NU Viability Rankings

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Metal Sonic

Resurgence
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I agree with a lot of the current nominations but don't have time at the moment to write up a full post about them, however I would like to nom a mon that I and Shane have been using quite a lot and it's super duper fun; Eevee from Unranked to C-/C n.n


Eevee @ Eevium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Last Resort
- Stored Power
- Hyper Voice
- Substitute

[00:41:54] #Disjunction'!!: I hate that this doesn't sound like complete shit

Now originally I tried a physical set due to it having a higher attack base stat a access to better STAB moves to abuse Adaptability, however almost everything in the tier walled it even at +2, such as the omnipresent Steelix and things like Cofagrigus; which was really, really annoying. I decided not to give up and opted for a special set, with Last Resort because you need it for the Z-Move lol. This set actually has very few resists bar Spiritomb and Sableye due to Stored Power having a base power of 220. I actually decided that Substitute was its best option as things like Shadow Ball and Hidden Powers are literally useless and Sub gives you way more set up options versus more defensive mons. After talking with Shane, Modest seems better bar not outspeeding Scarf Vanilluxe or Passimian.

Here's some replays showing it off (even though the teams are memes lol):
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7nubeta-596493337
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7nubeta-595910084
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7nubeta-596393515
Seems like a very innovative set! Cool! How often do you get the chance to set it up?
 

Metal Sonic

Resurgence
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Even if I haven't won the game, I've had about an 80% set-up rate with it n.n Shane has also had good success too!
I've tried a few practice tests for its viability, but all I got was losses :( maybe my team wasn't specially set up to support the cute eevee! It gets 1shot without a boost, making it hard to setup, and even after evoboost it still is outspeed by unboosted sneasel D:

Furthermore, despite at +2, Stored power fails to OHKO a variety of foes, letting poor eevee die to a revenge attack. Even priority kills poor eevee :(

It's an awesome lure, but I haven't had much success with it.
It also takes up a Zslot, which I forgot, so I had to remove my other Z. User
 

yogi

I did not succumb...
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I've tried a few practice tests for its viability, but all I got was losses :( maybe my team wasn't specially set up to support the cute eevee! It gets 1shot without a boost, making it hard to setup, and even after evoboost it still is outspeed by unboosted sneasel D:

Furthermore, despite at +2, Stored power fails to OHKO a variety of foes, letting poor eevee die to a revenge attack. Even priority kills poor eevee :(

It's an awesome lure, but I haven't had much success with it.
It also takes up a Zslot, which I forgot, so I had to remove my other Z. User
How are you out sped? You should hit 418 with max speed Modest and to be honest yeah it does need support which is why I'm nomming it for C- :)
 
from b- to b/b+
I am suprised to see it ranked so low and compairing both the definition of B(as in having only a few downsides) as well as the other pokemon this mon could very easily be B or B+. Ranging from a more special bulky hazard remover to a reasonable offensive hazard remover even with just 2 moves it really spams in Freeze Dry and Ice Beam. Knock Off or the occasional Toxic alongside reliable recovery gives it space to threaten walls such as Slowking with an adjusted spread(trading more SpA for Health or a slight speed cut for more Health) to prevent any 2HKO's from it. A more Offensive spread allowes it to stand out side of just being a hazard remover and acting much like Hitmonlee with just straight up attacking with hazard removal as a nice second. Even with no investment it can 1v1 wall Cofagrigus and do enough damage to prevent it from using you as set up bait for Nasty Plot, with Nevermelting Ice you can even 2HKO after Stealth Rocks with Ice Beam.

&

Both Guzzlord and Omastar from C to C+
Guzzlord, and I don't want to be the guy to meme that this mon should be higher up but C is actually underrating compaired to more niche attackers that are in C+ when this is a niche wall, walling stuff like Houndoom, most special attackers and hitting back with a 2HKO against most of them. Lack of damage and recovery do keep it in a limited position and make it niche but it still succeeds as intended.
Omastar has the utility to set hazards with suprizing effective use thanks to Weak Armor or reasonable defense to even switch in on a couple of pokemon.
While I would say it's overall easy to force out with so many grass pokemon and multiple special attackers with grass coverage it still succeeds to keep pressence with just the moves Scald and Ice Beam. Some hazard removers do take advantage from the type while others do not such as Cryogonal does amazing against it where as Golbat actually gets worn alongside Omastar. SS set also doesn't look too bad if you can get it to set up and remove Vaporeon/Slowking.

Was going to mention Tauros but erisia just posted while I was making this post. Any other mon recieved enough voice in above posts to justify there rank.
I am not sure if omastar should move up a subrank; I've found that aside from the weak armor hazards lead set, it pulls off its shell smash set to a decent effect, although it is overshadowed by barbaracle in that role. One notable aspect of omastar is that it can break past seismitoad after a shell smash boost, something that barbaracle would otherwise require some chip damage to do so. However, that aside, barbaracle breaks past more of the tier than omastar can, all while possessing a greater speed tier and ability which amplifies its sweeping potential.

Guzzlord, on the other hand, is something I agree needs to rise; despite the fact that it will probably remain a mediocre pokemon in the tier, I believe C+ is a suitable rank for it. It has poor matchups against several tier staples such as sneasel, tyrantrum, and virizion, amongst other things, however, by virtue of its typing and usable bulk, Guzzlord actually finds a surprisingly high amount of switch in opportunities against mons like houndoom, the slow brothers, spritomb(which also deserves a rise in my opinion), and sigilyph. The specs set, with its decent coverage, serves as a decent balance breaker, severely denting common threats such as steelix, jellicent, and even aromatisse. However, I would understand it if guzzlord did not rise, as it commonly finds itself pressured by the aforementioned pokemon which have a positive matchup against it, not to mention other common threats which prevent it from doing its job more often than not against offensively inclined teams. I will also not deny that some of the pokemon guzzlord is supposed to check, specifically rotom and its grass type counterpart, can easily pivot out of it, forcing the guzzlord user to play more agressively by making more productive plays.
 
Audino from unranked to rank C/C+. Audino serves as a few nice niche roles in the current metagame: a staple (imo) trick room setter and a bulky wish passer (stall yay). Spdef audino tanks pretty much every hit from most special attackers in the tier (meloetta, houndoom, delphox, etc.) and shrugs off the damage with regenerator. Is it passive and exploitable? Yes but so is Uxie. Trick room Audino is also a beast as well, being the best healing wisher.

Replay of Audino putting in tons of work in trick room: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7nubeta-597046131
(knocks off meloetta's specs after pivoting into it twice, tanks a magmortar flamethrower crit and sets trick room twice)
 

The Goomy

Whitest Mexican Alive
Vileplume B+ ----> A- or A

I feel as though B+ is far too low for Vileplume. Having used it on several teams it fulfills an insane amount of team-roles while also having versatility and good offensive presence.

Vileplume @ Poisonium Z / Black Sludge
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast / Sleep Powder / Stun Spore
- Synthesis
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb

This is the set that Vileplume should be running. The 16 SpAtk EVs are not necessary if not running Moonblast, but do guarantee the OHKO on 0/0 Scrafty with Moonblast.
More offensive teams can opt to run Sleep Powder or Stun Spore to cripple opponents.

Vileplume is IMO the backbone to balanced teams as it is probably the best non-ghost fighting answer, beats common (good) Pokemon like Rhydon, Steelix, Jellicent, Virizion, Sceptile, Whimsicott, Rotom-Mow, etc.

The support it can provide a team is very large and balanced cores of old such as Plume + Yama + Steelix/Rhydon are really good again. I feel like in a lot of games Plume can wall a large portion of the opponents team and the issues that arise with Plume can easily be patched with teammate support with things like Pursuit trapping and reliable special walls.

In addition, the Grass/Fairy/Poison coverage is un-resisted barring Poisons (which generally can't really hurt you either), so Plume has good offensive presence for a defensive mon and Giga Drain even helps with its longevity.

In particular, I think Plume is more consistent at performing its role than a lot of the Pokemon in B+ as it is capable of having an impact in every game.
 

Punchshroom

FISHIOUS REND MEGA SHARPEDO
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Mismagius from B to B+

I believe most of us are aware of Ghostium Z Mismagius which is currently its flagship set, giving it the nuking option it always wanted to make up for its average power. Mismagius takes the faster approach to Cofagrigus's Nasty Plot + Ghostium holepunching, and with Ghost being such a powerful neutral attacking type, having the natural Speed to break the opponent's cores instead of having to set up for it with Trick Room is a huge advantage. However, I assume the reason for Mismagius's ranking disparity from Cofagrigus is because the ranking team believes that Mismagius is overly reliant on its Ghost nuke to do damage, and the majority of Pokemon that can ward off Ghost attacks suffice in beating Mismagius since Magius's coverage moves are too weak to fend them all off. Well I'm here to show that Mismagius isn't quite so linear as that, and it can finally put its expansive offensive movepool (for a Ghost-type) to good use.


Mismagius @ Rockium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Power Gem
- Dazzling Gleam
+2 252 SpA Mismagius Continental Crush (160 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Incineroar: 434-512 (110.4 - 130.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Mismagius Continental Crush (160 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Drapion: 380-448 (135.2 - 159.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Mismagius Continental Crush (160 BP) vs. 0 HP / 132 SpD Skuntank: 370-436 (106.6 - 125.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Mismagius Continental Crush (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 168+ SpD Braviary: 566-668 (140 - 165.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Mismagius Continental Crush (160 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Cryogonal: 464-546 (154.1 - 181.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Mismagius Continental Crush (160 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Houndoom: 362-426 (124.3 - 146.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Mismagius Continental Crush (160 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Braviary: 380-448 (111.4 - 131.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
With +2 Continental Crush, Mismagius becomes capable of besting many defensive Ghost answers, most of which Cofagrigus stands little to no chance against, while even improving its spinblocking capability against Cryogonal, while +0 Continental Crush is still a quick way to dispose of Houndoom or Scarf Braviary switch-ins. Meanwhile, Dazzling Gleam rounds off Mismagius's coverage by smacking Scrafty which otherwise resist both attacks, as well as hitting the likes of Guzzlord and Drampa. By using the Z-move on its coverage move, Mismagius is able to get the best of both worlds by having access to strong, hard-to-resist Ghost STAB and powerful backup coverage to minimize the opponent's ability to wall it. However, Mismagius can't fix its susceptibility to faster physical attackers, especially with the prevalence of physical Choice Scarf users and its archenemy Sneasel, which is why I'm not nominating it too high.

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Masquerain from UR to C-

The reason I'm for ranking this is because it's the only other Sticky Webber aside from Shuckle worth talking about, and it offers a very distinctive and consistent advantage over Shuckle: its offensive capability.


Mismagius @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Quiver Dance
- Ice Beam
- Air Slash
+1 252 SpA Masquerain Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Xatu: 328-388 (98.2 - 116.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Masquerain Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 176+ SpD Eviolite Golbat: 170-200 (48 - 56.4%) -- 89.1% chance to 2HKO
+1 252 SpA Masquerain Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Hitmontop: 282-332 (92.7 - 109.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO, guaranteed OHKO with Modest
Being a Sticky Web user with the ability to easily bypass Xatu is definitely a noteworthy niche, and it has a decent to great matchup against the more common hazard removers in the tier, being able to force Golbat (switch-ins only) into a stalemate situation as it cannot keep Sticky Web off the field and KO the +1 Masquerain, and the more it Roosts the more it risks being crit or frozen. On the other hand, I'm not too sure on Masquerain's capabilities as an all-out Quiver Dance sweeper, since it possesses neither the Speed tier, typing, nor Vivillon's accurate Sleep Powder to really pull this off well, though I suppose Intimidate and the ability to bluff Sticky Web may be able to help QD Masquerain's case, and Masquerain's Bug + Water coverage is honestly rather decent in this metagame.
 
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Unranked -> C/C-
Not really big on forum posting but I just wanted to jump in real quick and voice support for Cheryl & Punchshroom's Masquerain unranked to ranked nomination. I'd say it's worthy of C rank.

Masquerain @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Quiver Dance
- Air Slash
- Ice Beam


The stat buffs it was given in Gen 7, +20 base Speed & SpA, have significantly made it better.

Losing out on Shuckle's bulk & rocks sucks but Masquerain's ability to threaten xatu really can't be emphasized enough for dedicated web teams. Shuckle should remain more highly ranked for its more broad applications but a webs team's first priority should be setting up and maintaining webs throughout a match. Masquerain is able to very reliably set up webs and remains the only webs user in the tier that isn't stopped dead by xatu.

Even outside of xatu it has a good matchup against most leads and hazard setters and actually offers good offensive presence for what is ultimately a sticky webs suicide lead most of the time. From my past experiences using shuckle it is often sleep bait. Experienced players will predict mental herb and lead with vivillon, lilligant, vileplume, jynx, etc. and often times get a free sleep move off because shuckle has absolutely no offensive presence and is ungodly slow. These sleepers are scared off by masquerain (most fear ice beam too much to stay in) and common lead taunters such as Archeops and others don't appreciate air slash/ice beam off of base 100 special attack.

Masquerain if saved can also offer valuable resources mid match because it isn't running off of base 5 speed it can suicide webs later on any mon below base 80 speed and can serve as very valuable intimidate fodder for setting up for a sweeper which really also can't be understated enough.

The set I had most success with was punchshroom's set. I believe Webs & Quiver Dance & Ice Beam are mandatory on all Masquerain sets. Webs because that is the only reason to use it. QD stops it from being ignored by special walls and the like. Ice beam for threatening Xatu and ice has great coverage. I found air slash to be the most consistent 4th slot not hydro, air slash offers STAB with great overall coverage. Scald/Hydro + Ice beam is asking for bulky waters to setup or do other nasty things in your face. Also the 30% flinch sometimes allows for Masquerain to do much more damage then a webs lead should even be able to do.


I'm a pretty bad player all things considered, I prefer casual battles, but I managed to get around #250 on the ladder very casually with a webs teams I made using Masquerain.

Since Unranked to ranked nominations usually necessitate a good amount of evidence and there is only 1 replay above using it here are some okay mid ladder matches

Team: https://pastebin.com/RLDUi34p

Various Thoughts On Aforementioned Discussion points:
Cryogonal & Cofagrigus should rise.
Lilligant I think is more accurately reflected by low A- then high B+
Minior Haven't used it but every person I've seen use it has never swept with it and is usually picked off by priority after killing like 1 mon
Delphox shouldn't be that low
Vaporeon shouldn't be that low
Samurott is slept on
Alolan exeggutor has proven itself very deadly under TR. Deserves a ranking
Golbat should stay put. It's solid but not THAT solid
Eevee I can't believe that it actually doesn't look that bad

Also Tyrantrum is hands down the best thing in this entire tier when head smash actually can hit

Edit in Response to Brawlfest's post below: You're going to nom machamp to drop because it is bad with assault vest? Like what?? I agree with your Golbat & Braviary nominations btw.
 
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Hey, I'm new to the forums, so I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, but I'd like to nominate Mawile from unranked to C-.

Mawile @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Play Rough

I believe Mawile should be C- because it has the valuable niche of being able to set up stealth rocks while being able to keep rocks up against most of the relevant hazard removers. For example, Mawile is able to come into Golbat and Hitmontop with little worry and proceed to threaten them out and set rocks up, as Golbat can't touch Mawile and risks losing its eviolite, and Hitmontop loses to play rough. Mawile is also able to force out Hitmonlee, Skuntank, Cryogonal, and Komala. The only notable spinners that Mawile loses to are Earth Power Claydol and Hitmonlee, assuming Mawile switches into a High Jump Kick. With the ability to force hazard removers out, Mawile is able to reliably set up rocks in many scenarios.
Compared to other stealth rock users, such as Steelix and Rhydon, Mawile has the niche of carrying both taunt and knock off, adding valuable utility to the team and being able to prevent being set up on by hazard setters or status boosters. With the base speed of 50, Mawile is able to outspeed slower stealth rock users such as Rhydon, Steelix, and Druddigon and taunt them to prevent them from setting up, while also being able to stomach an earthquake thanks to intimidate. Access to knock off is always a good thing, and allows Mawile to chunk about 40% from Xatu while also removing its leftovers, allowing you to switch in a check while it is forced to roost. Also, while other rock and steel stealth rock setters tend to invite fighting types who can threaten them out, such as Machamp, Mawile is able to prevent that thanks to play rough. Furthermore, compared to Uxie and Mesprit, Mawile has a better time dealing with dark types, due to not being pursuit weak and its fairy typing.
Speaking of typing, Mawile's unique typing in NU allows it to have a niche of being a check to several pokemon. For example, Mawile can check/counter Tyrantrum (assuming it comes in on any move other than Earthquake), Sneasel, Kangaskhan, Scrafty, Skuntank, and Gallade pretty well.
Of course, there are many down sides when using Mawile, most notably its horrible base stats. Its poor speed means that it can't prevent pokemon like Garbodor and Weezing from setting up at least one set of toxic spikes. It also lacks the bulkiness of other stealth rock users. It also fails to get past Xatu, while things like Rhydon can muscle through it and Mesprit can simply U-Turn for momentum. With that said, I think Mawile should go from unranked to C-. It fulfills the niche of setting up rocks, preventing the removal of rocks, being a stealth rock setter with access to taunt and knock off, and having a unique typing in NU that allows it to check and counter specific pokemon that others can't. In my opinion it is definitely on par with the other pokemon that are ranked C-.
 
I'm gonna be the that guy. I'm going to nominate Silvally.

I believe that Silvally-Normal is a 'mon often slept on because of its very average stats. I am fully aware that Silvally-Normal is heavily outclassed by many other Pokemon, so I am going to give a realistic analysis of it.

I believe Silvally-Normal should be at least C+ rank.

Silvally @ Normalium Z
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Explosion (Double-Edge if you don't wanna blow up)
- Flame Charge
- Crunch
- Swords Dance

Silvally-Normal is a relatively quick 'mon with oppertunities to raise its Speed with ease. It will almost always get at least one Swords Dance in on any major threat slower than it and typically, thanks to its 95/95/95 defensive stats, will live almost any neutral hit in the entire tier. Once you have a Flame Charge going and one Swords Dance, Crunch is very useful for the omnipresent Mismagius that typically gives it problems without it. Once you get one Flame Charge up on that set, you have 476 Speed, which is nearly unparalelled in NU.

Normalium Z is used so Silvally doesn't have to commit suicide the first time it uses its STAB Explosion, which, even as a somewhat weaker Z move, is still insanely powerful and will OHKO even certain 'mons that resist it, and once you come close to dying, you explode for real and most definitely take out the 'mon in front of it.

Silvally has a huge number of drawbacks that do set it back, however. Aggron is a near-perfect counter to that set, and burn, if not countered by Attack boosts as quickly as possible. Silvally has Base 95 Attack and Speed as well, which, though good looking on paper, do not translate well in battle- there's a reason those boosting moves are absolutely vital to the set working. Mismagius can stop Silvally in its tracks if it does not run Crunch, as Mismagius typically carries Will-O-Wisp and a burned Silvally with this set is slowed down or stopped completely if setups have not already occurred. Emboar also will OHKO outright. Also, this set has very little durability and is built to be worn down after a while, and explode.

Just a few calcs, I don't know how to format this site yet so bear with me...
+2 252 Atk Silvally Explosion vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tyrantrum: 282-333 (92.4 - 109.1%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Silvally Explosion vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Emboar: 466-550 (129 - 152.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Silvally Breakneck Blitz (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Emboar: 373-441 (103.3 - 122.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Silvally Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mismagius: 214-252 (81.9 - 96.5%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Silvally Breakneck Blitz (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Vaporeon: 567-667 (122.1 - 143.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Just so we're clear- Silvally is not a complete and utter monster- but it is often a 'mon slept on for no reason.

There are also several other sets Silvally can run that are almost as good- however, the set I have prescribed has given me the most success of all of my sets.

Silvally-Normal should definitely rise to at least C+. It is easily on par with other 'mons in C+, and even many in B- or even B. However, due to some flaws, like its mediocre damage output until boosted, it should never rise higher than that.
 
S Rank

Agree with Sneasel and Tyrantrum. Necrozma shouldn't be so high up, it's wrecked by status and set up fodder for most Dark types.

A+ Houndoom? Really? It's not that fast, not that strong, has common weaknesses and is frail as hell. Agree otherwise

A Agree with that apart from Slowking. IMO that should be A- / B+

A- Barbaracle? Why is that thing so high? Most bulky Grass types easily shut it down. Also lol that Garbador is higher than Qwilfish, Qwilfish outclasses it in almost every way. Intimidate gives it more immediate physical bulk and lets it force switches to set up Spikes, its Water typing gives it more switch in opportunities, it has more utility options in Taunt, Scald, Thunder Wave and Destiny Bond. It does struggle with Xatu more, but that's why you run it alongside Spiritomb.

252+ Atk Guts Machamp Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Garbodor: 215-254 (59 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Guts Machamp Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Qwilfish: 138-163 (41.3 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Speaking of Spiritomb, that thing should be in A-, it's the best spin blocker bar none. Unlike Jellicent and Cofagrigus, it's neutral to the Knock Off that many physical spinners run (and in Claydol's case, Shadow Ball). It can also check many dangerous Pokemon like Flame Orb Machamp, Life Orb Hitmonlee, and Tauros. The All out attacker set isn't that good right now, but CroTomb is an excellent late game sweeper.
 
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I would like to nominate Incineroar To B/B+ rank. Incineroar has many viable sets like Swords dance + Z move, AV, Choice band, and even choice scarf. It can really counter a lot of threats like Sneasel and Virizion with Flare Blitz, Sigilyph and mismagius with darkest lariat, etc.
It is also one of the best, if not the best answer to Necrozma, especially iron defense variants, thanks to it's signature move, darkest lariat, and necrozma can't touch it with stored power. He can stop many Pokemon in their tracks with most sets, and has many coverage moves at its disposal to counter a certain threat, such as leech life for psychic and dark types, or cross crop for stuff like Houndoom. I feel he warrants a rise atm and he should rise to B or B+
 

Metal Sonic

Resurgence
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Cinccino C+ -> B

What is this cute fluffy thing doing in C+? In my opinion, it's one of the deadliest wallbreakers in the tier. Although its Attack is only 95, which isn't THAT high, but still acceptable (equivalent to Sneasel), with Cinccino's blazing fast Speed (also equivalent to Sneasel) and amazing movepool to complement its ability, Skill Link, should already place it above C-tier. Access to Bullet Seed, Rock Blast, and Tail Slap, all amazing 25 BP 5-Multi-Hit moves, gives Cinccino access to literally 125 BP moves at its disposal, with the bonus of breaking through Substitutes, Sturdy, and Focus Sashes. In fact, with STAB Tail Slap, it is able to OHKO a good number of frailer Pokemon in the tier.

252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Tail Slap (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Sceptile: 310-370 (110.3 - 131.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Tail Slap (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tauros: 220-275 (75.6 - 94.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

That's not all; Cinccino's access to great coverage options in the form of Bullet Seed and Rock Blast help it tremendously to dispatch many common walls in the tier, something that Sneasel cannot boast.

252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 248 HP / 176+ Def Jellicent: 285-350 (70.7 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Rhydon: 340-415 (82.1 - 100.2%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Seismitoad: 520-625 (125.6 - 150.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Vaporeon: 285-350 (63 - 77.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery


252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Golbat: 180-220 (50.8 - 62.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 240 Def Xatu: 285-350 (85.3 - 104.7%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO

The fact that Cinccino is able to enjoy a 2HKO on many of the walls in the tier ensures that Cinccino can clean up easily after a match after they are weakened, or in fact weaken specific checks or counters for a teammate to sweep.

Additionally, while Life Orb is the preferred set for Cinccino in order to enjoy its amazing coverage, Cinccino can also opt to run a Choice Band set (similar to the Sneasel conundrum), which then also can actively function as a pivot thanks to Cinccino's access to U-Turn. Knock Off is also available for Cinccino to learn, in the event that the coverage is needed, and also to disrupt opponents by making them lose their item.

Although it is unfortunate that the main counter to Cinccino is one of the most common physical walls in the tier, Steelix, Cinccino users can opt to circumvent this using Z-Focus Blast:

4 SpA Cinccino All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 244 HP / 128 SpD Steelix: 230-272 (65.3 - 77.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

This adds additional utility to Cinccino by allowing it to function as the perfect Steelix lure: as Steelix has no reliable recovery, it will be severely crippled for the rest of the match, potentially allowing a teammate to muscle past and sweep.

Finally, an additional option is to use Work Up Cinccino, allowing her to function as a late-game sweeper, once all faster threats and priority users are removed. I've also seen some users running King's Rock Cinccino, relying on that 41% flinch chance to clutch win, but that's annoying.

Alas, I recognize that one main flaw that gives me pause when using Cinccino is that her powerful STAB attack is not spammable - with a 85% Accuracy, equivalent to moves like Fire Blast. However, one should also note that a 125 BP Tail Slap is a boost compared to Fire Blast's 110 BP.

In summary, I would like to make the case for Cinccino being a powerful wallbreaker with amazing coverage, and has underrated versatility in being able to lure, pivot, sweep, or clean, depending on the user's needs. Such a talented Pokemon should not be made to stay C Rank.
 
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Necrozma shouldn't be so high up, it's wrecked by status and set up fodder for most Dark types.


I mean, if you try and use the frankly not good Stored Power set, sure that is true, but if you use like, some of the 5 other or so sets that Necrozma can run, Dark-types are finding a noticeably harder time setting up when they get killed by it's coverage moves. Like, are you gonna tell me that Dark-types are gonan set up if Necrozma decides to go physical and run a z-Earthquake set and break them apart easily because most of the Dark-types are weak to ground? Or on the special side, use Power Gem? Honstly, it sounds more like you only thought of the Stored Power set if you think Necrozma is just simple set-up fodder for Dark-types.
 
Why on earth would I use physical Necrozma over Medicham or Gallade? They're both faster and way more powerful, and get Bulk Up and in Gallade's case, (granted Medicham is too frail to use them effectively.) Necrozma is a great Pokemon, but it's just not as threatening as Tyrantrum or Sneasel IMO.
 
Small nom


Liepard C- -> C

Yeah, sure, other Dark Types such as Sneasel currently roam the tier and this is just not as good as it once was. However, it does have one niche over most other Dark Types, that being U-Turn. U-Turn allows Liepard to gain momentum and switch out against Dark Resists such as Aromatisse / Toxicroak / Granbull etc which Sneasel cannot do and instead, has to manually switch out. A Band Set is scary and the ability to pursuit trap is amazing U-Turn / Pursuit / Knock Off are all extremely amazing moves which do a lot. Last slot can be anything really, Seed Bomb hits Rhydon / Gunk Shot hits fairies and Play Rough hits fighting types. Trick is also an option to cripple some Pokemon, but I'd heavily advise against it. Pursuit is also able to trap the new additions of Slowbro + Slowking. An Offensive Pivot set is just as good with Black Glasses + Encore due to Prankster whilst still being able to fire Knock Offs without being too weak. You're also able to run Sucker Punch on this set to pick off weakened / faster threats. Weather support too? But that's probably ass, lol. It also sits a decent speed tier. Overall, yes, it faces competition from most Dark Types but it's still able to exert heavy pressure and access to U-Turn sets it apart from most other Dark Types.

Edit @ response underneath: I think you're trying to undersell Liepard a bit. Indeed you're right, Sneasel outclasses it in almost any way, but as I mentioned earlier U-Turn is nice, don't wanna cliche that again. Sure, fairies exist, and Liepard doesn't like fairies but it does get Gunk Shot to lure them in and Knock Off cripples them nevertheless. You could also just simply U-turn. I don't think a -10BP change is honestly that bad, it still retains priority and has decent enough power + STAB. I honestly will admit it's not that good, but being C and being on par with things such as Poliwrath seems about right, to me, anyway.
Sorry if I sound like an idiot in this, just woke up and will edit this post later making more sense

Also, support the Mawile rise
 
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Why on earth would I use physical Necrozma over Medicham or Gallade? They're both faster and way more powerful, and get Bulk Up and in Gallade's case, (granted Medicham is too frail to use them effectively.) Necrozma is a great Pokemon, but it's just not as threatening as Tyrantrum or Sneasel IMO.
Because Necrozma is noticeably bulkier overall then either of them (making it harder to revenge kill with anything faster), and normal switch-ins a lot of teams use for Necrozma don't handle an SD set well at all? Also, they're base 80 speed while Necrozma is base 79, thats not a noticeable speed difference in terms of what they can outspeed that Necrozma cannot (they gain more just a whole bunch of speed-ties, which is not a very big pro honestly).
 
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Pretty much all the mons I give a shit about atm to suggest a viability change.

Increases

A- => A+
Honestly Toxicroak is arguably the best fighting type in the tier rn maybe excluding hitmonlee and provides a ton of utility to any team – not only is its typing just fucking incredible for checking Rotom-C / Viriz / Hitmonlee / Sneasel / Water types, but its plethora of mixup options like bulky, black hole eclipse, and acid downpour that allow it to really get around any given check and its like hella hard to stop.

A- => A
Drapion is crazy good and is an all around sound glue to most offensive teams. Rn with all the crazy grass types running around having a strong poison is honestly super important and at a solid 95 speed Drapion supports a lot of offensive teams with its very strong SD set, while also being able to support in other manners such as TSpikes / Pursuit. Its actually surprisingly bulky and has a lot of great offensive / defensive synergy with top tier threats like Necrozma and Tyrantrum.


B+ => A- / A
Theres a 0% chance Accelgor is only B+ ; its blistering high speed stat and very strong specs Bug Buzz make him a nightmare for offensive teams, making him a great choice for almost any team with little to no opportunity cost. Arguably one of the strongest offensive mons in the meta rn, there isn't any reason it isn't A-range.


B+ => A-
Braviary just checks so much stuff from beating CM Necros / Slowbros 1v1 while checking so many grass types with its bulk up set. With how strong spikes are rn its active usage as a defog deterrent only further adds to its great offensive and defensive utility rn, plus its CB set is nearly impossible to switch into without being 2HKOed.


Drops

A => B+
Honestly golbat is pretty fucking overrated. Its a strong defogger and is really reliable and checking what it needs to check but loses so much offensive momentum for most teams (even while carrying super fang) and in a meta where setup is so fucking strong and bulky offense really doesn't hold up it has a huge opportunity cost to more offensive variants of hazards control (hitmonlee / xatu). Its great bulk and typing does give it a lot of utility but its honestly worn down fairly quickly and is quickly balanced out by how easily it gives the opponent opportunities to set up.

B+ => B / B-
Granbull is like a decent mon in theory since its hella strong, intimidate definitely help it checks the plethora of fighting types around rn, and its like the only offensive cleric, but in practice it just gets worn down way too fast to be as defensively useful. It simply needs to carry out far too many roles. Almost every mon its designed to check (Absol, Scrafty, Virizion), carry coverage / have alternative movesets specifically tailored to decimate it, and especially if it has to come in earlier in the game to perform clerical roles, without wish support its an easily overwhelmed pokemon.

A => A- / B+
Machamp is honestly still an awesome pokemon. Hes strong, bulky, but he's just really underwhelming. The nerf to Dynamic Punch makes it struggle a lot more than people think because it can no longer force really unfortunate 50/50s and furthermore its AV set is honestly not all the bulky considering the sheer force of most of the special mons in the tier (Necrozma, Specs Rotom-C, etc.) It just ultimately feels overall underwhelming, with bullet punch not being very strong and selection of guts close combat making it even easier to wear down overall – I also tend to find that it has a hard time just finding reasons to switch in since a lot of the dark types in the meta can 2hko it as is.
 
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A => A- / B+
Machamp is honestly still an awesome pokemon. Hes strong, bulky, but he's just really underwhelming. The nerf to Dynamic Punch makes it struggle a lot more than people think because it can no longer force really unfortunate 50/50s and furthermore its AV set is honestly not all the bulky considering the sheer force of most of the special mons in the tier (Necrozma, Specs Rotom-C, etc.) It just ultimately feels overall underwhelming, with bullet punch not being very strong and selection of guts close combat making it even easier to wear down overall – I also tend to find that it has a hard time just finding reasons to switch in since a lot of the dark types in the meta can 2hko it as is.
if you're evaluating Machamp's viability on the merits of a No Guard AV set, then I can understand why you're so disappointed by it. AV champ is just a very mediocre set, although Champ has nice special bulk with AV he sacrifices power for it, has no real advantageous ability + stab combo to run with it, and his bland defensive typing gives him no important resists on the special side that would justify running AV (especially against Necrozma wut). If I wanted an AV fighting type I'd rather use Hairyama, who has superior bulk and actual useful resistences thanks to thick fat, notably allowing him to counter Houndoom, whereas Champ gets 3hko'd by Fire Blast. If you want a look at what defines Machamp as a pokemon in this meta, it's Flame Orb sets: its unrivaled power and coverage allow it to outright 2hko the entire tier while also taking advantage of popular glue mons like Rhydon and Steelix to force out and fire off attacks.

Still, I can be sympathetic to some of your views. His bulk, while nice, isn't exactly stellar, and, combined with his aforementioned bland defensive typing and burn damage, really strap him for switch-ins, forcing him to be brought in via smart double or volt-turn. He's also incredibly slow, making him easy to revenge kill by anything that doesn't mind a bullet punch. Given that, I could MAYBE see a drop to A-, but I think anything lower than that would be really underselling the Champ.
 

Disjunction

Everything I waste gets recycled
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Also double posting cause I can't sleep and I wanna respond to a couple of points in here
Hey, I'm new to the forums, so I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, but I'd like to nominate Mawile from unranked to C-.

Mawile @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Play Rough

I believe Mawile should be C- because it has the valuable niche of being able to set up stealth rocks while being able to keep rocks up against most of the relevant hazard removers. For example, Mawile is able to come into Golbat and Hitmontop with little worry and proceed to threaten them out and set rocks up, as Golbat can't touch Mawile and risks losing its eviolite, and Hitmontop loses to play rough. Mawile is also able to force out Hitmonlee, Skuntank, Cryogonal, and Komala. The only notable spinners that Mawile loses to are Earth Power Claydol and Hitmonlee, assuming Mawile switches into a High Jump Kick. With the ability to force hazard removers out, Mawile is able to reliably set up rocks in many scenarios.
Compared to other stealth rock users, such as Steelix and Rhydon, Mawile has the niche of carrying both taunt and knock off, adding valuable utility to the team and being able to prevent being set up on by hazard setters or status boosters. With the base speed of 50, Mawile is able to outspeed slower stealth rock users such as Rhydon, Steelix, and Druddigon and taunt them to prevent them from setting up, while also being able to stomach an earthquake thanks to intimidate. Access to knock off is always a good thing, and allows Mawile to chunk about 40% from Xatu while also removing its leftovers, allowing you to switch in a check while it is forced to roost. Also, while other rock and steel stealth rock setters tend to invite fighting types who can threaten them out, such as Machamp, Mawile is able to prevent that thanks to play rough. Furthermore, compared to Uxie and Mesprit, Mawile has a better time dealing with dark types, due to not being pursuit weak and its fairy typing.
Speaking of typing, Mawile's unique typing in NU allows it to have a niche of being a check to several pokemon. For example, Mawile can check/counter Tyrantrum (assuming it comes in on any move other than Earthquake), Sneasel, Kangaskhan, Scrafty, Skuntank, and Gallade pretty well.
Of course, there are many down sides when using Mawile, most notably its horrible base stats. Its poor speed means that it can't prevent pokemon like Garbodor and Weezing from setting up at least one set of toxic spikes. It also lacks the bulkiness of other stealth rock users. It also fails to get past Xatu, while things like Rhydon can muscle through it and Mesprit can simply U-Turn for momentum. With that said, I think Mawile should go from unranked to C-. It fulfills the niche of setting up rocks, preventing the removal of rocks, being a stealth rock setter with access to taunt and knock off, and having a unique typing in NU that allows it to check and counter specific pokemon that others can't. In my opinion it is definitely on par with the other pokemon that are ranked C-.
I haven't used defensive maw myself and I don't necessarily agree that the set you posted is the most optimal, but I think ranking it on the grounds of being a rocker that completely shuts down Sneasel is enough to have it considered. Intimidate is super useful for shit like Drapion and Viriz, too. No BP sucks, but it probably still plays similarly to how it did in oras. I'd mildly support this.
I'm gonna be the that guy. I'm going to nominate Silvally.

I believe that Silvally-Normal is a 'mon often slept on because of its very average stats. I am fully aware that Silvally-Normal is heavily outclassed by many other Pokemon, so I am going to give a realistic analysis of it.

I believe Silvally-Normal should be at least C+ rank.

Silvally @ Normalium Z
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Explosion (Double-Edge if you don't wanna blow up)
- Flame Charge
- Crunch
- Swords Dance

Silvally-Normal is a relatively quick 'mon with oppertunities to raise its Speed with ease. It will almost always get at least one Swords Dance in on any major threat slower than it and typically, thanks to its 95/95/95 defensive stats, will live almost any neutral hit in the entire tier. Once you have a Flame Charge going and one Swords Dance, Crunch is very useful for the omnipresent Mismagius that typically gives it problems without it. Once you get one Flame Charge up on that set, you have 476 Speed, which is nearly unparalelled in NU.

Normalium Z is used so Silvally doesn't have to commit suicide the first time it uses its STAB Explosion, which, even as a somewhat weaker Z move, is still insanely powerful and will OHKO even certain 'mons that resist it, and once you come close to dying, you explode for real and most definitely take out the 'mon in front of it.

Silvally has a huge number of drawbacks that do set it back, however. Aggron is a near-perfect counter to that set, and burn, if not countered by Attack boosts as quickly as possible. Silvally has Base 95 Attack and Speed as well, which, though good looking on paper, do not translate well in battle- there's a reason those boosting moves are absolutely vital to the set working. Mismagius can stop Silvally in its tracks if it does not run Crunch, as Mismagius typically carries Will-O-Wisp and a burned Silvally with this set is slowed down or stopped completely if setups have not already occurred. Emboar also will OHKO outright. Also, this set has very little durability and is built to be worn down after a while, and explode.

Just a few calcs, I don't know how to format this site yet so bear with me...
+2 252 Atk Silvally Explosion vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tyrantrum: 282-333 (92.4 - 109.1%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Silvally Explosion vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Emboar: 466-550 (129 - 152.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Silvally Breakneck Blitz (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Emboar: 373-441 (103.3 - 122.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Silvally Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mismagius: 214-252 (81.9 - 96.5%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Silvally Breakneck Blitz (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Vaporeon: 567-667 (122.1 - 143.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Just so we're clear- Silvally is not a complete and utter monster- but it is often a 'mon slept on for no reason.

There are also several other sets Silvally can run that are almost as good- however, the set I have prescribed has given me the most success of all of my sets.

Silvally-Normal should definitely rise to at least C+. It is easily on par with other 'mons in C+, and even many in B- or even B. However, due to some flaws, like its mediocre damage output until boosted, it should never rise higher than that.
Being overly dependent on Z-Explosion isn't a good sign if you're developing a sweeper set. Silvally can't get past most of the common Normal resists in the tier, such as Steelix, Cofagrigus, and Rhydon, without running some weird, untested coverage moves. Why would I run Silvally, which needs to use Flame Charge to catch up to the rest of the meta to become threatening, when I could just use Tauros, Kangaskhan, or even Cincinno?
S Rank

Agree with Sneasel and Tyrantrum. Necrozma shouldn't be so high up, it's wrecked by status and set up fodder for most Dark types.

A+ Houndoom? Really? It's not that fast, not that strong, has common weaknesses and is frail as hell. Agree otherwise

A Agree with that apart from Slowking. IMO that should be A- / B+

A- Barbaracle? Why is that thing so high? Most bulky Grass types easily shut it down. Also lol that Garbador is higher than Qwilfish, Qwilfish outclasses it in almost every way. Intimidate gives it more immediate physical bulk and lets it force switches to set up Spikes, its Water typing gives it more switch in opportunities, it has more utility options in Taunt, Scald, Thunder Wave and Destiny Bond. It does struggle with Xatu more, but that's why you run it alongside Spiritomb.

252+ Atk Guts Machamp Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Garbodor: 215-254 (59 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Guts Machamp Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Qwilfish: 138-163 (41.3 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Speaking of Spiritomb, that thing should be in A-, it's the best spin blocker bar none. Unlike Jellicent and Cofagrigus, it's neutral to the Knock Off that many physical spinners run (and in Claydol's case, Shadow Ball). It can also check many dangerous Pokemon like Flame Orb Machamp, Life Orb Hitmonlee, and Tauros. The All out attacker set isn't that good right now, but CroTomb is an excellent late game sweeper.
I'll just respond to your points while ignoring what's been said about the S ranks.

Houndoom is one of the tier's premiere wallbreakers and sweepers right now. "Not that strong" makes me think you haven't used it when this thing tears through common defensive cores like it's nothing. Nasty Plot sets basically invalidate balance while Flame Charge sets take advantage of free turns, which come your way frequently with its great typing and ability to force offensive momentum in your favor, to put more pressure on offensive teams.

Houndoom @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Nasty Plot

try out the set yourself and see for yourself how good it is. I think Golbat makes a phenomenal partner for it if you wanted a starting place.

Most bulky Grass-types actually do not shut down barb. Stone Edge has become commonplace on the set and I think the mon itself has a terrifying amount of potential to grow as a sweeper in the future.

Barbaracle @ Rockium Z
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- Razor Shell
- Earthquake

+2 Adamant Continental Crush OHKOes Virizion from full in case you were wondering.

Qwil also doesn't outclass garb at all. It's bulkier but that's where its advantages over garb stop. When it comes to Spikers on any team archetype outside of Stall, you really want something that can put pressure on the opponent outside of just the Spikes themselves. Garb's ability to lay on pressure with powerful Gunk Shots, random ass coverage moves, and especially Aftermath damage is way more than enough to justify it over Qwil. Qwil's decent, but because of the variety of utility moves that it desperately wants to run, you'll almost always end up running defensive Qwilfish with maybe Scald or Poison Jab to keep it from being a sit around do nothing mon.

I think Spiritomb is the epitome of disappointment. The physically offensive set relies on Pursuit, Sucker Punch, and Shadow Sneak for damage which is a huge letdown for something that you want to use to actually cause damage. It could just be me, but I don't like having Shadow Sneak as my only way of hitting Fighting-types and Pursuit as my only way of hitting Normal-types that don't click attacking moves. The cm set is decent, but it really falls apart in a meta where Fairy-types and Fairy-type coverage are more commonplace. Cofagrigus is, by far, the best spinblocker in the tier for offensive playstyles because of how fucking strong it is and how much it can do for a team.

Cofagrigus @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Trick Room
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

It's legitimately one of the most splashable and dominant forces in the meta right now.


Cinccino C+ -> B

What is this cute fluffy thing doing in C+? In my opinion, it's one of the deadliest wallbreakers in the tier. Although its Attack is only 95, which isn't THAT high, but still acceptable (equivalent to Sneasel), with Cinccino's blazing fast Speed (also equivalent to Sneasel) and amazing movepool to complement its ability, Skill Link, should already place it above C-tier. Access to Bullet Seed, Rock Blast, and Tail Slap, all amazing 25 BP 5-Multi-Hit moves, gives Cinccino access to literally 125 BP moves at its disposal, with the bonus of breaking through Substitutes, Sturdy, and Focus Sashes. In fact, with STAB Tail Slap, it is able to OHKO a good number of frailer Pokemon in the tier.

252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Tail Slap (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Sceptile: 310-370 (110.3 - 131.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Tail Slap (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tauros: 220-275 (75.6 - 94.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

That's not all; Cinccino's access to great coverage options in the form of Bullet Seed and Rock Blast help it tremendously to dispatch many common walls in the tier, something that Sneasel cannot boast.

252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 248 HP / 176+ Def Jellicent: 285-350 (70.7 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Rhydon: 340-415 (82.1 - 100.2%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Seismitoad: 520-625 (125.6 - 150.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Vaporeon: 285-350 (63 - 77.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery


252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Golbat: 180-220 (50.8 - 62.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Cinccino Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 240 Def Xatu: 285-350 (85.3 - 104.7%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO

The fact that Cinccino is able to enjoy a 2HKO on many of the walls in the tier ensures that Cinccino can clean up easily after a match after they are weakened, or in fact weaken specific checks or counters for a teammate to sweep.

Additionally, while Life Orb is the preferred set for Cinccino in order to enjoy its amazing coverage, Cinccino can also opt to run a Choice Band set (similar to the Sneasel conundrum), which then also can actively function as a pivot thanks to Cinccino's access to U-Turn. Knock Off is also available for Cinccino to learn, in the event that the coverage is needed, and also to disrupt opponents by making them lose their item.

Although it is unfortunate that the main counter to Cinccino is one of the most common physical walls in the tier, Steelix, Cinccino users can opt to circumvent this using Z-Focus Blast:

4 SpA Cinccino All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 244 HP / 128 SpD Steelix: 230-272 (65.3 - 77.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

This adds additional utility to Cinccino by allowing it to function as the perfect Steelix lure: as Steelix has no reliable recovery, it will be severely crippled for the rest of the match, potentially allowing a teammate to muscle past and sweep.

Finally, an additional option is to use Work Up Cinccino, allowing her to function as a late-game sweeper, once all faster threats and priority users are removed. I've also seen some users running King's Rock Cinccino, relying on that 41% flinch chance to clutch win, but that's annoying.

Alas, I recognize that one main flaw that gives me pause when using Cinccino is that her powerful STAB attack is not spammable - with a 85% Accuracy, equivalent to moves like Fire Blast. However, one should also note that a 125 BP Tail Slap is a boost compared to Fire Blast's 110 BP.

In summary, I would like to make the case for Cinccino being a powerful wallbreaker with amazing coverage, and has underrated versatility in being able to lure, pivot, sweep, or clean, depending on the user's needs. Such a talented Pokemon should not be made to stay C Rank.
I've used Cincinno a lot as well, so let me offer my own viewpoint on why I wanted it in the rank it's currently in while addressing some of your own points.

I'll start by saying that I believe the only set Cinccino should ever run is CB. Work Up is a neat lure and it can provide some interesting situations, but I believe as soon as it's revealed you're Work Up, Cinccino becomes an infinitely less useful Pokemon. Even with the Choice Band boost, I've found Cinccino unable to pick up a lot of vital KOes on mons at full without some prior damage and the same is dramatically more true for unboosted Cinccino. Not only are you wasting your Z Crystal slot on a move that doesn't even KO the mon you're trying to lure, but you're also making Cinccino far less threatening at the same time. You will only ever be able to get up a Work Up using offensive momentum from a bluff that will only be able to work once until people realize that it takes you a full turn to be as threatening as they initially thought you were.

I also just think that using Cinccino in a metagame where Cofagrigus is such a good Pokemon is criminal.

Small nom


Liepard C- -> C

Yeah, sure, other Dark Types such as Sneasel currently roam the tier and this is just not as good as it once was. However, it does have one niche over most other Dark Types, that being U-Turn. U-Turn allows Liepard to gain momentum and switch out against Dark Resists such as Aromatisse / Toxicroak / Granbull etc which Sneasel cannot do and instead, has to manually switch out. A Band Set is scary and the ability to pursuit trap is amazing U-Turn / Pursuit / Knock Off are all extremely amazing moves which do a lot. Last slot can be anything really, Seed Bomb hits Rhydon / Gunk Shot hits fairies and Play Rough hits fighting types. Trick is also an option to cripple some Pokemon, but I'd heavily advise against it. Pursuit is also able to trap the new additions of Slowbro + Slowking. An Offensive Pivot set is just as good with Black Glasses + Encore due to Prankster whilst still being able to fire Knock Offs without being too weak. You're also able to run Sucker Punch on this set to pick off weakened / faster threats. Weather support too? But that's probably ass, lol. It also sits a decent speed tier. Overall, yes, it faces competition from most Dark Types but it's still able to exert heavy pressure and access to U-Turn sets it apart from most other Dark Types.

Also, support the Mawile rise
U-turn's cute but is the momentum really worth running Band Liepard over literally the best mon in the tier Sneasel? Worse Speed tier, weaker, Prankster nerfs, Sucker Punch nerf, Whimsicott and the Fairy boys, etc make life a severe hell for this thing. the only reason it's ranked is because of Prankster weather otherwise I really don't think it's worth touching.

I'm gonna stop before brawl's post while I'm ahead. I'm gonna hold off on posting my own ideas for changes until post-bans meta settles a tad and we get usage shifts.
 

Metal Sonic

Resurgence
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I've used Cincinno a lot as well, so let me offer my own viewpoint on why I wanted it in the rank it's currently in while addressing some of your own points.

I'll start by saying that I believe the only set Cinccino should ever run is CB. Work Up is a neat lure and it can provide some interesting situations, but I believe as soon as it's revealed you're Work Up, Cinccino becomes an infinitely less useful Pokemon. Even with the Choice Band boost, I've found Cinccino unable to pick up a lot of vital KOes on mons at full without some prior damage and the same is dramatically more true for unboosted Cinccino. Not only are you wasting your Z Crystal slot on a move that doesn't even KO the mon you're trying to lure, but you're also making Cinccino far less threatening at the same time. You will only ever be able to get up a Work Up using offensive momentum from a bluff that will only be able to work once until people realize that it takes you a full turn to be as threatening as they initially thought you were.

I also just think that using Cinccino in a metagame where Cofagrigus is such a good Pokemon is criminal.
I disagree! Life Orb Cinccino is a great set because of its wallbreaking potential, as I've mainly focused on in my post; Cinccino's coverage and high base power moves are in my opinion its most powerful assets. Your reply focused on Cinccino being only a sweeper, which I've made the case against; it can play multiple roles such as cleaner, lure, sweeper, wallbreaker, and pivot, depending on the user's needs.

Of course, I agree that its counters are common; Steelix and Cofagrigus do not give it a good time, though this is a reason why I'm nominating for B rank and not A. But I believe it shouldn't remain in C.

With the usage statistics changing though, perhaps we'll see less physical walls in the tier due to Tyrantrum being gone, perhaps allowing Cinccino to be more viable :) We'll see.
 
Being overly dependent on Z-Explosion isn't a good sign if you're developing a sweeper set. Silvally can't get past most of the common Normal resists in the tier, such as Steelix, Cofagrigus, and Rhydon, without running some weird, untested coverage moves. Why would I run Silvally, which needs to use Flame Charge to catch up to the rest of the meta to become threatening, when I could just use Tauros, Kangaskhan, or even Cincinno?
Because Silvally can actually take a decent hit from most of the meta, and there is Crunch for Cofagrigus if you are worried about getting past it. And I did also say Double Edge works if you don't want to have to die quite so fast. Flame Charge is there to counter Steels. I did not say this set was flawless and it isn't. It can still do a respectable amount to Steelix, though it is pretty much stopped in its tracks by Rhydon. But so are Tauros and Kangaskhan, and if I recall correctly- neither of them can take a hit quite as well and in Kangaskhan's case, isn't even any stronger.

The Z move guarantees an OHKO on most non-resisted things in the tier, even though it might be better to switch up the Z crystal with a Darkinium Z. I'm just saying it doesn't deserve to be completely glossed over and ignored. It's certainly better than some of the stuff in C-.

There's a reason why i didn't mention it going up to like B. It isn't that good. But it is good enough to at least be mentioned in a low rank.
 

Metal Sonic

Resurgence
is a Tutor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
A bit unconventional opinion here but let's see if this nomination will work out:


Meloetta: A+ -> S Rank
Meloetta @ Assault Vest
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Relic Song
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Psychic

Assault Vest Meloetta with 100/128 Special Defense makes her tankier than even AV Slowking, which is commonly regarded as "the best special tank in the tier". I believe that Meloetta's amazing potential with Assault Vest is a fact that not many are aware of.

Have any of you tried Meloetta-Pirouette yet? This set is ultra lit. I've was inspired by my success with it back in the day in BW UU, and after 200+ games of testing in SM NU, I'm confident to say that Meloetta is a dominant force in the tier.

With Relic Song, Meloetta transforms into her rarely-seen Pirouette form, with an obscene speed tier and excellent Attack. One highly interesting fact is that both forms function entirely differently, and each are able to eliminate its own checks and counters: Meloetta's weaknesses, Bug and Dark, are resisted by her Pirouette form, while the Psychic attacks that threaten Pirouette form are tanked by her Aria form. Furthermore, with the exception of the rare Flying-type attacks in the tier, Aria-forme Meloette with AV can tank Moonblasts with ease, allowing it to be a threatening check to the Fairy-types that attempt to switch in. That sneaky Sneasel trying to switch into your Meloetta, thinking it's a CM or standard All-Out Attacking AV set, will be forced out when you Relic Song on the switch into Meloetta-P, threatening with a literally faster Close Combat. Other Darks like Incineroar and Scrafty also do not appreciate being OHKOed by Close Combat.

With Knock Off, Meloetta functions even better by disrupting the opponents and removing their extremely valuable held items - Removing Leftovers from walls, Choice items from threatening sweepers, typical Knock Off Utility. Furthermore, it perfects the Psychic-Fighting-Dark coverage all in one single Pokemon, with STAB! This fact is absolutely amazing, allowing Meloetta to function as a highly underrated Tank that few can switch into in practice. By being Mixed, neither Physical nor Special walls are able to take hits easily either, especially when their Leftovers are Knocked Off! It is also important to note that Meloetta can still abuse the utility of Knock Off while in Aria forme, and need not necessarily use Relic Song in order to reap its benefits or to dent opposing Ghost or Psychic types.

Finally, Serene Grace Relic Song's 20% Sleep chance can punish switch-ins if the user is lucky. This can turn the tides of a game immensely, especially if the switch-in is vital to the opponent's team. The fact that Meloetta can spam Relic Song coming off 128 Special Attack and 100% Accuracy makes this very attractive.

I strongly encourage all of you to try her out; she's extremely great in practice, and I've achieved great success with Meloetta on the NU Ladder (1600+)

Apart from this novel set that I wanted to showcase, Meloetta in general can also function as the next premier Calm Mind setter, since Necrozma is now banned. With a variety of sets that it can run (Choice Scarf, Choice Specs, AV, CM, and mine above are all viable), complemented with awesome stats and a solid movepool (she has access to a variety of powerful special moves like Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Focus Blast, and Thunderbolt, while also having utility moves like Reflect, Light Screen, and Heal Bell), perhaps we can consider adding Meloetta to the same rank as Sneasel!

Also, being the number one Cofagrigus counter is just fantastic.
 
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