Haven't posted in here in a while...
Rotom-F to S
I honeslty feel like this could be the best Pokemon in the metagame, as it is one of the hardest Pokemon to prepare for as you cannot slap one mon on your team and not be weak to rotom. This reminds me of Floatzel, as that can run two different sets and between them, don't share a counter, however, alone, both Floatzel's sets can easily be stopped, but this isn't the same on each of Rotom's sets, as for example, it can runs Trick to beat Audino, or Life Orb to 2HKO Camerupt, and even substitute + will-o-wisp can screw over possible checks like Grumpig. Most people's methods to checking Rotom-f is running Grumpig or Probopass and hope that between them and faster mons Rotom can be stopped, but very rarely are those mons actually able to stay healthy throughout the match in order to effectively check it. More than often Rotom-f will be able to whittle them down and end up healthy enough to still be a threat. Sub rotom is so good at this as its bulk is decently high, and with will-o-wisp it makes every physical mon and defensive pokemon sub fodder. Scarf Rotom is ridiculously pressuring for any offensive team as the only real reliable stop to its volt switches are seaking and camerupt, neither of which are particularly good mons, and outside of that, Rotom will almost always get momentum as players generally wont risk their Stunfisk/Gabite rather go into something like grumpig, as the risk outweighs the reward. Overall Rotom-f has a huge effect on every playstyle and will almost always perform making it a very defining Pokemon in the metagame.
Zebstrika to A
This just doesn't feel like a top 5 (or 10 for that matter) mon anymore due to the way the metagame has shaped and become very harsh towards it. Players simply don't not run electric-type checks. Stunfisk is everywhere, and teams without it will be running something like a Golem or Roselia or Camerupt. I think its fair enough to say that Zebstrika is mainly ranked so high due to its strong matchup vs offensive teams, and though offensive teams are still common and good right now, I have noticed a rise in Stunfisk balance teams (and teams have generally been more balanced), and even offensive teams are working in checks better. If the opponent has a Stunfisk (or ground Pokemon that walls it), Zebby won't be doing much work without a Trapinch to threaten them, and even if the opp is running Roselia or Audino, the most Zebby is going to do is Volt Switch out and gaining momentum. As for its matchup vs offensive teams, more and more players are running specially bulky pivots like AV Bouff and Grumpig which means it can no longer gain momentum and cripple the opponents team and possibly sweep, but just the former, which isn't enough to keep it a+. Competition for its team slot has never been higher with Pokemon like Electrode and Rotom-f gaining popularity. Although the hype about Electrode has died down since the hype of chatot also has, and defensive Roselia has gotten better (that prolly should get demoted imho), Rotom-f (as explained earlier) is amazing right now, and the scarf variant is even more threatening to offensive teams due its Ice secondary STAB and with scarf it can hit hard and outspeed threats like SS Gorebyss (scarf rotom is only like 5-10% less weaker than LO zebby). Zebby just isn't the threat that it used to be :(.
Stunfisk to A+
This I feel is long overdue, but now eggy is gone I will finally nom it. For a while now Stunfisk has risen and become the primary physical wall in the tier, as it can hard counter common mons like Zebstrika, and can blanket check so many physical attackers like Dodrio, Monferno, and Pawniard. Most people disagreeing with this nomination do so because they feel like it gets warn down very quickly, and although it does get warn down, in doing so it will often wear down the offensive mons it needs to and set up Stealth Rocks, and for the record, it isn't meant to be able to counter an overload of physical attackers so just because between SD Monferno and CB Dodrio it dies, doesn't mean it hasn't done its job. Most games it will be able to pick out and counter a specific threat, and even if the opponent has two threats it would like to check and cant, Stunfisk nearly always has at least a teammate to put pressure on those mons (or audino to wishpass). The next main counter argument is that it is passive so can be taken advantage of by mons like Rotom-f and Roselia. Im not going to cherry pick this as Roselia can freely Spike on it and Rotom-f can Substitute on non Rock Tomb variants (which is a really cool move on it), but with moves like Thunder Wave there aren't a load of mons which can set up on it (ofc there are mons to force it out and set up - that is the same with every mon in the tier - at least fisk can live an unboosted hit from for example huntail). This I feel is where people draw the line, however I dont think that is enough to stop it from going up due to the sheer amount it can wall, and just being added to a team, that team has a much easier time vs many top tier threats as mentioned earlier.
Other than that I like how the VR is looking rn
