The only thing being retested is staraptor.
Infernape -> A+ | I can't see Infernape anywhere else in the tier. It's got a great mix of speed, power and versatility that help it fit onto any kind of team. It's not only the speediest Scarfer in the game, but flamin' ape can pull off a mixed LO set, Swords Dance and Nasty Plot sets, has access to priority and gets some really good moves to complement it, such as U-turn for scouting and Mach Punch as a priority move to pick off weakened threats. Close Combat and Fire Blast leave some huge dents in non-resistors, but generally few things like to come in on Infernape. The reason why I'm placing it in A+ and not S, is because it somewhat suffers from 4MSS; if it doesn't run Flare Blitz, for example, Florges can wall most Infernape variants. Beside that, however, Infernape is still incredibly solid and has carved its name into the UU metagame. Infernape for A+ Rank.
Blissey -> A+ | Oh hello, Blissey, you irritable pink blob of doom and demise. Yep, it's here to stay in UU with little sister Chansey ruling OU. That said, Blissey does its job really well in UU, making special attackers cry for days on end and supplying its own team with Heal Bell, Stealth Rock and, most importantly, Wish support. With Wishes ranging from 325 to 357 HP, Blissey has the capacity to heal almost any Pokémon to full health with these monstrous Wishes. Sadly, Blissey's only worthwhile means of offense is Seismic Toss, so it's complete and utter Taunt or setup bait for other Pokémon. Sableye is a full-on counter with Prankster Taunt and its immunity to Seismic Toss. Nevertheless, Blissey is still a stellar supporting Pokémon and a nice asset to UU. Blissey for A+ Rank.
Then you should think again because florges is actually 2hkoed by flare blitz. Infernape's most common sets are scarf and mixed the first which is walled by pretty much any physical wall not named forretress (which isnt really a ''wall' per se) and the second is walled by gligar, arcanine and must predict perfectly around slowbro in order to beat it. Youre really overrating both of these mons, infernape's frailty really holds it back as it makes it very easy to revenge kill by scarfers and extreme speed users and the scarf set, which dont quite have the punch to ohko everything, will die to anything it fails to beat in one hit. Blissey has massive problems with every single physical attacker and even some special attackers can get around her like alakazam, porygon-z, mega houndoom etc. and its VERY easy to lure in with a surprise physical attack and 2hko it like hydreigon and nidoking's superpower. Neither of these pokemon are one step above the rest of the meta to be placed in S, they have obvious flaws and face massive problems with many common pokemon.Infernape for S
Insane Speed and great mixed stats for UU. A large movepool to abuse those offensive stats as well as boosting moves on both sides. Infernape packes priority fighting type moves on both attacking sides and being a Fire/Fighting Type, it is one of 2 viable physical attackers in the tier, that can take on special walls and is immun to burn.
While the physical set might be more viable, the special set can caught physical walls of guard, punishing them with +2 Fireblast.
The only thing that comes out of top of my head, that can barely switch into any Infernape would be Florges.
Blissey for S
While most would agree with A+ or A (lol), I am going with S for one reason: It shifts the metagame around itself forcing people to run pretty much at least one physical fighting-type or rather one physical fighting-type move, making Will-O-Wisp more viable in the tier even though fire-types are almost everywhere. Insane Bulk that can absorb the most powerful special attack in the game without investment into HP or SpD, can cripple opposing mons with t-wave, pass the largest wishes in the game and acts as a great cleric.
I can see Sun Teams being more viable now thanks to access to Will-O-Wisp and Blissey being able to tank all the special hits, besides Infernape, Hera,(Mega)Zam.
The first is self-explanatory. With no resistances to make use of, her Defenses is what they are. Thus, she gets trucked by even the weakest of Neutral hits. The second one really just talk about how she can wall take hits but can't do anything back. The best way to explain this is through Florges and Umbreon. Both of these Pokemon have tools that allow it to seriously hurt the Pokemon they're walling. Florges' Moonblast fucks up most Dragons and Foul Play just fucks up a lot of switch-ins looking to capitalize on Umbreon's weaker Defense. Blissey can't really do much besides just Seismic Tossing things. It's a good consistent source of damage that really helps in stall wars, but against high-paced offense metas (like now), she can't hold up. If anything, I can say that her presence has helped Stall a bit as a playstyle by combining multiple roles into one Pokemon and is a godsend against the shitton of Specially based wallbreakers in UU, but in a metagame where MegaZam is on every single team, she's gonna sit on the back burner a bit.
Unless Alakazite is going to be banned (obviously) before Koko/Limitless change the Viability rankings, Blissey imo isA/A-.
Restating this argument again. Even after the drops, I'd still give Blissey a solid A. I'm refraining from saying it's an A+ simply because of how offensively paced UU is right now. Stall is still viable, and Blissey makes it more so, but it still ends up being massive set-up bait. I've heard a lot of arguments about how Toxic (not regular poison) or Thunder Wave deters Pokemon from setting up. As EonX stated regarding Toxic Stall in RU (basically Normal Poison vs. Toxic Poison, link here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...-over-hello-kitty.3508302/page-8#post-5522027), Offensive teams could care less about Toxic and will just the opportunity to set up. Thunder Wave falls under the same issue. Even if the set-up mon gets T-Waved during set-up, it doesn't stop it from still doing massive damage to Blissey or anything that Blissey decides to switch into, and if that Pokemon has Lum Berry, then gg. Thunder Wave is crippling towards late-game, but during the early- or mid-game where you have other sweepers/wallbreakers to rely on, it's less of an issue. If you're running neither and just use Heal Bell/Aromatherapy, your Blissey becomes even weaker than Status-running Blisseys. To top it off, Blissey has the worst damage option in the form of Seismic Toss. Offensive Pokemon could give less of a shit about Seismic Toss due to its flat damage. It's good to speed up Stalling, but terrible in dealing with Offense. Pokemon like Umbreon and Florges (which essentially do the same things as Blissey) can actually pressure and hurt offensive threats. Florges has a high Special Attack and a reliable Base 90 STAB, and Umbreon has a Base 95 STAB that fucks over anything physical, regardless whether it resists Foul Play or not. Now with the drop of Staraptor, the meta is undoubtedly going to be extremely offensive and running something like Blissey is more of a liability. This is not to say that Blissey is entirely bad. Blissey is very good on stall and pretty much made PinkCore even stronger than before, but alas the rankings are relative to the meta, and right now Stall isn't as strong even with Blissey. Thus, Blissey is a fair A.Blissey for A or A+. With her addition to the UU metagame, Blissey has made stall a lot more viable because of her ability to deal with some of the tier's several Special Wall-breakers (Hydreigon and the Nidos) while dishing consistent damage back with Seismic Toss. Furthermore, Blissey functions as one of the best WishPassers in the game and provide an immense amount of team support for Stall and defensive teams in general. However, as we all know, what makes Blissey not as Toxic as Chansey is that it's Defense stat is pure shit, so any decently strong Physical attack or Psyshock. Furthermore, to be introspective to the new metagame changes, many of Blissey's counters have dropped also. Pokemon like Infernape, Lucario, and Alakazam fuck Blissey up really hard, and to Blissey's despair, she has no real way to deal with them. Her support qualities completely outshine Florges, but I definitely feel that the new meta drops are the main hindering factor for her status between A and A+.
Ape is really good because, as Kushalos said, it is a versatile threat which is very difficult to switch into if your opponent has good prediction. Sadly, most of that potential is not used, because basically the ONLY set I see is the Scarf one, which is not nearly as scary as Life Orb (IMO). But still, switching blindly is really hard, because you don't know what's coming at you.And I think Infernape for A+ rank
It lacs a lot of power in some situations and it's checked/countered by a lot of common pokemon in UU like Scarf Chandelure, Slowbro(if no grass knot), Scarf Victini and mega aerodactyl. Florges can even check non-banded versions. However, the fact that it can so many sets makes it versatile as fuck:
- Mixape
- SDape
- NPape
- CBape
- CSape
The offensive pressure that Infernape applies by being so unpredictable make it imo eligible for A+rank.
That's overrating ape HUGELY. One of two viable physical attackers in the tier? Careful what you say, Darmanitan Heracross Victini Honchkrow Toxicroak Stoutland Sharpedo Doublade Lucario Mienshao Absol Crobat Cloyster Krookodile Snorlax might get a little angry. Also, it can take on special walls? Well, there are pretty much two common ones (Blissey and Florges) and Florges can beat both the mixed LO set and the Scarf set locked in on CC.Infernape for S
Insane Speed and great mixed stats for UU. A large movepool to abuse those offensive stats as well as boosting moves on both sides. Infernape packes priority fighting type moves on both attacking sides and being a Fire/Fighting Type, it is one of 2 viable physical attackers in the tier, that can take on special walls and is immun to burn.
Guess you didn't read carefully. "that can take on special walls and is immun to burn.", from the 'mons you listed only Darmanitan and Guts Herracross are immun to burn. And I didn't mean to say that all physical attackers are unviable.That's overrating ape HUGELY. One of two viable physical attackers in the tier? Careful what you say, Darmanitan Heracross Victini Honchkrow Toxicroak Stoutland Sharpedo Doublade Lucario Mienshao Absol Crobat Cloyster Krookodile Snorlax might get a little angry. Also, it can take on special walls? Well, there are pretty much two common ones (Blissey and Florges) and Florges can beat both the mixed LO set and the Scarf set locked in on CC.
Don't forget lead ape as wellAnd I think Infernape for A+ rank
It lacs a lot of power in some situations and it's checked/countered by a lot of common pokemon in UU like Scarf Chandelure, Slowbro(if no grass knot), Scarf Victini and mega aerodactyl. Florges can even check non-banded versions. However, the fact that it can so many sets makes it versatile as fuck:
- Mixape
- SDape
- NPape
- CBape
- CSape
The offensive pressure that Infernape applies by being so unpredictable make it imo eligible for A+rank.
I wouldn't bring up being locked into CC if it didn't happen so often, because that is Ape's most spammable move. Superpower is pretty much never run on Scarf or Specs Hydreigon, so that is kind of a bad example.Guess you didn't read carefully. "that can take on special walls and is immun to burn.", from the 'mons you listed only Darmanitan and Guts Herracross are immun to burn. And I didn't mean to say that all physical attackers are unviable.
And you justify Florges walling Infernape by saying it is locked into CC while that can apply to anything like "Hydreigon is helpless against Chandelure when it is locked into Superpower".