Battle Spot Singles Viability Rankings!

[cant say]

I struggle to see how anyone could rationally nominate something for S-tier that isn't in the top 12 most used Pokemon on the PGL. The metagame is pretty harsh towards Mence since everything that can learn Ice Beam runs it to cover stuff like Chomp and Lando, and birdspam is highly accounted for due to Talonflame's popularity. Salamence is definitely a threat to unprepared teams, but it certainly isn't viable enough to be in the top tier.

Not to mention you thinking it can use Refresh makes me think you either haven't actually used Salamence or play exclusively on PS! which is quite a different meta to the cartridge version.

 

[Funbot28]

I struggle to see how anyone could rationally nominate something for S-tier that isn't in the top 12 most used Pokemon on the PGL. The metagame is pretty harsh towards Mence since everything that can learn Ice Beam runs it to cover stuff like Chomp and Lando, and birdspam is highly accounted for due to Talonflame's popularity. Salamence is definitely a threat to unprepared teams, but it certainly isn't viable enough to be in the top tier.

Not to mention you thinking it can use Refresh makes me think you either haven't actually used Salamence or play exclusively on PS! which is quite a different meta to the cartridge version.

I do have a refresh DD Mega Mence in my cartidge game, which i play quite often on the singles ladder online, which works wonders for me.

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 99-117 (58.2 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Most of the time, you will switch in on Talon

-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 66-78 (38.8 - 45.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Saying something is not viable just because it was not featured on PGL is not a good argument. There are many threats and "viable" pokemon who are not featured in tournaments.
Stop being so naive. I was just suggesting

 

[bcgst5]

I do have a refresh DD Mega Mence in my cartidge game, which i play quite often on the singles ladder online, which works wonders for me.

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 99-117 (58.2 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Most of the time, you will switch in on Talon

-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 66-78 (38.8 - 45.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Saying something is not viable just because it was not featured on PGL is not a good argument. There are many threats and "viable" pokemon who are not featured in tournaments.
Stop being so naive. I was just suggesting

This is for ORAS, not X&Y so you have to have a 6 gen born or caught Mon. It is impossible to get Refresh on Mence in this gen because its not an Egg move or move tutor move. That was what cant say was saying. Also he wasnt saying it wasnt viable (we have it as A+ in the rankings) just that its not a S rank Mon. It is not Meta game defining like the rank S rank states. Im not trying to be rude, just saying.

 

[Jibaku]

I do have a refresh DD Mega Mence in my cartidge game, which i play quite often on the singles ladder online, which works wonders for me.

This is not legal in Rated Battlespot. Rated ORAS Battlespot only allows pentagon-marked Pokemon, which Refresh Salamence cannot have.

As for Mence's viability itself, it was #2 when ORAS started, dropped down to #6 after the first season and never touched the top 12 for the other seasons. I think that says something about how people are quickly adapting to Salamence and also how Salamence doesn't quite easily recover. Strong flying types are accounted for before ORAS' release thanks to Pinsir and Talonflame, and it so happens that these Flying type checks can conveniently fit Ice Beam into their set (hi Cress, P2, Slowbro, even Suicune), or HP Ice (Zapdos). Add in to that, Salamence doesn't provide a lot of utility (Intimidate is cute but it can't toss those around like Landorus-T can since Mega Evolving removes it) when compared to all the other Top 12 Pokemon. Even Garchomp gives more utility due to Stealth Rock and the ability to hold Focus Sash, along with the ability to 1v1 some of the most offensive Pokemon in the game. Despite its fantastic bulk its typing lets it down when it comes to tanking purposes. It's still a very threatening sweeper, and of the best in the game, but it doesn't compress a whole lot into a valuable package and isn't quite easy to fit in. A+ is appropriate.

 

[PPB]

I would like to see some discussion on Piloswine. I've seen a couple of Japanese players use it, so it might be catching on.

 

[Misaka Mikoto]

I just now realized something and I really forgot about it:

Dragonite

I would like to have a discussion on Dragonite. It is surprising I don't see it on the viability ranks. Maybe we should talk about on how good is it in the metagame? I would love to hear what everyone else has to say about it.

 

[cant say]

I haven't used Dragonite in ORAS yet but I used it a lot in XY and I loved it. It's also unranked in the XY thread but it was being discussed for A-/B+ there, I could see it being up there, however I think it's probably more B tier. The classic Lum+Multiscale set up is pretty good and makes setting up a Dragon Dance pretty easy, and if you've been able to get rid of any fairies / steels you can happily spam Outrage. He's also the only Dragon-type with access to a Priority move, and Extreme Speed is a good one, which gives Nite a great niche over the other Dragons. His movepool is also pretty massive and allows you to choose exactly what you want to hit, and has options like Thunder Punch and Iron Head to hit things like Azumarill, Gyarados, Togekiss etc. that would otherwise check you good. Overall a really solid mon imo.

I don't think there are too many ORAS additions that have really hurt Nite's viability. There's Mega Lopunny now who can Fake Out + Return (or worse: Ice Punch) you to death by breaking Multiscale, and more Kang run Ice Punch now than in XY. Mega Metagross will walk you unless you have Earthquake / Fire Punch (although you will normally have one or the other) and also runs Ice Punch... Mega Salamence is probably the better Dragon Dancer but that doesn't make Dragonite any less viable, would it?

 

[freekhoorn]

Dragonite is in my opinion on the same level as most B pokemon. It can work pretty well against offense as it is fairly bulky especially with multiscale and after a couple dragon dances outspeeds a lot of pokemon and can deal a lot damage. The downside is that dragonite can not put enough offensive pressure against bulkier pokemon like hippowdon rotom-wash avalugg cresselia suicune porygon etc. And a lot of this pokemon have ice type moves on them which threatens dragonite. For example i can switch in my hippowdon on a dragonite as he dragon dances and the sand damage will get rid of multiscale, hippowdon will live the attack of the dragonite and can deal damage with rock slide after that.

It is a good pokemon that can be troublesome but against bulkier teams he is not that much a threat. B for me.

 

[UniversalStudios]

One of the only Dragonite sets that I even attempted to use was a Agility / Dragon Claw / E-Speed / Earthquake\Fire Punch set, with of course Weakness Policy. But this was back in X/Y when that set destroyed just about anything it had in front of it.
Nowadays, I'm not really in tune with what is good and what isn't, but I would hopefully assume it still puts in some work, even if there are Mega Lopunnys running around.
Ferrothorn is a decent Poke to partner with D-Nite, seeing as it resists almost everything, though it lacks in Special Defense. For that I insert Sylveon or M-Gardevoir, both of which can be Specially Offensive AND Specially Defensive beasts.

 

[freekhoorn]

One of the only Dragonite sets that I even attempted to use was a Agility / Dragon Claw / E-Speed / Earthquake\Fire Punch set, with of course Weakness Policy. But this was back in X/Y when that set destroyed just about anything it had in front of it.
Nowadays, I'm not really in tune with what is good and what isn't, but I would hopefully assume it still puts in some work, even if there are Mega Lopunnys running around.
Ferrothorn is a decent Poke to partner with D-Nite, seeing as it resists almost everything, though it lacks in Special Defense. For that I insert Sylveon or M-Gardevoir, both of which can be Specially Offensive AND Specially Defensive beasts.

So what rank do you think it should be then?

 

[DragonWhale]

Agility and Espeed on the same set on a Pokemon that learns Dragon Dance?

 

[a0161613]

There's no doubt that Dragonite could put in some work but in a meta which is prepared for Mega Mence, it seems to have the same issue. I can't imagine it higher than B.

 

[UniversalStudios]

So what rank do you think it should be then?

B, B- maybe.

 

[UniversalStudios]

Agility and Espeed on the same set on a Pokemon that learns Dragon Dance?

I know how odd that sounds, but it I put Agility to give it +2 speed instead of +1.5 because that little bit helps out speed some things, and E-Speed gives it priority, for sashed users, and other things that it may be needed for.

 

[Pearl]

RE: Dragonite

Dragonite is actually a common sight (for reference, I've been playing against people on the 1600-1800 ranking range, so I guess you should take all of my post with a grain of salt), and I feel that some people are underselling its potential/misunderstanding its role on a team. For starters, 50% of Dragonites are Choice Banded and 46% are carrying Dragon Dance. This doesn't really matter to the point I'm about to get across, and I do feel that Agility + Weakness Policy could possibly work with a Mixed set (it needs the +2 Draco Meteor to ever have hopes of breaking through Cresselia or Suicune), but it's still nice to have the references.

What I truly want to say though is that Dragonite is easily one of the safest leads in the metagame, and even though it doesn't really have the most favorable match ups against common Pokemon, the fact that it has a strong priority move and Multiscale's damage reduction make its worth using for its utility alone, even if it doesn't ramp up through teams from the get go. If you want a Dragon-type that can do such thing, Mega Charizard X is pretty insane, and so is Mega Salamence (which is actually back to the top 12 most used Pokemon!). Garchomp can work too, but it's sort of in the same boat as Dragonite, being better off abusing the utility Stealth Rock + Rock Tomb + Rough Skin provide.

As far as match ups go, it wins against non Focus Sash Garchomp (68% of Garchomps), Breloom if it is running Lum Berry, most Gengar (Mega Gengar is forced into trading kills, Focus Sash Gengar can win if it hits Hypnosis or is carrying Icy Wind), non-Ice Punch Kangaskhan loses to Choice Band and Thundurus fails to kill with Hidden Power Ice (ExtremeSpeed kills back if Banded, if not you can Dragon Dance + Outrage). As far as getting punished by using Outrage goes, keep in mind that there are no Fairy-types in the top 12 most used Pokemon (and only one Dragon-type resist too!), with the most common being Azumarill (which is usually ditched for Suicune or Rotom-W as a Water-type), Gardevoir (Choice Scarf can be exploited back easily and Mega Gardevoir means that your opponent isn't running Kangaskhan or Charizard or whatever else, which is good for you in the end) and Sylveon (painful to deal with, but slow to make up for that). edit: Outrage calculations against walls:

252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 109-130 (48 - 57.2%) -- 46.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: 114-135 (55 - 65.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Porygon2: 90-106 (46.8 - 55.2%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO (most are Download tanks with little Defense investment though)

With this said, I feel that Dragonite should never be ranked below B. B+ would be my two cents, but B is fine too. I shall comment on other Pokemon another day, as I feel that writing anymore would make this post even more unbearable to read.

 

[freekhoorn]

Pearl. It is not at all unbearable to read, but interesting to hear someone that has another opinion on dragonite who can explain a positive side to it I didnt knew! I only could think of dragon dance sets for dragonite and didnt know the viability of choice band. Those calcs are a lot higher than i should have estimated them!

 

[Feliburn]

Had some trouble using smogon so excuse me for being late, glad to see discussions keep going, anyway update time, going to include some stuff I missed the last time:

Volcarona: Unranked ---> B+ Rank
Mega Houndoom: Unranked ---> C+ Rank
Wobbuffet: Unranked ---> C+ Rank
Whimsicott: Unranked ---> B Rank
Glalie: Unranked ----> B Rank
Omastar: Unranked ---> D Rank
Mega Gengar: A+ Rank ---> S Rank
Dragonite: Unranked ---> B+ Rank

Since nobody actually finalized the idea of placing it in any rank, I'll put Glalie on B rank.

Since we are on the topic of Dragonite, I've seen some teams run Hippowdon and Dnite, so I'd like to see some discussion regarding Hippo since it's a nice defensive mon with offensive presence.


Also

I can agree to that honestly, I don't find Aegislash worthy of S-Rank at all either. I am curious to hear what other people think though, considering Aegislash has so many different viable sets. Which one do you guys find is S-Rank? I don't find it bad, but certainly not at all metagame defining, which is what S-Rank should be.

Any objections to Aegislash moving down to A+ Rank?

 

[Frosty_Black]

I don't see Mega Medicham on here, so I say that he's a B or C tier in Battle Spot. Support from GliBliss makes him really stand out. Medicham has the damage to take out foes thanks to Pure Power, but not the speed to be safe from revenge killers like Alakazam, or to even survive hits from the likes of Sylveon, Gardevoir, or a Jolly Greninja using shadow sneak with Life Orb. I rank him a C+, a B- at best. This is my opinion on it, I don't think anyone feels the same.

 

[freekhoorn]

Hippowdon is a really nice pokemon to use. Very reliable as an offensive bulky mon. It deals with all the fire and rock/steel types like blaziken, talonflame, charizard x (or even y at full special defense / a gimmicky focus sash xd), volcarona, scizor, mega mawile, tyranitar, while still being able to do a lot of damage with stab earthquake. It also provides sometimes gamebreaking momentum with yawn, and can heal itself with slack off. A thing to note is that its sand stream does hinder your teambuilding a bit. I think it is not too bad to be A rank.

 

[ethan06]

I'm not entirely sure about moving Aegislash down from S. Maybe I'm biased, but it does provide an amazing blanket check to a lot of dangerous attackers in the metagame, including Mega Heracross, various Psychic-type attackers, Gengar and Mega Kangaskhan itself. I'd say it's the one big reason that the metagame is so saturated with Fire and Ground-types and so light on Psychic-types, Bugs not named Volcarona, Fighting types not named Blaziken... As well as being an amazing defensive check, it's also a potent offensive threat and can be quite dangerous on its own. I'd say that it does warp the metagame around itself at least as much as Kangaskhan does, and certainly defines it to a certain extent. I'm voting to keep Aegi in S :]

 

[cant say]

here's some stuff for you guys! I recently went through and took out all the currently ranked Pokemon in here from a list of the top 150 used Battle Spot Singles mons on PS!, then took out all the shitmons and came up with a list of stuff that isn't ranked here yet, so have at it!

Abomasnow
Absol
Aerodactyl
Alakazam
Ambipom
Ampharos
Arcanine
Archeops
Avalugg
Azelf
Blissey
Chansey
Clawitzer
Cloyster
Cofagrigus
Conkeldurr
Crawdaunt
Crobat
Darmanitan
Ditto
Donphan
Dragalge
Entei
Espeon
Exploud
Feraligatr
Florges
Galvantula
Gliscor
Goodra
Gothitelle
Haxorus
Heracross
Hippowdon
Jellicent
Kingdra
Liepard
Medicham
Mienshao
Milotic
Nidoking
Nidoqueen
Ninetales
Politoed
Porygon-Z
Rampardos
Rhyperior
Roserade
Sceptile
Scizor
Scrafty
Sharpedo
Slurpuff
Staraptor
Thundurus-T
Trevenant
Typhlosion
Tyrantrum
Yanmega
Zoroark

It's a massive list so we obviously don't have to discuss them all at once, but if you've ever used any of these please voice your opinion! Standouts to me are: Alakazam, Arcanine, Chansey, Clawitzer, Cloyster, Conkeldurr, Feraligatr, Gliscor, Heracross, Hippowdon, Liepard, Medicham, Politoed, Rhyperior, Roserade, Sceptile, Scizor and Thundurus-T

 

[ethan06]

\o/ Clawitzer \o/

This mon should go to B- (or thereabouts) at the very least imo, the Specs set has a great matchup against defensive mons not named Chansey or Blissey and is capable of OHKOing an incredible number of things with the appropriate coverage move (and denting many more).

calcs

Attacking
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mega Launcher Clawitzer Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Cresselia: 170-202 (74.8 - 88.9%)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mega Launcher Clawitzer Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Porygon2: 146-174 (76 - 90.6%)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mega Launcher Clawitzer Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Mega Slowbro: 178-210 (88.1 - 103.9%)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mega Launcher Clawitzer Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 204-244 (98.5 - 117.8%)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mega Launcher Clawitzer Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 150-178 (89.8 - 106.5%)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mega Launcher Clawitzer Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Ferrothorn: 188-222 (103.8 - 122.6%)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mega Launcher Clawitzer Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 214-252 (100.9 - 118.8%)
(^not that you'll ever get the opportunity to use this one - Double-Edge OHKOs :c )

Defending
+2 252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Clawitzer: 142-168 (79.7 - 94.3%)
252 Atk Garchomp Outrage vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Clawitzer: 114-135 (64 - 75.8%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Clawitzer: 138-163 (77.5 - 91.5%)
252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Clawitzer: 155-186 (87 - 104.4%)
252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clawitzer: 93-109 (52.2 - 61.2%)
+1 252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Crunch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Clawitzer: 135-160 (75.8 - 89.8%)
+1 4 SpA Porygon2 Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clawitzer: 118-140 (66.2 - 78.6%)
0 Atk Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Clawitzer: 144-170 (80.8 - 95.5%)

Of course, it can't take a lot of super-effective or boosted hits, and it's only good for one big hit against faster teams, but if you need something severely weakened then fire up the cannon pew pew


I'll also chip in on Tyrantrum - this thing is great. I often think of the Choice Scarf set as "a Garchomp that beats Talonflame", and while it doesn't equal Gsrchomp in every possible way, it has enough of its own attributes to make it uniquely useful. Firstly, it's pretty much the only good Rock-type in the format that isn't named Tyranitar (and I guess Rhyperior but I've never seen one), making it a useful Talonflame check; secondly, Rock Head + Head Smash is a ridiculously powerful combination and almost singlehandedly makes Tyrantrum an amazing Scarfer; thirdly, it has a decent speed tier for a Choice Scarf, with Adamant 252 beating out Timid Raikou by one point (fun fact: Head Smash is able to OHKO, whereas Earthquake is not...). Of course, Earthquake is a pretty weak coverage move so it isn't doing much to Ferrothorn, Scizor and Aegislash unless you're running Fire Fang. Head Smash should be the only thing you click in 9 out of 10 situations anyway. Stick this battering ram in B- with the heavy artillery :]

I also built a Scrafty team the other day and I haven't used it enough to make a solid judgement but so far it looks promising. Watch this space

 

[Misaka Mikoto]

I was going to add to the list TADA!!!:

Tornadus-T for C+ or C Rank

Weeeeeell...I decided to use Tornadus-T for the metagame because I was looking at Thundurus and Landorus being in the metagame so much. I do know that Tornadus can never be as good as the two, as it is overshadowed and underrated; however, I decided to test out both Incarnate and Therian formes. The main issue with Incarnate even though it does have access to the ability Prankster, it can't really do anything outside of Tailwind, Taunt, Rain Dance, Rest, and I gues Bulk Up. (I remember running into a Bulk Up Rest one they tried to abuse, which ultimately failed). This makes me say that Tornadus-I is better off being in VGC, as Tornadus-T outshines it.

Tornadus-T, despite its deteriorated Special Attack, it has gained a higher ability in Regenerator, better bulk, and higher Speed, outspeeding the majority of the unboosted Pokemon in the metagame. Tornadus-T is all about hitting and running due to its Speed and abusing Regenerator. Even though its bulk does seem kind of a lackluster, I usually switch it in on resisted attacks without fear. I do say at 110 Special Attack, this thing can hit pretty hard with both Life Orb and Choice Specs looking at Hurricane, Focus Blast, Heat Wave, Grass Knot, etc. Regenerator can really heal off any residual damage such as Stealth Rock, and Life Orb in combination with U-turn to keep pulling off Hurricanes, Focus Blasts and such. I do find that Sleep Talk can be a nice way in dealing with Breloom because it always go for Spore to put its foes to sleep. Having Pure Flying typing gives it a nice niche over other Flying-type Pokemon as well because the majority of Pokemon that are Flying / Normal are neutral to Fighting-type attacks. Now, it resists Fighting with the cost of no immunity to Ghost-type attacks such as Gengar's Shadow Ball. Although, it has mediocre offensive movepool despite the kinds of moves it has access to in Hurricane, Focus Blast, Heat Wave, Grass Knot, Psychic, Dark Pulse, Sludge Wave/Bomb. It even does have nice checks to some types as well. I really do think that Tornadus-T does deserve a rank after testing it along with Choice Specs. T^T

 

[Pearl]

Alright, I'll ship for one of my favorites (and probably my most used Pokemon in Battle Spot Singles) as well:

Aerodactyl (Mega) -> B

Here's a sample set for it (because, honestly, I despise the Jolly non-HA sets that apparently are the most common on the cartidge):

Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Unnerve -> Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk | 4 Def | 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
Taunt | Stone Edge | Earthquake | Ice Fang

What does Aerodactyl do?

A little bit of everything. It's a decent Pokemon to lead with, even though it doesn't really do much against Mamoswine and other rising trends (i.e. Thundurus, which can paralyze you before dying to a Stone Edge), just because it can catch the likes of Garchomp off guard thanks to Ice Fang and deny Hippowdon (and other Pokemon) from getting Stealth Rock up. Besides that, it can also serve as an above-average late game cleaner thanks to the combination of its speed, coverage and power, as well as a Talonflame check (note: it needs 68 Defense EVs in order to tank a Choice Band Talonflame without getting 2HKOd, but it can handle every other variant without investment just fine). It destroys Mega Salamence without giving up momentum too!

It's also worth mentioning that Aerodactyl can actually tank some moves surprisingly well:

• 0 SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Aerodactyl: 134-162 (86.4 - 104.5%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
• 252 Atk Adaptability Mega Lucario Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Aerodactyl: 116-140 (74.8 - 90.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Garchomp Outrage vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Aerodactyl: 118-139 (76.1 - 89.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Aerodactyl: 94-111 (60.6 - 71.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 SpA Mega Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Aerodactyl: 87-103 (56.1 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Why would you use Mega Aerodactyl despite the opportunity cost?

If what I wrote above isn't enough to convince people, then all I can say is that Aerodactyl is a baller. Seriously, it has such a cool design that it's worth using for that alone :) Seriously though, I believe that Aerodactyl goes really well with this metagame just because a well played Aerodactyl gives so much momentum to its user it's not even funny, and early momentum is even more important here than in Smogon formats. Opportunity cost isn't as big in Battle Spot Singles anyways due to the fact that you can carry 2 Mega Evolutions in a single team without losing much.

Why is this set superior to Jolly non-HA Aerodactyl?

I kind of lied because the ability doesn't really matter (HA is just aesthetically cooler and can actually come in handy more often than Pressure/Rock Head), but Jolly Aerodactyl is just too weak. For the record, Jolly Mega Aerodactyl's Earthquake only OHKOs Mega Lucario 43% of the time while Adamant does it 99% of the time, which is big. Adamant Mega Evolved Aerodactyl only misses out on Mega Beedrill, Mega Sceptile and Adamant Choice Scarf Landorus-Therian. The first two aren't really relevant and Jolly Aerodactyl can't OHKO Landorus-Therian anyways.

Note: Stealth Rock is actually decent over Taunt if your team's lacking on a Stealth Rock setter, but after trying both I feel that Taunt is vastly superior.

RE: Tornadus-T

I actually have a good soft reset'd Tornadus ready to try and have looked for possible sets for it. Icy Wind looks really neat just because it allows you to get past Rock Tomb Garchomp. I'll probably write about this once I get around to test it though, just because I think it has a lot of potential (even more than C/C+ potential)

 

[DragonWhale]

Gliscor is imo A- rank. It can potentially be a win condition on its own with OHKO moves and stalling capabilities, doesn't interfere much with item clause, practically immune to status, and great defensive stats. Occasionally people just forfeit when they see a Gliscor, so that's another plus. A big downside is the quad ice weakness in a meta full of ice beam, but even then Gliscor has PP stalling options available to it.

Espeon is imo C+ or B-, as it gets Magic Bounce without mega evolving, giving it a lot of flexibility to fit in teams struggling against common status inducers. It can provide dual screen support without getting taunted, set up against pranksters, prevent hazards, and even shows a respectable offensive presence with a base 130 spA stat. One of it's major downsides is its physical frailty, combined with one of the weakest types in the meta, so C+/B- seems reasonable.