slowly wither down the opponent, and if they switch you may knock off the in coming Pokemon's item. Forcing them to switch ends the sweep too, so Banette still does its job.
Thunder wave is a lot less reliable than destiny bond because it isn't guaranteed to end the sweep, and if the opponent is behind a sub (Mega Gyarados, Hawlucha for example) then it's not going to help at all.

It sucks that you are practically forced to run protect, and Banette takes up a valuable mega slot, but it's nowhere near as bad as some people say. Don't get me wrong, Banette has its problems, but it fits D Rank perfectly.

Sharpedo on the other hand needs to go, it's become pretty obvious at this point.

As I talked about on the last thread, Mega Banette is not a guaranteed sweeper stop. It has to find time to Mega Evolve somehow against something that can't threaten it if it doesn't have Protect (good luck against HO) and Destiny Bond can be played around by just spamming set-up moves. You can Taunt your opponent to stop them, but that requires them to not attack that turn and for you to have perfect prediction. Also you can't really stop Talonflame and Mega Pinsir, which sucks.

 

[Giometry]

I would now like to nominate Dragonite to A+ rank. With Mawile and Aegi gone his Choice Band Set is even more dangerous. CB is absolutely ridiculous to switch into unless your name is Azumarill, CBB is a good check to the wildly popular Landorus and Keldeo. Ever since the banhammer started dropping Dragonite has just been getting better and better and i believe is fully deserving of A+ as was previously mentioned by a multitude of players in the preceding thread. I would also like to provide my support/refutal to many prior discussions.
Mew: A ==> A+ (The stallbreaker set is just soooooo gooooood in the current meta)
Staraptor: B- ==> B/B+
Greninja: A+ ==> A+ (shouldn't go to S, definitely not to A-)
Suicune: B+ ==> A- (you either have a counter to it or you get 6-0'd)
Raikou and Manectric B ==> B+
Slowbro A- ==> A-
Gliscor: A ==> A+ (Simply Amazing at the moment)
Clefable: A+ ==> A+
Terrakion: A+ ==> S (Band breaks things, Scarf is amazing, best suicide lead on offense)
Alomomola: B+ ==> A- (Big Luvdisc is a cleric that is almost on par with Chansey and a defining part of stall)
Torn T: B+ ==> A- (It never freaking dies, also can be a good stallbreaker)
Moltres/MegaBanette/Sharpedo/Roserade: D ==> Unranked (such trash atm)
Landorus T: A ==> A (Its good as a pivot but scarf is just overshadowed by Drill and Chomp)
Zard Y: A+ ==> A (The defensive set pushed it to A+ but now the reason for its existence is gone, back to A with ye!)

 

[trc]

froslass should stay, it's just your average spikes lead but it's fast. i would almost always prefer speed boost scolipede with endeavour, and the option to tspikes. however, a fast taunt and obviously destiny bond are amazing tools, spikes just aren't always valuable enough to dedicate a suicidal teamslot to.

i also dont think zard y should drop from a+, i mean come on the defensive set was good but y'all are kidding yourselves if you can't see that the actual offensive set is amazing and the defensive set itself still checks things like landorus and greninja.

 

[kabbes]

A reminder that in the last thread I made a post with calcs to show why a purely specially defensive Tentacruel should be at least C-. With Mawile gone, the meta is even kinder to it too.
At the time, that post and its follow-up got a few likes and support posts and no disagreement. It hasn't yet been officially acknowledged though, one way or the other.

 

[Breath of Death]

Hello, first of all, I want to say that English is not my first language and probably I'll have some spelling mistakes.

I would to suggest Weezing and Cofagrigus for rank D.

- Weezing: It can deal with a lot of Offensive Threats, burn it and use Pain Split for recovery. Although it is not a reliable method of recovery, you can use Chansey/Blissey/Jirachi/Sylveon/any wishpassers as teammates.

252+ Atk Mega Heracross Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 130-155 (38.9 - 46.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Landorus-T Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 75-89 (22.4 - 26.6%) -- possible 5HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 102-120 (30.5 - 35.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery
+2 44+ Atk Mega Scizor Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 142-168 (42.5 - 50.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 122-146 (36.5 - 43.7%) -- 99.5% chance to 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery

- Cofagrigus: It's one of the best Trick Room introducers and Trick Room abusers, Cofagrigus have access to Nasty Plot, Will-O-Wisp, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Rest, Pain Split.

D Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are mediocre in the OU metagame, but are viable enough to justify their use on select teams. These Pokemon are either usable but have no real niche, or are only capable of doing their specific task and fail at doing anything more than that. Pokemon from this rank have multiple crippling flaws that prevent them from being successful a majority of the time, and are often severely outclassed because of it.

I think this shows that they can be viable enough to justify their use on select teams.

Also, Gyarados Mega can deal with Ferrothorn if Gyarados is using Taunt and Ferrothorn isn't using Power Whip.

 

[Albacore]

Clefable for S is downright ridiculous lol, it's always seen it as one of the weaker things in A+ and I'm not quite sure why it remained there in the first place. The CM set is a very solid win condition and can sweep teams that aren't prepared for it, but the very same can be said of Crocune. And much like Crocune, well-built teams are not getting swept, in fact, a good answer to Crocune is harder to fit than a good answer to Clefable IMO, given that one of the best Pokemon in the tier, Heatran, completely walls the latter. CM Clefable is also fairly easy to revenge kill, to the point where it usually just gets one kill per match if it can set up at all. Then there is the Unaware Wishpass set, which is a solid cleric, but gets worn down a bit too easily IMO and doesn't carry that much HP to pass, and so, is generally inferior to Alomomola at the job. Also, relying on WishTect as your only form of recovery can be really unreliable and easy to take advantage of.

Clefable seems to have trouble taking strong hits in general, or rather, has to choose what it wants to be able to switch into. For instance, you need to run extra SpD in order to beat Greninja and Thundurus, but it you do that, you become unable to properly deal with threats like Heracross, MTTar, and MGyara. Don't get me wrong, Clefable is good, and it definitely benefitted from Aegi and Mawile in many ways (not having to worry about them, more Latis to switch into, amongst other things) so A+ is fine for it now, but has way, way too many flaws to be even considered for S.

Speaking of Unaware mons, I'm gonna bring this back up since it hasn't really been adressed yet :

I also think Quagsire might need to be dropped to B. Simply put, it suffers too much competetion from Alomomola and Slowbro who I find to be usually the better picks. Sure, Unaware is great, but Stall seems to have moved away from Unaware stacking to Regen stacking, hence the popularity of Alomomola atm, and Quagsire is simply not the token bulky water on stall anymore.

 

[Prinz]

Clefable in S rank ? maybe no

It's one of most versatile mon of the tier of course, having 2 really useful abilities, being able to use Calm Mind and Stealth Rock and having the fairy type which is incredibly good in general. In addition to that it can beat some of its switch-ins with Flamethrower or with Stored Power (which also allows it to be a really good stall-breaker) in the case of M Venusaur However, any team runs 1 or more Steel-type moves so it can't setup its CMs easily, it's also outclassed in the role of wisher by things like Alomomola and Chansey. Also as Albacore said, it has to decide whenever it should switch into special or physical hits since if it runs the Calm + 96 EVs in SDefense to switch into Greninja and Thundurus then it can't really switch on things like Mega Heracross or Mega Gyarados. In summary Clefable is a really versatile and strong mon in XY OU, but it has some problems that don't allow it to give its best, therefore the A+ rank is actually ok for it.

 

[malomyotismon]

Abroad ATM and the old thread is locked so I can't really quote my old post, buts on page 213 if anyone wants to read it(phone would display post no.), but has anyone got further thoughts on suicune moving up to A-?

 

[Dark G]

Nominating Mega Gardevoir for A+ rank

With the departure of Aegislash, this mon has become an extremely potent stallbreaker. It's coverage is nothing short of insane now that it doesn't have to worry about running shadow ball for Aegislash. A simple spread of Taunt, Hyper Voice, Psyshock, Focus blast is downright amazing in the current meta. It's counters are limited as not much can reliably switch into her ridiculously strong pixilated boosted Hyper Voice followed up by a psyshock or focus blast. Taunt is key in ensuring Mega-Gard is able to effectively shut down the recovery of mons that can actually take its coverage moves (i,e chansey) and adds to its stallbreaking potential.
It is also important to note that with the banning of Aegislash saw the rise in usage of many mons that Mega-Gard checks very nicely such as the latis (especially the latis, Mega-Gard owns these two), Mega Heracross, and Tyranitar.
The recent banning of Mega-Mawile is also an obvious buff to Mega-Gardevoir as she loses another very reliable check.
Mega-Gardevoir is a strong example of a poke becoming drastically better from the banning of other things that once hindered its effectiveness. I believe she is now good enough to move up from A --->A+ primarily due to Aegislash and Mega Mawile leaving the tier.

 

[Kyuzeth]

Time to join in on the new thread! I'm fucking glad Mega Mawile is gone, since there are two specific nominations I'd like to make now that the three-mouthed breaker has left the scene of OU.

Mega Gardevoir (A) -> A+ | This might sound like too much, but as I see it, the Mega Mawile ban has been incredibly beneficial for Mega Gardevoir. Another priority user gone, another resistor and check out of the field. The ban didn't just impact Mega Gardevoir itself, but its teammates as well: Tyranitar is by far one of Mega Gardevoir's best teammates and has gained more potential after the ban, which means the GardeTar core is now even more effective. Speaking of type, Mega Gardevoir's Psychic/Fairy-type is excellent in the current metagame, being able to check the many Fighting-types running rampant; as explained with Tyranitar, this typing synergizes extremely well with common and/or prominent Pokémon, mainly types weak to Fighting like Dark, Steel and Rock. If we look at Mega Gardevoir's stats, there's that beautiful 165 Special Attack stat paired with wonderful 135 Special Defense (allowing it to easily check/counter the Eons) and good 100 Speed, which is a good enough benchmark for a wallbreaker like Mega Gardevoir. With its signature Pixilate Hyper Voice, having marvelous offensive coverage and power (175 BP), it can give some of the most common threats, such as the Eons, Keldeo, Terrakion and Tyranitar a run for their money. Psyshock is a great auxiliary STAB, enabling Mega Gardevoir to strike Chansey for a large amount of damage. Focus Blast is the optimal coverage move, striking the Steel-types that resist its STABs. The fourth slot is what really makes Mega Gardevoir so unpredictable and dangerous: Will-O-Wisp fucks over its only close-to-counter, Mega Scizor; Taunt makes this Pokémon the ultimate nemesis to Stall; and finally, Calm Mind gives Mega Gardevoir an absolute shitton of power to spam Hyper Voices with. Considering its enormous Special Attack, high-power STAB and variety in support moves, Mega Gardevoir is without a doubt one of the hardest Pokémon to switch in on.
Now, what keeps Mega Gardevoir from rising even higher? Well, it's got a poor 65 Defense stat, which makes for a large lack of physical bulk combined with 68 HP; however, running Will-O-Wisp gives Mega Gardevoir this much-needed physical longevity. Going on, 100 Speed is good, but not great, meaning it'll often have to stomach a hit before dealing one (fortunately, it can take special moves well, especially with CM). Lastly, its matchup against Offense isn't the best, but it has teammates to cover up for that; considering its amazing type synergy, this should be no problem.
All things considered, though, Mega Gardevoir has improved noticeably thanks to the Mega Mawile ban and the metagame having shifted to its favor. Mega Gardevoir deserves to rise to A+.

Mega Alakazam (B) -> B+/A- | Another Pokémon that's definitely improved with the Megamaw ban, Mega Alakazam now finds more use on teams thanks to its downright insane potential as a sweeper. 175 Special Attack is absolutely massive and when complemented by 150 Speed, you KNOW this thing can fuck your team over if you pack no priority user. Its Psychic-type and enormous Speed are a gift in this new metagame with an increase in Fighting-types, outspeeding all of them (non-Scarfed) and striking them with high-power moves. Its STAB Psychic is downright monstrous, taking down many of the specially weaker Pokémon in the current metagame, while Focus Blast and Hidden Power Fire are all the coverage it needs (the latter for Mega Scizor). It can run a useful move like Encore in the last slot to lock a Pokémon in one of its moves and proceed to switch out or set up on it with CM (if a two-attacks set is run), while Taunt is an overall fantastic utility move that makes Stall fall flat on its ass. If Calm Mind makes Mega Gardevoir dangerous, then it makes Mega Alakazam simply terrifying, as all it needs is for priority and RKers to be gone to perform a clean sweep.
The true crux of Mega Alakazam is its Ability, however. Trace makes it into a ridiculously lethal Pokémon, as there's a large multitude of fantastic Abilities that can be traced in OU: Greninja's Protean, the Eons and Gengar's Levitate, Excadrill's Mold Breaker and Sand Rush, Slowbro and Tornadus-T's Regenerator, Mega Scizor's Technician (which allows it to beat the metal bug, as an unboosted BP is only a 2HKO), Chansey's Natural Cure, Heatran's Flash Fire, Mega Gyarados's Mold Breaker, Clefable's Unaware and Magic Guard, Mamoswine's Thick Fat and Oblivious, Thundurus-I's Prankster and Landorus-I's Sheer Force... I could go on for an eternity here, but there's so much this thing can Trace it's absurd.
Sadly, this master of psychokinesis is held back by terrible bulk (55/65/95 isn't something to write home about), a susceptibility to being revenge killed (Scarfers and priority) and its Dark-type weakness, the latter of which is still prominent in OU. Some of the Abilities it can Trace (Sand Stream, Gale Wings...) are completely useless to it, but fortunately there's a larger amount of useful than useless ones. This all makes it quite difficult to bring Alakazam in and successfully Mega Evolve it. 120 Speed before Mega Evolution isn't optimal, either, but the way to use Mega Alakazam is to bring Alakazam in after something has fainted, then trigger Mega Evolution.
All in all, I do believe Mega Alakazam has improved in the metagame shift and with the recent bans, enough to get it up to B+, possibly A-.

More nominations coming soon, likely shorter ones. These are two I've held back until the ban.

 

[Synchronation]

New thread, new posts:

Clefable should stay in A+:
I disagree with the drop of the cute fairy. It still does its job like always and even better with one of its checks gone. CM, Softboil and 2 attacks are amazing as always and Unaware sets can surprise some opponents and stop their boosting sweepers (bar Mega-Gyarados). It has not only aggressive sets, it has also more defensive and supportive ones like Wish and Heal Bell support to keep the team alive. Very versatile, great team member in stall and balanced and way too good for anything below A+.
As good as it is, I don't think it should be S rank, or at least we should wait to see how the metagame develops. It is still slow as ever and without the calm mind boosts its special side is pretty weak (Psychic Lati@s can 2HKO it). Strong physical attackers can wear it down too, so I think A+ is perfectly fine for it right now.

Suicune for A-:
Everything is already said. Many people don't consider Suicune in their team building and this makes Suicune even better than it already is. If not prepared it can just sweep without much support through teams. I have nothing special to add here, I support the idea to move it up.

Charizard-X should stay in S:
A very difficult question about this guy, I am using him alot and I think it should stay in S for now. It cannot be slapped on any team as easy as many other S rank Pokemon, but this isn't the point with him. It is really well-explained here:

CharX S -> S Ok so while I do agree that Zard X has gotten worse as the meta has changed in the past several months, I don't agree with these particular statements to the point that it should drop to A+. One of the main common traits that the S ranked tier members hold is their ability to adapt to the meta game and or are able to cater its particular move set to suit the individual mons needs or the teams need. The only check I feel is consistent is Sand Offense, which we all know requires two mons to accomplish this, Sand Setter + Excadrill. The fact that two mons are forced to handle one single variant of its set shows that CharX is still a threat in the meta game. With this being said every other "check" is handled with a simple move variation or minimal support by Char X's teammates, which is a basic necessity of any mon, no different than that of the S ranked mons believe it or not. The notable flaws of Charizard X are mitigated by the previous points mentioned, its fantastic typing which contributes to its defensive traits in the form of Roost and Will-O-Wisp in particular, and the fact that new sets are coming into play just shows Char X's ability to adapt to such a hostile environment. Even with all of these traits taken into consideration, somehow it's less effective? To a degree as the time has passed yes, but to the level of A+, I can't agree with that.

CharX has too many good sets to ignore them. He can run DD as cleaner, WoW-tank as wall, 3-attacks+Roost as mid-game sweeper or SD+Tailwind as wallbreaker + HO-check. Every set from him is really amazing and can be adjusted to the team you want to build. As much team support it needs (especially hazard removal) he is really worth the effort and should stay in S.

Keldeo should go back to A+:
This will come maybe too early, but I think it should go back soon. I supported S-rank for it because the meta is really offensive right now. With Mega-Mawile gone, Keldeo will not only face problems from Pinsir and Talonflame, it will also face problems in form of stall teams. Most of its hardchecks or counters are in those teams (Mega-Venusaur and Amoongus). With the rise of this playstyle and more use of Lati@s, it will have more problems to face making him not as reliable as he was. Being very predictable doesn't do him a favor either, so it is time for the pony to go back to A+.

Charizard-Y should go back to A:
Like I said before, it is still an amazing wallbreaker and does its job very well. But because of the support it needs it was in A rank for a long time and even mentioned in the "Counclusion reached" section. The new defensive set, which gave stall teams variation and a good answer to Mega-Mawile, is now not that good anymore because of the ban. Therefore he should go back to A and maybe even to the "Conclusion reached" again.

 

[Prinz]

Agreeing that Mega Gardevoir is really powerful in this metagame since with the banning of Aegislash it can run other options such as Taunt instead of Shadow Ball. It's a really good stall-breaker, and it isn't pointless against offense as well because of its SDefense which allows it to take hits from the Lati Twins or Greninja and then OHKO back with Hyper Voice. Also now that Mawile is out of the tier, XY OU lost another mon that could check well Gardevoir. For all the reasons DarkGengar explained already, I believe that Gardevoir may be worthy for A+ rank.

Also Charizard-X should stay in S-rank because of all the reasons you guys already mentioned. It can act lot of sets as DD + 3 attack, DD Roost, Wisp one, Tailwind + SD and it does well against both offense and stall. It needs a bit of support because of Stealth Rock but thats it, remember that after mega evolution it "only" takes 25% from them which is quite reasonable imo.

Speaking about Keldeo, it fits the A+ rank TBH. It can't really break stall because of Venusaur, Alomomola, Amoonguss and Slowbro, it's really predictable (the most used set are Choice Specs and Scarf, Calm Mind is not rly much used) and in offense it has some problem against Thundurus, Greninja, Talonflame and Pinsir if it's already weakened.

I also agree that Charizard-Y should go back in A rank, it isn't the best mon atm and while it can be a good stall-breaker (even if it needs support to beat things like Chansey) it isn't really helpful against offense because of its not great Speed. It also lost the niche to be able to check Mawile in stall teams using a bulky set.

Otherwise I don't agree with Suicune rising, it can do a well job against stall teams mainly because offensive ones can prevent it to setup with strong attackers such as Thundurus, but stall teams aren't super common anymore because of how Gardevoir / Medicham / Heracross are good nowadays. Also, it's super predictable because it runs almost just 1 set, I not really see it rising tbh.

 

[DoABarrelRoll]

This is why Mega Gardy should stay A. (not to mention she's very frail on the physical side, doesn't do great against offense due to her middling Speed stat and has horrible 4MSS)

Agreeing with Cofagrigus for D. Cofagrigus can stop Sand Rush/Dragon Dance abusers since it has phenomenal physical bulk and access to Trick Room and Will-o-Wisp. It can beat both Excadrill and Starmie (although Mega Blastoise wins against it 1-on-1), Lati@s and even Zapdos if it runs Nasty Plot. However, it has no reliable recovery moves (Pain Split is bad) and if it goes for RestTalk, it mostly becomes a sitting duck, especially against Zard X and powerful special attackers like Keldeo and CM Landorus.