Resource XY NU Viability Ranking

[The D-Match]

:B ------> B+ or A-
Weezing is a great defensive Pokemon and can wall a sufficient portion of NU, including Sawk, Hariyama, Vileplume, Slurpuff, etc. To top it off it gets Will-O, which can cripple physical Pokemon AND can also run Haze, shutting down strong setup sweepers such as Feraligatr or Slurpuff. Its crippling flaws are its Sp.D and its lack of reliable recovery, but thats, in my opinion, overlooked by how well it works to shut down so many offensive threats.

:A- ------> B+ and

: B+ -----> A-
Pyroar and Typhlosion have many things in common: Special Attack, Speed, Bulk, etc. But, in my honest opinion I think Typhlosion outperforms Pyroar. Pyroar and Typholsion both love to run Scarf and even Specs to hit really hard; but the one thing that I think separates them both one thing: Eruption. Eruption is one of the most powerful fire type moves in the game right atm, and Scarf Typhlosion takes souls with Eruption. It is very common move to put on it, but it can be a better wallbreaker than Pyroar can. Typhlosion also has arguably better coverage than Pyroar, having Focus Blast, Extrasensory, etc. Pyroar does have an extra typing, having STAB Hyper Voice hit hard, but, it can't really hit anything super effectively. The normal typ also adds a weakness to Pyroar. Also, Pyroars only real coverage move is Dark Pulse and HP Grass which isn't as much as Typhlosion.

I would take back the fact that Pyroar should drop, but Typh should definitely rise.

Imo Typh should actually move down to B or Stay at B+ at best, since it needs that Spin/Defog Support so much, and it has very few switchins. As a fire scarfer it is quite weak. SR destroys its main niche, and Specs is easy to play around with unless you dont know your shit. it is also completly limited to those items because of Eruption (dont run Typh without it pls).

Pyroar may not be able to use Blaze Fire blasts Soulgazer, but it is way less predicable since it can run support moves like Taunt or Will-o-wisp, which can make it a supporter and an offensive mon at the same time, this also gives Pyroar a better matchup against many stall teams, since it can prevent hazards or create residual damage to the opponent (and for that matter force out a Cleric, giving you a free switch / turn. idk how often you play against stall but getting that move is HUGE for offensive teams.) Im not saying Typh is bad but Pyroar just outpreforms it as a fast offensive Fire-type. And if you want a fire-type wallbreaker, Mortar is the way to go. it has amazing coverage, can go mixed, and is just way less predictable

Blaze makes Fire blast much stronger, and, I've never seen a support poke with its horrid bulk, and in that, Typhlosion can actually do that better. But that's just my opinion.... And Mortar is a whole 'nother story don't get started with THAT

 

[skies]

lol most Typhlosion don't even run Focus Blast unfixable, all it needs is Eruption, Fire Blast, Extrasensory, and Hidden Power Grass.

The main point about Typhlosion isnt only Eruption: it has Blaze too, which means that it can use Stealth Rock to its advantage and get below 33% health to spam even more powerful Fire Blasts, which Pyroar can't do.

Scarf Pyroar / Typhlosion are piss weak, idk why you guys think they are even good. Well, atleast Typhlosion got Eruption and Blaze Fire Blasts to clean!

Typhlosion should be A-



what are the relevant base 101-105s Speed Pokemon? Mismagius, which needs a boost to OHKO Typhlosion after SR if it doesnt want to die to Fire Blast. Kadabra with Focus Sash can somewhat deal with Pyroar too. And then there's like Cryogonal, which most of the time shouldnt even try to revenge kill Typhlosion lol. And there's the monkeys, which iirc see close to no usages.

I see what you're saying about Blaze, it certainly is a cool niche, but while we're on niche abilities: Unnerve. Unnerve means Slurpuff cannot use its Sitrus Berry, which means it could Belly Drum as you come in and proceed to be KOed, as no Unburden. And I mean yeah, but it's at 25% which at this point any priority can kill it, and it's nearly impossible to remove ALL priority from the match. And faster Scarfers are a problem like Scarf Simipour (will rise to prominence one day :]). I see both points, but I'm still not agreeing with moving it up.

 

[Brawlfest]

I see what you're saying about Blaze, it certainly is a cool niche, but while we're on niche abilities: Unnerve. Unnerve means Slurpuff cannot use its Sitrus Berry, which means it could Belly Drum as you come in and proceed to be KOed, as no Unburden. And I mean yeah, but it's at 25% which at this point any priority can kill it, and it's nearly impossible to remove ALL priority from the match. And faster Scarfers are a problem like Scarf Simipour (will rise to prominence one day :]). I see both points, but I'm still not agreeing with moving it up.

Adamant Puff is outsped by both Scarf Pyroar and Scarf Typh anyways so....

To be honest I feel Typh and Pyroar are equally A- material. Both are powerful wallbreakers, cleaners, and setup sweepers with different niches. Typh's stronger BP STABs between Eruption and Blaze imo have equal merit to Pyroar's slightly higher base speed and STAB hyper voice which can punch through subs. Talkin about which one is better is simply unproductive and is starting flame wars, and imo they have equal utility and both deserve low A.

 

[Punchshroom]

I feel Pyroar is much more consistent most of the time, if not more flexible. While Typhlosion hits harder with Eruption, it is outright reliant on it if wants to maintain its advantage over Pyroar, which can use its additional STAB at all times without much concern for its health; Eruption also forbids the use of Life Orb, meaning Typhlosion pretty much has to stick to Choice items (or meh boosting items like Flame Plate or w/e :/), as well as forcing Typhlosion to run dual STAB due to Eruption's drawback, limiting Typh's coverage. Blaze is nice, but with its SR weakness and abundance of priority in the tier, it only really gets off one shot, two at best. Pyroar can also make use of low health with Endeavor to even the playing field.

The biggest issue I have with Typhlosion is that its attacks are much less easy to spam; anything (bulky) that resists Fire attacks prompts Typhlosion to lock itself into undesirable coverage moves like Extrasensory and HP Grass, which are extremely risky attacks to lock one's Typhlosion into in this meta. Most Fire resists Pyroar faces can be Hyper Voiced at, and is just as easy to spam as its Fire STAB, pretty much meaning that the only kinds of Pokes Pyroar has to worry about are Rock-types and extremely bulky Waters (covered by HP Grass), which leaves Pyroar with one free attack (mainly Will-O-Wisp to soften or cripple any remaining counters that can take Fire + Normal + Grass coverage), a luxury Typhlosion simply does not have; if anything Typhlosion has slight 4MSS.

 

[Cased]

Uh I have a few things I noticed and wanted to speak about. I'm a bit surprised to see a lot of the love for some Pokemon but I mean everyone has their preference.

Typh to A- or A: This is solely because I saw Pyroar in A-, in all honesty I'd rather have Typhlosion be A and Pyroar be B+ but that's a whole different story. Although Pyroar gains an immunity in Shadow Ball and becomes a check to one or two Ghosts thanks to the resist of Dazzling Gleam, since that's the main coverage moves of Ghosts now. But Pyroar is less bulky than Typhlosion, which means it can be revenged by Priority a bit easier. And although Typhlosion and Pyroar have the same Special Attack, the Choice Specs Typhlosion set is so much better than the Pyroar LO / Specs set, I don't see how Typhlosion can't spam Fire moves easily thanks to Eruption, at 100% early game it can blast holes through teams, without dedicated counters to Fire-types like SpD Rhydon / AV Hariyama, and standard 200/252+/56 Seismitoad gets 2hko'd with the tiniest amount of damage from Specs Typhlosion, and the only thing Pyroar has over Typhlosion is the Speed and Taunt but Typhlosion can be a Wallbreaker / Late-game cleaner, and having Eruption makes it a better Wallbreaker than Pyroar, and there aren't many (if any) relevant scarfers in the current NU Metagame that Pyroar outpaces with a Scarf that Typhlosion can't outpace. Besides maybe +2 Klinklang EV'd to outpace Typh but I mean yeah. Gave my reasoning etc

Lilligant to B+/A-: Obviously the painful choice between Hidden Power Fire and Ice can be a choice that can either win or lose a game (I often choose Fire) but I think that Lilligant having Sleep Powder really pushes it from the average depths of B to at least a B+ or A-. Being able to put one of your counters to sleep (Hariyama / Dragalge etc) is a huge deal, because you force them to usually come in after a death or to take a hit and make them waste Sleep turns while taking damage which lowers them down in order for the Pokemon to be near useless. Sleep isn't near as good this gen obviously but being able to put a Counter to sleep is a huge deal. It offers decent support with Healing Wish too if you run maybe a Specs or LO set with Healing Wish over Quiver Dance so I think overall as a Pokemon it's worthy of B+/A-.

Klinklang to B+/A-: Klinklang is a really great Pokemon, although it may not seem like it can break past certain Pokemon like Ferroseed / Garbodor and things like that, Substitute or Magnet Rise / Gear Grind / Wild Charge / Shift Gear is able to break through a lot of the current physical walls in the game. While Substitute allows you to set upto +6 on Ferroseed a bit easier than people usually believe, Magnet Rise allows you to escape Earthquakes from Rhydon / Seismitoad / Steelix, Pokemon that definitely won't die to things like Gear Grind or Wild Charge after a few boosts. It has pretty decent bulk overall and Steel-typing is still great after the nerf with Dark/Ghost-types which allow for a lot of set-up opportunity. The 4MSS is pretty evident with Sub or Magnet Rise and Wild Charge or Return but they hit different things and they amount of things they set-up are 100% different so even if you pack a counter to one set, it doesn't mean you have it beat yet. But some things that take it on fairly well are Pawniard / Seismitoad. While checks are mainly Fire-types since Klinklang isn't very strong without a boost, although easy to wear down if Rocks are on the field obviously.

More to come eventually about how overrated Spiritomb / Slurpuff are and why Rhydon should be S but o well

 

[MQJinx]

Supporting the nomination for Uxie to rise. This thing has so many supporting options it's ridiculous. Need Eviolite/AV removed? Knock Off. Want to make it safe for a sweeper to set up? Dual Screens + Memento/U-turn. Need a cleric? Heal Bell. Want to surprise hazard leads? Magic Coat. Opposing sweepers trying to set up? Thunder Wave/Yawn/Foul Play. Need to cripple Ferroseed or Audino? TrickScarf. Want something for sun, rain, or Trick Room teams? Uxie has all of that. Suicide lead for HO? Fast set with Mental Herb. Want to finish off the opponent? SubCM. This thing is essentially the Deoxys-D of NU. Uxie for A, A+, or even S.

 

[Brawlfest]

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-157512615
Yanma can be a legitimate threat. It needs a absurd amount of support to do work, however its strong three move coverage, decent power, and ability to boost its speed stat without effort actually makes it a surpringly good cleaner example
Punchshroom . tl;dr Yanma from Unlisted to D Rank. At the least it isn't as useless as other d rank mons like Delibird and Furfrou..

 

[Shuckleking87]

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-157512615
Yanma can be a legitimate threat. It needs a absurd amount of support to do work, however its strong three move coverage, decent power, and ability to boost its speed stat without effort actually makes it a surpringly good cleaner example Punchshroom . tl;dr Yanma from Unlisted to D Rank

I've been saying this since last gen lol. Yanma can be scary. However it needs a ton of support to be effective, and it takes a ton of damage from priority besides mach punch. Also countered by steels unless you run HP Ground, which might be better than giga drain this gen. Was better at the end of last gen with primeape jynx and scolipede running around. It can work this gen so obviously wouldnt be opposed to D rank

 

[CanadianWifier]

mmmK, I've been messing around with Zorua a lot lately, and I have to admit - while it relies HEAVILY on prediction and out-witting your opp, it's pretty potent at baiting out counters to stuff like Gatr and dispatching of them with Night Daze / Grass Knot / Incinerate. Of course it can also buy you free turns at random if your opponent over-predicts, but that's really just gravy.
It requires a lot of support to effective, - hazard support is somewhere between beneficial to crucial as it can help disguise it, and prevent it from being worn down. Proper team structure is also important, as it works a lot better obviously if you have multiple things you could disguise it as and keep your opponent guessing at what mon is what. It's probably capable of running a few different sets; Scarf / Nasty Plot / Swords Dance, but all I've messed around with so far is NP.
Either way this thing is super frail, and kinda slow; but I still think its small niche at baiting out shit like toad / plume / ferroseed and beating them is enough for it to be D rank.

replays where it doesn't just die: [or at least forced a huge 50/50 and HJAD is just a god at predicting]
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-157560004
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-157566880

 

[Brawlfest]

mmmK, I've been messing around with Zorua a lot lately, and I have to admit - while it relies HEAVILY on prediction and out-witting your opp, it's pretty potent at baiting out counters to stuff like Gatr and dispatching of them with Night Daze / Grass Knot / Incinerate. Of course it can also buy you free turns at random if your opponent over-predicts, but that's really just gravy.
It requires a lot of support to effective, - hazard support is somewhere between beneficial to crucial as it can help disguise it, and prevent it from being worn down. Proper team structure is also important, as it works a lot better obviously if you have multiple things you could disguise it as and keep your opponent guessing at what mon is what. It's probably capable of running a few different sets; Scarf / Nasty Plot / Swords Dance, but all I've messed around with so far is NP.
Either way this thing is super frail, and kinda slow; but I still think its small niche at baiting out shit like toad / plume / ferroseed and beating them is enough for it to be D rank.

replays where it doesn't just die: [or at least forced a huge 50/50 and HJAD is just a god at predicting]
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-157560004
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-157566880

Night Daze really isn't preferred because it gives away that is a Zorua. If you kill something with Dark Pulse, the opponent could just assume you are a retard running random Dark Coverage on pokes. Ofc, power boost + accuracy lower is QT PIE

 

[CanadianWifier]

Night Daze really isn't preferred because it gives away that is a Zorua. If you kill something with Dark Pulse, the opponent could just assume you are a retard running random Dark Coverage on pokes.

But that accuracy drop :[
My resoning is generally after you kill Mesprit or some shit with dark pulse when disguised as a Vileplume, it gives it away pretty quick, and I definitely prefer the extra power + drops.
All depends on what you plan to disguise it as :]

 

[k.r.o.b.]

I nominate Vanilluxe for C-\D rank.Thanks to the strongest freeze-dry in the game,the ice cream pokèmon is not walled anymore by waters.He differentiates himself from offensive cryogonal thanks to better physical bulk,in excange of speed.He has access to taunt,making him a decent stallbreaker.Vanilluxe fits well in rain teams,being able to remove both grass and water-type mons,and he can abuse rain by himself having access to weather ball.

 

[Cased]

Zorua really isn't that great, considering you can only bring it in on double switches / after a death kind of blows, you also have to make sure that the Pokemon you're imitating isn't weak or resistant to Rocks or else it's fairly obvious that it's a Zorua. And the coverage isn't fantastic, esp. if you're considering Incinerate as good coverage lol, situations where it work aren't very common in many games and you really have to play near perfect for it to get a kill. Plus, it's ridiculously slow, so it loses the niche that Zoroark has because it was so fast that you could get surprise kills on Offensive Pokemon, will Zorua cannot. D Rank at the most, I wouldn't mind just leaving it off the list entirely.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

Yeah, I'm kinda with BasedVictory on this one. Maybe someone could convince me otherwise, but Zorua just seems pretty bad to me. Literally the only stat it has that is really passable is SpA, which is still pretty low at a mere base 80. Its speed is bad, its middling Atk stat leaves little room for diversity in terms of mixed or physical sets, and its bulk is outright horrendous. It lacks some of the key coverage that Zoroark has (namely Focus Blast and Flamethrower), forcing it to rely on the weak Hidden Power and equally weak Incinerate for any real coverage outside of Dark Pulse and Grass Knot. Even when you're luring things in like Mesprit, you still need Choice Specs to guarantee a OHKO with Dark Pulse after Stealth Rock damage against a completely uninvested Mesprit, which isn't encouraging. Maybe it can pull off a successful lure KO once in a while, but I don't know, it just seems to me that there are much better ways to lure out and KO certain opponents without having to waste a teamslot on something so aggressively mediocre whenever you can't catch the opponent by surprise. Not to mention that, as BasedVictory said, you have to be really careful about how you use Zorua so as to not give away the fact that it's a Zorua. I agree that it should just stay off the list altogether.

If this thing had +20 Atk/SpA/Spe and maybe a little more bulk, as well as Zoroark's extra movepool, I could see it being pretty decent, but alas.

 

[Deej Dy]

Tired of that pesky Audino/tangela/Crygonal core that is being spammed in the ladder? Maybe even the occasional dragalge ferroseed core?
I've got a possible solution for you!
I'm for moving Ninetales up from C rank to a B (or at least B-) for filling a great role as fire counter (counters Ty really well), Wisp absorber (sorry tomb) and mixed special sweeper (in the form of Flamethrower,Psyshock, Energy ball/substitute) with Nasty plot. I honestly didn't expect to really have much success with it, it was just one of my favorite mons in NU, but it has exceeded expectations by far. I think it truly meets the qualifications of B rank (being that it preforms a niche very well).
Some Calcs on its main counters

+2 252+ SpA Ninetales Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Dragalge: 304-358 (91 - 107.1%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO (and thats with LEFTIES)

....Ok well it dosnt have too many counters if you choose to run Energy ball with Flamethrower and Psyshock, just beware of Aqua jet Gatr.

Any further questions just ask.

 

[Shuckleking87]

Tired of that pesky Audino/tangela/Crygonal core that is being spammed in the ladder? Maybe even the occasional dragalge ferroseed core?
I've got a possible solution for you!
I'm for moving Ninetales up from C rank to a B (or at least B-) for filling a great role as fire counter (counters Ty really well), Wisp absorber (sorry tomb) and mixed special sweeper (in the form of Flamethrower,Psyshock, Energy ball/substitute) with Nasty plot. I honestly didn't expect to really have much success with it, it was just one of my favorite mons in NU, but it has exceeded expectations by far. I think it truly meets the qualifications of B rank (being that it preforms a niche very well).
Some Calcs on its main counters

+2 252+ SpA Ninetales Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Dragalge: 304-358 (91 - 107.1%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO (and thats with LEFTIES)

....Ok well it dosnt have too many counters if you choose to run Energy ball with Flamethrower and Psyshock, just beware of Aqua jet Gatr.

Any further questions just ask.

Is it more beneficial though to be running a positive speed nature with it being in a good speed tier, or is this more of a bulkier spread with modest? Honestly I think i would rather run magmortar with earthquake in this slot than ninetales. I've really had no success with ninetales besides a calm mind set, because it's just so weak without a boost. Even with the nasty plot boost, timid ninetales only hits 6% harder than life orb magmortar, and modest ninetales is 15% stronger. Even though it is faster and a little more bulkier than magmortar, I feel like it is easier to switch directly in a poke that can threaten out ninetales than magmortar, so it easy that easy for ninetales to get boost and attack from my experiences. With the pokes listed above, I would use Camerupt to handle those. I've really fallen in love with this poke recently as it's a really solid check to fire spam, has very good offensive prowess (can handle all those pokes above except audino, which is can burn/toxic/phaze out, and I run speed on my camerupt for scald dragalge), spreads burn and phazes really well. I would nominate Camerupt --> B-, and Ninetales to C+ or stay in C

 

[Deej Dy]

Is it more beneficial though to be running a positive speed nature with it being in a good speed tier, or is this more of a bulkier spread with modest? Honestly I think i would rather run magmortar with earthquake in this slot than ninetales. I've really had no success with ninetales besides a calm mind set, because it's just so weak without a boost. Even with the nasty plot boost, timid ninetales only hits 6% harder than life orb magmortar, and modest ninetales is 15% stronger. Even though it is faster and a little more bulkier than magmortar, I feel like it is easier to switch directly in a poke that can threaten out ninetales than magmortar, so it easy that easy for ninetales to get boost and attack from my experiences. With the pokes listed above, I would use Camerupt to handle those. I've really fallen in love with this poke recently as it's a really solid check to fire spam, has very good offensive prowess (can handle all those pokes above except audino, which is can burn/toxic/phaze out, and I run speed on my camerupt for scald dragalge), spreads burn and phazes really well. I would nominate Camerupt --> B-, and Ninetales to C+ or stay in C

The goal of ninetales isn't to compete for a fire spammer who's faster, he provides a completely different game style which involves recovery from lefties (or life orb if you choose more power), setting up, and sweeping stall teams, something magmortar struggles with. I choose to run bulky sub with less speed so it can take audino knock offs, or resisted hits and still outspeed uninvested crygonal. Please don't compare to Mortar or Camerupt; yes they are fire types too, but they are very,very different.

 

[soulgazer]

Ninetales can also use a Passho Berry to lure Feraligatr and OHKO with a +2 Energy Ball with some damage iirc, I agree with Ninetales going either C+ or B-.

As for Camerupt, it does indeed need to be higher for the reasons you stated Shuckleking87, but I think it should go to C+. The main issue with Camerupt that I have is that it isn't hard to 2HKO it with strong attackers, which is kinda sad when it's so slow and only has Leftovers for recovery =/.

 

[Ares]

Not to mention it has Solid Rock (wish it turned it into a 3HKO). I agree though Camerupt ot C+

Also agreeing with Ninetails, have been seeing it put in work from various people and think it should go higher.

 

[Shuckleking87]

I guess I can see ninetales as a bulky set-up sweeper in that role. Thing is, I'd rather use something like cm slurpuff, crotumb, cm uxie more so than ninetales. Weak to all hazards doesn't play in its favor without reliable recovery. It does have an advantage that it is does very well against haze/phazers like steelix, dragalge, cryogonal, rhydon etc so I can see the bump. But also, ninetales isnt really that reliable of a fire stopper (hyper voice and focus blast from scarf/specs pyroar and typhlosion both 3hko/2hko, with ninetales really not being able to do much back without boost), and would not send it in vs spiritomb with infiltrator unless ninetales also carried willo. Against more offensive teams, do not see ninetales as being that useful. Still wouldnt put past C+, though it definitely deserves to be out of C rank

 

[soviet]

i really like ninetales since you rarely have to predict against bulky teams like you have to do with pyroar and typhlosion. unlike magmortar, it's speed allows it to beat things such as jynx, kangaskhan, and sawk which is pretty important. nasty plot gives it comparable power to the other hard hitting fire-types in the tier and makes it more useful against stall than any of the aforementioned pokemon. like what other people have said, ninetales can't be compared to other fire-types in the tier and instead carves out a niche for itself in the form of a versatile set-up sweeper which is surprisingly hard to counter. personally, i don't think it should be running a bulky role other than running leftovers for longevity, but it definitely does have the bulk to take scalds and check various fire-types. i would put it in b- for sure, maybe even a bit higher.

 

[Brawlfest]

>AgreeingonNinetailsandCamerupt, although I want both in B-. Neither is C rank and both have wide movepools that allow them to be specifically tailored to how the user wishes to play them. Overall they aren't superb pokemon in the metagame, but are versatile and overall effective.

I know this is kind of a long shot, but I would like to see Swanna somewhere in B or B+. Swanna is one of the few viable offensive options our tier has for defog, and it's amazing STAB coverage makes it incredibly difficult to switch into, despite its rather average offensive stats. Its typing is incredibly unique offensively, but what ultimately makes it a good pokemon is its support for A / S rank pokemon. Archeops, Pyroar, etc. all appreciate its great support, while it can punch holes well for pokemon like Feraligatr and Slurpuff. Swanna isn't justifiable for a A rank, but I feel good offensive capabilities, strong typing, and invaluable support make it a mid to high B candidate.

 

[Evan.]

I would like to propose the change of Ninetales from C -> B/B-

Ninetales is a fairly useful poke in this meta as it sits in a pretty good speed tier and it's great coverage allows it to take on nearly every common defensive core that is found in NU as of now. With the combination of Energy Ball/Fire Blast/Psyshock it can dismantle FerroToad, VileToad, FerroLage, and YamaPlume on it's own. Ninetales can even take on CM Puff on it's own as long as it doesn't run Psychic (which most don't because of Ferroseed) through a combination of Nasty Plot + Psyshock. The reason that Ninetales is not higher than B/B- is that it lacks immediate power without a Nasty Plot boost, but I feel like the combination of it's good attributes makes it deserve a buff in viability.

Quoting myself from a month ago because I don't want to repeat what I said but I full support the Ninetales to B/B- train that's going on right now.

Nozzle we're making it happen.

 

[Punchshroom]

Ninetales is nice, but probably isn't rising above B- for me. Its coverage (Energy Ball and Psyshock) is great for traditional Fire-resists, but its power is very average compared to most of its Fire-type brethren; it is actually the weakest of the specially inclined Fire-types bar Magcargo. While it does have access to Nasty Plot to boost its power, it is very difficult to find time to set up well most of the time, and most Fire-types function much better hitting hard right off the bat due to their inherent frailty and iffy defensive typing, which Ninetales does not particularly excel at. Flash Fire makes it a decent Fire-type switch-in, but not so great as a reliable check since it lacks effective coverage against its brethren. I don't believe Ninetales is good enough to be just a rank below meta defining Fire-types such as Typhlosion and especially Magmortar, which can use Hidden Power Grass and Extrasensory/Psychic for much the same effect so it's not like Ninetales is the only Fire-type that can break through Fire checks.

 

[Pooch13]

the issue with ninetales to me is that any set besides the NP set (or the mediocre specially defensive wall) is 100% outclased by a/b rank mons just like punchshroom said. That being said its a completely viable mon and the fact that it doesnt depend on having its full hp or doesnt need being locked or take recoil dmg from life orb to dent opposing pokemons is really what counts the most. i see ninetales as a setup sweeper and therefore i wouldnt really compare it to NUs fire big boys.

Ninetales to B. (plus not a factor but shiny or not Tales has a cool design).