VGC 2015 Viability Rankings (B Rank Nominations)

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Cresselia S -> A: Yes
Thundurus S -> A: Yes
Sylveon S -> A: No
I don't know if there are any reqs to post here, but this is my opinion after some initial play in the format:
Cresselia is a good support mon, but can often be ignored if it's not running Icy Wind, and if it is it gets KO'd by Knock Off from Defiant Bisharp. With one single taunt or encore, it is often made a lot weaker. This doesn't make it a weak pokémon by far, but it feels more like A rank than S rank. There's also not that much diversity in sets it can run (succesfully).
Thundurus is in the same league. Even though it has HP Ice to deal with the ground types that ignore its Thunder Waves and Bolts, it doesn't hit very hard. Like Cres, it is limited in diversity, which makes it easier to prepare vs. (Well, I shouldn't say limited, but it has a very clearly superior set to use.)
Unlike Cres and Thundurus, I feel Sylveon does belong in S. Its sets are not the most diverse. It's going to deal a lot of damage. However, it also has a huge special and manageable physical defenses, to let it take a hit before it gives one back. However, it can run a number of items or sets that make it harder to predict vs:
-Choice specs: spam Hyper Voice. Is countered by Wide Guard, but hits hardest of all options. Set can also run either 4 special attacks for coverage, or only Voice and Sleep Talk if you're scared of Spore and Dark Void.
-Choice Scarf: outspeed some things. Meagre option, I think, but has surprise value.
-Pixie Plate/Life Orb: Usually spam Hyper Voice, but feel free to switch to one of the following: HP Ground, Psyshock, Hyper Beam(dat nuke), Helping Hand, Protect, ???
-Sitrus Berry/Leftovers: live longer
While play against most of these sets is completely similar, it still can throw off calculations if you assume the wrong item. In the worst case, you'll Wide Guard on your fighting type and get a fairy hyper beam or a psyshock for a free KO.
 
Cresselia S -> A: Yes
Thundurus S -> A: Yes
Sylveon S -> A: Yes

Kanga and Lando-T should be the only mons in S atm, imo.

Apart from that, there is some stuff I have no idea how someone could have come up with it:

Raikou A -> B
Milotic A -> B
Rotom-H A -> B
Salamence A -> B
Gengar B -> A
Mega Gengar B -> A
Conkeldurr B -> A
Entei B -> A
Mega Gardevoir B -> A
Hydreigon B -> A
Terrakion B -> A

I don't care about anything lower than that for the moment.

Furthermore, something like A+ with Sylveon, Thundurus, Bisharp, Charizard-Y, Rotom-W, MSalamence should exist. Maybe also Heatran, Aegi, MMeta, not too sure about those, though. Reasons should be obvious~
 
Sylveon S -> A : No
Cresselia S -> A: No
Thundurus S -> A: Yes

I agree that splitting up ranks would be a good idea, so we don't have something like sylveon with raikou at the same level.
 
cutting off votes after a day and a little more of voting.

here's a direct copypaste from the notepad i used to tally the votes (1= one tally):

13 voters

cress
-------
yes 11111111
no 11111

thund
------
yes 1111111111111
no

sylveon
-------
yes 1111111
no 111111

so everything nominated moves down to A tier, though for sylveon it was definitely a close one! next up, we'll be splitting up A into two tiers: A+ and A-. if we need a third tier, feel free to discuss that but otherwise nominate stuff for A+ and A-!
 

GiraGoomy

when you see a good meme
Aegislash: A+
Amoonguss: A+
Bisharp: A+
Charizard-Mega-Y: A+
Cresselia: A+
Garchomp: B
Heatran: A+
Mega-Mawile: A+
Metagross-Mega: A+
Milotic: A-
Raikou: B
Rotom-H: A-
Rotom-W: A+
Salamence: B
Salamence-Mega: A+
Suicune: A-
Sylveon: A+
Talonflame: A-
Thundurus: A+
Venusaur-Mega: A-

Gardevoir-Mega: A-
Hydreigon: A-
Togekiss: A-
Terrakion: A-

Also I think Thundy-T is in the viability rankings twice :S

Also can we nominate mons to go up into A or down into B? If so I'll edit this later.

Edit: Edited w/ the changes I'd make.
 
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DaAwesomeDude1

waiting for a moment
is a Top Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Sweet, Sylveon was so close oml. Well I guess i'll get the ball rolling and nominate:

Gengar and/or Mega Gengar from B to A-: Both of these pokemon are great and none of the newer Pokemon really harm them. The tutors have given Gengar/Mega Gengar another great support move in the form of icy wind (beware of Bisharp tho). With the rise of Sylveon, Aegislash have also been seeing more play and Sashed Gengar is a pretty nice check to it, taunting it to stop any Sub/KS/Wide Guard shenanigans and can KO back with Shadow Ball (as long as no shadow sneak rip). It is also one of the better checks to Mega Kanga as well being able to cripple it with Will-o-Wisp/Disable. Shadow Tag is still one of the best ability in the meta allowing you to trap and potentially cripple your opponent's pokemon. Not to mention, they're both pretty decent checks to Sylveon as well lol.

Hydreigon from B to A-: Even though this thing is weak to Hyper Voice and Fairy in general, it's sheer power imo should put it up to A-. Scarf allows it to outrun faster dragons such as Mega Mence and KO with Draco Meteor. Specs/LO is just sheer power and combined with tailwind, it can tear through teams pretty easily. Access to Earth Power and Levitate puts it above other special attacking dragons such as Salamence and Latios since it won't be walled by Heatran.

A little hesitant on this one but Mega Gardevoir from B to A-: This thing is pretty much Sylveon lol. Although it lacks the explosive power of Specs Sylveon and it takes up a mega spot, Mega Garde makes up for it with it's nice base 100 Speed allowing it to speed tie pokemon like Mega Kanga, Charizard, and Salamence before mega and it's insane base 165 sp atk. Another thing that Mega Garde has that Sylveon doesn't is another STAB move in the form of Psychic/Psyshock and access to Focus Blast meaning that Pokemon such as Heatran and Ferrothorn won't wall Garde as hard as Sylveon. The fact however that specs Sylveon has explosive power and doesn't take up a mega slot however puts Sylveon one notch above Mega Garde.
 
Aegislash: A+ : Great typing, wide guard, powerful and bulky.
Amoonguss: A+ : Probably the best redirector in vgc with spore as well.
Bisharp: A+ : Great against intimidate, trick room, sylveon, just an extremely powerful mon
Charizard-Mega-Y: A- : While it's still incredible, it faces much more competition as a mega and is still weak to rock slide.
Cresselia: A+ : Arguably the best support Pokemon in the tier.
Garchomp: A- : Generally eclipsed by Lando-T and struggles to be used over it.
Heatran: A+ : Fits on a variety of teams and checks many Pokemon.
Mega-Mawile: A+ : Still the best trick room mega with good typing and crazy attack and priority to patch up the low speed
Metagross-Mega: A+ : This was hard but I think it scrapes to A+ with great stats
Milotic: A- : Even after a boost it isn't as hard hitting as it sometimes needs to be
Raikou: B : This thing just isn't on par with other electric types in A
Rotom-H: A- : I don't think this thing is on rotom-w's level since overheat isn't as good as hydro pump and rotom-w has less weaknesses.
Rotom-W: A+ : Utility Pokemon that can spread status and mostly beat some top threats.
Salamence: A- : The scarf set has lost viability, but it is still decent and it can bait people into expecting megamence
Salamence-Mega: A+ : Very powerful threat with the ability to run mixed or dd. At +1 mence can absolutely crush teams, outspeeding many weather sweepers and tailwind Mons. I wouldn't be surprised to see this in S.
Suicune: B : Competes with milotic and other bulky tailwind users
Sylveon: A+ : Specs hyper voice still hits like a truck, I don't think this needs much justification
Talonflame: A+ : Functions as both speed control and powerful attacker with spammable priority.
Thundurus: A+ : Prankster twave and taunt is something nothing else can do with thundurus's offensive presence
Venusaur-Mega: A- : Mence made this worse with ORAS.

Definitely agree with Gengar to A-, Hydreigon to A- and Togekiss to A-
Not sure on Gardevoir.
 
Aegislash: A+ Phenominal typing, answers some of the best mons in the rule set nicely (Kangaskhan, Sylveon, Cresselia) It's such a swell Pokemon
Amoonguss: A+ It's Amoonguss's classic redirectional and sleep support. The Fighting and Water resistances are less useful than before, but it's still great.
Bisharp: A+ I can never seem to use this pokemon properly but a physical attacker with priority than can mess up some really common Pokemon is great.
Charizard-Mega-Y: A+ Tyranitar being less common is helpful, but Landorus-T being everywhere and Fire types coming into relevance with their fairy and steel resistances isn't. You need an answer to this thing, but an answers not too hard to find.
Cresselia: A+ Worse than it's been in past years but it's hard to get better than omnipresent
Garchomp: B I think Garchomp's a whole lot worse off in any tier where Landorus-T's around, both from Landorus-T giving it stiff competition and it's levitating intimidate abilities giving it hell. I think this should fall out of A-rank.
Heatran: A+ A still a sack of really helpful resistances and a good spread move. It lost the whole Eruption thing but I think it's still good.
Mega-Mawile: A+ Still a menace and a forerunner for the second best mega after Kangaskhan
Metagross-Mega: A+ This thing hits hard and synergies well with a lot of the best Pokemon in the tier.
Milotic: A- Makes Landorus a little panicked but it's fairly easy to deal with given the limited coverage if you don't give it the boost.
Raikou: B I've yet to actually see or use Raikou but I'm finding it difficult to justify using it over Thundurus, Zapdos, or either common Rotom
Rotom-H: A- Luigi
Rotom-W: A+ Mario
Salamence: A-
Salamence-Mega: A-
Suicune: B In past years when I've used this thing, I found it to be not very powerful and kind of easy to ignore and deal with later. I haven't seen or used it yet this year but I don't see much reason this should be much different. Good with some team suport still I guess
Sylveon: A+ It's frail physically but it's going to hurt
Talonflame: A- It's immediate power is nice and why you need a flying resist or two
Thundurus: A+ Twaves and Tbolts all over
Venusaur-Mega: A- Still pretty bulky and less Talonflame around helps it.

I'd also like to see:

Hydreigon: A-
Politoed: A-
Ludicolo: A-
Tyranitar: A-

Hydreigon still hits like a truck, Tyranitar still does a bunch of stuff pretty well, and Poltioed + Ludicolo is still threatening. I'd like to see them a little higher.
 
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DaAwesomeDude1

waiting for a moment
is a Top Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnus
I totally forgot to do this rip, well better late than never lol
Aegislash: Abstain but most likely A+ Great check to Sylveon/Kanga/Cresselia although the new Pokemon such as Lando/Heatran as well as the rise of Bisharp kind of hinders it a bit. Wide Guard is really good too
Amoonguss: A+ Even with Mega Mence/Meta this thing is still pretty amazing, Redirection support is nice and so is sleep support, everything else is p much self explanatory
Bisharp: A+ Defiant....that is all (JK but seriously this is p self explanatory)
Charizard-Mega-Y: A- It's still insanely strong but Heatran/Landorus can beat/wall it pretty easily (though you could run a more bulkier set to take rock slides)
Cresselia: A+ Staple on any Trick Room team and a great support movepool
Garchomp: B Intimidate spam, Sylveon, and overall just better dragons to use makes Garchomp not as great as what it used to be
Heatran: A+ Steel/Fire is an amazing typing being able to wall a lot of common types like fairy/dragon/steel/ice/etc
Mega-Mawile: A+ Trick Room got a pretty big boost with Cress being legal again and a great typing too
Metagross-Mega: A+ One of the best megas to be released with ORAS, Steel/Psychic is a really nice typing allowing it to hit common pokemon like Amoonguss and Sylveon. It's also got really nice coverage moves too with Hammer Arm/EQ/Ice Punch
Milotic: B Way too weak, it needs life orb/specs or else it's damage output is low and it needs the +2 boost from competitive to even threaten things that aren't 4x weak to ice
Raikou: B Why was this thing A....? I guess it's nice as a pseudo Mega Manectric but not having intimidate kind of sucks
Rotom-H: A- Not as great as it used to be
Rotom-W: A+ Pretty nice check to Landorus and Heatran plus burn support is always nice
Salamence: B Scarf Salamence isn't as strong as what it used to be, it's coverage moves are alright but the rise in Sylveon/Bisharp/Milotic makes this thing kind of ehh, Heatran is also a major problem too unless Earthquake, TBH you're better off using Scarf Hydreigon
Salamence-Mega: A+ I don't think i need to explain this one lol
Suicune: B It's alright for Tailwind but in terms of other support, you've got icy wind/snarl/scald which is alright but not enough to put it into A rank
Sylveon: A+ Hyper Voice Spam
Talonflame: A- With the release of more Tailwind mons and Intimidate being as popular as ever, Talon isn't as great as it used to be
Thundurus: A+ Great support movepool as well as a decent offensive movepool
Venusaur-Mega: A- It's still not that bad of a pokemon but Mega Meta/Mence threatens this thing quite a bit
 
In my opinion:
Aegislash: A+ Not as great as last year, but it is still one of the most dangerous mons out there.
Amoonguss: A It is still good, but wide range attacks are kind of prominent and that kind of nerfs it. Still a great defensive check for Sylveon and Kangaskhan
Bisharp: A+ Incredible check for Intimidators, Icy Wind Support and amazing Attack stat and good STAB coverage
Charizard(Mega Y): A Is really good as it can still put the weather on but with Landorus and Heatran is not as great as it used to be.
Cresselia: A+ It is so bulky, has plenty of speed control, have a good move coverage, what else can you ask for it? Still, Bisharp and Heatran counters it badly.
Garchomp: B+ Earthquake and Rock Slide coverage is still good on the metagame, but with Intimidate everywhere, with Sylveon around and with Garchomp not having enough power to deal with Intimidate, it got its nerfs.
Heatran: A+ it just checks a lot of the metagame, has a godly defensive typing and Heat Wave.
Mega Mawile: A+ Huge Power and Cresselia usable.....Trick Room teams really got their buffs this time around.
Mega Metagross: A+ Good Offensive Typing and one of the best stats of all the megas out there. The buff in speed, the tutors move return, and checking a lot of offensive and defensive mons (+ Clear Body before mega evo) makes it really good.
Milotic: A- Rather underwhelming indeed, but it got the Special Version of Defiant, supportive moves like Icy Wind and the bane of Special Attackers: Mirror Coat. Needs Competitive boost to deal damage and a moveset completely predictable.
Raikou: B Is Raikou any better than Mega Manectric?
Rotom-H: A Countering 2 incredibly common mons like Sylveon or Heatran is really good, as well as checking a lot of Steel and Fire Types in the metagame is always good. But it is really outclassed by its brother and it can't do too much about it...
Rotom-W: A+ A godly typing in both offense and defense. Rotom-W checks rain teams, checks physical attackers and can handle ground types pretty easily. It is really good.
Salamence: B The special set is nowhere as good as it was in 2014. Like, really, it gets walled by a lot of things and Sylveon is really prominent.
Salamence-Mega: A Really good bulk, speed and attacking power. Mega Mence isn't as strong as Mega Metagross, but is one of the few mons that have a good coverage, the ability to setup on some mons and sheer force that makes him really good. Ice and Fairy weakness is the only thing that nerfs it (AKA sylveon).
Suicune: A- it has the bulk, and has enough power. This supportive mon is Cresselia's child, as it has a pretty good speed control. Also, having 2 weaknesses is always great.
Sylveon: A+ Click Hyper Voice. Also, good supportive movepool (mainly Helping Hand and Rare Heal Bell)
Talonflame: A- Finally the garbaje base attack that talon had is going to be noticed. With bulkier mons to use Tailwind, with the intimidate spam and Heatran in the town Talonflame isn't even close to be as good as last year.
Thundurus: A+ Click Thunder Wave and Thunderbolt. Great supportive mon.
Venusaur-Mega: A- With ORAS Venusaur met both pseudo legendaries as it wasn't supposed to meet them. Mega Mence and Mega Meta are going to do Mega Venusaur's life difficult

Notable mentions are:
Gardevoir-Mega: A-
Hydreigon: A-
Togekiss: A-
Terrakion: A-
Ludicolo: A-
Politoed: A-
 
Milotic: B Completely dead weight without the competitive boosts, painfully slow for a dedicated attacker.
Suicune: A- Good bulk, checks the common Fire-types and Mega Salamence, Tailwind and other support options are good.
Venusaur-Mega: B Still doesn't appreciate Talonflame and Mega Kangaskhan, the addition of Mega Metagross and Mega Salamence. Is decent but has a hard time in a lot of match-ups.
Gengar: A- Good check for Landorus-T, and counter for Mega Kangaskhan. Poison STAB is even more relevant this season. Fast.
 
Aegislash: A+ Though it has been slightly nerfed with the re-introduction of Landorus and Heatran into the meta, it still remains very solid for both defense and offense. It also has access to Wide Guard to stop Heat Wave, Earthquake, and Rock Slide.
Amoonguss: A+ It's able to redirect attacks and take on Sylveon and Kangaskhan. Amoongus also provides a good counter to rain and Trick Room team because of it's bulk, typing, low speed tier, and access to Spore.
Bisharp: A+ Absolute monster with Defiant with how common Lando-T and Mence are.
Charizard(Mega Y): A While Char-Y boasts its Drought boosted Heatwave, being 4x weak to Rock Slide and is walled by Rotom-H/W, Heatran, and Salamence.
Cresselia: A+ Cresselia is one of the most reliable Trick Room setters and general support 'mons in VGC, having access to Trick Room, Icy Wind, Thunder Wave, and Helping Hand.
Garchomp: B Garchomp has the advantage of access to both Earthquake and Rock Slide, but with how common intimidate and Sylveon are, Garchomp is going have a hard time coming in and dealing damage.
Heatran: A+ Its Fire/Steel typing walls some of the most common attacking types (Fire, Fairy, Dragon, Steel) also has access to Heat Wave.
Mega Mawile: A+ Fairy/Steel being a strong typing both Offensive and Defensively, initial ability of Intimidate, mega ability of Huge Power, and Trick Room becoming more viable with the re-introduction of Cress.
Mega Metagross: A+ Great ability in Tough Claws, 110 speed tier, immunity to Intimidate before mega evolving, and move tutors giving it Ice Punch again.
Milotic: A Though it needs a Competitive boost to deal solid damage, Milotic threatens common intimidate users with either Scald or Ice Beam. It can also provide support with Safe Guard, Dragon Tail, and Icy Wind.
Raikou: B Outclassed by other Electric types such as Rotom-W/H, Zapdos, and Mega Manectric.
Rotom-H: A Provides a solid counter to Char-Y, Heatran, and Sylveon. It can avoid EQ and spread burns to weaken physical attackers.
Rotom-W: A+ Pretty much the same as Rotom-H, but has a better overall defensive typing and not weak to Rock Slide.
Salamence: B The increase of intimidate counters normal Mence it isn't as good as it used to be, both its special and scarfed sets seem to be outclassed by Hydreigon.
Salamence-Mega: A It has fairly good bulk and can run either a special or physical set. Is threatened mostly by Sylveon and Ice-type moves in general. Immune to EQ but weak to Rock Slide.
Suicune: A- Threatens Mence and Lando-T and it also has access to speed control with Tailwind and with Icy Wind, but it has a lackluster special attack.
Sylveon: A+ Specs or LO Hyper Voice is doing a decent chuck of damage to whatever it hits. Needs HP Ground to take on Heatran. It also has some support moves in Helping Hand and Heal Bell.
Talonflame: A- Talonflame can hit anything decently hard with an unresited Brave Bird. It also has priority Tailwind for team support, but it has a hard time working around Intimidate and is 4x weak to Rock Slide.
Thundurus: A Thundurus can provide strong support in T-Wave and Taunt. Though its limited to Thunderbolt/HP Ice for offense and it doesn't appreciate Rock Slides.
Venusaur-Mega: A- Has a great ability in Thick Fat, access to Sleep Poweder, and can beat Sylveon. Though it is walled by Mega-Mence and Mega-Meta who are very common.
 
I come from not using Smogon at all to being linked to this page and i can guarantee you that a large portion of the VGC community will not like this at all. Trying to rank things in VGC is tough due mainly to the large metagame shifts experienced throughout the season, and that is why i disagree with nearly 50% of what is being said on the OP in terms of what ranks where. Me and my VGC experienced friends have been discussing it and as i said, don't like the majority.

Also, something i myself have a problem with is this.

"This thread is unofficial, but discussion is encouraged to eventually create an official ranking system."

Uh what? Official ranking system makes it sound like this is going to be a Tpci endourced, which is the official runners of VGC themselves. Any new player who sees that will think so, and this discourage a lot of freedom in creativity that new players use. I would suggest changing the wording of it, but that's not my call to make ultimately.

Thank you for reading this, and i mean no offence by it.
 
here are my nominations for mons already in the unorganized A rank:


Aegislash -> A+ - great utility, bulk, and decent power. even its low speed works in its favor.
Amoonguss -> A+ - amazing utility, even if it only has one set. its weaknesses to flying and fire can be bothersome, though.
Bisharp -> A- - good utility in removing items, picking off weak(ened) mons, DISCOURAGING intimidate. its bulk is a letdown and it can't PREVENT intimidate, though.
Charizard (Mega Y) -> A+ - amazing spread move, helps with the rain matchup (somewhat), and can nuke with overheat. it can be EV'd to take rock slides and still have amazing power, which is impressive.
Cresselia -> A+ - versatile support, godly bulk, but checked more easily nowadays.
Garchomp -> B - it's just outclassed by landog and subchomp being unable to guard against hyper voice is terrible (along with dclaw+EQ being walled by togekiss). it still takes care of char-y and has great lategame potential, though.
Heatran -> A+ - bulky fire type, and can pull off sub+protect just as well as aegislash can. it can also go on the offensive and has great coverage.
Mawile (Mega) -> A+ - mawile is amazing ok
Metagross (Mega) -> A+ - fast, bulky, powerful. low base power on moves is a letdown and common attacking types check it.
Milotic -> B - this is a worse suicune if it doesn't have a competitive boost, which is by no means a guaranteed thing. even if it does get the competitive boost, it can easily go to waste if it doesn't max out or nearly max out its special attack.
Raikou -> B - it has a place in rain because of its typing and movepool, but it's still a small niche to fill. outside of that, it make a really cool choice specs user b/c of its speed, talonflame checking potential, and power.
Rotom (Heat) -> B - it's still a good bulky fire-type, but there's more competition for that nowadays and rotom-w does wow spreading and landog partnering already.
Rotom (Wash) -> A+ - bulk and power. it has great utility to check common megas and landog, and now it can even offer (non-thunder wave) speed control with electroweb.
Salamence -> C - there are better options than mence for choiced dragons (latios, hydreigon) and even support dragons (goodra, latias) so the only reason to use regular mence is for intimidate+tailwind, which is still iffy because no dragon gem and STAB hp flying isn't as strong nor as relevant as it used to be. don't use regular physical mence for the love of god.
Salamence (Mega) -> A+ - intimidate pre-mega, godly physical bulk and amazing STAB double-edge/return on top of nabbing a potential dragon dance. it can also go special, but how useful that is is debatable. on one hand, it's not as strong even with draco meteor and not being affected by intimidate, but on the other it wouldn't be dead weight if it's a double mega team and mence chooses not to go mega.
Suicune -> A+ - cresselia-like bulk, speed control options, snarl being good... the only thing suicune can't do is deal damage and burn consistently, the former of which can be rectified by using calm mind to sit on teams once certain mons are removed. its good ok
Sylveon -> A+ - hyper voice
Talonflame -> A+ - brave bird
Thundurus -> A+ - thunder wave/taunt

Venusaur (Mega) -> B - megasaur is still good, but not while it has bad matchups with the majority of the meta. the two archetypes it can perform well against are rain and sand, and they often use talonflame and/or megamence. should do well in double mega teams and those that can target down these threats consistently.
Zapdos -> A- - good bulk, speed and power. it can sometimes be outclassed by thundurus, but the bulk it provides as well as roost helps its case considerably. it also has tailwind, which is arguably more useful than a non-prankster thunder wave.


e: some additional things:

Gengar -> A+ - great utility and power, and while it's frail, it gets huge props for walling mega kang and being immune to most fake outs to prevent trick room and most speed control options. icy wind and being able to check the now-popular sylveon is certainly a huge boon.
Gyarados -> A+ - intimidate, speed control, the option to use dragon dance with non-mega, mega or both, good coverage, and good base attack are all good reasons to use gyarados. the only thing is its electric weakness, which can be played around or otherwise compensated for (wacan berry) somewhat easily.
Hydreigon -> A+ - dark is an amazing attacking type now and its draco meteor is the strongest out there (not counting modest latios because... it's not that good outside of worlds meta lol). speed is less of an issue this year and it has a new dance partner in mega metagross.
Latios -> A- - still fast, decently bulky and has the draco meteor, but no dragon gem really, really hurts it, not to mention fairy types. even so, it still has utility while on the field even after it drops a meteor with tailwind and helping hand, and LO draco meteor is still powerful.
Ludicolo -> A- - kingdra's replacement. it synergizes well with politoed and talonflame and has utility outside of rain with fake out. its defense isn't the best and it's easily ohkoed by mega kang and talonflame, not to mention the speed control this year that helps make that happen.
Politoed -> A- - see: ludicolo
Togekiss -> A- - still has amazing support with follow me, but despite the immunity to dragon, it's managed to become less durable thanks to steel being a more relevant attacking type (aegislash, bisharp, megagross) and the overall power creep provided by megas. it's still has amazing support though.
Terrakion -> A- - great mega kang check with good utility with its non-STAB/protect slot. STAB rock slide is always useful.
Tyranitar -> A- - not as relevant anymore, but choice scarf and DD sets still manage to remain relevant threats because, well, STAB rock slide. outside of that, its movepool is absolutely insane and it's really fucking versatile.
Tyranitar (Mega) -> A- - megatar is basically DD tar that don't opt for weakness policy and with better stats. anywhere regular ttar goes, megatar should go too.
 
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I come from not using Smogon at all to being linked to this page and i can guarantee you that a large portion of the VGC community will not like this at all. Trying to rank things in VGC is tough due mainly to the large metagame shifts experienced throughout the season, and that is why i disagree with nearly 50% of what is being said on the OP in terms of what ranks where. Me and my VGC experienced friends have been discussing it and as i said, don't like the majority.

Also, something i myself have a problem with is this.

"This thread is unofficial, but discussion is encouraged to eventually create an official ranking system."

Uh what? Official ranking system makes it sound like this is going to be a Tpci endourced, which is the official runners of VGC themselves. Any new player who sees that will think so, and this discourage a lot of freedom in creativity that new players use. I would suggest changing the wording of it, but that's not my call to make ultimately.

Thank you for reading this, and i mean no offence by it.
And this is why it's stressed that this is not a final, trump-all ruling, but what a community as a whole agrees to. There are obviously going to be large metagame switches, and hopefully the tier list will update just as fast, but that's not guaranteed.

And by "Official", we mean Smogon Official - with a council of members deciding nominations and etc. At the moment, there's no official workings for it.

And finally, you don't have to use it if you don't want to - nobody's forcing you to. (though we would like it if you gave your opinion on the rankings.)
 
I come from not using Smogon at all to being linked to this page and i can guarantee you that a large portion of the VGC community will not like this at all. Trying to rank things in VGC is tough due mainly to the large metagame shifts experienced throughout the season, and that is why i disagree with nearly 50% of what is being said on the OP in terms of what ranks where. Me and my VGC experienced friends have been discussing it and as i said, don't like the majority.

Also, something i myself have a problem with is this.

"This thread is unofficial, but discussion is encouraged to eventually create an official ranking system."

Uh what? Official ranking system makes it sound like this is going to be a Tpci endourced, which is the official runners of VGC themselves. Any new player who sees that will think so, and this discourage a lot of freedom in creativity that new players use. I would suggest changing the wording of it, but that's not my call to make ultimately.

Thank you for reading this, and i mean no offence by it.
It's true that the VGC metagame changes everytime, but we're Smogon. We're ready for changes of the metagame and we adapt, as in our specific tiers multiples bans happen and that changes the metagame in a way that some people don't even expect. So if the metagame did change, the Viability Rankings will change as well. Keep that in mind n_n
 
Aegislash: A+ Great defensive typing aswell technically has huge BST due to Stance Change and King Shield, having good support options like Wide Guard and one of the best mons to use Weakness Policy.

Amoonguss: A- Very good redirection mon, having access to Spore and Rage Powder aswell with good bulk, but its complete Taunt bait aswell mons like Talonflame etc. being common. Unless it runs rare Sludge Bomb, cant do anything to Grass types.

Bisharp: A+ While its frail and slow-ish, it packs huge punch after Defiant boost, and it can demolish uncareful teams. Good counter to Sylveon aswell.

Charizard-Mega-Y: A- Its not as good as it used to be. Wide Guard is more common, and Rain teams are lot more popular, hurting its viability. Also return of Terrakion, Landorus and Thundurus isnt friendly thing for Charizard either.

Cresselia: A+ Great as always, as it has arguably one of the best support movepools in the game with absolutely insane 120/120/130 bulk making it virtually impossibly to be OHKOed.

Garchomp: B Landorus is back, so its not as good anymore. It however, has dragon typing giving nice Fire resist,and most notably it outspeeds base 100s without scarf.

Heatran: A+ Very good typing despite 4x ground resist, its only mon that has 4x resist against Sylveon's Hyper Voice. Good movepool, hits hard and its pretty bulky.

Mega-Mawile: A+ Godly typing with arguably highest atk stat in the game. Normal form gets Intimidate, too. While it lacks speed, it has Sucker Punch, which (somehow) makes up for its mediocre speed if not used in trick room.

Metagross-Mega: A- Great stats and good movepool and nice ability. Normal form has Clear Body, which blocks Intimidate, which is nice. It, however, is weak to common threats, Psychic typing making its typing overall less nice, and having awful speed in base form.

Milotic: A- Lacks movepool in both supportive and offensive side, and has weak Sp Atk. It, however, has very good 95/79/125 bulk, along with moves like Recover and good and simple typing as pure Water, but best part is Competitive.

Raikou: B Doesnt deserve to be in A rank at all. Physical bulk is meh, movepool isnt that interesting and ability sucks. It, however, has better movepool than average Electric-type, and overall pretty good stats.

Rotom-H: B Not anything like in 2014. It was very good back then due to being one of the few viable non mega Fire types that was not named Talonflame. Now, however, with return of several other Fire-types, its not as good. It still, however, has unigue typing

Rotom-W: A- Its still good, but somehow, i dont feel it being as good anymore. It looks better on paper than what it in reality is. Its honestly not that bulky, it doesnt hit that hard, and it sits at awful speed tier. Despite these flaws, its still good enough to be in A rank, due to having Will-O-Wisp, and in general insane typing due to Levitate. It also check some of the new threats well.

Salamence: B Not as good as in VGC 14. While its still pretty good, not good enough to be in A ranks. Its best set was specially based scarf, and it no longer hits really hard with bulkier threats like Cresselia, Suicune and Milotic is back.

Salamence-Mega: A+ lol powerful base 145 atk aerilate double-edge and 120 sp atk hyper voice alone is reason to push it to A rankings. It has also cool movepool with containing unusual moves like Hydro Pump, having more than great stats and Intimidate in normal form.

Suicune: A- Even bulkier than Milotic, but no reliable recovery. One of the best Tailwind setters in the game, and also very good user of Snarl, Calm Mind and Icy Wind. It however has much less usefull ability than its cousin Milotic, also being weak and no getting boosts to its Sp atk unless it runs Calm Mind.

Sylveon: A+ Hyper Voice. No other explainations needed.

Talonflame: A- Despite its frailty, being more than predictable, 120 power STAB priority move is nasty. It also has unigue and cool support movepool along with decent resists and usefull Ground immunity. It however is not as good as in 2014, since Landoge and intimidate in general being more common, and with now meta having lots of Suicunes and Milotics, its not as good.

Thundurus: A+ Annoying af, one of the fastest Taunt and Twave users bar Whimsicott thanks to Prankster, being pretty versatile, having good typing and Twave + Swagger is annoying and good as always.

Venusaur-Mega: A- Not as good as in VGC 14, but still has only 2 weakness, and one of them is more or less mediocre and rare offensive typing, and its bulk combined with Leech seed makes it very hard to take down. It bit however lacks offensive movepool, and its speed tier is awful. It also hates some common threats like Megagross, Talonflame and Mega Kangaskhan.


And one thing, i want that some mons gets their ranking edited asap. We wont see C rank nominations for while, but can someone drop Pachirisu to D or E rank? It was only niche mon being viable on very few teams. While Se Jun won Worlds with it, it doesnt mean that it should be in C rank. This is different format, and its now lot more predictable. Landorus completely destroys it, and honestly it doesnt have good enough niche anymore to be in C or even D rank.

Altaria possibly should be rised to D rank. Its outclassed by many parts by sylveon and it takes up mega slot, but it still has enough niches to be in D rank. It has unigue and great typing, with having one of the most resists of all non-steel type pokemons, usefull immunity aswell. It has pixilate Hyper Voice, while not hitting as nearly as hard as Sylveon or Gardevoir, though. Main thing what Altaria has is its 75/110/110 bulk, meaning that it actually has good physical bulk unlike M-Gardevoir or Sylveon. It has better coverage than those, having access to Fire moves, Draco Meteor and Ice Beam, aswell having Roost, and its actually pretty good Tailwind user. Non mega for also has access to Cloud Nine, which if not used in weather team itself, can be used to block weathers and overall annoy weather teams.
 

Martin

A monoid in the category of endofunctors
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Gastrodon: D --> B-/B - Gastrodon fills a niche which the metagame otherwise lacks: Storm Drain. This, in conjunction with its great typing, make Gastrodon one of the best checks to rain in the format, and it can very easily shut down major rain Pokemon like Politoed, M-Swampert and, provided it is maintained in usable condition, offensive variants are even able to beat Ludicolo one-on-one if they carry Sludge Bomb, making it a very good anti-rain TR attacker. This in conjunction with somewhat good bulk make it a good all-around 'mon. Gastrodon's biggest use, however, is on sandstorm teams; its great typing in conjunction with Storm Drain makes it the strategy's best way of beating rain offense, with an immunity to sandstorm damage and the Water-type moves which would otherwise rip sandstorm apart - especially after a boost from the weather. Let me refer you to the description of a B rank Pokemon:
Reserved for Pokemon that perform well on many different teams. These Pokemon are best served as "glue" Pokemon, where they either are supported by other Pokemon or support specific teammates. They are easier for an opponent to handle by using more highly ranked Pokemon, but are still good choices to bring in most situations.

I would like to add that Pokemon in this tier generally have great disadvantages alongside their advantages. For example, have great offensive presence but not the speed to well utilize that presence.
This matches Gastrodon almost perfectly, with all of it after the first sentence applying to it (hence why I have put it in mid/low B).
 
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