Resource RU Viability Ranking: ORAS Edition

[Lord Death Man]

Crustle with 208 HP isn't KO'd by Band Cinccino's Rock Blast. Being a semi-decent counterlead, MAYBE, to Omastar is nice but most teams have a Cinccino switch in or a scarf mon that can just take out Cinccino anyways. It's not JUST bad, it's worse than y'all are making it out to be.

Though we should end this since it's not productive.

 

[lighthouses]

We really need to focus on more important stuff though, like lord emboar being s rank which i totally agree with n_n

 

[Guidorealmsmc]

Qwilfish for A+

Qwilfish is an amazing mon in the meta and should be A+ rank. The first reason comes with how reliable it can set up hazards and has a amazing ability and typing. Because of that said typing it has many chances to put down a layer or 2. Base 85 speed is very fast for a wall and spike stacker which means it can outrun golbat if you speed creep it. Taunt is also amazing in beating defoggers and shutting down cm cress is always a good thing. Finally it even has cool moves like haze and thunder wave to cripple important threats and it checks a huge chunk of the a ranks. For these reasons qwilfish should be A+

 

[Molk]

Hey everyone, i know i haven't updated this thread in a little bit, but don't worry, a new, pretty big update is going to be coming really soon! At the moment both the RU council and the RU QC team are working on updating the viability thread to fit the current metagame a bit better in a piratepad, and i'd expect us to be done with the update either later today or tommorow :].

 

[Kyuzeth]

Due to the recent resurgence in posts about that thing, I'm not going to bring it up at all in this post. Instead, time to back up a few actually relevant nominations that I've seen over a couple days. Unfortunately, I'd mostly be repeating arguments here, but they're all completely true and I've stated a lot of these myself. Without further ado, let's go.

Mega Steelix (A+) -> S | Ah, Mega Steelix. Everything's been said about it, but I can't emphasize enough how quickly this Pokémon has become such a dominating force in RU. Between a SR setter, a Curse attacker or even SR+Curse, Mega Steelix will always do a shitload in battle without even trying. It sets up SR and immediately pressures its opposition with its 125 Attack and powerful STABs. After a few Curse boosts, the only things stopping it are phazers, provided they can even take a hit from this titanium behemoth if it has already boosted. At the expense of coverage or utility, it can even run SR and Curse on one set. Speaking of utility, there's a shitload Mega Steelix can slap onto its fourth moveslot: Taunt to stop defensive Pokémon and Defoggers, Roar or Dragon Tail to phaze other boosters out, and even Explosion if it's at the end of the run and needs to get the KO. With all this said, I haven't even gotten to its stats yet: 230 Defense is absolutely astronomical and lets it tank hits from Medicham and Hitmonlee while OHKOing back. Absolutely no physical attacker is ever getting past even an uninvested Mega Steelix; considering its Defense is so massive anyway, it can invest in Special Defense to take hits on both sides of the spectrum. Offensives approaches with max Attack work just as well, granting Mega Steelix a lot more power right from the get-go and letting it get rid of opposing hazard removers with ease.
Its weaknesses are pretty glaring, but considering it has many resistances and two immunities that let it absorb status for its teammates as an added bonus, as well as Pangoro and Moltres having gotten the boot, there's almost nothing stopping this behemoth from doing what it needs to do with great success. Mega Steelix deserves to be S. If anything make it S+ because it's so fucking awesome in the meta right now Just joking, S is good enough.

Also yay update soon :D

EDIT: On a final note, if someone's making a new image, it could be Mega Steelix in the center, with Cobalion and Cresselia on its sides and then add a banner to it, kind of like a coat of arms. Just a suggestion for anyone interested in making a new artwork for the thread.

 

[Guidorealmsmc]

Due to the recent resurgence in posts about that thing, I'm not going to bring it up at all in this post. Instead, time to back up a few actually relevant nominations that I've seen over a couple days. Unfortunately, I'd mostly be repeating arguments here, but they're all completely true and I've stated a lot of these myself. Without further ado, let's go.

Mega Steelix (A+) -> S | Ah, Mega Steelix. Everything's been said about it, but I can't emphasize enough how quickly this Pokémon has become such a dominating force in RU. Between a SR setter, a Curse attacker or even SR+Curse, Mega Steelix will always do a shitload in battle without even trying. It sets up SR and immediately pressures its opposition with its 125 Attack and powerful STABs. After a few Curse boosts, the only things stopping it are phazers, provided they can even take a hit from this titanium behemoth if it has already boosted. At the expense of coverage or utility, it can even run SR and Curse on one set. Speaking of utility, there's a shitload Mega Steelix can slap onto its fourth moveslot: Taunt to stop defensive Pokémon and Defoggers, Roar or Dragon Tail to phaze other boosters out, and even Explosion if it's at the end of the run and needs to get the KO. With all this said, I haven't even gotten to its stats yet: 230 Defense is absolutely astronomical and lets it tank hits from Medicham and Hitmonlee while OHKOing back. Absolutely no physical attacker is ever getting past even an uninvested Mega Steelix; considering its Defense is so massive anyway, it can invest in Special Defense to take hits on both sides of the spectrum. Offensives approaches with max Attack work just as well, granting Mega Steelix a lot more power right from the get-go and letting it get rid of opposing hazard removers with ease.
Its weaknesses are pretty glaring, but considering it has many resistances and two immunities that let it absorb status for its teammates as an added bonus, as well as Pangoro and Moltres having gotten the boot, there's almost nothing stopping this behemoth from doing what it needs to do with great success. Mega Steelix deserves to be S. If anything make it S+ because it's so fucking awesome in the meta right now Just joking, S is good enough.

Also yay update soon :D

EDIT: On a final note, if someone's making a new image, it could be Mega Steelix in the center, with Cobalion and Cresselia on its sides and then add a banner to it, kind of like a coat of arms. Just a suggestion for anyone interested in making a new artwork for the thread.

I also agree it should be S rank but Taunt is shit on mega lix. It outpaces nothing that it can taunt bar slowking which will just scald it. Not to mention it's one of the only VIABLE steel types in the tier.

 

[boltsandbombers]

I also agree it should be S rank but Taunt is shit on mega lix. It outpaces nothing that it can taunt bar slowking which will just scald it. Not to mention it's one of the only VIABLE steel types in the tier.

o-o
I dont have any qualms with Steelix moving up, but that's completely wrong.
Are you just forgetting Doublade, Durant, Registeel, Bronzong, Cobalion, and Escavalier?
I know you didnt say the only viable steel type, but you implied that there arent many to begin with.

 

[TheEpicCD56]

Hello, I'm new to Smogon and this thread, but I've been playing ORAS RU since December of 2014, so it's safe to say I know a little bit about the tier. That being said: I have a couple (a lot) of nominations that I would like to make.

Starting off we have:

• Delphox for B+/A- (Maybe even A): Now that Moltres and Pangoro are gone, Delphox only gained from those bans. It doesn't have to be afraid of STAB Knock Off from a Base 124 Attack Stat anymore, and is now the best special attacking fire type in the tier, because of Moltres leaving. It can utilize multiple effective sets, including calm mind, sub calm mind, specs, and my personal favorite, scarf. All of these sets make Delphox very unpredictable, and, if you are scarfed or specs, just use switcheroo and completely ruin walls while taking leftovers for passive recovery. Speaking of that, Delphox has a very good stat that I feel is overlooked, and that is Special Defense. Having 100 SpD is not bad in the slightest especially combined with 114 SpA and 104 Spe, and, if scarfed, can have a considerable amount of EV's in that Stat to tank almost any special neutral hit. There is also a coverage move that is severly overlooked, called Dazzling Gleam. I know that many of you are going to discredit me and say that There is no point to using it, and that is not true. Dazzling Gleam was used to hit Pangoro, but now that's gone, it's mainly used for Tyrantrum, as the Scarf set 2HKO's. However, Dazzling gleam is probably one of the best ways to 2HKO it's biggest counter with specs, Houndoom. With Dazzling Gleam, Delphox no longer is a liability when facing houndoom, and can fight back to an extent.

Speaking of Tyrantrum...

• Tyrantrum to A+: ROCK HEAD, HEAD SMASH. Not much else to say either than that, but I guess I can go on more. Like Delphox, Tyrantrum has multiple sets it can use in tandem with head smash. DD, scarf, and band come to mind, and with DD, tyrantrum becomes a deadly set up sweeper. It can also function as a late game cleaner. It threatens even the bulkiest of things with Head Smash. To make a long post shorter, move this T-rex to A+ rank.

• Accelgor to A-: Holy Hell, I love this thing. After it moving to RU, I decided to try it, and it works. The spikes encore set has done wonders, and has stopped SR setters in their tracks and Set-up sweepers from sweeping my team. A set with Spikes, Encore, Bug Buzz, and Final Gambit with 252 HP, 120 SpA, 136 Spe Timid allows you to outspeed jolteon by 1 point with as much power as possible on every move you use, give accelgor a whirl, you won't regret it :)

Here is a controversial nomination, but I've seen this one on this thread a couple times...

• Torterra to B-/B: This tortoise does not screw around. With 109 Atk and strong STAB moves and perfect coverage with Stone Edge, along with a pretty tanky 105 Def, this thing is just as scary as it looks. The rock polish set actually outspeeds the entire unboosted metagame except for Accelgor at +2. The leech seed set heals off wood hammer damage, while doing passive damage to the opposing team, the synthesis set heals outright, Choice Band hits HARD, and with Grass/Ground typing, every single type it is weak to defensively is weak to Stone Edge. B- or B pls

Last but not least:

• Glalie (Mega) to S: This thing is powerful. Like, REALLY powerful. Refrigerate is one of the best abilities in the game, and it makes otherwise useless moves like Return mind mindbogglingly powerful. Having Mixed attacking stats are nice, becuase it gives you options. If you go physical, return, explosion, Earthquake, and Ice shard are your go to moves. Return for solid damage, explosion for OHKO on everything that doesn't resist it or is not cresselia. Everything. Earthquake for Solid Coverage, and Ice shard for picking off weaker threats, if you want special, this one doesn't take advantage of refrigerate that much, if you want to though, do Hyper Beam, Freeze Dry, HP Ground, and Ice beam. This set is far worse, except for freeze dry. Freeze Dry is the only reason to use this set, because it hits water types. THAT IS HUGE. Hitting water types is very important. so, for the sheer power, ability, good speed, and that Explosion, Put Mega Glalie in S.

 

[Froggyboy]

Hello, I'm new to Smogon and this thread, but I've been playing ORAS RU since December of 2014, so it's safe to say I know a little bit about the tier. That being said: I have a couple (a lot) of nominations that I would like to make.

Starting off we have:

Delphox for B+/A- (Maybe even A): Now that Moltres and Pangoro are gone, Delphox only gained from those bans. It doesn't have to be afraid of STAB Knock Off from a Base 124 Attack Stat anymore, and is now the best special attacking fire type in the tier, because of Moltres leaving. It can utilize multiple effective sets, including calm mind, sub calm mind, specs, and my personal favorite, scarf. All of these sets make Delphox very unpredictable, and, if you are scarfed or specs, just use switcheroo and completely ruin walls while taking leftovers for passive recovery. Speaking of that, Delphox has a very good stat that I feel is overlooked, and that is Special Defense. Having 100 SpD is not bad in the slightest especially combined with 114 SpA and 104 Spe, and, if scarfed, can have a considerable amount of EV's in that Stat to tank almost any special neutral hit. There is also a coverage move that is severly overlooked, called Dazzling Gleam. I know that many of you are going to discredit me and say that There is no point to using it, and that is not true. Dazzling Gleam was used to hit Pangoro, but now that's gone, it's mainly used for Tyrantrum, as the Scarf set 2HKO's. However, Dazzling gleam is probably one of the best ways to 2HKO it's biggest counter with specs, Houndoom. With Dazzling Gleam, Delphox no longer is a liability when facing houndoom, and can fight back to an extent.

I wouldn't say Delphox is the best special attacking fire type in the tier now, as we still have Houndoom and Mega Camerupt which are also very good in the current meta. And while I agree Delphox should move up to B+, maybe A-, Dazzling Gleam is a waste of a moveslot. Tyrantrum is hit by Psychic hard enough already, and while it hits Houndoom, which is cute, it provides no useful coverage outside of it.

I however agree with the rest of your post and welcome to Smogon!

 

[Guidorealmsmc]

I agree torterra shiuld move to B rank. A stealth rocker with some form of recovery is welcome by me and it checks tyrantrum. while zonger checks it zonger is pretty easy to abuse. Torterra also switches into head smash and can eat up an outrage fairly well as shown with these calculations:
252+ Atk Choice Band Tyrantrum Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 0+ Def Torterra: 168-198 (42.6 - 50.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Tyrantrum Outrage vs. 252 HP / 0+ Def Torterra: 268-316 (68 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

And in return:

252 Atk Torterra Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tyrantrum: 252-296 (82.3 - 96.7%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

 

[MrAldo]

I also agree with Torterra moving up to B- rank at least.

Considering M-Steelix is a really strong force in the metagame and that Torterra actually checked M-Steelix pretty damn well in NU, Torterra can do same in RU as well thanks to its particular typing. Moltres departure only makes it more viable and checking Tyrantrum is also a pretty amazing detail to take into account. All in all, a pretty cool mon. It also can threaten Alomomola and we all love to hit that fish hard! B- rank pls, or B rank if we wanna hype it a bit.

 

[TheEpicCD56]

Let me put in some calculations for Dazzling Gleam against Houndoom:

Offensive Calm Mind Set OR Sub + Calm Mind Set:
If Timid:
252 SpA Life Orb Delphox Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Houndoom: 125-147 (42.9 - 50.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Delphox Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Houndoom: 186-220 (63.9 - 75.6%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
If modest:
252+ SpA Life Orb Delphox Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Houndoom: 136-161 (46.7 - 55.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Delphox Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Houndoom: 204-240 (70.1 - 82.4%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Choice Specs:
If Timid:
252 SpA Choice Specs Delphox Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Houndoom: 143-169 (49.1 - 58%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
If Modest:
252+ SpA Choice Specs Delphox Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Houndoom: 157-185 (53.9 - 63.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Choice Scarf (Only running Modest for this set):
252+ SpA Delphox Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Houndoom: 105-124 (36 - 42.6%) -- 87.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

So, In conclusion, Dazzling Gleam means that Delphox can nab Houndoom on the switch, and beat what would usually beat it's end all be all for it. IMO, Dazzling Gleam is a move worth considering if houndoom is a relative problem to the rest of your team, and if even if it's not, run it to surprise Houndoom and pick it off.

Also, this is worth noting,

252 SpA Houndoom Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Delphox: 234-276 (80.4 - 94.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Kevun]

Except most Houndoom usually carry Sucker Punch, which would beat you anyway, and calcing Modest is rather worthless since you get outsped by Houndoom itself. If I wanted a coverage move for Houndoom, I'd rather run HP Ground, as that actually has a chance of OHKOing it on the switch, but it generally isn't worth giving up another slot for, since all of its move slots are kinda needed.

Still, I think Delphox should move up as its primary flaw was that it was almost directly outclassed by Moltres. It's actually pretty anti-meta rn and offensive cm breaks a lot of common defensive cores like Steelix + cresselia/slowking/alomomola, and it's really hard to find a consistent switchin outside of Houndoom or shitvest slowking

 

[atomicllamas]

Added Pinsir to new Pokemon rank, as it moved down to RU this month

info about it here

 

[tehy]

so

Pinsir@ Swords Dance / EQ / X-Scissor / Stone Edge, Mold Breaker, Life Orb, Adamant / Jolly

what exactly walls that? Hitmontop, pretty much, and it has little to do back but Toxic. Aroma is 2shotted by EQ and does about half back, Alomo gets trashed and rolls for a burn p.much, Mega Audino is usually rolling with Restalk and can still get 2shotted after rocks by Adamant. Steels can maybe tank 1 hit and not KO back for the most part?

idk what rank but jesus christ (it has quick attack for fucking with offense too)

 

[Ares]

(it has quick attack for fucking with offense too)

Quick Attack is going to be unSTABed and piss weak, it doesn't have the aerilite boost like the mega does.

Pinisir is going to be interesting, I forsee it playing out a lot like Mawile did when it first dropped. A cool thing to use for a bit but it will fall to NU and become unranked.

 

[Don Honchkrorleone]

tehy I scared you on RU room lol

Pinisir is going to be interesting, I forsee it playing out a lot like Mawile did when it first dropped. A cool thing to use for a bit but it will fall to NU and become unranked.

It's easier for a horse to pass through the hole of a needle than Pinsir be useless in RU imo and the most likely scenario is it come back to OU since it fell mainly because of Mega Salamence, but Pinsir isn't even allowed yet on the tier and speculation kinda defeats the purpose of this thread since who knows the day of tomorrow so I'll nominate some things:

Drop Cinccino to C- cause it IS that bad and its niche is too matchup reliant. Furthermore, a niche by hax is not a good argument to make it high (or else Murkrow to A+ cause God I hate those morons that use Parafusion).

And honoring my girlfriend though, I nominate a thing based on her favorite type:

to A: Talk about a from zero to hero story, seeing how good Whimsicott became after getting the Fairy-type. Whimsicott is a great offensive and support Pokemon in RU thanks to its marvelous typing. Offensive Whimsicott, a joke in previous gen, has a powerful and 116 Speed fast Moonblast and Giga Drain that lets Whimsicott defeat most Fighting- and Dark-types in addition to revenge kill weakened Cobalion and Offensive Drapion. It can run Hidden Power something for coverage or just U-turn to grab momentum. The magic, though, is on its support movepool coupled with Prankster (AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT SUBSEED). Priority Encore is fantastic to put pressure on opponent's team may s/he have a stat-boosting more or similar shit, making Cott a nice mess-up against SubCM Cresselia, CM Reuniclus, Qwilfish and etc. It also can use Tailwind and Memento to support the team, and in a DD-users infested metagame, with Tailwind is very helpful to obtain speed advantage against Gatr/Tyrantrum. Don't forget Stun Spore to paralyze those gatrs and everything else that is speedy. It's still walled by certain Pokemon and easily taken advantage of by things suh as Amoonguss and Golbat but the amount of team support and the solid terror it makes most offensive teams experience is enough to bump it to A rank.

I also have Tangrowth to B+ and Ferroseed to C+ but now I'll tlk about it later since it's 3:23 am now :]

 

[Mistress Remilia]

tehy I scared you on RU room lol



It's easier for a horse to pass through the hole of a needle than Pinsir be useless in RU imo and the most likely scenario is it come back to OU since it fell mainly because of Mega Salamence, but Pinsir isn't even allowed yet on the tier and speculation kinda defeats the purpose of this thread since who knows the day of tomorrow so I'll nominate some things:

Drop Cinccino to C- cause it IS that bad and its niche is too matchup reliant. Furthermore, a niche by hax is not a good argument to make it high (or else Murkrow to A+ cause God I hate those morons that use Parafusion).

And honoring my girlfriend though, I nominate a thing based on her favorite type:

to A: Talk about a from zero to hero story, seeing how good Whimsicott became after getting the Fairy-type. Whimsicott is a great offensive and support Pokemon in RU thanks to its marvelous typing. Offensive Whimsicott, a joke in previous gen, has a powerful and 116 Speed fast Moonblast and Giga Drain that lets Whimsicott defeat most Fighting- and Dark-types in addition to revenge kill weakened Cobalion and Offensive Drapion. It can run Hidden Power something for coverage or just U-turn to grab momentum. The magic, though, is on its support movepool coupled with Prankster (AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT SUBSEED). Priority Encore is fantastic to put pressure on opponent's team may s/he have a stat-boosting more or similar shit, making Cott a nice mess-up against SubCM Cresselia, CM Reuniclus, Qwilfish and etc. It also can use Tailwind and Memento to support the team, and in a DD-users infested metagame, with Tailwind is very helpful to obtain speed advantage against Gatr/Tyrantrum. Don't forget Stun Spore to paralyze those gatrs and everything else that is speedy. It's still walled by certain Pokemon and easily taken advantage of by things suh as Amoonguss and Golbat but the amount of team support and the solid terror it makes most offensive teams experience is enough to bump it to A rank.

I also have Tangrowth to B+ and Ferroseed to C+ but now I'll tlk about it later since it's 3:23 am now :]

I'll do the job for the 2 very quickly:

Tangrowth for B+: As i'm sure you know, Life is now a lot easier for Grass types since the Ban of Broken Bird. It is safe to say that by this logic, Tangrowth is better, and he indeed is better than before, Moltres being very common and preventing him from even spamming his main move being Leaf Storm. Right now, Specs Tangrowth has very few switch ins that aren't 2HKOed by Leaf Storm. He also has some other qualities: Regenerator is a cool ability for a choiced threat like Tangrowth, who will have to switch in quite a lot due to Leaf Storm drops. And Tangrowth's physical bulk is also pretty good, making him harder to stop.

Ferroseed for C+: Ferroseed was even more helpless than Tangrowth ( Who could run Ancient Power to lure Moltres, but locked on a shit move is never good ) against Moltres, but now that he's gone, Ferroseed can accomplish his job way more effectively than before. By virtue of its typing & resistances, he's able to set up Spikes and check/counter a decently high amount of threats in the tier, such as SD Aboma or Feraligatr.

 

[Gary]

B- to B+

Currently Mega Banette is ranked with Mega Audino, which in my opinion is a piece of shit because it keeps you from using Mega Steelix and other Fairy-types such as Aromatisse and Whimsicott, although less bulky, have so much more utility and better typing. Even though Mega Audino could probably move down a rank itself, Mega Banette is for sure heavily underrated in my opinion, and I've noticed just how devastating it can be against a lot of teams, especially offense.

One of the many reasons I think people underestimate Mega Banette is that they're too scared to veer from sets that primarily focus on doing as much damage as possible then suiciding itself with D-Bond. Yeah sure you hit hard and sometimes guarantee a kill, but it can still easily be played around with status and shit like Encore Whimsicott. Now I'm not saying D-Bond is a bad move, but people focus so much on fitting that onto Mega Banette that it definitely puts more of a limitation on its moveset and what it wants to run. I mean yeah there's no denying Mega Banette has some serious 4MSS, but without D-B you'd be surprised how easy it is to fit most of what you want to use with Mega Banette. Being able to run Wisp and Taunt in the same moveset without having to only run one attacking move. Priority Wisp is insanely annoying, especially for offense because Mega Banette can just come in on shit like Cobalion, Hitmonlee, Tyrantrum, Gator, and Virizion in order to threaten them with a burn and cripple them for the rest of the match. Taunt keeps it from being a dead-weight against more defensive teams, as it is able to shut down Golbat before it Defogs, Qwilfish before it Spikes while also blocking Explosion, preventing SRs from being set, Alo from getting off Wishs, or keep the likes of CM Cress and Reuniclus from setting up Calm Minds. With those two moves providing so much utility, you're now free to run two attacking moves in order to increase the overall pressure Mega Banette creates. Shadow Claw is an obviously good choice because it's a strong asf STAB move and not too many teams specifically carry Ghost resists. Sucker Punch is also another great option because it's a strong priority move that works well in conjunction with Taunt, and still hits harder than Shadow Sneak. It also provides useful coverage against Meloetta, who would wall you otherwise. Knock Off is also an option over Sucker or Claw, although not having a Ghost STAB sucks as well as not having any form or priority.

All in all, I feel that Mega Banette is a very underrated threat that deserves more love. The more common D-Bond sets are much less effective then Mega Banette's offensive utility sets, which is why I feel like many people seem to find it underwhelming. This set has a good balance of offensive and defensive utility, which is really nice for an offensive Pokemon. Combined with its ability to be a cool offensive spinblocker for spike stacking teams, Mega Banette is just a really cool Pokemon that I feel gets the shaft. Its flaws are definitely noted though, such as its fragility, underwhelming Speed, and Prankster not activating immediately upon Mega evolution, but I feel like its pros outweigh the cons.

 

[Molk]

Alrighty, time to implement the updates on the piratepad in the thread :). (massive) list of updates below.

Massive Update List

Feraligatr moved up to S rank
Mega Steelix moved up to S rank
Moltres and Pangoro removed entirely
Tyrantrum moved up to A+ rank
Houndoom moved up to A rank
Reuniclus moved up to A rank
Whimsicott moved up to A rank
Virizion moved up to A rank
Fletchinder moved down to A- rank
Camerupt (mega) moved down to A- rank
Aromatisse moved down to A- rank
Dugtrio moved up to A- rank
Exploud moved up to A- rank
Rotom-Mow moved up to A- rank
Slurpuff moved down to B+ rank
Druddigon moved down to B+ rank
Heliolisk moved up to B+ rank
Golbat moved down to B rank
Kabutops moved down to B rank
Magneton moved down to B rank
Tangrowth moved up to B+ rank
Banette (mega) moved up to B rank
Braviary moved down to B- rank
Lanturn moved down to C+ rank (could go to B- i *guess*)
Omastar moved down to B- rank
Togetic moved down to B- rank
Garbodor moved up to B- rank
Gastrodon moved down to C+ rank
Torterra moved up to B- rank
Regirock moved down to D rank (may be removed entirely, the main reason to use it over Rhyperior was because it was a better check to Life Orb Moltres, and now that Moltres is gone...)
Bouffalant moved down to C rank
Kricketune moved up to C+ rank (Sticky Web really enjoys Moltres being gone tbh)
Rotom-F moved up to C+ rank
Ferroseed moved up to C rank
Articuno moved down to C- rank
Cinccino moved down to C- rank
Roselia moved down to C- rank
Tauros moved down to C- rank
Carbink removed entirely
Servine added to D rank
Typhlosion added to E rank, E rank is now a blacklist

Aaaaaand that's pretty much it.

As always, if you strongly disagree with a change made, or want to suggest additional changes, don't be afraid to speak up! Also, if you don't specifically agree with a change, but want to hear the reasoning behind why the change was made, you can bring that up too, i'm sure everyone who contributed would be happy to explain their thought processes.

 

[Mistress Remilia]

Alrighty, time to implement the updates on the piratepad in the thread :). (massive) list of updates below.

Massive Update List

Feraligatr moved up to S rank
Mega Steelix moved up to S rank
Moltres and Pangoro removed entirely
Tyrantrum moved up to A+ rank
Houndoom moved up to A rank
Reuniclus moved up to A rank
Whimsicott moved up to A rank
Virizion moved up to A rank
Fletchinder moved down to A- rank
Camerupt (mega) moved down to A- rank
Aromatisse moved down to A- rank
Dugtrio moved up to A- rank
Exploud moved up to A- rank
Rotom-Mow moved up to A- rank
Slurpuff moved down to B+ rank
Druddigon moved down to B+ rank
Heliolisk moved up to B+ rank
Golbat moved down to B rank
Kabutops moved down to B rank
Magneton moved down to B rank
Tangrowth moved up to B+ rank
Banette (mega) moved up to B rank
Braviary moved down to B- rank
Lanturn moved down to C+ rank (could go to B- i *guess*)
Omastar moved down to B- rank
Togetic moved down to B- rank
Garbodor moved up to B- rank
Gastrodon moved down to C+ rank
Torterra moved up to B- rank
Regirock moved down to D rank (may be removed entirely, the main reason to use it over Rhyperior was because it was a better check to Life Orb Moltres, and now that Moltres is gone...)
Bouffalant moved down to C rank
Kricketune moved up to C+ rank (Sticky Web really enjoys Moltres being gone tbh)
Rotom-F moved up to C+ rank
Ferroseed moved up to C rank
Articuno moved down to C- rank
Cinccino moved down to C- rank
Roselia moved down to C- rank
Tauros moved down to C- rank
Carbink removed entirely
Servine added to D rank
Typhlosion added to E rank, E rank is now a blacklist

Aaaaaand that's pretty much it.

As always, if you strongly disagree with a change made, or want to suggest additional changes, don't be afraid to speak up! Also, if you don't specifically agree with a change, but want to hear the reasoning behind why the change was made, you can bring that up too, i'm sure everyone who contributed would be happy to explain their thought processes.

Exploud in A-? Really?
I mean, Exploud is decent, but that's it, there's just too many things preventing Exploud from being a A Rank.
It is slow, it is frail, and if anything forces him to use anything but Boomburst ( Which is far from impossible ) , then it's piss weak.

Exploud down to B/B+

Also, Poliwrath is a hard check to 3 of the 4 S Ranks while checking a bunch of other threats such as Houndoom, i think he can go C, maybe even C+.
I'd like to see ppl's opinion on that, as Poliwrath was pretty decent during the test i made so far.

Lastly, Huntail is just better than Gorebyss, move Huntail to B-.

 

[Kevun]

Lastly, Huntail is just better than Gorebyss, move Huntail to B-.

Eh, I wouldn't really say Huntail outclasses Gorebyss. The main advantage Huntail has is Sucker Punch, which gives it an edge over faster mons, but then you realize the only thing it comes close to KOing is Scarf Meloetta. Gorebyss can at least catch Rotom-C and Whimsicott on the switch with Ice Beam, KO Amoonguss, which threatens a pass with Spore, and things like Tangrowth, Tyrantrum, etc. which you really don't want a free attack from. The only niche Huntail has is probably Coil, but I haven't really tried that so I can't attest to it.

 

[Choice Banned]

So I guess that one guy was right in nominating Steelix for S rank (back when it was B).

 

[phantom]

Exploud in A-? Really?
I mean, Exploud is decent, but that's it, there's just too many things preventing Exploud from being a A Rank.
It is slow, it is frail, and if anything forces him to use anything but Boomburst ( Which is far from impossible ) , then it's piss weak.

Exploud down to B/B+

Exploud is a wallbreaker first and foremost, so it not being lightning fast isn't a completely hindrance for it considering with max Speed investment, it can outspeed every wall it needs to. Furthermore, watch how you toss around the words "frail" and "piss weak" because neither of those things describe Exploud.

252 SpA Choice Specs Jolteon Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Exploud: 255-300 (72.8 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

It can survive most powerful neutral hits at full health, that isn't frail at all. In fact, I'd say it's difficult to OHKO Exploud without using a Fighting move or an opposing wallbreaker.

The only time Exploud doesn't use Boomburst is when it's anticipating a switch to a sturdy normal resist, and even then, calling it pissweak is a ridiculous hyperbole considering with the right coverage, it can at the very least, 2HKO all of those proper resists. If it couldn't do that, you'd be correct in calling it weak.

Moltres and Pangoro leaving made stall significantly more viable, a playstyle that Exploud thrives against. In general, this meta can afford to slow down and not aim for the Jolly Pangoro benchmark, and thus you can see a significant rise in slower, tankier teams. Exploud was already a good Pokemon in and of itself well before the tier changes, but given how the meta changed to favor it, there's really little reason not to move it up. Nothing you said about Exploud is even factually true anyway; "weak" and "frail" aren't words you should use to denote this Pokemon.

 

[MrAldo]

How is a pokemon with a pretty passable bulk of 104/63/73 frail again? How is a pokemon equipped with choice specs; reaching around 463 special attack with it, an extremely spammable move in boomburst thanks to scrappy with a great 140 bp move weak again?? Plus, its coverage isnt even weak.

You can call exploud a lot of things but frail and weak arent one of them. Plus considering you cant just slap a pangoro to deal with stall anymore, spike stacking being pretty viable and exploud being exploud having a good matchup against slow teams make exploud raise pretty justified. It is fine in A-