Let me think about moving Emp up. A current list of mons in C rank is: Alakazam, Bronzong, Blastoise (Mega), Gastrodon, Doublade, Chandelure, Houndoom, Hydreigon, Magneton, Mienshao, Porygon2, Rotom-H, Thundurus-T, Volcarona, and Wobbuffet. Of these, all (or most) have a tiny niche, but are too mediocre to be used on all teams. There's a distinct drop in viability between it and C+ (compare Houdoom to Togekiss) and a noticeable increase in viability between it and C- (compare Doublade to Noivern). Whether C is too inflated, I'm not sure, but I definitely think Empoleon compares favorably to most of the mons in C. For perspective, Empoleon has two viable sets: a defensive set that has the capability to, albeit not in one set, burn things, remove hazards, set hazards, phaze things, check Azumarill, check clefable, check lati@s, and check greninja, and and offensive set that relies on its power to check the mons I just listed, plus CroCune. Many teams are plagued by CroCune and CroFable, and Specs Empoleon is a stop to both. Looking at those pros, and the only true cons being a) its being a bulky water that doesn't resist fire and b) an absence of recovery, it's pretty cool and definitely has a niche in OU.
I'd argue that none of Alakazam, Blastoise, Chandelure, Hydreigon, Houndoom, Magneton, Mienshao, Porygon2, Rotom-H, Volcarona, and Wobbuffet are as viable and can contribute as much as Empoleon in a team. That doesn't go to say that any of them are bad, it's just that they either face extreme (albeit not complete) competition (Blastoise>Starmie, Magnezone>Magneton, Gothitelle>Wobbufett, Mega Zam>Zam, etc) or just don't do much (Porygon2, Rotom-H). Bronzong, Gastrodon, Doublade, and Thundurus-T are definitely the best mons currently in C rank, and comparing them to Empoleon is relatively easy. Empoleon has offensive (hard hitting, good coverage) and defensive (burning, phazing, rocks, defog, checking azu, lati@s, fable, ninja, crocune, etc) utility, very similar to the four best C rank mons. I don't really want to list why Gastrodon, Doublade, Thundy-T, and Bronzong are the cream of the crop of the C's, but hopefully my comparison of empoleon to them made sense. Basically Emp's a really good mon with more than one niche in OU. Pokemon in C- are either EXTREMELY specialized (Diancie + Exploud = TR ONLY, Ludicolo + Tornadus = Rain only, Venomoth + Gorebyss = BP only) or just not impactful on the OU metagame, while still holding of a niche (Gourgeist-S, Haxorus), and I think comparing the mighty penguin to them is really difficult. Emp actually has an impact on the metagame and is versatile, so a rise to C definitely makes sense to me.
I know this
might will be totally hated on, but I think Togekiss should rise to B-. It's commonly thought of a jack-of-all-trades master-of-none Pokemon, but so is Garchomp, and that's A. Togekiss and Garchomp both share a) an incapability of mastering anything and b) extreme versatility. I'll stop comparing Kiss to Chomp here, because I'm arguing for B-, not A. Basically, while Togekiss has two huge issues (the SR weakness and the Electric-weakness) and one smaller one (competition with fable), it's able to secure some interesting niches. My favorite set of Toge's is the NastyPass set. The set works because of Togekiss's massive bulk, and while its typing isn't the best, it still provides excellent synergy with Electric-types. Thundurus-I already has nasty plot and is immune to ground, so toge is a bit useless for it. However, the other three big offensive electrics (Mega Ampharos, Mega Manectric, and Raikou), all greatly appreciate the sweeping ability and the ground immunity that only Togekiss can provide. Masterclass made an excellent team using Togekiss + Ampharos, and I definitely implore you to check it out. Togekiss's second best set, in my opinion, is its Life Orb set, which is really cool. It again offers defensive synergy, but instead of using Nasty Plot to make its teammates threatening, it uses it with a Life Orb to destroy things. This sets only huge problem is the choice between Fire Blast, Aura Sphere, and Roost (you can only pick two). Otherwise, even with only 80 base speed, LO toge is a really cool set. Then there's the bread and butter specially defensive set, which has a few perks. Fire and foremost, it beats non-Sludge Wave Landorus, which basically should be all Landorus at this point. Other than Landorus, it's also able to serve as an emergency check to Landorus-T, Garchomp, Keldeo, and Mega Gardevoir, while being able to provide hazard removal support, paralysis support for slower teams, offensive presence, and Heal Bell. It can't run all at once, but it's still an interesting defogger capable of beating grounds + less reliably keldeo and gardevoir. It also flinches everything, which allows it to, especially with twave, limit what can beat it.
Electric types are the bane of Togekiss' existence, but it's still able to cope, providing sufficient team support. I think Togekiss' access to Nasty Plot, which is either able to make any special attacker, but specifically Electric types, or itself, extremely dangerous, plus its defensive utility (ground check, garde check, keld check, defog, heal bell, twave) warrants a move up to B-. It's commonly hated on, like Empoleon, but it's not all that different from other B- mons. Ampharos takes the mega slot, needs either togekiss or rain if it's offensive, has to deal with its non mega form (ie it can't switch in on chary if it hasn't evolved yet), and has an absence of reliable recovery. Nevertheless, its unique defensive typing, good coverage, and access to Agility let it carve itself two niches in OU. Togekiss has reliable recovery, the ability to remove rocks, and doesn't cost a mega slot. However it lacks Ampharos' excellent defensive typing and sr neutrality, so I'd say defensively they're about on par. Offensively, Ampharos really needs support to shine (nasty pass or rain), while togekiss doesn't. However, Togekiss is slower, so it's somewhat harder to use v. offense. It also doesn't cause any strain on teambuilding, other than needing a defogger. Again, I'd say their about on par. Then, Toge also has its best set imo, a slow baton passing set capable of making so many pokemon, specifically ampharos, absolutely terrifying. Admittedly it has its flaws, but its not different from Ampharos, Cress, or Chesnaught. All have certain exploitable weaknesses, but have either versatility or extreme proficiency at what they do to make up for it. Togekiss is ridiculously similar to these three; it's versatile as hell, has exploitable weaknesses, and is very good at at least one of its roles, NastyPassing. It's really easy to hate on, since it was so hyped earlier, but I think now it's under hyped.
I disagree with Toxicroak dropping. It's able to check Keldeo, Azumarill, Kabutops, Omastar, and Politoad, which is pretty fantastic. It puts a lot of pressure on teams with these mons, since any water move is a free switch for it. It's able to be played around by Azumarill, but Keldeo can't as reliably, since Toxicroak can and should be EVs so that Secret Sword doesn't 2HKO, and HP Flying is a really risky to move on the switch. It's able to abuse rain with recovery, and also has a pretty solid typing. Despite its poor bulk, it has a lot of defensive niches. It's also good offensively, since STAB Gunk Shot is really powerful and is able to threaten one of the most common defensive Pokemon in the tier: Clefable. Drain Punch is nice for threatening Chansey, who is decreasing in popularity, but is still relevant, as well as adding to its recovery potential (getting hit by water moves, being in the rain, Black Sludge, Drain Punch). It also has Sucker Punch, which is really nice to hit Psychic-types, trying to abuse Toxicroak's quad weakness. In its last slot, it commonly uses Ice Punch to hit Gliscor and Land-T on the switch, but also can use Swords Dance to boost its STAB moves and its priority. I think its ability to check water-types, put pressure on two of the bestmons in the tier, and its offensive capability makes it worth C-.
