I know i don't really post in UU and this is a bit out of character for me but really...
I see absolutely
zero reason for Ninjask to have a rank in this thread, especially if Combusken isn't getting a spot on this list despite clearly being better in the Speed passing role. Looking at Ninjask in a vacuum, it's pretty easy to see that Ninjask's flaws are pretty significant. Its 4x weak to Stealth Rock and has both terrible defenses and a terrible defensive typing, which means that Ninjask requires support to function to its fullest (it needs Rapid Spin/Defog support to even have a hope of getting off a Baton Pass more than once from my experience seeing it in
all tiers, let alone UU) and these flaws also reduce the amount of times it can switch in to start boosting in the first place, let alone pull off a Baton Pass to a teammate. Oftentimes Ninjask will often be forced into the lead slot to function, and because of team preview, that can be
awfully predictable.
Combusken isn't burdened with any of these issues at all, it's only neutral to Stealth Rock, has a decent defensive typing, and actually has the potential to be quite bulky with Eviolite taken into account, giving it significantly more opportunities to get into the game and start passing boosts. Furthermore, while Ninjask will often be limited to leading/being used with a Rapid Spin/Defog user to function to its fullest, Combusken needs
NO SUPPORT to accomplish its role, and it can reasonably attempt to pull off a pass
MULTIPLE TIMES PER GAME. On top of this, Combusken isn't even limited to passing Swords Dances, it can
Baton Pass Bulk Ups reasonably well too. In fact, i'd probably say that Baton Passing Bulk Ups is
MORE EFFECTIVE than passing Swords Dances for one reason and one reason only: the defense boosts make it that much easier to get recipients in safely,
something Ninjask can't guarentee even with Substitute because of how damn frail it is (lets be real here *any* attack is breaking that thing's Substitute), not to mention it ensures recipients can take priority attacks.
So, what have we learned here:
Ninjask can't take a hit,
Combusken CAN
Ninjask needs support to function to its fullest:
Combusken doesn't, at least nowhere near the same level.
Ninjask is predictable because of its flaws:
Combusken doesn't have to be.
Ninjask can't guarentee that a teammate gets in for free against a smart person:
Combusken technically can't either but has an easier time doing so thanks to Bulk Up's defense boosts.
Ninjask struggles to pass multiple times per game:
a well played Combusken doesn't.
Now, considering that you can only use one Pokemon with Baton Pass per team, would you rather use Ninjask, the flawed, frail, predictable Pokemon that needs support. Or Combusken, the Pokemon that has none of the problems with Stealth Rock or frailty that Ninjask has, doesn't have to be predictable, can protect its teammates from incoming attacks/priority with Bulk Up, while still accomplishing the same job in the end?
...
yeah me too
if you try to pull the "D rank is for bad Pokemon" card.
If a Pokemon is all of flawed, outclassed, and not UU by usage, then what's the point of giving it a rank at all? The fact that the Pokemon is listed at all gives newer players the idea that the Pokemon is most likely worth using, if it generally isnt because of a combination of competition and flaws, then
why is it even listed?
It's also worth nothing that all the points brought up by
Hollywood here are perfectly legitimate, and i have absolutely no clue why you'd completely ignore a post such as that and write it off as a "shitpost" simply because you disagree with it.
http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...-rank-discussion.3500340/page-85#post-5693869
furthermore...
I really shouldn't even have to address the Torkoal thing, but eh. If someone makes a successful team in which Torkoal is used and provides a niche that is not adequately filled by any other Pokemon in the current viability ranking, it's very conceivable that we would rank it at D, providing they made a compelling argument. I don't think that you, or many of the other people posting about Ninjask / Combusken, have been that active in UU. The reason I mention this isn't to discredit you, but rather to point out that you may not have knowledge of successful teams that employed Ninjask. As someone who's played UU since the very beginning, I have run into and perhaps even had trouble with Ninjask in the higher sections of the ladder. It's by no means a "good" Poke, but that doesn't mean it can't ever be used effectively.
I made a successful RU team that uses both Pawniard and Whirlipede, both of them provide a niche that isn't adequately filled by another Pokemon (Pawniard is a Doublade check with Defiant, Whirlipede gets Spikes+Tspikes and Endeavor). Does this mean either of these Pokemon are viable:
NO, they certainly aren't, should they be ranked?
HELL NO, and i'm the person who used them. A Pokemon with a tiny niche isn't worth ranking if its absolutely terrible otherwise.
As for discrediting people's points simply because they don't play UU too often, here's the thing:
you don't need to play UU to realize that Ninjask sucks. Looking at the points listed above, its really really hard to defend Ninjask outside of the initial Speed and ability to hold Leftovers argument, both of which are pretty shaky reasons to use Ninjask imho, and i
DEFINITELY wouldn't say that Ninjask is more reliable than Combusken...
Lastly, the very fact that you are completely ignoring legitimate points, writing them off as shitposts, refusing to provide a reasoning other than "if you can't see why you're stupid" and
even threatening infractions if someone speaks about a Pokemon again, is quite disturbing to me, you shouldn't be shutting down other people simply because you disagree with them, especially when outsiders are looking at the points being made and recognizing them as legitimate.
So, TL;DR
Give Combusken a rank and derank Ninjask, at the very LEAST give
Combusken a rank that's higher than Ninjask's, since it's pretty obvious to everyone that Combusken is the overall better Speed Boost passer.