Monotype Viability Rankings

[inscribe]

MEGA GLALIE FOR B-RANK

ayy ima eat u up,, jajaja they call me

what a lord lmao.

Glalie @ Glalite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 200 Atk / 56 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature or Hasty Nature
- Freeze Dry / Spikes
- Return
- Earthquake
- Explosion

This is the standard Mega-Glalie set, not much to be seen so lets go right in. First of all, Freeze Dry is preferred to catch things like Quagsire and Gastrodon, it also does a nice and clean 30-40% to Skarmory, ultimately netting a kill after some prior damage, which isn't gonna be too hard considering Skarmory is gonna be switching in a lot against in Ice Mono. :]

CALCS

vs Skarm 56 SpA Glalie Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 124-147 (37.1 - 44%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

200 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 112-133 (33.5 - 39.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

vs

ALL CLEANS 2HKOS BOP..

vs Charizard Y n X

200 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Return vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard Y: 241-285 (81.1 - 95.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock -- lol glalie gets the speed tie too btw, so nice check kids :]]]]

200 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Return vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard X: 180-213 (60.6 - 71.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (NON BULKY DD eq does same dmg btw)

200 Atk Glalie Earthquake vs. 144 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 182-216 (54.6 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

200 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Return vs. 144 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 181-214 (54.3 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
^ bulky dd

bulky will-o is 2hkoed by eq or return

- will think of more threats l8r

Earthquake does a nice job in hitting rogue grounded Fire, Poison, and Steel-types, while Return acts as a nice STAB you can spam to get off an amazing amount of damage. And last but not least, the secret weapon, EXPLOSION. Explosion gets off an insane amount of damage, pretty much OHKOing everything that isnt resisting it, but even things with a x2 resist are gonna take a clean 50% if they're not physically bulky.

Despite these amazing features, Mega Glalie does not quite warrant the A Rank it so wishes for; weakness to Stealth Rock and no extremely reliable Rapid Spinner on Ice Mono hinders it greatly, as it can only switch in so often to get a revenge kill. Also, 100 base speed isn't really that nice considering it gets a speed tie on a lot of mons, e.g the Zards, Medicham etc. and it also can't outspeed threatening 'mons such as Mega Gallade or Mega Pinsir, making Mega Glalie easily revengable, and since Ice doesn't have pivots to this flaw, he deserves B.

 

[n64lord]

Aerodactyl Mega (Flying) for C rank

Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 244 Atk / 44 Def / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Taunt
- Aerial Ace
- Aqua Tail
- Roost

My favorite aerodactly, used to fill the void caused by crobat not being quite viable As a stallbreaker, it can defeat specific defensive threats, namely skarmory, and it still functions as a cleaner against the pokemon water and flying get coverage on, and it has suprising longevity against teams you will face in neutral match ups. Flying teams sometimes have trouble fitting their unique STAB onto their team, and bravebird/airslash pokemon don't particularly tend to complement each other, making even teams packing such mons unlikely to have a backup. Works as a reusable backup if the opponet is using birdspam themselves.

Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 212 Atk / 44 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Aerial Ace

hits things ranging from keldeo to latios freely due to its amazing speed, and it's base form can megaevolve and attack easily due to still outspeeding about the entire unboosted metagame. Once it evolves it can outspeed mega manetric, +1 gyarados or dragonite, and +1 bulky volcarona.

Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Hone Claws
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace

Boosting its attack and the accuracy on stone edge allows it to hit a variety of pokemon signigantly harder. And since many things will have to switch out at the risk of being OHKOd, it is possible to setup on all but the ballsiest opponents.

It can also run roost or taunt on a "coverage set" but this is difficult to do effectively. Aerodactly's infamous access to stealth rock conflicts with the omnipresent skarmory, so it isn't worth noting unless you want to push the metal bird's 4mss. His main problem of course, is losing out on the other megas, each of whom have a resistance or neutrality to one (or in charx case 2) of a flying team's despised boltbeam weakness. Additionally, their attacks are stronger than the quakeedge + Aerial Ace that aerodactly gets. Because of this it really really benefits from having another special wall or tank on its team on top of zapdos, with the obvious canidates being defensive gyarados and togekiss. Using him does make many opposing pokemon into liabilities for the other type, as he isn't too frail for a cleaner-style pokemon, and if a team is worn down already, he can finish games more smoothly than any other flying type.

 

[Dirpz]

Mega Gallade (Psychic)
Mega Camerupt (Fire)
Mega Swampert (Water) - Scp
Mega Swampert (Ground)
Mega Diancie (Fairy)
Mega Beedrill (Bug) - Dirpz
Mega Latias (Psychic)
Mega Latias (Dragon)
Mega Latios (Psychic)
Mega Latios (Dragon)
Mega Pidgeot (Normal)
Mega Pidgeot (Flying)
Mega Steelix (Ground)
Mega Steelix (Steel)
Mega Sharpedo (Dark)
Mega Sharpedo (Water)
Mega Glalie (Ice)

Finish what you have first, and you can only reserve one Mega at a time atm

Add this to the Op

 

[Anttya]

Add this to the Op

It already is you nub, I just copy and pasted it here. Also, I took away Metagross & Sceptile before anyone noticed (hopefully) since they were already done

 

[Feliburn]

k guess I'll reserve Mega Steelix for Ground n_n

 

[InfernapeTropius11]

MEGA GLALIE FOR B-RANK

ayy ima eat u up,, jajaja they call me

what a lord lmao.

Glalie @ Glalite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 200 Atk / 56 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature or Hasty Nature
- Freeze Dry / Spikes
- Return
- Earthquake
- Explosion

This is the standard Mega-Glalie set, not much to be seen so lets go right in. First of all, Freeze Dry is preferred to catch things like Quagsire and Gastrodon, it also does a nice and clean 30-40% to Skarmory, ultimately netting a kill after some prior damage, which isn't gonna be too hard considering Skarmory is gonna be switching in a lot against in Ice Mono. :]

CALCS

vs Skarm 56 SpA Glalie Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 124-147 (37.1 - 44%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

200 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 112-133 (33.5 - 39.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

vs

ALL CLEANS 2HKOS BOP..

vs Charizard Y n X

200 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Return vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard Y: 241-285 (81.1 - 95.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock -- lol glalie gets the speed tie too btw, so nice check kids :]]]]

200 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Return vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard X: 180-213 (60.6 - 71.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (NON BULKY DD eq does same dmg btw)

200 Atk Glalie Earthquake vs. 144 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 182-216 (54.6 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

200 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Return vs. 144 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 181-214 (54.3 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
^ bulky dd

bulky will-o is 2hkoed by eq or return

- will think of more threats l8r

Earthquake does a nice job in hitting rogue grounded Fire, Poison, and Steel-types, while Return acts as a nice STAB you can spam to get off an amazing amount of damage. And last but not least, the secret weapon, EXPLOSION. Explosion gets off an insane amount of damage, pretty much OHKOing everything that isnt resisting it, but even things with a x2 resist are gonna take a clean 50% if they're not physically bulky.

Despite these amazing features, Mega Glalie does not quite warrant the A Rank it so wishes for; weakness to Stealth Rock and no extremely reliable Rapid Spinner on Ice Mono hinders it greatly, as it can only switch in so often to get a revenge kill. Also, 100 base speed isn't really that nice considering it gets a speed tie on a lot of mons, e.g the Zards, Medicham etc. and it also can't outspeed threatening 'mons such as Mega Gallade or Mega Pinsir, making Mega Glalie easily revengable, and since Ice doesn't have pivots to this flaw, he deserves B.

Just wanted to mention that when Mega Char X first switches in, it is regular charizard (fire/flying) and as such takes 50% from stealth rocks. Therefore, EQ and Return are both OHKOs after stealth rock ^_^
If it has already mega evolved, then the Calcs are correct.

 

[inscribe]

for dark mega sharpedo and water

 

[InfernapeTropius11]

I nominate Kingdra for A Rank B Rank on Water

Pros:
- Dragon typing gives it neutrality to electric and grass
- STAB Draco Meteor (and generally just dragon STAB/typing)
- 2 good abilities in Swift Swim and Sniper

Cons:
- 75/95/95 defenses are below average
- 85 speed is also below average
- Easily revenge killed by faster Pokemon

This is Kingdra's Choiced Swift Swim set:

Kingdra @ Choice Specs/Choice Scarf
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor/Dragon Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Scald/Hydro Pump
- Clear Smog/Flash Cannon/Signal Beam

This set REALLY appreciates Drizzle support from Politoed, which is easy to provide. Specs is usually preferred, as you outspeed everything except Trace full speed Mega Alakazam in rain. It even out-speeds Scarf Lati@s and full speed Mega Aerodactyl when in rain. Scarf is an option to (barely) out-speed Trace Mega Alakazam in rain (and the entire metagame...) or if you don't want to rely on rain support. Full speed and special attack lets it go fast and hit hard. Now onto the moves. First slot is dragon STAB. Draco Meteor has amazing 130 Base Power and hits EXTREMELY hard after STAB and Specs, but only has 90% accuracy and lowers SpA by 2 stages. Dragon Pulse hits more reliably and with no recoil, but with less power. Ice Beam is coverage. Water STAB is either more power and shaky accuracy (Hydro Pump), or less power, full accuracy, and 30% burn chance (Scald). Flash Cannon is for Fairies and Signal Beam is for Darks/Psychics/annoying Grass types, but the Hydro/Draco combo will usually hit harder anyway. Clear Smog eliminates stat changes (helpful vs. Pokemon who you allowed to setup <.<) and hits Azumarill/Whimsicott hard.

This next set is my personal favourite and is where Kingdra is unique (and shines):

Kingdra @ Scope Lens
Ability: Sniper
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe (you can also put the 4 EVs in HP)
Timid Nature/Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Focus Energy
- Hydro Pump/Scald
- Ice Beam/Clear Smog/Agility

First you use Focus Energy to boost your critical hit chance to 100% (with Scope Lens). With Sniper, this means every attack hits with 2.25x power and ignores boosts (both your negative boosts from Draco stat drops and opponents with boosted special defense). Then you spam Draco Meteor, which OHKOs just about everything that isn't a fairy/steel or specially bulky. Hydro Pump kills just about everything else, but Scald can be used for the usual higher accuracy+burn chance (althouhg it isn't recommended because of the sheer power of Hydro Pump). 130/110 base power STABs are not to be taken lightly, especially as they have perfect neutral coverage on every viable Pokemon except for 4: Empoleon/Azumarill/Whimsicott/Ferrothorn. Ice Beam hits things like Dragonite/Landorus/Garchomp harder and is SE on Whimsicott and neutral on Ferrothorn. Clear Smog again eliminates stat changes and hits Whimsicott/Azumarill hard, but leaves you walled by Empoleon/Ferrothorn. Agility lets you outspeed a lot of stuff, and helps a lot, but it is hard to get focus energy AND agility up. Modest nature is for more power, Timid is for more speed.

Here are some calcs showing the sheer POWAH of these moves (assuming you use a Modest Nature):

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Sableye on a critical hit: 343-406 (112.8 - 133.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Sableye on a critical hit: 378-445 (124.3 - 146.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Mawile on a critical hit: 373-441 (154.7 - 182.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Kingdra: 172-203 (58.9 - 69.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

O.O The dommage is real.

So Kingdra OHKOs Mega Sableye, and ignores Calm Mind boosts because of the critical hit. It also OHKOs Mega Mawile if Hydro Pump hits and can take a Sucker Punch (although if Hydro misses, Mega Mawile wins as Play Rough OHKOs and Sucker Punch is guaranteed 2HKO). The only thing that really walls Kingdra (that I can think of right now) is Blissey/Chansey--Draco only 3HKOs both of them.

So to summarize, Kingdra has two viable sets, two great abilities, and the ability to OHKO a majority of stuff. I think it deserves A Rank because it needs rain support for its first set (which is easily given by Politoed). It has S Rank qualities (super powerful STABs and ability to make them always critical hits) and it plays a role against most type matchups (hardwalled by other water mono teams with Azumarill/Empoleon and normal mono: Blissey/Chansey). It really only has these two sets, however, so it is somewhat predictable. It influences the metagame. This is why I believe Kingdra deserves A Rank as it fits the A Rank description perfectly. Too lazy right now to write up why it's B Rank, look at the posts by Inscribe/Dirpz a few posts below here (and some of these reasons too I guess). :P

Also, here is a replay showing a Kingdra sweep (2nd set). Please ignore the fact that I was outplayed hard for most of the match and barely won.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-191203320

 

[RedsCharizard]

Furthermore on the Kingdra Focus Energy set, it's possible to run Agility over Ice Beam in order to be able to outspeed all opponents. Of course, it may be difficult to set up both buffs.

 

[InfernapeTropius11]

Also, you could run clear smog in moveslot 4 (over flash cannon/signal beam) on set 1 or over ice beam on set 2, thus killing azumarill/whimsicott (but still leaving you walled by empoleon/ferrothorn). It also helps vs setup mons such as mega sableye (but not really, since draco OHKOs unless they invest in special bulk, which no one does), mega slowbro, and mega latias

 

[InfernapeTropius11]

Can I reserve Mega Latias (Dragon and Psychic)? I'll have rotom-wash done by the end of today, and ludicolo done by tomorrow or Thursday.

 

[ArVaDa-]

I Nominate Articuno for A rank (for flying)​

I think that articuno should be moved to A rank (currently C) because it is pretty necessary for most flying teams to function in a stall-ish manor vs being forced into revenge killing certain threats. It is often said that you can't cover everything that is going to fight you, there will always be a team that beats you (namely one that has greninja). However, this doesn't mean you can't give them hell and keep their teams honest. I've run Articuno for a bit now and it gives generic water a TON of trouble, a type that previously was pretty annoying to fight. They hate freeze-dry and run back and forth between tentacruel and lanturn in a rather futile manor. **Hand Raises**, well what about greninja with rock slide or hp rock? All I have to say to that is, that player is missing coverage against another type if rock slide, and if hp rock you are a sniper and should probably stop, it doesnt even OHKO. You keep the opponent honest with their set, this way so they cant mindlessly slap ice beam on their team and say they have flying covered. To add to that, the fear of articuno eating an ice beam plays massive mindgames that, imo, are needed.​

To address stealth rock, at times articuno isnt up to the task to switch in and avoid a 2HKO (has taken too much damage what have you), however if after rocks and you can manage even 25% health you are good sometimes. You can always sac your lest needed poke if absolutely necessary to give cuno a free switch and keep the game rolling. Otherwise there are some plays that can be made where the combination of rocks and ice beam is too crippling for flying to take (ttar rocks plus scarf ninja). To keep in a reality check, I thought I would add gunk shot as a calc to show that it really doesn't do that much, and has a chance to miss otherwise. If you are in the sad state where rocks are up and you are sacrificing something and it uses gunk shot instead, another check will suffice if not at full HP.

252 SpA Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 78-93 (20.3 - 24.2%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Protean Greninja Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Articuno: 124-147 (32.2 - 38.2%) -- 1.6% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Turboblaze Kyurem-W Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 183-216 (47.6 - 56.2%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Turboblaze Kyurem-W Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 111-132 (28.9 - 34.3%) -- 99.3% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Turboblaze Kyurem-W Fusion Flare vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 166-196 (43.2 - 51%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 94-112 (24.4 - 29.1%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Articuno: 294-346 (76.5 - 90.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

If the ice beamer in question isn't scarfed, (assumption from experience incoming) that is usually revealed pretty early in the game to cause havok and you can do your darn'dest to play around that, such as bringing in a scarf of your own or threaten it with paralysis or something, otherwise any other poke won't save you either. Articuno makes dragon and ice players think twice about spamming ice beam, if fusion bolt, you can take 1 and either play the mind game and roost or switch to a ground/flying. Articuno doesnt really care about kyurem-W no matter what it does (non specs), which is pretty nifty if you ask me.

The Set
​

Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Freeze-Dry
- Hurricane

If you want to go crazy articuno has some pretty cool moves, but that isn't for this thread. Anyhoo, this thing is a tank that can even prevent 100% counter switches from getting a totally free switch with hurricane + confuse chance. I do not recommend articuno for the average player, as it takes alot of mind play to use, however it is like the hidden best pokemon in a sense (not really but bear with me). There are choices when teambuilding that always do, at worst, decently, but articuno can pull of some pretty ridiculous saves and you can just put your cool guy shades on and say, "yep, articuno." I've peaked at #1 with cuno on the mono ladder and have been consistently pretty high on the ladder if that adds to consideration, and I thank articuno as support of a greater TEAM cause, flying is all support imo. For the record I would've recommened this thing for S rank, some types really hate it, but I figure not many of you will agree with my bias and will complain about rocks.

 

[n64lord]

I Nominate Articuno for A rank (for flying)​

​

​

ew you finally used a smog account.

Anyway, while articuno has traumatized me, and I've seen both good and mediocre users acheive progress with it in replays and firsthand, I can't agree with an A ranking, mostly because while it is a bitch mon, it works best only if you let it warp the rest of your team members into a kind of hard stall. Of course these will have a wallbreak/sweeper of their own, but with 4-5 mons set to using uninvested stab like bravebird skarm, articuno itself, and the others, you can easily run into problems with a really adaptable oppponet, especially psychic teams, but IMO dark and fire teams as well. An articuno does wonders in the common flying v flying and flying v water, but I don't like it's prerequisites on top of having to focus on stealth rock even harder.

It's about as good as the other B rank mons, but I would never tell newer players to use it at all, so I think it'll probbably stay in its quagmire.

 

[ArVaDa-]

​

ew you finally used a smog account.

Anyway, while articuno has traumatized me, and I've seen both good and mediocre users acheive progress with it in replays and firsthand, I can't agree with an A ranking, mostly because while it is a bitch mon, it works best only if you let it warp the rest of your team members into a kind of hard stall. Of course these will have a wallbreak/sweeper of their own, but with 4-5 mons set to using uninvested stab like bravebird skarm, articuno itself, and the others, you can easily run into problems with a really adaptable oppponet, especially psychic teams, but IMO dark and fire teams as well. An articuno does wonders in the common flying v flying and flying v water, but I don't like it's prerequisites on top of having to focus on stealth rock even harder.

It's about as good as the other B rank mons, but I would never tell newer players to use it at all, so I think it'll probbably stay in its quagmire.

I've been a user on PS! for a week :s

Quote-it works best only if you let it warp the rest of your team members into a kind of hard stall.-

I don't know that and have not tested that so, that's pretty up in the air.

Quote-you can easily run into problems with a really adaptable oppponet

Articuno doesnt fight everything, and adaptability goes both ways. If we are talking 100% best prediction on both ends that doesn't matter unless we are talking godlike metagaming where there was a perfect way to play and flying couldn't win from the start. Which is impossible because the status chance effects in this game make every game different.

Quote-but I would never tell newer players to use it at all

I do agree with that statement. If you are not already aware of common sets on mons and get flustered by stealth rocks, articuno wont do you much good at all. However, I'm pretty sure this is a thread for viability, not how well ANY garden variety noob can use any pokemon, and I think articuno fits the A description pretty well.

 

[Acast]

I do agree with that statement. If you are not already aware of common sets on mons and get flustered by stealth rocks, articuno wont do you much good at all. However, I'm pretty sure this is a thread for viability, not how well ANY garden variety noob can use any pokemon, and I think articuno fits the A description pretty well.

Actually we had a very similar discussion about this when I nominated Gourgeist on Ghost for some rank (I can't remember which one and I'm too lazy to go and search for it). I aimed too high with my nomination by arguing the very same thing that you're arguing. With proper skill and experience, it can be incredibly effective. I believe it was Sae that made the argument that less experienced Ghost users would not be able to get as much use out of it as I had. It's not that I'm a great battler. It's just that I've been using it for so long that I know what works and what move to use in what situation and therefore get better use out of Gourgeist than most other players would. Keep in mind, this thread is primarily for newer players that don't have much experience. If you're a seasoned battler, you won't need this thread because you probably at least know the basics about all the viable Pokemon anyway. Us, the contributors to the thread, already know what's viable and what isn't. We're essentially creating a guide so it's easier for new players to enter the monotype metagame with solidly built teams.
I did the write-up for Articuno on Ice teams and everyone seemed to agree that B rank suits it well there, where it has a fairly unique role to fill. On Flying, there are other options for the role it fills and I would argue that it's just outclassed. Flying has better tanks and better heal bell users and Articuno's typing, while it helps somewhat against Ice moves, just makes the Rock weakness even worse. I'm honestly thinking C rank D rank is a more appropriate place for it on Flying teams. (changed after Articuno I's/Death on Wings' argument)

 

[DoW]

Articuno's really not that great on flying, and I say this as a user called Articuno I and whose favourite pokemon is, you guessed it, articuno. With Stealth Rock being a constant threat to flying, adding a 4x weak pokemon really isn't helping, even more so on stallier teams where articuno is more likely to feature, and it only gets worse from hereon out. Articuno's niche is as a specially defensive pokemon that can run heal bell and threaten the gastrodon/hippowdon core and wall Kyu-W if rocks aren't up. Alas, however, Togekiss (a very strong specially defensive pokemon) can run heal bell, and while it has to rely on toxic stall to beat gastrodon/hippowdon and can't beat Kyu-W unless it's choice-locked into a dragon move, it has a far better defensive typing, can use defog effectively (the move any defensive pokemon wishes it could run), can beat a decent number of things while stealth rock is up, can troll with flinch hax and be annoying with t-wave everywhere, act as a usable revenge killer if you stick a choice scarf on it, heck it can even run dual screens if you like. The niche of being able to wall Kyu-W really isn't that useful when you notice Kyu-W had an astounding usage of 1.39684% last month, with even lower usage among better players, and things like Mega Gyarados are probably going to act as usable answers to it in any case.

Because of this, I am sad to say that I believe one of the following characteristics best suits my favourite pokemon and undoubtedly the most elegant pokemon ever to have existed:

D Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are outclassed in almost every single way. These Pokemon are only used for one of their moves, or for their typing / ability. Even so, they are generally second rate Pokemon meaning that they can be only brought in once or twice to perform their role. These Pokemon rarely adapt to the metagame.

E Rank: Outclassed in almost every single way, or it it just sucks.

 

[inscribe]

I nominate Kingdra for A Rank on Water

Pros:
- Dragon typing gives it neutrality to electric and grass
- STAB Draco Meteor (and generally just dragon STAB/typing)
- 2 good abilities in Swift Swim and Sniper

Cons:
- 75/95/95 defenses are below average
- 85 speed is also below average
- Easily revenge killed by faster Pokemon

This is Kingdra's Choiced Swift Swim set:

Kingdra @ Choice Specs/Choice Scarf
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor/Dragon Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Scald/Hydro Pump
- Flash Cannon/Signal Beam

This set REALLY appreciates Drizzle support from Politoed, which is easy to provide. Specs is usually preferred, as you outspeed everything except Trace full speed Mega Alakazam in rain. It even out-speeds Scarf Lati@s and full speed Mega Aerodactyl when in rain. Scarf is an option to (barely) out-speed Trace Mega Alakazam in rain (and the entire metagame...) or if you don't want to rely on rain support. Full speed and special attack lets it go fast and hit hard. Now onto the moves. First slot is dragon STAB. Draco Meteor has amazing 130 Base Power and hits EXTREMELY hard after STAB and Specs, but only has 90% accuracy and lowers SpA by 2 stages. Dragon Pulse hits more reliably and with no recoil, but with less power. Ice Beam is coverage. Water STAB is either more power and shaky accuracy (Hydro Pump), or less power, full accuracy, and 30% burn chance (Scald). Flash Cannon is for Fairies and Signal Beam is for Darks/Psychics/annoying Grass types, but the Hydro/Draco combo will usually hit harder anyway.

This is next set is my personal favourite and is where Kingdra is unique (and shines):

Kingdra @ Scope Lens
Ability: Sniper
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe (you can also put the 4 EVs in HP)
Timid Nature/Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Focus Energy
- Hydro Pump/Scald
- Ice Beam

First you use Focus Energy to boost your critical hit chance to 100% (with Scope Lens). With Sniper, this means every attack hits with 2.25x power and ignores boosts (both your negative boosts from Draco stat drops and opponents with boosted special defense). Then you spam Draco Meteor, which OHKOs just about everything that isn't a fairy/steel or specially bulky. Hydro Pump kills just about everything else, but Scald can be used for the usual higher accuracy+burn chance (althouhg it isn't recommended because of the sheer power of Hydro Pump). 130/110 base power STABs are not to be taken lightly, especially as they have perfect neutral coverage on every viable Pokemon except for 4: Empoleon/Azumarill/Whimsicott/Ferrothorn. Ice Beam hits things like Dragonite/Landorus/Garchomp harder and is SE on Whimsicott and neutral on Ferrothorn. The only Pokemon you need to watch out for are Azumarill/Empoleon. Modest is for more power, Timid is for more speed.

Here are some calcs showing the sheer POWAH of these moves (assuming you use a Modest Nature):

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Sableye on a critical hit: 343-406 (112.8 - 133.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Sableye on a critical hit: 378-445 (124.3 - 146.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Mawile on a critical hit: 373-441 (154.7 - 182.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Kingdra: 172-203 (58.9 - 69.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

O.O The dommage is real.

So Kingdra OHKOs Mega Sableye, and ignores Calm Mind boosts because of the critical hit. It also OHKOs Mega Mawile if Hydro Pump hits and can take a Sucker Punch (although if Hydro misses, Mega Mawile wins as Play Rough OHKOs and Sucker Punch is guaranteed 2HKO). The only thing that really walls Kingdra (that I can think of right now) is Blissey/Chansey--Draco only 3HKOs both of them.

So to summarize, Kingdra has two viable sets, two great abilities, and the ability to OHKO a majority of stuff. I think it deserves A Rank because it needs rain support for its first set (which is easily given by Politoed). It has S Rank qualities (super powerful STABs and ability to make them always critical hits) and it plays a role against most type matchups (hardwalled by other water mono teams with Azumarill/Empoleon and normal mono: Blissey/Chansey). It really only has these two sets, however, so it is somewhat predictable. It influences the metagame. This is why I believe Kingdra deserves A Rank as it fits the A Rank description perfectly.

Also, here is a replay showing a Kingdra sweep (2nd set). Please ignore the fact that I was outplayed hard for most of the match and barely won.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-191203320

sry bro but i dont think kingdra deserves an a rank.. see above for my glalie. im gna be comparing ur kingdra sets with standard m glalie, which obviously means kingdra is at MOST b rank. cmon, ur literally relying on wacky coverage moves like signal beam and flash cannon to fill up ur enpty spots, and as you stated, kingdra is so slow and has below average bulk, that getting one tiny hit off is gonna make it mostly insignificant. not to mention that without damp rock, it cant ravage teams like it used to, so its attacking power is limited with time, honestly not worth running shit rain for just a measly 5 turns of rain. also, kingdra has many ez switch ins without rain, too many to mention cuz cba. and last but not least, this thing has garb stats. completely reliant on rain and its team's pivot to do not enough things an a rank is expected to do. tldr kingdra is completely redundant in a rank where MEGA DIANCIE, CHAR Y, AND VOLCARONA are in. honestly does not put enough work as those three, so it defs deserves b at most. sry kindgra but ur not as good as u were with ss spam..

EDIT: also isnt ur logic on scope lens kingdra flawed? i mean kingdra is gonna have to take a hit to set up focus energy, and then priority, which is super common, would kill it off ez

 

[Gnief Fiar]

I Nominate Articuno for A rank (for flying)​

I think that articuno should be moved to A rank (currently C) because it is pretty necessary for most flying teams to function in a stall-ish manor vs being forced into revenge killing certain threats. It is often said that you can't cover everything that is going to fight you, there will always be a team that beats you (namely one that has greninja). However, this doesn't mean you can't give them hell and keep their teams honest. I've run Articuno for a bit now and it gives generic water a TON of trouble, a type that previously was pretty annoying to fight. They hate freeze-dry and run back and forth between tentacruel and lanturn in a rather futile manor. **Hand Raises**, well what about greninja with rock slide or hp rock? All I have to say to that is, that player is missing coverage against another type if rock slide, and if hp rock you are a sniper and should probably stop, it doesnt even OHKO. You keep the opponent honest with their set, this way so they cant mindlessly slap ice beam on their team and say they have flying covered. To add to that, the fear of articuno eating an ice beam plays massive mindgames that, imo, are needed.​

To address stealth rock, at times articuno isnt up to the task to switch in and avoid a 2HKO (has taken too much damage what have you), however if after rocks and you can manage even 25% health you are good sometimes. You can always sac your lest needed poke if absolutely necessary to give cuno a free switch and keep the game rolling. Otherwise there are some plays that can be made where the combination of rocks and ice beam is too crippling for flying to take (ttar rocks plus scarf ninja). To keep in a reality check, I thought I would add gunk shot as a calc to show that it really doesn't do that much, and has a chance to miss otherwise. If you are in the sad state where rocks are up and you are sacrificing something and it uses gunk shot instead, another check will suffice if not at full HP.

252 SpA Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 78-93 (20.3 - 24.2%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Protean Greninja Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Articuno: 124-147 (32.2 - 38.2%) -- 1.6% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Turboblaze Kyurem-W Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 183-216 (47.6 - 56.2%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Turboblaze Kyurem-W Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 111-132 (28.9 - 34.3%) -- 99.3% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Turboblaze Kyurem-W Fusion Flare vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 166-196 (43.2 - 51%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 94-112 (24.4 - 29.1%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Articuno: 294-346 (76.5 - 90.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

If the ice beamer in question isn't scarfed, (assumption from experience incoming) that is usually revealed pretty early in the game to cause havok and you can do your darn'dest to play around that, such as bringing in a scarf of your own or threaten it with paralysis or something, otherwise any other poke won't save you either. Articuno makes dragon and ice players think twice about spamming ice beam, if fusion bolt, you can take 1 and either play the mind game and roost or switch to a ground/flying. Articuno doesnt really care about kyurem-W no matter what it does (non specs), which is pretty nifty if you ask me.

The Set
​

Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Freeze-Dry
- Hurricane

If you want to go crazy articuno has some pretty cool moves, but that isn't for this thread. Anyhoo, this thing is a tank that can even prevent 100% counter switches from getting a totally free switch with hurricane + confuse chance. I do not recommend articuno for the average player, as it takes alot of mind play to use, however it is like the hidden best pokemon in a sense (not really but bear with me). There are choices when teambuilding that always do, at worst, decently, but articuno can pull of some pretty ridiculous saves and you can just put your cool guy shades on and say, "yep, articuno." I've peaked at #1 with cuno on the mono ladder and have been consistently pretty high on the ladder if that adds to consideration, and I thank articuno as support of a greater TEAM cause, flying is all support imo. For the record I would've recommened this thing for S rank, some types really hate it, but I figure not many of you will agree with my bias and will complain about rocks.

The thing about Articuno is that its typing is pretty horrible. Ice/Flying means that every time you switch in to Defog or Heal Bell something, you're taking 50% from Stealth Rock. Also, Articuno is incredibly outclassed. Zapdos fills up all its roles except for Heal Beller(which Flying doesn't even really need anyways) pretty well. Zapdos has a better typing, can also Defog, and in tandem with Togekiss and Skarmory creates a scary defensive core. Some of Flying's threats can be checked with this core as well.

A Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that have S rank qualities, but need support (which can be easily given) in order for them to be successful. These Pokemon can play a role against most type matchups, but they may be hard walled by 1-2 types. However, these Pokemon are mostly used for one or two of their sets meaning that they can be predictable. These Pokemon influence the Metagame. Articuno doesn't really fit in here too much. It's walled by Steel types which also commonly carry Bullet Punch and have Skarmory which never dies easily.

C Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are only used to check a threat once or twice. These Pokemon often run unorthodox sets since their primary niches are outclassed by other Pokemon. Since they run unorthodox sets some Pokemon can set up on them without fear. These Pokemon need a lot of support (which may be hard to give) for them to function.These Pokemon have a hard time adapting to the metagame. This description fits Articuno quite well. A lot of Pokemon can set up on Articuno quite easily, and Articuno IS outclassed. It can also be argued that Articuno can be put into B Rank, but I choose to have it stay as C Rank.

 

[all falls down]

Actually we had a very similar discussion about this when I nominated Gourgeist on Ghost for some rank (I can't remember which one and I'm too lazy to go and search for it). I aimed too high with my nomination by arguing the very same thing that you're arguing. With proper skill and experience, it can be incredibly effective. I believe it was Sae that made the argument that less experienced Ghost users would not be able to get as much use out of it as I had. It's not that I'm a great battler. It's just that I've been using it for so long that I know what works and what move to use in what situation and therefore get better use out of Gourgeist than most other players would. Keep in mind, this thread is primarily for newer players that don't have much experience. If you're a seasoned battler, you won't need this thread because you probably at least know the basics about all the viable Pokemon anyway. Us, the contributors to the thread, already know what's viable and what isn't. We're essentially creating a guide so it's easier for new players to enter the monotype metagame with solidly built teams.
I did the write-up for Articuno on Ice teams and everyone seemed to agree that B rank suits it well there, where it has a fairly unique role to fill. On Flying, there are other options for the role it fills and I would argue that it's just outclassed. Flying has better tanks and better heal bell users and Articuno's typing, while it helps somewhat against Ice moves, just makes the Rock weakness even worse. I'm honestly thinking C rank D rank is a more appropriate place for it on Flying teams. (changed after Articuno I's/Death on Wings' argument)

Articuno's really not that great on flying, and I say this as a user called Articuno I and whose favourite pokemon is, you guessed it, articuno. With Stealth Rock being a constant threat to flying, adding a 4x weak pokemon really isn't helping, even more so on stallier teams where articuno is more likely to feature, and it only gets worse from hereon out. Articuno's niche is as a specially defensive pokemon that can run heal bell and threaten the gastrodon/hippowdon core and wall Kyu-W if rocks aren't up. Alas, however, Togekiss (a very strong specially defensive pokemon) can run heal bell, and while it has to rely on toxic stall to beat gastrodon/hippowdon and can't beat Kyu-W unless it's choice-locked into a dragon move, it has a far better defensive typing, can use defog effectively (the move any defensive pokemon wishes it could run), can beat a decent number of things while stealth rock is up, can troll with flinch hax and be annoying with t-wave everywhere, act as a usable revenge killer if you stick a choice scarf on it, heck it can even run dual screens if you like. The niche of being able to wall Kyu-W really isn't that useful when you notice Kyu-W had an astounding usage of 1.39684% last month, with even lower usage among better players, and things like Mega Gyarados are probably going to act as usable answers to it in any case.

Because of this, I am sad to say that I believe one of the following characteristics best suits my favourite pokemon and undoubtedly the most elegant pokemon ever to have existed:

I actually think Articuno is fine as it was originally proposed in C rank. While I completely agree that being 4x weak to rock devastates its usefulness, it still has its merits. It does face stiff competition from other specially defensive defoggers like Zapdos and Togekiss, but the ice typing and access to freeze dry lets it stand out. It is one of the few Pokemon that can switch into Greninja, and it handles other pokemon like Lanturn, Kyurem-white, Rotom-wash and more even better than Zapdos and Togekiss.


While I agree that Togekiss and Zapdos are usually the better option (that's why they're in a and s rank), I wouldn't necesarrily call Articuno outclassed because it can do some things that are pretty unique. Articuno's freeze dry is insanely threatening for a water monotype, one of flying's matchups that can go either way. Some Water teams may have no way to kill articuno other than to try roaring it out and letting it take stealth rocks damage, or by hitting it with Azumarill or Gyarados, who both take signifcant damage from freeze dry. Articuno can also fulfill all of the same walling capabilities as Zapdos and Togekiss, with the only thing hindering it being the stealth rock weakness.

C Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are only used to check a threat once or twice. These Pokemon often run unorthodox sets since their primary niches are outclassed by other Pokemon. Since they run unorthodox sets some Pokemon can set up on them without fear. These Pokemon need a lot of support (which may be hard to give) for them to function.These Pokemon have a hard time adapting to the metagame.

I think that the C rank description is very accurate of Articuno mainly in the aspect of it absolutely needing defog support while still having its own solid niche.


*TL;DR Overall, because Articuno has its own viable niche of ice typing and an insanely useful freeze dry, while also being able to perform similar duties to Zapdos and Togekiss, I think it deserves better than D rank.*


Notable calculations where it fares equal to or better than Togekiss and Zapdos:

4 SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 40 HP / 216+ SpD Lanturn: 132-156 (32.9 - 38.9%) -- 3% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

4 SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gyarados: 116-140 (35 - 42.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

4 SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 228 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 176-210 (44.2 - 52.7%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO

4 SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 240 HP / 0 SpD Swampert: 316-376 (78.8 - 93.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery <- can be a huge problem for Zapdos; it can also set up rocks.

252 SpA Life Orb Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Articuno: 134-160 (41.7 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

There are many more calculations but I will refrain from posting them all.



On a concluding statement, note that you will probably be using Articuno in combination with Zapdos or Togekiss for defog, so these inter-specially defensive wall comparisons may not hold as much weight anyways.

 

[ArVaDa-]

I'm going to sit I guess. I don't particularly understand why Articuno sounds so useless. It tanks ice beam, ice beam, that sounds like the holy grail of flying monos to me. It sounds like you guys prefer to see zapdos or togekiss switch in and lose 50ish% in a ice beam attack + 25% from rocks than watch articuno switch in, lose 50% in a rocks scenario and then lose 25% or less to ice beam from weak pokes and greninja(PLUS LEFTOVERS). I mean one you can come back from, the others are dead from fast threats. Preconceived notions have little weight with me concerning the dove and the ice bird.

 

[InfernapeTropius11]

sry bro but i dont think kingdra deserves an a rank.. see above for my glalie. im gna be comparing ur kingdra sets with standard m glalie, which obviously means kingdra is at MOST b rank. cmon, ur literally relying on wacky coverage moves like signal beam and flash cannon to fill up ur enpty spots, and as you stated, kingdra is so slow and has below average bulk, that getting one tiny hit off is gonna make it mostly insignificant. not to mention that without damp rock, it cant ravage teams like it used to, so its attacking power is limited with time, honestly not worth running shit rain for just a measly 5 turns of rain. also, kingdra has many ez switch ins without rain, too many to mention cuz cba. and last but not least, this thing has garb stats. completely reliant on rain and its team's pivot to do not enough things an a rank is expected to do. tldr kingdra is completely redundant in a rank where MEGA DIANCIE, CHAR Y, AND VOLCARONA are in. honestly does not put enough work as those three, so it defs deserves b at most. sry kindgra but ur not as good as u were with ss spam..

EDIT: also isnt ur logic on scope lens kingdra flawed? i mean kingdra is gonna have to take a hit to set up focus energy, and then priority, which is super common, would kill it off ez

Just wanted to ask, did you check out the replay? It forced a switch, which allowed it to get focus energy up and sweep. I can see B Rank, however, if there are some more solid arguments, but as of now, I think A Rank is still good (as it gets plenty of opportunities to use focus energy, especially late game).

Also, not in mono, but Articuno beat Magcargo 1v1 once. Not sure if I'm allowed to post the replay, but if I am allowed I can post it if someone wants me too. (It was random battle)

Also, I'm gonna have to post Rotom-Wash stuff tomorrow, don't have any more time :P

 

[inscribe]

Just wanted to ask, did you check out the replay? It forced a switch, which allowed it to get focus energy up and sweep. I can see B Rank, however, if there are some more solid arguments, but as of now, I think A Rank is still good (as it gets plenty of opportunities to use focus energy, especially late game).

Also, not in mono, but Articuno beat Magcargo 1v1 once. Not sure if I'm allowed to post the replay, but if I am allowed I can post it if someone wants me too. (It was random battle)

Also, I'm gonna have to post Rotom-Wash stuff tomorrow, don't have any more time :P

no. a rank is not good for an underwhelming threat that relies on switches to do little to nothing. daily reminder that this thread is for new people that are new to monotype, and telling them that kingdra deserves anything with the name a rank on it is gonna lead them to the wrong track. I can see that forcing switches helpskingdra out, but a pokemon that relies entirely on the opponent not attempting to get any prior dmg at all is a nono in my book.

 

[Dirpz]

Just wanted to ask, did you check out the replay? It forced a switch, which allowed it to get focus energy up and sweep. I can see B Rank, however, if there are some more solid arguments, but as of now, I think A Rank is still good (as it gets plenty of opportunities to use focus energy, especially late game).

Also, not in mono, but Articuno beat Magcargo 1v1 once. Not sure if I'm allowed to post the replay, but if I am allowed I can post it if someone wants me too. (It was random battle)

Also, I'm gonna have to post Rotom-Wash stuff tomorrow, don't have any more time :P

To be fair, Kingdra is out classed on both types, For Water: Greninja, Keldeo, and Slowbro-Mega. Dragon: Altaria, Latios, Latias, Dragalge. Thats just to name a few. Its Crit set is nice, but the Special attack stat is only meh at best plus you need to be able to set up the focus energy. Living in our priority, and scarf filled meta-game you would need to be able to use agility as well so it could out speed and kill things or else it would fear most scarfed pokemon, most things with a higher base speed, and most priority because that base 85 speed is not doing a lot for it. I Feel it should move down to B Rank.

Then to address Articuno yes its a solid wall, but the SR weakness destroys it requiring you to go and have to hope on that you can roost, but an opponent can easily set up on you at that point Predicting the forced roost at that point. Then proceeding to sweep also bringing up Magcargo in ranbats no less two reasons that first off ranbats would for the most part have different sets then in mono, and number two the usage for it it very low so there is no real reason to even talk about it if it was actually used then it would be a valid point and reason but we are not PU, we are Mono we have so good viabile fire and rock walls, but Articuno it does have nice bulk I do feel it should stay C Rank.

 

[Freeroamer]

Yeah looking at both the pokemon up for discussion, I can only agree with Dirpz that Kingdra should move down to B. It's not necessarily bad, but just suffers from the plethora of pokemon that can do the same role, I mean legitimately what does it really have over Latios, who hits hard right off the bat and has great coverage to boot. Articuno is one of those niche pokemon that if you can get it to work then it can put in a lot for you but tbh, for a pokemon that should be there to support the team, it requires far too much support of it's own. C is fine.

 

[InfernapeTropius11]

Ok, some good points from Dirpz/Inscribe, I'll edit it to B-Rank now, as it does take a little bit of experience to use the crit set to its full potential and the swift swim set isn't too good (although I need to edit in a couple other options I forgot). As well, my write-up was for water, not dragon. Please don't use Kingdra on dragon. Like has been stated, too much other stuff outclasses everything it does. It's only niche on Dragon mono is the guaranteed crit, but most other stuff hits harder anyway (which is why it is D rank on dragon I think).

Also, only brought up the ranbat thing to show that Articuno can beat stuff with type advantage on it. ArVaDa- beat me using Articuno really well earlier today, but I don't think its A rank. I would think B, but there are so many other more viable walls on flying that can wall stuff and support better (aforementioned Toge and Zapdos especially). Togekiss is a better Heal Bell user imo, and the bulky T-Wave/Air Slash/Heal Bell/Roost set is very good, but is sort of walled by ground/rock (which is why it's A). Zapdos is a pretty much mandatory defogger on flying as it only takes 25% from SR and is neutral to electric (always amazing on fly mono) and it can toxic stall gastro/quag/swamp. Also, it deserves its S Rank and defog is amazing support on a flying mono (even better than heal bell imo). Overall, I think the rock weakness kills Articuno's ability to wall stuff (you don't want your wall losing 50% health every time it switches in, which should be often), and Skarm/Mega Char X are neutral to ice as well.

Also, why DM sniping post #1000 <.<