Mega Metagross from A to A+: Agree
This thing wasn't A+ already? For real though, it's strong, fast, bulky, has wide coverage, little to no guaranteed answers... Its effect on the meta (
) and on teambuilding is on par if not larger than others in A+ such as Aegislash and Charizard Y. Nothing much to say, this is just way lower than it should be, in my opinion.
Because there haven't been many other nominations (barring Tapu Fini to A+, on which I don't think I have enough knowledge to comment), I'll throw some of my own suggestions into the mix.
Garchomp from A to A-
After some talk in Discord, I'm a bit less certain of this, but I'm still going to nominate this to get some more discussion and council opinion. Essentially, the meta has gotten faster than Garchomp could manage in ORAS, with both mainstays such as Mega Salamence and Greninja to new faces such as Tapu Lele, Tapu Koko, and Naganadel giving it a hard time. The Choice Scarf set also has its own problems, specifically an extreme lack of power. Walls such as Hippowdon, Celesteela, and Porygon2 are also roadblocks for it, as is Mimikyu.
However, I'm being told that its SR + SD Sash set is actually quite good, and moving Garchomp down could also give off the implication that stuff like Mamoswine and Excadrill are better.
Another solution suggested to me by
jroxas could be to move all of
Garchomp, Mamoswine, and Excadrill down to A-, which is something I can see happening and wouldn't be opposed to, but don't have particularly strong feelings on. It'd be great to have some opinions on that possibility as well.
Nihilego from A- to B+
This one is a bit on the shaky side honestly, but I still think it merits consideration. Admittedly this thing is good as a Scarfer, outspeeding the crucial base 100 speed tier and matching up well against stuff like the Tapus, the Zards, etc. However, it has major struggles with omnipresent Pokemon such as AV Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Steel-types such as Celesteela and Ferrothorn in any shape or form. In my opinion, the complete inability to touch the aforementioned Ground- and Steel-types alone warrants a drop to B+.
Mega Slowbro from B+ to B
The reasoning for this nomination is quite frank: Toxapex exists. Toxapex's immunity to Toxic is just really, really big. Couple that with access Regenerator without having to lose it in exchange for increased bulk, Toxic Spikes, Haze, the ability to hold Black Sludge, and superior typing allowing it to take on threats such as Mimikyu, Mega Gyarados, and Breloom, and Toxapex is really just looking like a better option. Hell, I wouldn't even mind dropping this down to B-, but baby steps.
Mega Altaria, Gastrodon, Pyukumuku, and Mega Sceptile from C to UR
Mega Altaria just faces really big competition as a bulky Dragon-type from Mega Salamence and Mega Latias, a bulky Fairy-type from Mimikyu and Tapu Fini, and a setup sweeper by Dragonite, Garchomp, and, again, Mega Salamence and Mimikyu. The only reason you would ever use this is if you really hate both the Zards and somehow can't afford to use answers to both that are actually good.
Gastrodon just has extremely tight competition with other bulky Water- and Ground-types such as Tapu Fini, Toxapex, Landorus-T, and Hippowdon, all of which have better bulk, recovery, Stealth Rock, more power, utility... Last time this thing dropped the exact same sentiment was echoed by the council, and it was basically unanimously in favor of dropping this. I agree, but think we could do Gastro one better, or, lower.
Pyukumuku is just so awfully passive, slow, exploitable, with poor typing and a poor gimmick that's not worth using over Quagsire or Clefable. Literally anything with Taunt or Substitute annihilates it, and it doesn't offer much, if anything, over the other two. No Scald, Minimize, Calm Mind, nothing.
Like Gastrodon, when Mega Sceptile was voted on by the council it was basically torn to shreds and barely agreed to be ranked. Any sort of Steel-type just walls the hell out of this, and it relies on the exploitable Leaf Storm, the weak Dragon Pulse, and awful coverage moves to do any damage. Lightning Rod would be cool if you didn't drop to Koko's Dazzling Gleam or HP Ice, and if you didn't have to lead and Mega Evolve Sceptile to have Lightning Rod ready for a lead Tapu Koko. Why are you using this over Mega Venusaur again?