[TPO3]

which I use outside of hail to pretty great success consistently being in the top 5 for the ladder in September/August (and the metagame hasn't changed too much since then except hail right?!)

Can't tell if serious or just trolling.

The meta has changed quite a bit since September/August... for one, Mew, Tornadus, Virizion, and Meleotta all dropped to UU, and Cofagrigus went up to 24th overall after previously being RU, and used in less than 1% of all UU battles. Roserade was the queen of UU in September/August, and bulky offense or balanced teams were everywhere. Spikestacking was common; you pretty much needed a spinner unless you were using an all-out Hyper Offensive team. Since then Heracross unseated it as the King of the tier, and Roserade has been passed up by Chandelure, Blastoise, and Bronzong.

In addition, rather than balanced being the typical playstyle, we're seeing Offensive teams having a bigger presence, even before hail. Pokemon like Kingdra (was 17th, now 11th), Raikou, Zapdos, Nidoking, and Crobat (was outside top 20, now 17th) continue to rise in the tier, while pokemon like Snorlax (was 6th, now 12th) , Slowbro, and Porygon2 continue to drop. So... I think it's safe to say the metagame has change quite substantially. Why this matters? In a metagame with a more balanced center, Cryogonal would fulfill its role much better. Base 95 Speed is surprisingly fast on a spinner, so you'd be able to get Recovers in front of a lot of pokemon. However, since the metagame is more offensive, it becomes much easier to outspeed and overpower Cryogonal, especially with weak defense and 25% taken from Stealth Rock.

Again, Cryogonal isn't bad. It fulfills a niche. 70/135 SpDef is cool, 95 Speed with Recover is too, but aside from fulfilling its niche, it just doesn't do much.

Cryogonal isn't actually meant to wall special attackers it meant to be able to check them and spin on them but thats not true what you said it can wall some of them or take a hit or two and KO back like Nidos/Roserade/some Zapdos and with Haze its never ever set up fodder.

I highly doubt Cryogonal can take a Sheer-force boosted Life Orb Focus Blast or Fire Blast from either of the Nidos. 70/135 HP/SpDef is impressive, but I doubt its impressive enough to take an attack that barely less powerful than getting STAB, is super effective, and probably has a maximum investment. Maybe from like a 252 HP/252 Def support Nidoqueen, but I just can't see it taking a Focus Blast from a 252 SpAtk Modest Life Orb Nidoqueen.

i am also confident Stealth Rocks should be banned

after reading that I am pretty sure I just let myself get trolled... but whatever, it's the internet I guess.