Rate of the Week V3: Week 9

[Enki]

Rate of the Week
​

Welcome to Rate of the Week! This is a project that looks to bring quality individual rates into the spotlight and recognizes the hard work of unbadged raters. Here's how it will work:

• Each week, official Team Raters will be paying close attention to the RMT forum and reading the rates posted in their respective tiers. They will then shortlist a few which will be in contention for the Rate of the Week award.
• From the pool of shortlisted rates, one will be chosen which most exemplifies the qualities of an excellent rate. That rater will be the winner for that particular tier!
• A post will be made by an official TR who specialises in that tier, explaining how and why the particular rate won. This will allow aspiring raters to gain an idea of what constitutes high-quality rates, and hopefully incorporate those aspects into their own rates.
• There will be multiple winners every week, one from OU and a couple from other tiers depending on the quality of the rates posted. We hope that in this way we can expand rating activity in less popular tiers, while maintaining a weekly OU winner.
• Official Team Raters are eligible to win, but not more than once. Unbadged raters can win the award multiple times.

So what's in it for the winners? Well, they will earn a place in the Hall of Fame, which will be kept in the OP of every thread, and their rates will be announced on social media. Also, after gaining 3 places in the Hall of Fame, a rater can be eligible to earn room voice in the RMT room on PS! on the condition that they've shown an interest in getting involved. Winners also earn more consideration for the Ladybug

and Team Rater

badges.

We hope that this project will encourage people to put more effort into their rates and become better and more experienced raters, which will consequently increase the quality as well as the quantity of rates in the forum. Good luck to you all!

Hall of Fame

Week #1 - Toon Linked (OU)
Week #2 - Nedor (OU), Arifeen (UU)
Week #3 - Fireburn (Ubers), Do A Bibarel (UU)
Week #4 - AM (OU), Raiza (PU), Kiyo (NU)
Week #5 - FlamingVictini (OU)
Week #6 - Cyndequil. (UU)
Week #7 - BreloomMyHomie (OU)
Week #8 - FlamingVictini (OU)
Week #9 - oml it's too ez (OU), Cyndequil. (UU), MrAldo (RU)

 

[Tricking]

This week's OU winner is oml it's too ez! He did a great rate which features both good changes and explanations. He started noticing a glaring weakness to setup sweepers, and he therefore suggested to replace his cleric Sylveon with a more useful Unaware Clefable. Then, he opted for a bulkier spread for Starmie and the addition of Recover in order to maximize its longevity throughout the battle. This change is particularly useful when facing Keldeo and Heatran as well, especially considering they heavily threaten Volcarona.

At this point, he noticed that the team was lacking a Ground immunity, and he thus decided to add Latias-Mega in lieu of Swampert-Mega, which was completely dispensable for the team synergy. This change granted one of the most solid answers in the metagame versus Charizard-Y, which usually demolishes this kind of team.

After that, he fixed Ferrothorn's spread in order to better check Mega Gardevoir, while not losing much bulk. Finally, after further looking at the team, he noticed that an offensive variant of Volcarona would be compatible with the rest of the team. So he suggested this final change that, although being not mandatory at all, could improve the matchup against some kinds of teams.

Thanks to his specific and complete rate, oml it's too ez has earned himself a spot in the Hall of Fame. Congratulations!

 

[feen]

This week's RU winner is MrAldo! His rate was a well written one with an impressive format. First, he identified the team's massive weakness in Psychic- and Fighting-types. His smart change of Rotom to Spiritomb mitigated the issue and relieved the pressure on Uxie being the team's only Fighting-type resist. This change was a great one, as Psychic-type Pokemon such as Meloetta and Hoopa could have switched into Uxie and Blastoise and take down a Pokemon, but now are discouraged to do so because they could be trapped by Pursuit.

As he removed Rotom, he stated that he removed a Durant check and that Virizion was pretty much redundant in the team, as the team has Abomasnow. The team also needed a good Ice- and Steel-type resists, as Mega Glalie, Durant, and Escavalier looked very dangerous. To remedy this, he suggested Choice Scarf Emboar over Virizion, improving his matchup versus those Pokemon, and increasing the overall Speed of the team.

After these two major changes, he made some minor changes. He changed the Uxie set to a better one in order to fare more efficiently. He suggested Refresh on Blastoise, as his team did not have a status absorber. He also changed the Abomasnow set, as Swords Dance Abomasnow is pretty weak, and the mixed All-Out Attacker set is much better due to it having fewer checks. Finally, he changed the Rhyperior set so that it could damage Flygon and changed the nature to Jolly, as after a Rock Polish Rhyperior would want to outspeed Choice Scarf Emboar and Dugtrio. He also proposed Choice Band on Rhyperior, as it seems more useful to the team.

Thanks to his in-depth rate, MrAldo has earned himself a spot in the Hall of Fame. Congratulations!

 

[feen]

This week's UU winner is Cyndequil.! He posted a very well written rate with a nice format. First, he suggested running Florges over Blissey, as Florges gives the team a check to Taunt users such as Hydreigon and Sableye. Florges also acts as a nice Wish passer to heal up tanks such as Forretress, as it doesn't have reliable recovery. Moreover, Florges gives the team a much needed Fighting-type resist. His next change of Toxicroak over Mienshao was a smart one, as Toxicroak gives the team a better matchup against bulky Water-types such as Suicune and Crawdaunt. Toxicroak also gives the team a Toxic Spikes absorber, which is really appreciated on balanced teams.

Cyndequil. then proceeded to change the Aerodactyl moves in order to fare better in the current metagame. He removed Stealth Rock from Aerodactyl, so instead he suggested to use Stealth Rock over Spikes on Forretress and change the spread to physically defensive in order to check Beedrill, which is a massive threat to the team. He also suggested Leftovers and use Overcoat as ability, as Sturdy was pretty redundant. He also changed the Hydreigon set to check Chandelure and Houndoom, as well as KO Whimsicott and Cobalion with Flamethrower. Finally, he suggested Roar over Calm Mind on Suicune to phaze out setup sweepers such as Gyarados and gave Speed EVs to creep opposing Roar Suicunes.

Thanks to his impressive rate, Cyndequil. has earned himself a spot in the Hall of Fame. Congratulations!