VGC 2015 Viability Rankings (B Rank Nominations)

[Martin]

I have two nominations here, so lets just jump right in.

Pachirisu:
Pachirisu is just as disruptive as it was last time around and, with the pentagon rule in place, it has avoided being outclassed by the likes of Electivire. Pachirisu has maintained the second fastest legal Follow Me, only behind Lucario (post-mega evolution), allowing it to redirect all ExtremeSpeeds with the exception of the aforementioned Pokemon. In addition, its access to Nuzzle and Super Fang, when combined with its decent bulk, allow it to sufficiently cripple the opponent's side of the field before it goes down, and the combination of Volt Absorb and Follow Me allow Pachirisu to discourage (and occasionally heal off of) Thunderbolts from Pokemon like Manectric, Raikou, Rotom-W and Thundurus.

Whimsicott:
Whimsicott has always been a good support 'mon and, in 2011, it formed half of the terrifying TerraCott combo. Although the combination is significantly less effective than in previous years, Whimsicott still holds its place as a great supporter, with access to a huge selection of great moves to utilise Prankster - ranging from Tailwind to Memento to Stun Spore to Sleep Powder to Encore to Taunt and even to Switcheroo - as well as access to Knock Off to remove opposing Pokemon's items.

On a separate note, Dusclops should not be ranked. It is rlly mediocre and tbh if you want an NFE Ghost-type that can set up TR then you are better off just using Misdreavus, who shares all of Dusclops' usable options and can actually, you know, attack. In addition, there is no reason to use it over Dusknoir for the same reason (no offensive presence).

 

[ProtoSoul]

Pachirisu:
Pachirisu is just as disruptive as it was last time around and, with the pentagon rule in place, it has avoided being outclassed by the likes of Electivire.

Electivire is legal in VGC 2015, please correct me if I'm mistaken, as Electebuzz can be found in Friend Safaries and Elekid can be found in Mirage Mountain.

 

[Martin]

Electivire is legal in VGC 2015, please correct me if I'm mistaken, as Electebuzz can be found in Friend Safaries and Elekid can be found in Mirage Mountain.

It is, but Follow Me Electabuzz is battle revolution exclusive, making it unusable for the role that Pachirisu is playing.

 

[Adamant Zoroark]

My thoughts on a few current B-ranks:

Milotic - B+ I'll admit, when I first used this thing it was better than I thought it'd be. It acts pretty similarly to Suicune, except it can also punish Intimidate, Icy Wind, Snarl, etc. thanks to Competitive, similarly to Bisharp. In addition, it functions way better against the omnipresent Landorus-T than Bisharp does, so there's that.

Charizard X - B- This thing isn't bad, it's just really hard to justify using over other Megas, like Mega Salamence. In addition, there's a pretty major opportunity cost in that if you use Mega Charizard X, you can't use Mega Charizard Y, which is a pretty big deal.

Gardevoir (Mega) - B (if we're not putting in flat ranks assume this is a nom for B+) Also not bad, I just think it's really difficult to justify using this over Specs Sylveon, who doesn't occupy your Mega slot. Being able to switch moves is a pretty nice advantage, though, but Sylveon could just drop the Specs and also has support options like Helping Hand. Speed is a pretty nice advantage over Sylveon, though.

Regular Salamence - B (if no flat ranks assume this is a nom for B-) It's decent if you already have a Mega, but otherwise it's pretty much impossible to justify not having its Mega Stone.

Raichu: B+ Lightning Rod redirection, Fake Out, Encore, make this thing pretty good; I was honestly surprised how good this is

Also, a couple of 'mons that are not currently in the B ranks but after using them, I believe should be:

Lucario (Mega) - B+ This thing is stupid powerful. It's ridiculous how much damage Close Combat does, even to resists. Seriously, it 2HKOes Mega Charizard Y with Close Combat. Even bulkier resists like Mega Salamence take a pretty big chunk from Close Combat (148 Atk Adaptability Mega Lucario Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 56-66 (32.9 - 38.8%) -- 99.5% chance to 3HKO - and this is my Mega Lucario spread. Spreads that run more Attack will always 3HKO, and a max roll from Adamant comes pretty close to a 2HKO.) You can honestly just click Close Combat and just dent almost everything and, post-Mega, even has Speed to effectively take advantage of all this firepower. You even have a reasonably powerful Bullet Punch (equivalent to 80 BP thanks to Adaptability) that you can use to manage Fairies like Sylveon and Gardevoir (the former only if you EV Lucario to take Specs Hyper Voice; 148 SpD EVs does the trick.) It even has Follow Me to support its team if you need it. I'm honestly struggling to find the reason why something so stupidly powerful that even has Speed to back it up is in C.

Sceptile (Mega) - B- I have yet to see a legitimate reason as to why this thing is in D. It functions as Lightning Rod redirection, similarly to Raichu, but also outruns and OHKOes Mega Salamence (even with Modest, it outruns Mega Salamence, that's how fast this thing is,) something Raichu could only dream of doing. It also has Quick Guard to block moves like Fake Out (both have +3 priority and Mega Sceptile is faster than most Fake Out users) and Talonflame's Brave Bird (!!!,) something else Raichu just can't do. Finally, if you have ways of giving yourself Lightning Rod boosts (Discharge, Prankster T-wave) M-Sceptile can even function as a win condition, especially in the late game. Specs Sylveon murders it, and it struggles to get past Steel-types unless it has Focus Blast, but I'm not nominating it for A; I'm nominating it for one subrank above the C-ranks. I may be a little overgenerous with this nomination, but M-Sceptile is at least better than the D ranks. If it's not worthy of B-, it's at least worthy of the C ranks.

 

[leremyju]

Nominating Excadrill for B- at least

Alright seems everybody has forgotten the powerful sand offense of 2013. Excadrill can be paired with Togekiss or Tyranitar, and with Swords Dance it can boost its attack to dangerous levels. Earthquake and Rock Slide are 2 of the greatest moves in the Doubles Format while Iron Head becomes relevant due to Fairy typing. C+ rank is a bit too low, Excadrill is a Thundurus check, Fairy Killer, Sand Sweeper, or a Rotom killer with Mold Breaker.

Excadrill does have common weakness to Landorus-T and a poor speed tier, but we are seeing more tailwind, Icy Wind, and other forms of speed control, along with most teams having a way to beat Landorus-T.

 

[Aurorusite]

Volcarona: B+
Probably meta's 2nd best Rage Powder user, and unlike Amoonguss, doesnt care much about Taunt since its STAB moves hits hard even without Sp Atk investment. Has Flame Body, which can be frustating for Kanga to hit it, and good stats. And ofc it can run Quiver Dance set, though its not as easy to pull of, but if you manage to do so, it can be destructive. It ofc has not-so-great defensive typing, while ok resists, has weakness to Talonflame and even worse, 4x weakness to Rock Slide. It also has pretty poor physical bulk unless you invest it heavily, and would enjoy to have little better coverage moves. Its still great mon.

Milotic: B+
Milotic might look like inferior Cune, but it has Competitive, higher Sp Atk and access to Recover, so it definely has niche on this metagame. Unlike Bisharp, Milotic is bulky and can tank hits well, but also unlike Bisharp, it doesnt hit as hard as you would believe at +2 and it lacks priority. Its really good mon overall.

Sceptile (Mega): B-
Like Adamant Zoroark said, D rank seems pretty low for it. While it needs lots of support, is frail, it has lots of weakness and lacks coverage, its one of the fastest mons in the entire metagame, and with its pretty huge 145 sp atk and Leaf Storm, it has ability to OHKO Suicune, which alone is reason to rise it in usage imo. However, while its typing has gives it lots of weakness, it also has 2 4x resists and also rare EQ resist. Its also fastest Quick Guard user in the game, allowing it to block any Fake Out and also Talonflame's Brave Bird. What it really has however is Lightning Rod, which is really cool ability. It gives M-Sceptile not just Electric immunity, but also T-Wave immunity...also it makes its PARTNER IMMUNE TO THEM, ASWELL. Its also nice to pair it with Discharge, which can be annoying if used right. Sceptile is good, and deserves to be higher.

Also wanted to say this:
Why on the h*** Altaria is...E rank?
Its not so much outclassed by other Pixilate users, and has some niches.
But i say this, and despite we are not nominating lower rank mons yet, please implement this if possible:
For the God's sake, rise Altaria (Mega) to D rank atleast. Really, its almost as stupid as Luvdisc being higher than E rank, if that would be true.

 

[Zaffos]

Honestly, I feel like Gengar should go up to A+, Terrakion should go up to either A+ or A-, and Mamoswine should go up to B. Gengar is an excellent support mon, with great utility moves, such as Taunt and Will-O-Wisp, allowing it to cripple threats including Mega Kang, Landorus, Amoonguss, Bisharp, Cresselia, Mega Salamence, etc. It also gets Icy Wind, which can make speed ties easier and help slower teammates (Sylveon, Bisharp, Rotom-A) have a field day. Obviously, Gengar doesn't have the best defenses, but it makes up for it with its speed and great movepool. Terrakion also deserves a spot in A, with great Speed, Attack, and movepool. Close Combat and Rock Slide from Terrakion can rip holes in teams, being able to OHKO Mega Kang (which is huge), OHKO Heatran, OHKO Mega Charizard Y, OHKO Talonflame, OHKO Bisharp, and OHKO other Terrakions. It also gets Double Kick, which can break through Bisharp and Smeargle's Focus Sashes and OHKO, Taunt, which can enormously help by preventing a Tailwind, Trick Room, or Will-O-Wisp, and Quick Guard, which can stop Talonflame Brave Bird spam, Bisharp Sucker Punches, and Mega Kang Sucker Punches. Mamoswine also definitely deserves a spot in B for its ability to check nearly every mon in the meta. If you run 252+ Atk Life Orb and the moveset of: Ice Shard, Earthquake, and Icicle Crash/Rock Slide, there's very little that Mamoswine can't hit for good damage (perhaps maybe Rotom-W, but it can easily deal with that w/ proper team support, Amoonguss for one). It isn't in the best speed tier but makes up for it with priority Ice Shard, two really powerful STABs in Icicle Crash and Rock Slide, and Thick Fat, which makes Fire-Type match-ups so much easier.

 

[ChipButty]

Also wanted to say this:
Why on the h*** Altaria is...E rank?
Its not so much outclassed by other Pixilate users, and has some niches.
But i say this, and despite we are not nominating lower rank mons yet, please implement this if possible:
For the God's sake, rise Altaria (Mega) to D rank atleast. Really, its almost as stupid as Luvdisc being higher than E rank, if that would be true.

I was going to ask about Mega Altaria since I can't see it on the rankings anywhere and I thought that it was worthy of being ranked. Is it just not showing up on my computer or something?

 

[Aurorusite]

Altaria is maybe not the best mon in the meta, but has several niches, that should be enough to make atleast in D rank. And yeah, its not in rankings at all, meaning that its E rank, which makes no sense.

 

[ChipButty]

Yeah, it definitely at least deserved to be ranked because of its nice typing and stats and access to Pixilate Hyper Voice. Granted it isn't as good at Hyper Voice spamming than Gardevoir and Sylveon, but it does have some niches to differentiate itself.

 

[tofucocoa]

Locking this because we've made a more revised version of this and hopefully it will go more smoothly.