Going to disagree on Starmie going to A-. Starmie is one of the few hazard removal mons on offense and having good match-ups against common Rock setters such as Landog, Hippo, Chomp, and Tran is very valuable, whereas Excadrill cannot afford getting a spin off of any of the aforementioned Rocks users bar Heatran (Garchomp just wears it down repeatedly). Latios doesn't have too many issues against any of those rocks users either, but its inability to break through ttar is troubling unlike Starmie which can directly threaten it with Scald or Life Orb Hydro Pump (Reflect-type works too to evade Pursuit). The faster pace of meta with the growing popularity of Weavile and Torn-T does hurt its viability, but it still threatens the likes of Keldeo and Gengar, which is still very useful for offensive teams.
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Resource ORAS OU Viability Ranking Thread V3 - Read Post 3451 Page 139
- Thread starter AM
- Start date
- Status
I think the key thing that needs to be considered when placing Altaria is how much incentive you have to use it in the first place. I don't really like people saying that using Mega Altaria has opportunity cost, as it has exactly as much as literally every other mega in the game (even ones like Mega Latios) - and that most certainly hasn't kept them out of S in the past (iirc, if you ignore Altaria and any which have been banned, all of Metagross, Sableye, Lopunny, Charizard X and maybe Pinsir (not 100% sure if I'm remembering the last one correctly) have been in S at some point since XY's release). What people who talk about Mega Altaria in relation to opportunity cost seem to forget is that Mega Altaria has more incentive towards its use over other mega evolutions than every other mega in the game has simply because it is highly versatile (much more than any other OU mega) as a result of its good all-around stats (110 in most stats and 80 in any others is very good and opens up possibilities in a lot of roles), access to a great ability, great movepool and lack of anything which performs its roles in the same way as it does (if it goes offensive DD, it does so in a less aggressive way to Charizard, if it goes bulky DD, it does in a less aggressive manner than Dragonite (its actually a surprisingly unaggressive DD user), if its a SpA set it is less agressive than Specs Sylveon, Mega Diancie and Mega Gardevoir, if it is supportive it is more offensive than support Clefable. It faces competition in similar roles, but it is completely unique in that its competition is only indirect, with it facing no direct competition in any role. Whether or not this is enough to keep it in S is up for debate (half of this things sets are A+ (I don't count Cotton Guard as its own set as it is just a worse bulky DD set), and its DD sets are bordering it), but I'm just saying this so that there aren't any more arguments regarding opportunity cost. I'm personally neutral on it, so I won't argue more for it.
I do not think Mega Altaria should drop. KidMagic your post contains a lot of flawed points. Physical Fairy STAB IS hard to come by , especially on a pokemon that can sweep with it (Azus primary sweeping function comes from Aqua Jet) because it can boost with Dragon Dance. Why use it over Zard? It sets up on more things because of its superior bulk and defensive typing.
Yes Gardevoir and Diancie hit harder, however both lack the coverage Altaria has in Fire Blast and Earthquake. This makes almost every steel type a liability as a switchin whereas the other two only muscle past certain steels (unless you run HP fire + Epower Diancie lol).
Your point regarding defensive presence and losing offensive power is not entirely wrong but I would say it is exaggerated. Due to its typing and natural bulk it doesn't need investment to check or hard check a plethora of big threats. To become a counter yes it needs investment but the DDD set is an example of using its defenses while still maintaining the ability to be an offensive threat.
Zard xs defensive set relies on burning switch ins but does not have quite as good of a defensive typing and is weak to Rocks (which blows for being a switch in to stuff). Still a good set but this I would argue competes more with SpDef Talon than Mega Altaria.
Mega Altaria is still the best Mega evolution IMO. I dont think anyone forgot it actually uses up a mega slot, lol. It provides more team support than any other Mega simply based on all the things it checks. The only thing close to this is Mega Scizor, but it is far more easily checked / walled. Yes not every one of its sets is a retarded behemoth of a threat, but the number of options it has makes switch ins more shaky and game planning for it more difficult. Charizard X shares some of these qualities and that is why its also S rank but it isn't strictly better at all.
Yes Gardevoir and Diancie hit harder, however both lack the coverage Altaria has in Fire Blast and Earthquake. This makes almost every steel type a liability as a switchin whereas the other two only muscle past certain steels (unless you run HP fire + Epower Diancie lol).
Your point regarding defensive presence and losing offensive power is not entirely wrong but I would say it is exaggerated. Due to its typing and natural bulk it doesn't need investment to check or hard check a plethora of big threats. To become a counter yes it needs investment but the DDD set is an example of using its defenses while still maintaining the ability to be an offensive threat.
Zard xs defensive set relies on burning switch ins but does not have quite as good of a defensive typing and is weak to Rocks (which blows for being a switch in to stuff). Still a good set but this I would argue competes more with SpDef Talon than Mega Altaria.
Mega Altaria is still the best Mega evolution IMO. I dont think anyone forgot it actually uses up a mega slot, lol. It provides more team support than any other Mega simply based on all the things it checks. The only thing close to this is Mega Scizor, but it is far more easily checked / walled. Yes not every one of its sets is a retarded behemoth of a threat, but the number of options it has makes switch ins more shaky and game planning for it more difficult. Charizard X shares some of these qualities and that is why its also S rank but it isn't strictly better at all.
Precisely. This whole "opportunity cost" argument is a little more nuanced than some make it out to be. Having Altaria be your mega means you can't use Charizard or Gallade or whatever mega you might love. (Keeping in mind Metagross and Sableye have legitimate, if niche, non-mega uses.) This is true. But if that mega is one of the best Pokemon in the entire metagame, that opportunity cost is much lower.
No, the opportunity cost is exactly the same. Whether you are using Mega Latios or Mega Altaria, the opportunity cost is always the inability to use another mega. What is different between the two is the incentive you have to use said mega. As Mega Altaria is more splashable than Mega Latios, and because Mega Latios faces competition from its base form and Mega Altaria doesn't, there is more incentive to use it over Mega Latios. On the most basic level, that is why Mega Latios is ranked low and Mega Altaria is high.
On the other hand, I do have some ideas as the why it could drop. The king DDD set isn't as good/unique since Clefable is another mon that can run a similar set (setting up move, fairy stab, recovery, heal bell for unaware) and Clefable does it really well too. Also, Clefable doesn't take up the Mega slot, and that's the lower cost of using it. The biggest things Altaria has over Clefable is the ability to increase speed (Dragon Dance) and the access to Earthquake, which provides fantastic coverage. Weavile and Mega Scizor are becoming more popular, both of which are bad news for Mega Alt, since both have super effective priority against Mega Altaria. It's still able to put a lot of pressure on teams, but it's not as dominating as it used to be since people can slap on something to check it like Scizor, Talonflame or Mega Venusaur. Just like with Mega Metagross, more teams are prepared for fairy types (Clefable, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Altaria) so it' easy to see how it might not be as dominant as it used to be. Competition from Clefable as a fairy type that can set up and sweep, as well as competition from Zard X as a Dragon Dance user also make it seem like Altaria isn't as useful as it used to be.
I can see why Mega Altaria might drop, but I think for now it's still fine in S Rank.
Last edited:
The best I can think of is access to both Sticky Web and Stealth Rock. Which Shuckle can also do, but it lacks spore.can somebody explain to me smeargle's most "notable" niche in this tier?
This thing is garbage. Get it out of here. UNRANK
It's not a very good niche, but it's a niche nonetheless.
Spore + Webs + Rocks. As has been explained elsewhere in this thread, that falls apart given that Smeargle is weak to both Taunt and priority and cannot patch one weakness without exaggerating its weakness to the other.
D Rank is not "any niche in OU, period". It is "a niche justifying its use on select teams". One wonders what select teams would use Smeargle over Shuckle, or any of the good suicide leads, such as Azelf.
Hey why are we nominating Mega Alakazam to move up? If anything the recent metagame shifts should indicate that it's should move down, you're using the rise of Weavile and Mega Scizor against Mega Altaria, but the same applies to Mega Alakazam, which loses to both of them, semi reliably, it loses one on one, is what I meant to say. And not only that, we now have a semi counter on offence in Hoopa-Unbound which takes it on pretty darn good. Why is this moving up now?
How does weavile beat zam?
!learn alakazam, focus blast
Alakazam can learn Focus Blast
Also zam outspeeds both of them and +0 m-zor can't ohko with BP no matter what set it runs. Basically Weav beats it only 30% of the time. Meanwhile you get this:
252 SpA Technician Mega Alakazam Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 200 SpD Mega Scizor: 408-480 (118.9 - 139.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO (you have technician due to trace)
About Hoopa-U, yes you have a point there, and I think Signal Beam is really subpar on it. Don't care where Zam goes but no way in hell do Scizor and Weavile reliably beat it.
Dread Arceus
total cockhead
i think he means zam can't switch in to it, also dodge focus blast + knock off or just knock off/pursuit pre-mega
but yea point's a bit moot even when taken properly
Starmie (A -> A-): Disagree, i personally don't see how starmie is "underwhelming" in battle, it has a good SPA stat at Base 100 and a great speed tier at Base 115, i personally use the Offensive Spinner set the most because of how well it can check other pokemon with its great coverage of Hydro Pump/Thunderbolt/Ice Beam, this coverage covers so much and can hit the majority of the meta hard, this goes hand in hand with it being an offensive spinner, it can force so many switches and gives it an opportunity to spin off any hazards. Iv'e seen people use the argument of it being a "frail" psychic type and that dark types are roaming in the meta, but shouldn't this be the same as Mega Zam? it also to is frail besides its spd stat and still falls prey to priority sucker punch and really any priority at all, im not saying mega zam should drop or not rise a rank because of this but, if using this argument of a "frail" psychic type in a dark type roaming meta why should Zam Rise and starmie drop when it also suffers this? It may not be as bad for mega zam as it is for starmie but it is still a problem for it. Starmie also has a unique ability, Natural Cure, unlike other fast psychic types like mega zam, latios, and latias, starmie is not completely hindered by status and is cures of status when it switches out meaning Clerics like clefable aren't pressured to heal bell. And also like said before by other people, Starmie is a good check to common threats like keldeo, heatran, and most SR Setters.
Idk there's some misconceptions I've been annoyed by more than the noms lol, which haven't annoyed me but some of the logic is quite weird.
I'm about to fall asleep reading the term "opportunity cost" again whatever that's implying. It's an opportunity cost to play Pokemon, could be learning the piano, getting drunk, nurturing a spiritual relationship, or if you're one of the young kids on here drink....capri sun? Wtf else do you all do for fun, actually nvm Idc.
M-altaria has gotten drastically worse there's not really any denying this. The only thing I could say in its favor is that it's still a super centralizing force in its own right. It's just not the centralizing force that was 6-0ing dudes in OST, iirc, straight off the bat when it got ranked to S. I'd be ok with whatever but seeing all the stuff in A+ I can't comfortably say it's on par with stuff like M-Diancie or even M-Zor.
Idk tbh I think overtime I found this to be overrated. I think a couple months back I thought it was underrated but fast forward to now everyone and their mothers still packing Ferro, packing the most annoying of stall teams that only die to like M-Pidgeot lol, everything going straight mexican spamming Thunder Waves everywhere and I'm thinking boy it'd be nice to use M-Gyarados once in awhile. Then I see all the other A+ stuff and I go "yeah these are better". Its practical use is based on a decent amount of team support to begin with that makes the appeal of it less appealing to stuff like M-Zor and other mons that occupy its current or higher rank. That's my opinion though.
TDK asked if it would be ok to put this as a discussion point cause some were interested and I said sure why not, I'm not a tyrant :>
No, no, no don't drop this to A, LOL. This things defensive utility alone is just so sound for so many teams providing checks / switch ins to fat grasses, TFlame, Clef, Latis, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, etc. and then Magma Storm + Taunt poops on defensive cores hell the thing has the potential to even beat itself. Every team necessitates some sort of Heatran answer which makes the appeal of waters so important in order to break it down effectively, since they're generally the only consistent answers without being prone to coverage or status. This isn't a trend against Heatran because this trend has been around for ages and it's still maintained that level of consistency as the meta has changed.
I said this should be A+ awhile back along with some others but this time I'm not gonna really entertain this discussion. Reason being is you ask a defensive player that focuses on the stall aspect of the ladder they'll say A, you ask anybody else who plays offense they'll say A+, generally speaking not every case obviously. Weavile being worn down is a huge exaggeration though when half the time dudes are relying on LO recoil to manage it rofl. Sweet game plan that is btw. Again though I think it's A+ but Baharoths post as much I would like to disagree with I sort of can't since there's some validity to it all worst case scenario.
I think LO is the only good set now, bulky starm has lost a ton of effectiveness. Reflect Type isn't an answer to threats btw, it's an emergency button, one that can kind of backfire in a lot of scenarios more than help you. Life Orb Starmie should be the set we're justifying cause obviously bulky Starmie is bad in a meta where it has to hope for Scald burns to threaten a TTar and Bish lol.
Get this lame-o out and don't raise Hawlucha like the guy said above when so much stall is packing two unaware users with offensive packing enough counter measures to keep it at bay. Also get this out of here.
Edit: Oh and M-Kazam I agree with most of Clair's points, page 124.
M-altaria has gotten drastically worse there's not really any denying this. The only thing I could say in its favor is that it's still a super centralizing force in its own right. It's just not the centralizing force that was 6-0ing dudes in OST, iirc, straight off the bat when it got ranked to S. I'd be ok with whatever but seeing all the stuff in A+ I can't comfortably say it's on par with stuff like M-Diancie or even M-Zor.
No, no, no don't drop this to A, LOL. This things defensive utility alone is just so sound for so many teams providing checks / switch ins to fat grasses, TFlame, Clef, Latis, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, etc. and then Magma Storm + Taunt poops on defensive cores hell the thing has the potential to even beat itself. Every team necessitates some sort of Heatran answer which makes the appeal of waters so important in order to break it down effectively, since they're generally the only consistent answers without being prone to coverage or status. This isn't a trend against Heatran because this trend has been around for ages and it's still maintained that level of consistency as the meta has changed.
Edit: Oh and M-Kazam I agree with most of Clair's points, page 124.
Last edited:
Mega Altaria S-> A+: Disagree entirely. What has lessened its impact? Nothing comes to mind. It might actually be better now that Hoopa-U is in the meta honestly as a mon who can check it to a degree. Only thing I see working against it is Weavile and somewhat Manaphy which are good arguments to be made but I really don't think the most powerful mon in the metagame besides maybe Zard-X has suddenly dropped just due to some other broken mons rising.
Mega Gyarados A+->A: Somewhat Agree. I find it very easy to shut down although I run a rain team most of the time which makes it easier. It's destroyed by a fair few common mons like Ferrothorn, Thundurus, Manaphy, and checked by many more. Again I have a bias but I see it.
Heatran A+-> A: Agree. This one I still have a bias against but with Manaphy running rampant Heatran just gets destroyed as even like Power Herb Solarbeam doesn't do much to stop the defensive set. Ground types are as prominent as ever and it can't reliably check against things it should be able to like Torn-T do to less defensive sets dying to Hurricane + Superpower. Same with Weavile.
Mega Alakazam A-> A+: Somewhat Agree. Trace is useful no doubt but it's still not great against the same stuff it always hasn't been great against. It also doesn't get any favors from Hoopa-U. Still I think the overall utility of this mon is pretty great I just don't know if it's that dominant.
Weavile A-> A+: Agree completely. Honestly it's getting close to S tier with how stupid good it is but I figure it's about the same as Talonflame in how it functions. Stupid broken against certain teams but has its definite checks and counters. If Mega Scizor didn't handle it so well I'd say S tier but for now A+ is def where it belongs.
Starmie A->A-: Disagree. Hasn't this thing only gotten better honestly? I feel like its diversity in playstyles and uniqueness in being pretty much the only good rapid spinner besides Excadrill sets it above the A- tier.
Smeargle D-> Unranked: Disagree. I still think that being able to come in and put a mon to sleep and lay down any hazard as long as that mon is <=75 speed is still valuable to a team. Sure there's "counterplay", having a grass type/overcoat or a magic bounce but he can run dark void and if you send him as a lead, there's no viable magic bounce mon that doesn't mega meaning you have to send you mega up first. It's no where near as problematic since the baton pass change but it still freaks me out seeing it on an enemy team.
Last edited:
Mega Altaria S -> A+: Agree. I feel like a jack of all trades like M-Altaria is't as useful in this metagame than it has been, especially with the increased usage in steels.
Mega Gyarados A+ -> A: I could go either way with this one, currently leaning towards disagree just because it still has a huge amount of pure power, but ferro hardwalls it and ferro's hard to play around in the current meta.
Heatran A+ -> A: lolno. You can put a Heatran on basically any team and it'll be a good fit. It's role hasn't changed that much since Gen 4, and there's no reason it should drop.
Mega Alakazam A -> A+: Disagree. It's a good mega. Is it a dominant mega compared to the rest of the A+ tier? No.
Weavile A -> A+: Disagree. Having Weavile always feels like a risk to me, considering what it gets countered by. It's fine in A, but it doesn't deserve to be higher.
Starmie A -> A-: Don't see Starmie enough to have an opinion.
Smeargle D -> Unranked: Yes please.
Mega Gyarados A+ -> A: I could go either way with this one, currently leaning towards disagree just because it still has a huge amount of pure power, but ferro hardwalls it and ferro's hard to play around in the current meta.
Heatran A+ -> A: lolno. You can put a Heatran on basically any team and it'll be a good fit. It's role hasn't changed that much since Gen 4, and there's no reason it should drop.
Mega Alakazam A -> A+: Disagree. It's a good mega. Is it a dominant mega compared to the rest of the A+ tier? No.
Weavile A -> A+: Disagree. Having Weavile always feels like a risk to me, considering what it gets countered by. It's fine in A, but it doesn't deserve to be higher.
Starmie A -> A-: Don't see Starmie enough to have an opinion.
Smeargle D -> Unranked: Yes please.
defensive starmie is complete garbage right now
i'll just give you a list of bait this thing is going to give free switch-ins too: clefable, zardy, zardx, serperior, kyurem-b, manaphy, thundurus,...
let's not forget all of these can terrorize balance teams through a set up move or raw power making starmie a poor choice right now to be honest.
and the only thing you can do back is uhhh, scald
thunder wave starmie is cool but in reality you lose to subcm keldeo stuff like that, so lets not hype it up too much.
defensive starmie is also the biggest pursuit bait i've ever seen even more than latios to be honest. why would you use a 'mon that loses to common cores such as tyranitar + keldeo and weavile + manaphy?
the only reason i would pick this nowadays is offensive. not saying defensive is shit, but offensive is the ultimate nuke out there with its speed tier
so yea, i'd be fine with starmie dropping to a-
i'll just give you a list of bait this thing is going to give free switch-ins too: clefable, zardy, zardx, serperior, kyurem-b, manaphy, thundurus,...
let's not forget all of these can terrorize balance teams through a set up move or raw power making starmie a poor choice right now to be honest.
and the only thing you can do back is uhhh, scald
thunder wave starmie is cool but in reality you lose to subcm keldeo stuff like that, so lets not hype it up too much.
defensive starmie is also the biggest pursuit bait i've ever seen even more than latios to be honest. why would you use a 'mon that loses to common cores such as tyranitar + keldeo and weavile + manaphy?
the only reason i would pick this nowadays is offensive. not saying defensive is shit, but offensive is the ultimate nuke out there with its speed tier
so yea, i'd be fine with starmie dropping to a-
But offensive Starmie is good enough to keep it where it is.
It's the only spinner in the tier that can deal with the common SR setters. Defog gets rid of your own hazards too, which is obviously undesirable for offensive teams. It also has a good speed tier.
Excadrill, on the other hand, basically gives Chomp, Lando-T, and Hippo free switch-ins.
defensive starmie loses to the ever so common sd lando-t and garchomp. not to mention, you'll be facing offense if you see those two, so starmie will be bait to your opponent's balance breaker.
also, the offensive set is too easy to wear down. if you run recover, you either miss out on coverage or rapid spin meaning you either can't hit everything or you can't spin (which is the main reason to use it)
Mega Altaria S -> A+: Disagree. The supposed reasoning behind this nomination is that teams prepare too much for it, so it falls flat in practice. While that's a legitimate claim, I still think that its sheer versatility warrants it S rank, as apposed to A+. Because let's be honest, if you prepare for all the variants, you're spreading your team thin, and your supposed answer(s) to your opponent's certain set can easily be taken down or taken advantage of. And then there's the rare mixed variants that most teams can't really switch into.
Mega Gyarados A+ -> A: Neutral. I haven't used it enough in the current metagame to make a valid opinion.
Heatran A+ -> A: Disagree. Heatran is one of only two non-Mega OU Fire-types, and in a metagame where things like Mega Scizor, Skarmory, and Ferrothorn are relatively common sights, having a rocker that can switch into and force them out is a pretty big thing for a lot of teams. It naturally has good synergy with most teams in the current metagame, as Ground immunities are very common, as well as Fighting resists. The only fallback I can see is the increase of Water-types like Manaphy, who can use it to set up or fire off a free Scald. However, in my opinion, I don't think it's enough to make it drop.
Mega Alakazam A -> A+: Agree. Replace all instances of "Weavile" with "Mega Alakazam" below, and omit the first sentence. Having such a high speed tier is also big.
Weavile A -> A+: Agree. In my mind, I've always seen the A+ ranking as the OU "Showcase" of sorts, where the posterchildren of OU like Talonflame, Gengar, and Bisharp reside. Weavile seems to hit that mark with me, due to the fact that the current metagame is devoid of stall and has lowering amounts of Balance teams (albeit /slightly/). As such, Weavile is put into a position where it can outspeed and 2HKO, if not OHKO, an increasing amount of the common metagame, and it doesn't need to worry about its frailty as much.
Starmie A -> A-: Disagree. The defensive set is terrible, but I've been using Analytic variants to great success, as it can pressure both switch-ins and standard rock setters (You should be running Ice Beam), as well as hit certain big threats hard if need be. It's definitely not A+ material, but it shouldn't drop either.
Smeargle D -> Unranked: Agree. This thing has no real niche that warrants even a D ranking anymore; SR + SW + Spore isn't enough IMO.
Mega Gyarados A+ -> A: Neutral. I haven't used it enough in the current metagame to make a valid opinion.
Heatran A+ -> A: Disagree. Heatran is one of only two non-Mega OU Fire-types, and in a metagame where things like Mega Scizor, Skarmory, and Ferrothorn are relatively common sights, having a rocker that can switch into and force them out is a pretty big thing for a lot of teams. It naturally has good synergy with most teams in the current metagame, as Ground immunities are very common, as well as Fighting resists. The only fallback I can see is the increase of Water-types like Manaphy, who can use it to set up or fire off a free Scald. However, in my opinion, I don't think it's enough to make it drop.
Mega Alakazam A -> A+: Agree. Replace all instances of "Weavile" with "Mega Alakazam" below, and omit the first sentence. Having such a high speed tier is also big.
Weavile A -> A+: Agree. In my mind, I've always seen the A+ ranking as the OU "Showcase" of sorts, where the posterchildren of OU like Talonflame, Gengar, and Bisharp reside. Weavile seems to hit that mark with me, due to the fact that the current metagame is devoid of stall and has lowering amounts of Balance teams (albeit /slightly/). As such, Weavile is put into a position where it can outspeed and 2HKO, if not OHKO, an increasing amount of the common metagame, and it doesn't need to worry about its frailty as much.
Starmie A -> A-: Disagree. The defensive set is terrible, but I've been using Analytic variants to great success, as it can pressure both switch-ins and standard rock setters (You should be running Ice Beam), as well as hit certain big threats hard if need be. It's definitely not A+ material, but it shouldn't drop either.
Smeargle D -> Unranked: Agree. This thing has no real niche that warrants even a D ranking anymore; SR + SW + Spore isn't enough IMO.
I'm only going to touch on two of the noms I have interest in. That's Mega Altaria and Mega Alakazam. There is absolutely no way that I can ever see Altaria dropping. It is just. . . So stupidly amazing. It is literally capable of doing whatever it pleases. Set up sweeper? Check. Fat Piece of crap that refuses to die? Check. Offensive Cleric? Check. There are just so many things it can do, and that doesn't even take into account just how absolutely amazing all those sets are thanks to its stats and typing. Dragon/Fairy, while being exclusive to Mega Altaria, is both a blessing and a Godsend. The resistances this thing provides are ABSOLUTELY insane. And Offensively, it's nothing to scoff at either. Clefable has taught us how Mono Fairy is never and will never be a bad thing. However, that doesn't stop Mega Altaria, as it has more than enough wiggle room to allow it to break past its few checks. I cannot see this dropping, simple as that.
As far as Mega Alakazam goes, this thing needs to rise. Its speed is just, absurd, and in this apparently more Offensively oriented meta, that is a very notable feature. It's sky High Special attack only pushes it even further as, having to run timid really isn't a Problem when you have base 175 Spa. Trace can get it out of some sticky situations, as well as having just about 0 downsides. I don't foresee you tracing Slow Start anytime soon. To put it simply, Mega Alakzam forces a lot of offense to think twice before they go about trying to sweep since base 150 speed outspeeds a good chunk of the scarfed metagame. Aside from that even most balance builds have trouble with this behemoth because it is also quite the wallbreaker with that sky high Spa and a mix between its coverage and moves like Encore and Calm Mind.
With that said. . .
Mega Altaria S -> A+: Wholeheartedly Disagree.
Mega Alakazam A -> A+: Agree.
The steels dont hurt it that much tho.It has both FB and EQ to deal with them.And who are you talking about:Ferrothorn(FB),Magnezone(Sure scarf can deal dmg but it gets bodied with an EQ),Tran(EQ),Bish(FB,EQ or even +1 Return),Excadrill(EQ,FB),Metagross(+1 EQ),Skarm(FB) only klefki i think is the only 1 who can take both EQ and FB unboosted.
Altaria dropping? I feel like this is some absurd joke that I'm not in on. The most self sufficient dragon dancer ever with amazing unique typing and all of the tools it needs to blow away its checks somehow deserves to drop because reasons? No.
Also, Weavile is clearly A+ material. The best Knock Off-er in the game that can Low Kick your Bisharp and Pursuit your Lati's also has a powerful trolling flinching Icicle Crash. The only thing I see really holding her back is how popular Scizor seems to be lately, but Scizor is easy enough to check.
Which brings me to my final point. Heatran does not deserve to drop. It's too splashable and versatile. It's like dropping Landorus-T; an incredibly reliable Rocker that provides offensive pressure and checks a myriad of threats that can be tailored for any team. Have you tried Taunt-Tran? I recommend it. Is there a sudden spike in Dugtrio that I'm not aware of?
Also, Weavile is clearly A+ material. The best Knock Off-er in the game that can Low Kick your Bisharp and Pursuit your Lati's also has a powerful trolling flinching Icicle Crash. The only thing I see really holding her back is how popular Scizor seems to be lately, but Scizor is easy enough to check.
Which brings me to my final point. Heatran does not deserve to drop. It's too splashable and versatile. It's like dropping Landorus-T; an incredibly reliable Rocker that provides offensive pressure and checks a myriad of threats that can be tailored for any team. Have you tried Taunt-Tran? I recommend it. Is there a sudden spike in Dugtrio that I'm not aware of?
- Status