updates:
Drapion moved to A+, under Registeel
Houndoom up up to B+
Scrafty up to B
Torterra up to B-
Reasoning:
- In the past few months, Drapion has proven to be one of the most prolific Pokemon in the tier. Drapion moved up due to its ability to fit on a wide variety of teams, excel on those teams, fulfill unique roles as a sturdy and fast Pursuit trapper via its CS set, sweep teams with its Swords Dance set, all the while providing great defensive utility in a Psychic check and offensive utility in a Knock Off spammer. While the removal of Dugtrio has granted Drapion flexibility in its Swords Dance set, which is one of the main reasons it moved up, certain posts alluding to the viability of defensive Drapion sets aren't entirely correct. Just want to clarify that even with the removal of Dugtrio, defensive Drapion is a pretty sub-par set, and was only conceived in XY in order to better combat Reuniclus and Cresselia. Let's leave a relic of the past where it belongs... Drapion's general offensive utility and newfound flexibility with the lack of Dugtrio is the real testament to its viability.
- While Houndoom still struggles in this metagame, the tier being generally slow combined with Dugtrio's departure has made its Nasty Plot sets a lot easier to use. Unfortunately, it still struggles with either Flygon and Diancie and is incapable of luring both, but with the rising popularity of Slowking builds as well as Houndoom's ability to dismantle common defensive cores such as Alomomola/Venusaur/Registeel, it's unique niche as a Fire-type setup sweeper capable of pressuring all the conventional bulky Water/Steel cores is enough to move up to B+.
- Scrafty is probably one of the biggest benefactors of Dugtrio's ban. A lot of the defensive Pokemon Scrafty is capable of setting up on with its Dragon Dance set are more common than ever, and unlike other Fighting-types, Scrafty's ability to exploit passive defensive Pokemon gives it a distinguishable niche. While the Speed isn't useful to run down offense per se, the Speed Scrafty gains when boosting doesn't make it as easy to revenge kill as another breaker it competes with, Malamar. Scrafty is still relatively easy to stop due to its lack of power and Speed even at +1, leaving it incapable of one-shotting certain tanks such as Mega Camerupt without a boosting item, while its Speed and lack of resists makes it prone to sustaining a little too much chip damage as it sets up to the point of being revenge killed by most Choice Scarf users pretty easily. That said, the metagame has never been kinder to it and I could see Scrafty moving up to B+, but I would like to see some more discussion on it first.
- Torterra has been gaining a lot of traction for its ability to single-handedly crack open defensive teams on its own. While it competes with a lot of other wallbreakers, its ability to sustain itself over longer periods of time and immediately apply pressure with its amazing dual STAB combo makes it standout for a slight rise. I think this pokemon has a lot of untapped potential in general as a unique Stealth Rock setter that beats Blastoise, has reliable recovery, and can sustain itself over long periods. This could be due for an additional rise in the future.
Now for the things that didn't move up:
- Hoo boy, the Magneton hype is waaay overblown. Magneton was far from a stellar Pokemon with Dugtrio in the tier, but it's not suddenly A rank material much less A+ with its status as one-trick pony still remaining in place. While Magneton may be a dangerous wallbreaker on paper, it's usually pretty useless vs Water-type + Ground cores, especially if the Water-type happens to be the most common one in the tier and carries Protect. Its reliance on Choice Specs to deal the damage it needs to limits it severely and makes it quite easy to play around. Additionally, aside from the Flying resist, which is nowhere near as useful with Fletchinder taking one of the biggest nosedives in viability in a long time, Magneton, for being a Pokemon with relatively average bulk and minimal Speed, contributes little to a team's overall defensive synergy. The ban of Dugtrio wasn't entirely a boon for Magneton either, as some of its strongest checks such as Registeel and Mega Camerupt got even better. That's not to say that it's bad, Sturdy Choice Specs helps remedy a lot of its issue, but in order for it to excel, it still requires quite a bit of team support and isn't at the level of other A ranks, nor is it even the best Pokemon in A-.
- In the Dugtrio meta, Virizion basically fell off the face of the earth and was hardly a top pick. Around then, it was like an A- Pokemon. With Dugtrio gone, it may appear like Virizion is back to its old glory days of S rank like it was in the Mega Steelix meta, but quite a lot has changed since then that prevents it from reaching S rank once more. A lot of the Pokemon that Mega Steelix, and to a lesser extent Dugtrio, held down are pretty common now and many of them can defeat/rk Virizion pretty easily. The rising popularity of defensive Venusaur, Xatu, Uxie, Sneasel, Choice Scarf Drapion, and Fairy-types such as Granbull makes Virizion relatively easy to hold down. Teams also have access to a wider variety of niche Pokemon that have all seen a fair amount of usage in seasonal and RU open that can be used to help hold Virizion down, such as Scyther, Garbodor, and Gourgeist-XL. While Virizion is capable of choosing what it can beat, most defensive teams will have a pair of Pokemon capable of defeating it irregardless of the coverage move it chooses. I don't consider CM sets a factor here since it's largely inferior to its Swords Dance sets due to the fact that it just can't attain the power it needs after one boost + it has to rely on Focus Blast for its Fighting STAB of all the things.. In general, its lack of immediate fire power and propensity to be lured makes it all the more manageable. In short, in the time Virizion was 'absent' from the meta, the tier adapted to it. That said, it's still the easiest win condition to build around and packs great defensive utility for an offensive Pokemon, which is why it's rightfully at the top of A+, but it likely won't climb back to S rank anytime soon.
- Scyther requires pretty extensive support due to its 4x SR weakness and is one of the few Pokemon that actually has suffered in viability with Dugtrio gone and no longer able to support it. Its Speed tier also unfortunately falls just shy of Virizion, which is relevant for Stone Edge variants, and it lacks the power to break through defensive teams due to its low BP STABs. Its role on Volt-Turn teams is still notable, but Scyther is not due for a rise given how the meta has shifted out of its favor and the fact that Scyther builds tend to be cookie-cutter due to the specific handful of teammates it requires.
Needs more discussion:
- Lanturn is pretty bizarre. On one hand, it's a bulky Water with Heal Bell that can maintain momentum vs Venusaur builds, but on the other hand, it's a bulky Water that's incapable of checking Ground-types and overlaps with the premier Wish passer in the tier, which is especially bad for a Pokemon that can't sustain itself. Its defensive niche atm isn't particularly significant, but it is very unique. Kind of unsure if this should move up or not.
Discussion points:
Lanturn up to B- (see Lanturn Paragraph)
Scrafty up to B+ (see Scrafty paragraph)
Absol up to A-
I've taken note of the Absol discussion going on before and would like to bring it back. Absol's Swords Dance set is extremely powerful right now. While it has difficulty setting up, its propensity to force switches allows it to gain a lot of opportunities to set up and win games at the drop of a hat. Swords Dance / Knock Off / Superpower / Sucker Punch is the specific Swords Dance variant I'm referring to. Aside from Fairy-types, which are easy enough to handle when paired with Venusaur, this Absol set is capable of cleaving through entire teams on its own. Unlike other wallbreakers, its sheer power and access to STAB Sucker Punch makes its matchup vs faster teams less of an issue and it does not need to set up to present itself as an immediate threat.
Braviary down to A-
A lot of the teams Braviary is meant to break have adapted and found new ways to take it down via slight adjustments. The rising popularity of Tbolt Registeel and Toxic Diancie makes Braviary a less reliable win condition. The loss of Dugtrio doesn't help it either seeing as how it lost a partner that supported it in working around the very Pokemon that adapted to it. Now that it requires more heavy support to work, a slight bump to a lower rank might be warranted.
Flechinder down to B+
Similar to Braviary, a lot of the tier is working against it atm. Flying resists are everywhere, all of its checks are extremely common and good, and its niche against offense is no longer as good due to Volt-Turn offense featuring Magneton being the most common type of offensive archetype. There's really not much to say here other than the fact that for a Pokemon that requires so much support, the tier is basically built to beat it.