trc I'd like to know why Mega Slowbro rose since there was barely any discussion on it. Also I'm not sure what kept Magneton in B- given that it lost its main niche?
Idk but there was discussion about putting it up to A+ ages ago with basically no one arguing about it so I guess the council just came to a decision very recently?
Anyway I agree that it's about time Keldeo went back in S rank. Some may argue that it lost a niche in being one of the best Greninja checks, but now that it isn't forced to run Scarf, it can more freely run Sub CM and Specs, so Greninja's banning made it better if anything. It's very comparable to Landorus-T in the sense that although it is stopped by a good number of Pokemon, the combined offensive and defensive utility it provides is incredible and it is extremely easy to just slap on a team. Being checked by a lot of things doesn't prevent you from being S rank, as long as what you bring to the team can almost always justify being weaker to the things that check it, and for Keldeo I think that's definitely the case, especially given its ability to wear down or lure its counters (for example, HP Bug is a very viable option atm for taking care of Celebi and Slowbro at once) which means most teams have to carry multiple good checks in order to be truly safe against it. A team running Latios lacking Roost and Chesnaught is still probably weak to Keldeo, since it can almost always come in enough time to end up burning both of them, maybe even hitting them with Icy Wind if it carries it. And Keldeo is often the only thing stopping teams from being 6-0'd by Bisharp and MGyara, and is able to put in work against multiple playstyles (unless it's Scarfed in which case it's not doing much of anything vs Stall) while providing most of the roles of a bulky water but with added offensive presence.
But what makes Keldeo so good is the incredibly synergy it has with a lot of really good Pokemon. Mega Metagross mainly, we all know how common and effective MMeta+Keldeo cores are atm. But also Heatran, Latios, Celebi, Talonflame, Bisharp... So many common Pokemon pair up really well with it that you can pretty much put it on a team and almost guarantee it'll inherently fit there. Overall, Keldeo is probably the Pokemon I've used the most in ORAS, more than Latios, more than Heatran, far more than even Landorus-T, and there's a good reason for that. Very easy to use, very easy to fit on teams, comes at almost no risk at all, and almost always puts in works even if the opponent has multiple checks.
Agreeing with this. Keldeo is excellent in the current meta as well as being quite versatile. I find myself slapping him on my teams quite a lot these days and he always contributes really well.
Mega Lopunny is a borderline case for me. It's not on par with the 2 other megas of S rank, however it is better than anything currently residing in A+. Someone highlighted it as the best mega for HO, while MMeta was best for bulky offense and Sableye for stall, but the thing is, MMeta is kind of the best HO mega too, simply because it provides so much more defensively. However MLopunny still puts in a huge amount of work against a lot of teams, especially the PuP sets which are imo the best sets atm. Even some bulkier teams just need a few things weakened before completely falling to a +1 MLopunny. Whether we put it in S or A+ ultimately depends on how strongly we weigh the opportunity cost of not running MMetagross or MSableye.
I think Mega Lopunny should stay S. While it's clearly not as good as the other two it is far ahead of anything in A+ and, like the other two S Megas is hard to prepare for without removing a pokemon who would be nearly always superior in any given situation barring checking the S rank Mega it loses to.
Also would like to see more discussion on Tentacruel possibly rising to B+, personally I find it to be a step above most B ranks, particularly Mandibuzz, its closest comparison in that specific. I just find it a lot easier to justify using and more useful too.
I think this is more of a catalyst for Mandibuzz to move down rather than Tentacruel move up. Tenta really hasn't gained anything from the ninja ban, quite the contrary (serperior), it is now lost the advantage of being a decent check to Greninja. I'm not saying it should move down, though Mandibuzz should, but nothing has really changed that would cause it to rise a rank.
(also does Meinshao still have a niche? Seems outclassed by MLopunny now)
Mienshao isn't directly outclassed by Mega Lopunny, especially since it's most viable set in OU is the scarf set which plays quite differently from Mega Lop. It also has a nuking reckless band set which also sets it apart though you are right in saying that the LO set has lost any reason for it to be used at all, except for a "Mega Lopunny" that doesn't use up the mega slot. That being said I think that Mienshao should move down, partly because one of its sets lost its viability altogether and partly because 105 is not as good a speed tier as it once was.