That was a regular Gyarados with the ability Illusion holding a mega stone, I hope this helps.
thank you! I truly forgot that ability existed
Wonder guard VR update request. Zeraora UR -> B. It isn't the best, and is slightly outclassed by Greninja-Ash as a fast support mon resistant to sunsteel, however Zeraora is still faster than most viable wonder guards, and has a slightly less common weakness in ground. It's role as a niche subpass/fast taunt+pivot is useful, and thus I consider it to be at least better than the likes of wonder guard pheromosa, and on par with wonder guard type:null and houndoom-mega/MMYIt's been over two months since I last posted a personal VR and the metagame has gone through multiple small phases since. I've tried out more various Pokémon on the viability rankings, including some in the lower ranks, teams have more variety now thanks to spam teams falling off, and new records have been made from people rotating around all sorts of different teams. I've probably seen more games from other players than played games myself after February, but have still managed to play maybe 100ish games since?
I've made a lot of changes to the VR to accommodate to this. To be honest, figuring out the ranks below S was quite difficult for me this time, and I've noticed the game still has quite a ton of room to be developed. I've destroyed the ladder with sets almost nobody else ever runs and realized if more of those sets were around, or even similar sets but slightly altered in some way, this metagame would appear to look quite different than it is now. Well anyway, here is what I have in store now. I'll plan to make a post explaining plenty of these ranks, especially the ones that seem most questionable (like why I placed Pikachu at B and why I placed Mega Scizor so low on the Wonder Guard Viability Rankings)
Welcome to the Pure Hackmons Viability Rankings. This is one of the many resources made to help players determine what can be considered viable in the metagame. These rankings are placed in alphabetical order. Any ability ranked is placed last for convenience. Anyone is free to put their thoughts on any Pokémon and debate on whether or not they need a rank change as long as they are reasonable. Provide clear evidence for reasons why a Pokémon should have a change in rank, and be civil about it. We want what we can believe to be closer to fact than subjective opinions.
S Rank
S
Chansey
Mewtwo-Mega-X
Zygarde-Complete
Wonder Guard
S-S Rank
S
Audino-Mega
A Rank
A+
Greninja-Ash
Hoopa-Unbound
Necrozma-Dawn-Wings
Slowbro-Mega
A
Arceus
Gyarados-Mega
Meloetta
Oranguru
Regigigas
Slaking
A-
Kartana
Mewtwo-Mega-X
Muk-Alola
B Rank
B+
Celesteela
Groudon-Primal
Ferrothorn
Magearna
Umbreon
B
Bisharp
Gardevoir-Mega
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Houndoom-Mega
Mewtwo-Mega-Y
Sableye-Mega
Scizor-Mega
Type: Null
B-
Cresselia
Gengar-Mega
Kyogre-Primal
C
Blissey
Chansey
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane
Pheromosa
D
Aggron-Mega
Swampert-Mega
Lopunny-Mega
Steelix-Mega
Blissey
Groudon-Primal
A Rank
A+
Doublade
Greninja-Ash
Mewtwo-Mega-Y
Steelix-Mega
A
Gengar-Mega
Kartana
Regigigas
Slaking
Solgaleo
A-
Deoxys-Attack
Diancie-Mega
Lopunny-Mega
Lunala
Necrozma-Dawn-Wings
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane
Rayquaza-Mega
Slowbro-Mega
B Rank
B+
Arceus
Aggron-Mega
Celesteela
Deoxys-Speed
Gyarados-Mega
Metagross-Mega
Necrozma-Ultra
Type: Null
Yveltal
B
Banette-Mega
Cresselia
Giratina
Giratina-Origin
Guzzlord
Kyogre-Primal
Kyurem-Black
Pikachu
B-
Gardevoir-Mega
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Bisharp
Ho-Oh
Lugia
Registeel
C Rank
Articuno
Entei
Groudon @ Red Orb
Pheromosa
Sceptile-Mega
Tyranitar-Mega
D Rank
Avalugg
Froslass
Shedinja
Blacklist - Do not discuss putting these on the VR
Wonder Guard:
Any pure Fire-type for their Burn Up sets.
Pure Fire-types in the metagame don't stand very well as Wonder Guards as they for the most part are outclassed by other possible Wonder Guards such as Primal Groudon and Alolan Muk for having similar but less weaknesses, and usually higher defensive stats. However, the main strategy of a Pure Fire-type Pokemon with Wonder Guard is to utilize the move Burn Up, a move that removes a Pokemon's Fire-type after successfully hitting. With many viable Wonder Guards in the metagame, these types of Pokemon should find it hard to be able to successfully hit an attack, and even if they do, they can still be forced to switch either by phazing or by matchup, causing them to have to redo their main strategy. It is also worth noting that the ability of Wonder Guards to carry four moves in this metagame is a gift. Most of them use their four moves in order to support, recover themselves, boost stats, inflict status, and/or throw hazards. Their type combination is good enough to handle on their own without the absolute need to provide a move to get rid of their type. Pure Fire-type Pokemon who follow the Burn Up strategy can also struggle more heavily against Mold Breaker/Turboblaze/Teravolt Pokemon or Pokemon that have Photon Geyser or Moongeist Beam, making the entire point of the strategy lose any value it had.
Post to stack on explanation: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/pure-hackmons.3656851/page-3#post-8375359
I struggle to agree with this one. Zeraora really struggles to justify itself over even other niche fast WGers. Pheromosa, Mega Beedrill, Deo-S and Deo-A are all faster than Zeraora and have a lot more going for them. Deo-S obviously being the fastest 'mon, Pheromosa only being a speed tier lower than Deo-S and better in most other ways, Beedrill's stronger U-Turn and TSpikes absorption, and Deo-A being only yet another speed tier below Phero and being pretty strong both Physically and Specially.
Why is Scizor in BIt's been over two months since I last posted a personal VR and the metagame has gone through multiple small phases since. I've tried out more various Pokémon on the viability rankings, including some in the lower ranks, teams have more variety now thanks to spam teams falling off, and new records have been made from people rotating around all sorts of different teams. I've probably seen more games from other players than played games myself after February, but have still managed to play maybe 100ish games since?
I've made a lot of changes to the VR to accommodate to this. To be honest, figuring out the ranks below S was quite difficult for me this time, and I've noticed the game still has quite a ton of room to be developed. I've destroyed the ladder with sets almost nobody else ever runs and realized if more of those sets were around, or even similar sets but slightly altered in some way, this metagame would appear to look quite different than it is now. Well anyway, here is what I have in store now. I'll plan to make a post explaining plenty of these ranks, especially the ones that seem most questionable (like why I placed Pikachu at B and why I placed Mega Scizor so low on the Wonder Guard Viability Rankings)
Welcome to the Pure Hackmons Viability Rankings. This is one of the many resources made to help players determine what can be considered viable in the metagame. These rankings are placed in alphabetical order. Any ability ranked is placed last for convenience. Anyone is free to put their thoughts on any Pokémon and debate on whether or not they need a rank change as long as they are reasonable. Provide clear evidence for reasons why a Pokémon should have a change in rank, and be civil about it. We want what we can believe to be closer to fact than subjective opinions.
S Rank
S
Chansey
Mewtwo-Mega-X
Zygarde-Complete
Wonder Guard
S-S Rank
S
Audino-Mega
A Rank
A+
Greninja-Ash
Hoopa-Unbound
Necrozma-Dawn-Wings
Slowbro-Mega
A
Arceus
Gyarados-Mega
Meloetta
Oranguru
Regigigas
Slaking
A-
Kartana
Mewtwo-Mega-X
Muk-Alola
B Rank
B+
Celesteela
Groudon-Primal
Ferrothorn
Magearna
Umbreon
B
Bisharp
Gardevoir-Mega
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Houndoom-Mega
Mewtwo-Mega-Y
Sableye-Mega
Scizor-Mega
Type: Null
B-
Cresselia
Gengar-Mega
Kyogre-Primal
C
Blissey
Chansey
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane
Pheromosa
D
Aggron-Mega
Swampert-Mega
Lopunny-Mega
Steelix-Mega
Blissey
Groudon-Primal
A Rank
A+
Doublade
Greninja-Ash
Mewtwo-Mega-Y
Steelix-Mega
A
Gengar-Mega
Kartana
Regigigas
Slaking
Solgaleo
A-
Deoxys-Attack
Diancie-Mega
Lopunny-Mega
Lunala
Necrozma-Dawn-Wings
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane
Rayquaza-Mega
Slowbro-Mega
B Rank
B+
Arceus
Aggron-Mega
Celesteela
Deoxys-Speed
Gyarados-Mega
Metagross-Mega
Necrozma-Ultra
Type: Null
Yveltal
B
Banette-Mega
Cresselia
Giratina
Giratina-Origin
Guzzlord
Kyogre-Primal
Kyurem-Black
Pikachu
B-
Gardevoir-Mega
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Bisharp
Ho-Oh
Lugia
Registeel
C Rank
Articuno
Entei
Groudon @ Red Orb
Pheromosa
Sceptile-Mega
Tyranitar-Mega
D Rank
Avalugg
Froslass
Shedinja
Blacklist - Do not discuss putting these on the VR
Wonder Guard:
Pure Fire-types in the metagame don't stand very well as Wonder Guards as they for the most part are outclassed by other possible Wonder Guards such as Primal Groudon and Alolan Muk for having similar but less weaknesses, and usually higher defensive stats. However, the main strategy of a Pure Fire-type Pokemon with Wonder Guard is to utilize the move Burn Up, a move that removes a Pokemon's Fire-type after successfully hitting. With many viable Wonder Guards in the metagame, these types of Pokemon should find it hard to be able to successfully hit an attack, and even if they do, they can still be forced to switch either by phazing or by matchup, causing them to have to redo their main strategy. It is also worth noting that the ability of Wonder Guards to carry four moves in this metagame is a gift. Most of them use their four moves in order to support, recover themselves, boost stats, inflict status, and/or throw hazards. Their type combination is good enough to handle on their own without the absolute need to provide a move to get rid of their type. Pure Fire-type Pokemon who follow the Burn Up strategy can also struggle more heavily against Mold Breaker/Turboblaze/Teravolt Pokemon or Pokemon that have Photon Geyser or Moongeist Beam, making the entire point of the strategy lose any value it had.
Post to stack on explanation: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/pure-hackmons.3656851/page-3#post-8375359
tl;dr fire-type moves are everywhere to the point where there's difficulty ensuring Mega Scizor is safe on the field. Mega Scizor cannot switch into Life Orb or Choice Band Mega Mewtwo X using Photon Geyser despite resisting Psychic-type. It also can't really switch into Moongeist Beam very well from Mega Gengar and Necrozma Dawn Wings. It is not a great Shell Smash sweeper as the major tanks of the game (Zygarde-C, Doublade, Mega Steelix) wall it with ease, and King's Shield can also take hefty advantage of it. In other words, there is no job it truly does well in and it being placed on teams would just be there for the sake of it. Mega Scizor works in super niche matchups where your opponent lacks anything for it but the circumstances are too inconsistent for me to rank it much if any higher.
I find it quite consistent way more then pretty much everything in B it’s also a good emergency imp proof to jolly mmx since u need ad to break a full scizor and it can act as an additional form of protection against special photons since most can’t 2hit it after a smash and those that do are often weak to bug like ash gren and hoopa who u put in A+ as well as the fact it’s a toxic immune mon that isn’t weak to thousand waves or spectral or u turn or anchor shot with stab u turn meaning that it is hard to remove from play unless u have a fire move since an offensive mon takes a big chip from a u turn since it’s hard to ohko and most defensive mons can’t pressure it enough to stop a shore up so now it can continue to do its things
Mega Mewtwo X would much rather run Adamant over Jolly as the power difference is too significant to sacrifice for higher speed more often than not (this is the main reason Ultra Necrozma is much lower than MMX on the VR) and there aren't many circumstances where it'd need to worry about speed ties. It can either Shadow Sneak Mega Gengar or switch to a Mega Mewtwo X wall for opposing Mega Mewtwo X.
I find that generally ground is the preferred coverage of choice on special photons because of how kartana is way worse at walling special photons and how groudon and alolan muk can be particularly hard to break for special photons where fire only really hits scizor since the power difference between special fire moves and special ground moves are more negligible as well as the common steelix and doublade not taking special moves well at all, fire is also easier for zyguard to switch in on and haze zyguard is particularly hard to remove for special photons and also this isn’t if scizor is as good as lets say slowbro or ash gren it’s if it’s better then mega sableye and Mega Gardevoir which I think the gap between it and all of B is pretty significant
What ability does Pikachu get?VIABILITY RANKINGS
Welcome to the Pure Hackmons Viability Rankings. This is one of the many resources made to help players determine what can be considered viable in the metagame. These rankings are placed in alphabetical order. Anyone is free to put their thoughts on any Pokémon and debate on whether or not they need a rank change as long as they are reasonable. Provide clear evidence for reasons why a Pokémon should have a change in rank, and be civil about it. We want what we can believe to be closer to fact than subjective opinions.
S Rank
S
Blissey
Chansey
Mewtwo-Mega-X
Wonder Guard
S- RankS Rank
S
Audino-Mega
S-
Meloetta
Muk-Alola
Oranguru
A Rank
A+
Scizor-Mega
A
Cresselia
Greninja-Ash
Gyarados-Mega
Kartana
Slowbro-Mega
A-
Arceus
Blissey
Chansey
Hoopa-Unbound
Mewtwo-Mega-Y
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane
Slaking
Solgaleo
Type: Null
B Rank
B+
Ferrothorn
Gardevoir-Mega
Groudon-Primal
Houndoom-Mega
Sableye-Mega
B
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Magearna
Mewtwo-Mega-X
Necrozma-Dawn-Wings
Pheromosa
Yveltal
B-
Aggron-Mega
Celesteela
Deoxys-Speed
Kyogre-Primal
Lopunny-Mega
Lunala
Steelix-Mega
C Rank
Beedrill-Mega
Bisharp
Deoxys-Attack
Dialga
Ditto
Escavalier
Regigigas
Sableye @ Sablenite
Swampert-Mega
Zygarde-Complete
A Rank
A+
Gengar-Mega
Groudon-Primal
Mewtwo-Mega-Y
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane
Rayquaza-Mega
A
Deoxys-Attack
Diancie-Mega
Greninja-Ash
Kartana
Regigigas
Slaking
Solgaleo
Steelix-Mega
A-
Deoxys-Speed
Lopunny-Mega
Necrozma-Ultra
Slowbro-Mega
B Rank
Arceus
Celesteela
Cresselia
Excadrill
Giratina
Giratina-Origin
Guzzlord
Gyarados-Mega
Ho-Oh
Kyogre-Primal
Kyurem-Black
Lunala
Metagross-Mega
Registeel
Type: Null
Yveltal
C Rank
Articuno
Gardevoir-Mega
Groudon @ Red Orb
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Lugia
Pheromosa
Pikachu
Shedinja
Tyranitar-Mega
Xerneas
Blacklist - Do not discuss putting these on the VR
Changelog:Pure Fire-types in the metagame don't stand very well as Wonder Guards as they for the most part are outclassed by other possible Wonder Guards such as Primal Groudon and Alolan Muk for having similar but less weaknesses, and usually higher defensive stats. However, the main strategy of a Pure Fire-type Pokemon with Wonder Guard is to utilize the move Burn Up, a move that removes a Pokemon's Fire-type after successfully hitting. With many viable Wonder Guards in the metagame, these types of Pokemon should find it hard to be able to successfully hit an attack, and even if they do, they can still be forced to switch either by phazing or by matchup, causing them to have to redo their main strategy. It is also worth noting that the ability of Wonder Guards to carry four moves in this metagame is a gift. Most of them use their four moves in order to support, recover themselves, boost stats, inflict status, and/or throw hazards. Their type combination is good enough to handle on their own without the absolute need to provide a move to get rid of their type. Pure Fire-type Pokemon who follow the Burn Up strategy can also struggle more heavily against Mold Breaker/Turboblaze/Teravolt Pokemon or Pokemon that have Photon Geyser or Moongeist Beam, making the entire point of the strategy lose any value it had.
Post to stack on explanation: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/pure-hackmons.3656851/page-3#post-8375359
Regigigas
Guzzlord
Any pure Fire-type for their Burn Up sets.
Pikachu runs Imposter, which works with Light Ball as it leaves Pikachu being able to copy its target and have twice their offense stats. With proper speed support (Tailwind) the thing can be an absolute monster thanks to how nuclear this metagame's most powerful Pokemon can get. Otherwise it's forced into a 50/50 but winning those 50/50 speed ties can lead to insane results due to the double offenses, and those offenses are sometimes enough for Pikachu to even outdamage the opp in a 1v1. Finally, the Imposter can help Pikachu scout.
S to S-
A to A+
UR to A+
A+ to A-
A+ to A-
A to A-
B to A-
A- to B+
B to B+
UR to B+
UR to B+
A to B
C to B
UR to B
UR to B
B to B-
C to B-
C to B-
C to B-
UR to B-
B to C
UR to C
C to D
C to D
UR to D
UR to D
C to UR
A to A+
A to A+
A- to A+ B to A+
S- to A
S- to A
S- to A
A- to A C to A
A to A-
B to A- B- to B+
B to B+
UR to B+
A+ to B
A- to B A- to B B+ to B
B+ to B
B+ to B
UR to B A to B-
UR to B-
A- to C A- to C
B to C B- to D
B- to D B- to D B- to UR B- to UR
C to URInnards that bluffs wonder guard (it sucks dont use it)
pretends to bluff WG* it doesn't actually bluff it since the WG set is unviable so it's very easy to just see right through if you know the Innards set exists
is this for gen 7 and 6 PH?GEN 7 VR UPDATE !!!
It's been almost a year since the Gen 7 VR was updated, and a substantial amount of metagame development has happened since then, especially with the establishment of a Gen 7 PH ladder. In response to the more developed metagame we have now, we've also added B+, B-, and D-ranks for the regular VR, as well as D rank for the Wonder Guard VR. Also, please welcome TheCreatorOfBullsht and Eyeos to the VR council!
Without further ado, here are the ranking changes:
Regular VR:
Wonder Guard VR:
As always, feel free to ask questions about individual rank changes here or in the Pure Hackmons Discord server.
Like most of those calc are on mons slower then you so you can just phase them
True, but Magic Guard and Magic Bounce still exist, and you have very limited CFZ PP. Also, KOing a Pokémon with Belch can save Sleep Talk PP
