It was mentioned a while back that the lower ranks need a ton of work because they've been ignored through the recent metagame shifts, which is true, and just looking over them now I kind of feel like they really do need a revamp. Before that though, I don't really play stall often, so I don't have a good opinion on Doublade, but on this thread in general. "CRAWDAUNT IS AMAZING IT HAS NO SWITCH INS BUMP RANK PLZ" isn't really what this is about. Moving Pokemon through ranks should be done on either:
1. Comparing that Pokemon to the other Pokemon in its rank or the rank you are proposing it to go to
2. While a bit less set in stone and can be interpreted in mutliple ways, the definitions of these ranks
I prefer the first one though.
Based on that, here are a few things to help revamp the lower ranks, though I'll mention S rank too, a I've seen a few things about it on the last few pages:
S Rank:
Keldeo is so good because its typing and underrated bulk let it act as an excellent check to Pokemon like Bisharp and its Speed is just enough, only relevant things it is outsped by being the Latis, it shouldn't drop regardless of what I said before, because even if its prone to being worn down, that doesn't matter. Unlike Ferrothorn who is useless once it's down to 20%, Keldeo can still switch into SR 3 times at that point and start firing off Specs anything, letting it be a huge offensive threat and check to prominent threats at once. Latios is one of the best offensive Pokemon in the metagame, everyone knows that. Jirachee made a great post on Greninja, which is why it's S. Charizard X has just gotten a bit worse as the meta goes, and if anything it may be the only Pokemon who should drop from S rank
C+ Rank
Gastrodon
Goodra
Infernape
Klefki
Shuckle
Wobbuffet
Magneton is only useful over Magnezone when using it for its Speed, or bulk with Eviolite (don't do this.) Unless someone wants to prove me wrong, Magneton should only be used with a Scarf to outspeed Talonflame and Greninja which Magnezone can't. In that sense, Scarf Magneton > Scarf Magnezone, until you realize that the power actually does make a difference. Scarf Magneton can actually lose to Leech Seed + Protect Ferrothorn if it gets low rolls with HP Fire, and has less bulk than Magnezone, making it a bit more prone to being worn down, and any set other than Scarf is outclassed by Magnezone entirely, so this is a bit of a tough case that someone else with more experience using Magneton should talk about, because I usually use Magnezone over it. Gastrodon is something I see as a bit worse in this meta, as rain is not as dominant (not saying its bad) and at the same time, all Gastrodon does is sit there, maybe throw around Toxic, while even stuff like Seismitoad can set up SR at least. The SpAtk boost is pretty irrelevant cause it's still really weak uninvested. This should drop to C. Webs aren't as good as before, simple as that, Shuckle is just absolute set up bait and isn't good in this meta, drop it too, possibly even to C-. Tangrowth is way too overrated imo but people like alexwolf like it so that's more for them to say. Otherwise, drop Tangrowth too.
C Rank
Absol (Mega)
Aggron (Mega)
Alakazam
Blastoise (Mega)
Bronzong
Ditto
Espeon
Porygon2
Smeargle
Volcarona
Alakazam, Blastoise, Bronzong, Chandelure, Espeon, and Toxicroak don't even deserve C. I don't know if most of them should be ranked even. Regular Alakazam is bad because 1. Mega Alakazam exists and 2. It ends up sacrificing itself to just paralyze the opponents Pokemon then hit it once with a weak move before going own itself. Nice revenge killer. Mega Blastoise is just ouclassed as an attacker and hazard remove by Latios/Latias, Starmie, and Excadrill because of their uses other than spinning, ability to hold an item, and better coverage. Also its really slow and has no recovery and is just a waste. Why would I use this bad role compressor when (wallbreaking mega) + Latios is always better? Unrank Blastoise. Bronzong was never really good, I never really waned it to be ranked even. What does this do outside of TR + Rocks + Boom? TR isn't that good and even then other Pokemon exist for this, Boom only does a little damage to something and wastes your Pokemon. If I wanted to run HO I would sooner use Froslass. At least Diancie can be some mid game Talon check? Chandelure is just like Darmanitan but with some versatility and Shadow Ball. If Wisp + 3 attacks Darmanitan is bad, this is pretty bad too, not to mention it just begs to be trapped by ScarfTar which is the best TTar set out there. Smooth Rock ones don't mind the burn that much and Pursuit still doe a ton, Subbing only wears you down mor than a burned opponent. Unrank this. Espeon is an ok Screens lead and that's all. Not C worthy, C- maybe if that. Toxicroak got some hype after the bans but it's still bad. Nice job still getting OHKOd by offensive Sylv and not OHKOing Clefable. Unrank this.
C- Rank
Exploud
Gourgeist-Small
Froslass
Haxorus
Hydreigon
Ludicolo
Rotom-H
Slowking
Tornadus
Short answer: C for Tornadus, Froslass, Gourgeist-S. D for Ludicolo, Diancie, Haxorus, and Slowking. I've seen good posts on nearly all of these recently.
D Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are mediocre in the OU metagame, but are viable enough to justify their use on select teams. These Pokemon are either usable but have no real niche, or are only capable of doing their specific task and fail at doing anything more than that. Pokemon from this rank have multiple crippling flaws that prevent them from being successful a majority of the time, and are often severely outclassed because of it.
Blissey
Dugtrio
Seismitoad
Venomoth
Zygarde
Blissey does not prevent you from being 6-0 by Knock Off Landorus because it's only slightly more bulky than Eviolite-less Chansey and is worse every other time, not to mention it takes the Knock Off worse too. People use Cofagrigus??? I also think Dugtrio, regular Heracross, Meloetta, Metagross, Tentacruel, and Venomoth should be unranked for various reasons that should make sense by now.
Hopefully this starts some discussion.