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Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe (4 in speed to taunt other Sableye first)
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp/Toxic
- Recover
- Knock Off/Foul Play
People will hate you for running it, but Sableye is really good on Ghost teams. The only thing preventing it from being S rank is that it does little to Fairy teams. The most it can hope to do against Fairy is burn the Mega Mawile or Azumarill before getting nuked by Play Rough, and then Fairy teams usually carry Heal Bell or Aromatherapy, so it can't even permanently cripple the opponent's wallbreaker.
Beyond Fairy teams, Sableye has a bit of trouble with Fire, especially if it's a Will-O-Wisp set. In all other match ups, Sableye is very usable and can be instrumental in any victory. It is one of the only ways that Ghost can deal with Dark teams, but the one thing Sableye hates more than anything else is Mega Absol.
I disagree with Sableye in A Rank as going off the descriptions of each rank and how it fills a role on its respective monotype, I believe Sableye>>B rank. Going off the descriptions of each rank, Sableye will not like switching into virtually any move due to its terrible defensive stats of 50/75/65, even with its superb typing, and as such usually will need a free switch in on an immunity or after a Pokemon faints. Sableye's role of crippling physical attackers is not as appreciated on Ghost as virtually every Ghost pokemon except a handful get will-o-wisp and there will often be 2 or 3 other Pokemon on a ghost team using Will-o-Wisp anyways. It is also somewhat useless on quite a few matchups, including Fairy, and Fire, and will be challenging to use against other monotypes as they have Pokemon that almost completely render Sableye useless such as Flying (Charizard), Bug (Volcarona), and Fighting (Conkeldurr, Infernape). On Dark monotype teams Sableye does perhaps fill a better role, but still faces the same struggles of being unable to switch in and being walled by many common Pokemon. As for using toxic on Sableye over will o wisp, many other bulky pokemon on both Ghost and Dark, examples being Jellicent, Trevenant, Umbreon, and Mandibuzz.
The only moveset where Keldeo would use icy wind in my opinion would be a choice scarf or choice specs set, where hydro pump scald and secret sword are almost essential, as hydro pump is the wall-breaking move it will usually be spamming and scald being the safer, more accurate move that can cripple walls switching in. This leaves only 1 spot on Keldeo, and in this regard hidden power ice will be better than icy wind the majority of the time as it is perfectly accurate and it is stronger. To your point on Landorus and Gliscor being weak to water, Hidden power ice is more useful on Keldeo to hit dragon threats such as netting the OHKO on Garchomp, Dragonite after multiscale is broken, Latios, Latias, etc. I suppose bug can be mentioned as it also hits Slowbro, but Celebi is not a common Pokemon in monotype.
I'm going to hold off on editing the Keldeo post to let more discussion accumulate. Personally, I don't like Hydro Pump + Scald in monotype b/c I always find myself using the hidden power. Icy wind over HP Ice everyday because catching a non-scarf Latios on the switch then moving first is well worth it, plus icy wind doesn't lose any 1-2HKO's to my knowledge.
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Icy Wind vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 166-196 (54.9 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
If I lose to a 95% accurate miss then it wasn't meant to be :D.
Unless I missed something, I'll be reserving Togekiss, Skarmory, Zapdos, Landorus-T, Thundurus-T/I, and maybe even Honchkrow for Flying. Big post coming in the next day or two. Then I'm going to do the 'generic' ones: Golbat, Gligar, Moltres, Mence, Torn-T x.x
Well, i want tangrowth and shaymin to move from rank B to C
Why: Tangrowth sure is tanky, but the last time i saw it being used was like 3 months ago, also besides being a Talonflame check, it does nothing.
Also, Shaymin and Shaymin-S have the same dex number, so they can't be used in the same team. That makes Shaymin useless because Shaymin-S is a staple in grass mono now.
Quoting the post where the original rankings were for Shaymin and Tangagrowth would be the best since it'll be easier to find. Also, I'd avoid talking about Skymin and stuff in case if it gets banned. And give more reasonings / details ;)
Aegislash is basically the king of the Ghost-types. It is very versatile, and has impressive overall stats for what it does. It can function as a Swords Dance sweeper, and is quite good at the job. I use a Life Orb set with Swords Dance, which makes Aegislash a monstrous sweeper with Shadow Sneak, Iron Head, and Sacred Sword. It can also run King's Shield+Swords Dance with two attacks to be a more bulky sweeper, but that's not as good of a set imo. The Crumbler set that was the classic set in OU back then is still a nice set, and does well at being a bulky attacker, having relatively strong Shadow Balls and Sacred Swords, and being able to use King's Shield effectively to be bulky, strong, and enforce mindgames. Its defensive typing is also excellent, and makes Aegislash a top notch Ghost that any good Ghost-type team should use. Alternatively, an all out LO set and a SubToxic set are both cool too, but I haven't used those so yeah.
Gengar for A Rank
Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Focus Blast
- Destiny Bond
Gengar is great. It is a fast and powerful Ghost-type that hits hard with Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, and Focus Blast. It is a strong LO attacker that can sweep with its good power and Speed, and is basically the Ghost-type sweeper in Monotype. It does its job excellently, and is a very good sweeper. With Destiny Bond, it can go out with a bang once it's about to go down, and score another free kill. It can also run SubWisp+Taunt stallbreaker, Sub+Dazzling Gleam, Scarf, and SubSplit, among many cool sets. Like Aegislash, Gengar is very versatile.
Chandelure for A Rank
Chandelure @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Trick
Chandelure is very good. It has a lot of power behind its attacks and has amazing coverage with Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, and Energy Ball. It can run a Scarf set, which is quite powerful, and has a strong Fire Blast and Shadow Ball to be an excellent revenge killer. Energy Ball also nails Kabutops, Greninja, and Azumarill. Trick is also a useful move, and allows Chandelure to cripple Mandibuzz and Chansey, both of which are pains for Ghost teams to handle. Flash Fire is also an awesome ability to switch into Fire-type moves and spam extra crispy Fire Blasts. It can also run a Specs set, using its Reshiram level Special Attack to nuke everything, or it could run a SubSplit set to dodge Sucker Punch and play mindgames. SubWisp is also very cool, among a defensive set. Infiltrator is also a nice alternative ability to bypass Subs and Screens. It's very versatile, and that's the amazing thing about Ghost-types: they're very versatile.
Trevenant is an awesome defensive Ghost-type for such Mono Ghost teams. It can stall teams very effectively with SubSeed+Will-O-Wisp+Sitrus Berry (that gets regenerated through Harvest), so it's a hard to break Pokemon that will never die while it sits there whittling down its opponent's HP. Phantom Force is also very good, and hits decently hard while allowing Trevenant to dodge an attack and gain more Leech Seed recovery and stall out even more. A Water resistance is awesome, and Trevenant has a nice defensive typing to give it opportunities. ChestoRest with Natural Cure and Horn Leech is also nice, and Trevenant has a nice movepool to use too! Only problem is it's weak to Knock Off, but eh, Mono Ghost is already at a severe disadvantage against Mono Dark teams anyways lol.
Dusknoir is a decent bulky Ghost for such teams. It doesn't kill anything immediately like Aegislash, Chandelure, or Gengar do, but it can make it hard for the opponent to kill it. Dusknoir is a nice bulky Pokemon that can endure hits from many Pokemon, and Will-O-Wisp gives it opportunities. Pain Split is nice too for recovery and it can hang around for quite a lot of time while being hard to kill. It has okay offensive presence and a wide offensive movepool, with Shadow Punch as okay STAB, but Earthquake is really nice to allow Dusknoir to hit Fire-types and Bisharp hard, while it could run Fire Punch to hit Scizor and other Bug-types, among other niche options. It has problems, like Knock Off weakness, being rather weak, and easy to wear down, but it's a very workable mon on Mono Ghost nonetheless.
Awesome write ups ^^ I'd slash the Leftovers set with a Weakness Policy since they're both good and they both have the same set. I'd also write another set for the Sub Disable Gengar since newer players might not know the correct EVs for it (I didn't ;-;)
Unless I missed something, I'll be reserving Togekiss, Skarmory, Zapdos, Landorus-T, Thundurus-T/I, and maybe even Honchkrow for Flying. Big post coming in the next day or two. Then I'm going to do the 'generic' ones: Golbat, Gligar, Moltres, Mence, Torn-T x.x
I know for a fact that Skarmory has already been done, as it's the one antt used in the OP as an example. Thundurus-I has literally just been reserved by beta, just a moment before you posted, afaik the others are all available.
I know for a fact that Skarmory has already been done, as it's the one antt used in the OP as an example. Thundurus-I has literally just been reserved by beta, afaik the others are all available.
Miltank (or "Udder Destruction" as I like to call it) is very underrated in this metagame. It's NU in the standard tiers but it can really shine on a Normal mono. I like to think of it as the physical version of Blissey, but sacrificing some bulk for surprisingly decent speed. When facing Fire or Ice teams, Miltank is your best friend. A few calcs to show how amazing its bulk is, especially in these match ups:
252+ Atk Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Thick Fat Miltank in Sun: 156-184 (39.5 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Thick Fat Miltank in Sun: 192-226 (48.7 - 57.3%) -- 47.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Mamoswine Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Thick Fat Miltank: 125-150 (31.7 - 38%) -- approx. 0% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Mamoswine Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Miltank: 202-238 (51.2 - 60.4%) -- 90.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Outside of Fire or Ice match ups, Miltank can take physical moves with a decent amount of HP to spare, assuming it's not a Fighting type move. Miltank is weakest in a Fighting type matchup (as most Normal types are), but it also doesn't like taking special hits either. 95 HP and 70 SpD isn't awful bulk, but it's better to leave the special tanking to Chansey/Blissey, which Miltank forms an amazing defensive core with.
Zapdos is taken as well since I was an idiot and forgot to put it in the reserve list (You can always do Electric). I don't think Thundurus-T is taken though.
Zapdos is taken as well since I was an idiot and forgot to put it in the reserve list (You can always do Electric). I don't think Thundurus-T is taken though.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed/Stealth Rock
- Spikes/Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave/Protect
- Gyro Ball
Lets be straight here. Ferro resists Mega Venu's Psychic weakness and is neutral to its flying weakness, while Mega Venu resists Ferro's fighting weakness and is neutral to that blazing fire weakness (yes I said it) due to Thick Fat. Not only that, but Ferro provides hazard support, slows the opponents down with TWave or just hits them pretty damn hard with Gyro Ball.
Swadloon for D Rank
Swadloon @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpD
Bold Nature
- Sticky Web
- Giga Drain
- Toxic
- Magic Coat
Yes, you read that right. I want to put Swadloon in the same rank as its evolved form. This may seem bizarre, but when you think about Dusclops/Dusknoir and Porygon2/Z it doesn't seem so Farfetch'd. Swadloon has a higher defence stat than Leavanny and the same special defence. You put in these EVs and you have a pokemon that can set up sticky webs repeatedly, spread status and even bounce back the opponent's hazards and taunt (which they will not see coming). I have tried this a few times myself and although I was expecting essentially nothing, I was quite suprised. I would put this up to C Rank, but the weakness to Stealth rocks, the lack of recovery outside Giga Drain + Rest (which you cant use in sun if you were to use Leaf Guard) and the SIX weaknesses leave me saying this. "It's better than Leavanny, but don't use it unless you NEED sticky webs."
I am shaky on Ferrothorn being placed in S-rank due to its 4x weakness to fire and its predictability. It isn't like Heatran for steel who also shares a 4x weakness because Heatran also has an irreplaceable immunity to fire, similar to Gastrodon with grass and water for ground, etc. It does however act as a solid check to many water types and also some physical attackers and can wear down the opponent's team with iron barbs, leech seed and all that jazz so yeah Ferrothorn for A rank
As for Swadloon, it is an outclassed Pokemon that does not deserve to be listed. Even with eviolite its bulk is pretty terrible and it also sports that awful typing, so for sticky webbing for grass, Leavanny is always the preferred choice as it does not serve as set up fodder and taunt bait like Swadloon, and can also hold a focus sash. Swadloon for unlisted
Miltank (or "Udder Destruction" as I like to call it) is very underrated in this metagame. It's NU in the standard tiers but it can really shine on a Normal mono. I like to think of it as the physical version of Blissey, but sacrificing some bulk for surprisingly decent speed. When facing Fire or Ice teams, Miltank is your best friend. A few calcs to show how amazing its bulk is, especially in these match ups:
252+ Atk Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Thick Fat Miltank in Sun: 156-184 (39.5 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Thick Fat Miltank in Sun: 192-226 (48.7 - 57.3%) -- 47.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Mamoswine Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Thick Fat Miltank: 125-150 (31.7 - 38%) -- approx. 0% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Mamoswine Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Miltank: 202-238 (51.2 - 60.4%) -- 90.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Outside of Fire or Ice match ups, Miltank can take physical moves with a decent amount of HP to spare, assuming it's not a Fighting type move. Miltank is weakest in a Fighting type matchup (as most Normal types are), but it also doesn't like taking special hits either. 95 HP and 70 SpD isn't awful bulk, but it's better to leave the special tanking to Chansey/Blissey, which Miltank forms an amazing defensive core with.
Miltank is an interesting Pokemon, and is certainly viable, but the vast majority of the time normal monotypes will much rather have Porygon 2 over Miltank for a physically defensive wall, and as such I would consider Miltank outclassed. Normal already has meloetta and blissey/channsey for heal bell, and chansey/blissey and Smeargle and some other Pokemon can use stealth rock, so there is no real niche for Miltank outside using its ability to tank some strong physical fire-type moves. Another point, porygon2 has actually a very decent special attack stat and has near unresisted BoltBeam combo that can really damage many monotypes, so it maintains offensive presence unlike Miltank as well. Because of these reasons, I propose Miltank --> C rank
The DPP King, but without the permasand< Usually Feints as a scarf or revenge kill on actual slow pokemon and pulls out a ballsy sub, then It smacks people around. It can be used as a wallbreaker in some situations. Strangely enough the prominence of Sucker punch in X/Y makes him work better in OU and Ubers than he did in B/W.
Standard mix scarf, Fire Blast is huge when you find a scizor or ferrothorn to use it on. Some people like to replace one of stoneedge/fireblast with dragon claw, but outrage is mandatory- there are many KO thresholds you will miss without it. Chases out many pokemon, kills things that dare stay in, and very cabable of cleaning up weakened teams, which you're likely to find with the support and stall options available to ground teams. Using fireblast on normal 2x weakness will only do 29-35% on medium bulk pokes, so keep in mind the limitations of using it liberally... dragon attacks are usually better.
This can be one of the most important pokemon for dragon monos, as fast pokemon with ice beam (scarf genesect comes to mind) need a dedicated counter, as well guest star dragons on flying and other monos (mence, gyara,charizard etc).
I've never used this, but it is basically the best use for mega garchomp's extra stats (unless you have a baton pass gliscor). 170 Base Atk makes the lack of investment unimportant for most of your targets, but as a 92 speed pokemon, you lose against jolly and timid base 100s that you used to beat. This is still a very powerful set against many walls, and it does manage to absorb a single hit before going down if you really need some early game poke dead. The 120 Special Atk will let you down in places, but as a mix attacker, you can expect to make them cry afterwards. Note that it's next best ground special attacker after lando-I, which helps against the likes of skarmory , aggron /roost szicor, etc
Physical Tank
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
Rest is not valuable for the tank garchomp, unless you are a dragon team going out of your way with heal bell. The combination of the helmet and rough skin does huge damage to physical attackers, especailly if you consider entry hazards and the possibility of them losing another set percantage from sandstorm support. It even frees you up to run the hippo with an extra attack or - if your really ballsy- Special defense hippo!! Again, this will prove a decent team member, although suprise kills from fire blast won't happen as often as much as with the other versions, the slower pace of TANK chomp leads to them treating their pokes with kiddy gloves.
Like mamoswine, you get the rocks up or kill them if they dare try to stop you. Most of the time you will get the rocks. When they switch to super tank on turn one, you can even save him as a very useful glue pokemon for later. His kills are nearly identical to mega IMO, It's very rare to see this boy let you down.
A bulky physical Mega chomp's best niche (especially for dragons) is against the fairy core (klefki/azumarill/mega mawille/clefable/togekiss/sylveon (or florges)) None of these pokemon want to take an earthquake, and in the case of klefki/some togekiss variants, you can pull out SD on relfect or whatever to one shot their entire team (outside of uncommon guest members that run speed) If you wait to bring it in lategame, it's entirely capable of tanking a +2 sucker punch or weaker moonblast with it's bulk, and if you have whittled the culprits down, it should be able to KO in return with an unboosted earthquake even through reflect. t-wave immunity is basically it's go to setup against other types, and it can function as a wallbreaker or back up druddigon if you think they'll defog after taking him out. Especially since it forces most U-turn leads to GTFO. Ground team's miss him having special coverage, dragon team's don't mind at all.
Mega Garchomp's speed with neutral nature
needs 212 for +252 base 70s. 116 for +252 base 60s . 96 for 0 speed base 100s. 16 for 252+ base 50s Edit as neccesary if Azumarill/mawille/clefable/specs sylveon start creeping on you to use play rough, you want to beat some wisp mews, or you really want to want to slash in fireblast over something.
I'm going to hold off on editing the Keldeo post to let more discussion accumulate. Personally, I don't like Hydro Pump + Scald in monotype b/c I always find myself using the hidden power. Icy wind over HP Ice everyday because catching a non-scarf Latios on the switch then moving first is well worth it, plus icy wind doesn't lose any 1-2HKO's to my knowledge.
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Icy Wind vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 166-196 (54.9 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
If I lose to a 95% accurate miss then it wasn't meant to be :D.
SubEndeavor Keldeo lets people beat common checks to Water. Basically you keep subbing down until you get low enough to abuse Endeavor. If you can somehow keep up a Sub at 1% health, you can Endeavor several threats like Unaware Clefable and a Synthesis using Mega Venusaur. Salac Berry to outrun most mons once it gets in range and Scald/Secret Sword to finish. Also like many hidden threats on Water monos, most people do not expect this thinking it's a CM variant w/o Lefties for some reason. Great set to work with if you need to deal damage to other tanks.
Also this set doesn't mind damage so you can keep sending in Keldeo on weaker hits so it gets a little bit of damage accumulated until you're ready to Endeavor. Overall really useful set thus insuring Keldeo's reign as a S-rank Water Pokemon
I disagree with Sableye in A Rank as going off the descriptions of each rank and how it fills a role on its respective monotype, I believe Sableye>>B rank. Going off the descriptions of each rank, Sableye will not like switching into virtually any move due to its terrible defensive stats of 50/75/65, even with its superb typing, and as such usually will need a free switch in on an immunity or after a Pokemon faints. Sableye's role of crippling physical attackers is not as appreciated on Ghost as virtually every Ghost pokemon except a handful get will-o-wisp and there will often be 2 or 3 other Pokemon on a ghost team using Will-o-Wisp anyways. It is also somewhat useless on quite a few matchups, including Fairy, and Fire, and will be challenging to use against other monotypes as they have Pokemon that almost completely render Sableye useless such as Flying (Charizard), Bug (Volcarona), and Fighting (Conkeldurr, Infernape). On Dark monotype teams Sableye does perhaps fill a better role, but still faces the same struggles of being unable to switch in and being walled by many common Pokemon. As for using toxic on Sableye over will o wisp, many other bulky pokemon on both Ghost and Dark, examples being Jellicent, Trevenant, Umbreon, and Mandibuzz.
The ranking system is a little complex, so I just boiled it down to the gist of what each rank is and this is the rubric I follow when ranking pokemon (It was included in Ant's original description of the ranks): S Rank:These Pokemon define the metagame. A Rank:These Pokemon influence the metagame. B Rank:These Pokemon are adaptable to the metagame. C Rank:These Pokemon have a hard time adapting to the metagame. D Rank:These Pokemon rarely adapt to the metagame.
The rest of the description of each rank is just fluff in my opinion. Kind of showing what each rank could be, but doesn't necessarily have to be. The bold parts are what really matter. When looking at Sableye, obviously it doesn't define the metagame, and we all agree on that. So it's not S rank. A rank is for pokemon that "influence the metagame". To me, that means that if your team can't handle a pokemon in A rank, you should probably edit the team so you can handle it in the future. I see B rank as more of a "Oh that pokemon beat me? Darn, oh well it's not that common so I don't need to worry too much about it." Sableye is a pokemon that can outstall entire teams if the opponent isn't prepared for it. If your team gets run down by a sableye, that team should probably be edited. That's why I think Sableye is A Rank
Ah the infamous CroCune that has plagued the community for so long (a plague I'm pretty sure was my fault for bringing into the Monotype meta as nobody ran it really). What more can be said about this great wall? It's the perfect definition of a bulky water being able to take physical hits for days. After grabbing a couple Calm Mind boosts, it's common checks start finding it difficult to beat down. Several people bring it within 3% health only for this thing to Rest on their faces. Suicune arguably can find it's way onto most Water teams as their main physical tank. It also beats several supposed "checks" to it like Gastrodon. Thanks to Rest and the ability Pressure, Suicune beats Gastrodon 1v1 along with several other things. If you can setup a couple Calm Minds, you can even go toe to toe with threats like standard Mega Venusaur as Giga Drain will become drastically weaker and it's not like Sludge Bomb, Earthquake, or Hidden Power Fire will touch this thing. I actually use Crocune to face down Zapdos since you can get off one Calm Mind against Specially Defensive Zapdos you can tank the next Discharge and then proceed to rest and do some Crocune shenanigans (except against Teslahax).
Some problems CroCune faces:
Absolutely hates getting hit by Super Effective Thunderbolts and Solar Beam before it gets Calm Mind up.
Trick cripples this thing so if you can get enough Calm Minds in first to corner your opponent do so.
Breloom easily kills this thing even among other Grass types.
Being forced to rely on Sleep Talk, while can be clutch, is definitely not allowing any guaranteed win. Especially if you're like me and usually get RestTalk fails four times in a row before it starts to work.
Like most Calm Mind users it loses to Tentacruel and it's Acid Spray. Other Pokemon with Haze, while annoying, may or may not beat Suicune.
Things that sets it apart from other Water types:
Probably one of the most potent late game sweepers in the entire type.
Being able to PP stall things like Kyurem-B's Fusion Bolts (if not Choice Banded or LO variant) allows it to force opponent's to switch rather than just get setup on. If they let you setup then that's even better.
Even if you do not use it as a late game sweeper, Crocune is a potent tank able to take many neutral physical moves and forcing opponent's to either stay in and risk a Scald burn, or burn the incoming switch, or even Rest on the switch.
That design though .3.
There are many more things I could say about Suicune, but I'll leave the discussion at this if anybody wants to refute. I'm pretty sure it being at the top in Nani's drawing for OT for July says enough about it.
Now onto one of my personal favorite mons:
#Lucky Lanturn
Lanturn for A rank (Water)
Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Def / 216 SpD
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Thunder Wave/Toxic
- Heal Bell
Lanturn is a mon that definitely deserves A rank on Water teams for what it does. It gets a coveted Electrical immunity through Volt Absorb without becoming 4x weak to Grass moves. It has defensive stats of 125/58/76 while seems mediocre is actually really good thanks that ginormous HP stat. Since it has that gigantic HP stat it allows for more investment in its other two lacking stats making it tank several hits. Also unlike most Water Pokemon, it has clerical abilities in Heal Bell, has Volt Switch to grab some momentum, and like all Water types Scald. Volt Absorb and Volt Switch already put it past the majority of water types so it's role as a support shouldn't be denied. Last move is Thunder Wave or Toxic depending on what your team needs.
Lucky Lanturn really likes to abuse them Scalds and Thunder Waves though so watch out for the hax.
Some advantages:
It can take on Thundurus as it is immune to Thunderbolts, Grass Knot doesn't do that much damage since GK is only base 40 damage on it, and it can usually grab a Scald burn to whittle away at this huge threat.
Heal Bell works really well with things like Crocune to heal it's Sleep, burnt or paralyzed sweepers, or Slowbro which needs to get rid of Toxic status.
Voltturn on Water teams is pretty rare for a Monowater with only Greninja sometimes using it and Rotom-Wash.
Nice HP stat allows for it to patch up it's other stats. Also it allows for it to use some other sets like Parafusion, Toxic stalling StockPile, etc.
It forms a really nice defensive core revolving around Sap Sipper Azumarill, Tentacruel, Lanturn, and Quagsire. The double electric immunity and two ways to take on Grass with Azu and Tenta make a really effective 4 mon team.
It's called #LuckyLanturn for a reason: expect some good hax lol.
Disadvantages:
It can't really deal that much damage in return to a lot of mons it tries to stall out
While bulky, it still can't switch into several threats like a Mega Charizard Y's Solar Beam.
If the opponent uses Substitute and you can't break the Sub, you get cornered.
Lanturn is probably the best supporter on a Monowater team which is why I think it deserves A rank for that. As a tank, it'd probably be closer to B or C rank though. Yeah Volt Switch and Heal Bell with a key immunity really does go a long way huh.
As for sableeye A or B rank, I find him an option on Ghost teams, but a neccesity on Dark teams. I just feel like Mandibuzz (no doubt in my mind he 100% deserves that S) gets overworked against too many forms of offense, or if they carry taunt on their tank (skarmory, jellicent, whatever). I'm experimenting with wisp+substitute+foul play+sucker punch(to take out offensive pokes that repeadetly break your sub even under burn), which is amazing if you expect your opponet to know what sableeye's options are and have a plan ready for it pre-battle.
I don't use piloswine for hazards because froslass and mamoswine do it so much better. Even a taunt proof mental herb cloyster would float my boat better.
That's totally all right, it's just that one of Piloswine's best sets is a Stealth Rock set (So Mamoswine can run a scarf). I think that it'd be good to have it there so newer players can have 2 options to choose from. Cuz more d merrier :D
Absolutely hates getting hit by Super Effective Thunderbolts and Solar Beam before it gets Calm Mind up.
Trick cripples this thing so if you can get enough Calm Minds in first to corner your opponent do so.
Breloom easily kills this thing even among other Grass types.
Being forced to rely on Sleep Talk, while can be clutch, is definitely not allowing any guaranteed win. Especially if you're like me and usually get RestTalk fails four times in a row before it starts to work.
Like most Calm Mind users it loses to Tentacruel and it's Acid Spray. Other Pokemon with Haze, while annoying, may or may not beat Suicune.
I haven't had luck with crocune this generation, because while it can't really be countered by tanks, many times they'll wait till your first rest, and then nail you with a mega pinsir or CB poke. And roar, trick, switcheroo all need to be taken out in advance. I feel like it should be B rank.
Garchomp for (ground) A rank and (dragon) S rank
Garchomp@ leftovers/brightpowder/salac berry
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Atk / 252 spD
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Dragon Claw
- Swords Dance
The DPP King, but without the permasand< Usually Feints as a scarf or revenge kill on actual slow pokemon and pulls out a ballsy sub, then It smacks people around. It can be used as a wallbreaker in some situations. Strangely enough the prominence of Sucker punch in X/Y makes him work better in OU and Ubers than he did in B/W.
Standard mix scarf, Fire Blast is huge when you find a scizor or ferrothorn to use it on. Some people like to replace one of stoneedge/fireblast with dragon claw, but outrage is mandatory- there are many KO thresholds you will miss without it. Chases out many pokemon, kills things that dare stay in, and very cabable of cleaning up weakened teams, which you're likely to find with the support and stall options available to ground teams. Using fireblast on normal 2x weakness will only do 29-35% on medium bulk pokes, so keep in mind the limitations of using it liberally... dragon attacks are usually better.
This can be one of the most important pokemon for dragon monos, as fast pokemon with ice beam (scarf genesect comes to mind) need a dedicated counter, as well guest star dragons on flying and other monos (mence, gyara,charizard etc).
I've never used this, but it is basically the best use for mega garchomp's extra stats (unless you have a baton pass gliscor). 170 Base Atk makes the lack of investment unimportant for most of your targets, but as a 92 speed pokemon, you lose against jolly and timid base 100s that you used to beat. This is still a very powerful set against many walls, and it does manage to absorb a single hit before going down if you really need some early game poke dead. The 120 Special Atk will let you down in places, but as a mix attacker, you can expect to make them cry afterwards.
Physical Tank
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
Rest is not valuable for the tank garchomp, unless you are a dragon team going out of your way with heal bell. The combination of the helmet and rough skin does huge damage to physical attackers, especailly if you consider entry hazards and the possibility of them losing another set percantage from sandstorm support. It even frees you up to run the hippo with an extra attack or - if your really ballsy- Special defense hippo!! Again, this will prove a decent team member, although suprise kills from fire blast won't happen as often as much as with the other versions, the slower pace of TANK chomp leads to them treating their pokes with kiddy gloves.
Like mamoswine, you get the rocks up or kill them if they dare try to stop you. Most of the time you will get the rocks. When they switch to super tank on turn one, you can even save him as a very useful glue pokemon for later. His kills are nearly identical to mega IMO, It's very rare to see this boy let you down.
Actually, it'd be great if you could add the Physical Set for Mega Chomp (Then I can say you wrote Mega-Chomp (Dragon)). Here's an example of what I'd write, feel free to use it or make changes.
Garchomp @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw / Outrage
- Fire Blast / Swords Dance
- Stone Edge / Stealth Rock
-EQ is STAB
- Dragon Claw is for reliable attacker whereas Outrage is for wallbreaking with SD
- Fire Blast is for Skarm, SD is for Wallbreaker
- Chomp gets SR so it's a good setter with its new bulk.
- Stone Edge is for Togekiss which would otherwise wall you
Also mention that EQ does a lot of damage to Fairies (It can 1-2HKO everything, live a Sucker Punch from Mawile etc). That's the reason why it's S Ranked (Dragon)
I haven't had luck with crocune this generation, because while it can't really be countered by tanks, many times they'll wait till your first rest, and then nail you with a mega pinsir or CB poke. And roar, trick, switcheroo all need to be taken out in advance. I feel like it should be B rank.
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance
Or
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Play Rough
This thing is a monster, its been unbanned from Ubers because it was not deemed as broken in monotype, that should say something but to start off this new friend has a max attack stat as 678 which is insane and its allowed on both steel and fairy oh baby
SD Set: Let it set up and it can destroy so much, this thing normally has 678 now x 2 thats an insane amount of power destroying most things in its path.
SubPunch: Its a better Heatran killer, doesnt have the power, but is better for luring in mawile checks and counters then punching them to death.
