Resource National Dex Ubers Viability Rankings [Update #9 at post 335!]

You could disagree with my opinion on regular M2, but MM2Y is not worth a B+.
I'm not sure if you read my reply or not but I pretty clearly said I don't think it is a B+ mon. I think it is a C+, maybe B- mon. I voted it B on the last slate and still felt that was potentially a bit high. There will be another slate in the nearish future. It hasn't been decided exactly when that is going to happen, but it will be relatively soon. A week before voting is planned to start I'll make a post here letting people know so they can make sure there is time to get nominations in. If you have any other nominations feel free to do make them as any nominations made since the last slate will be considered. You can rest easy knowing that I think there is a very small chance MMY retains a B+ rank. We agree that it is not a good mon.

First of all, I disagree with the opinion that M2 has to be in HO teams. You could also put it into a balance/semi-stall team and its only task is breaking through the opponent's defense and grabbing KOs. You could even use wish and heal belI/aromatherapy to support it, just like what Bobsican did in his Chien-pao team. I have some such teams and they're effective. Also, you only need to tera when facing certain opponents. Bringing regular M2 doesn't mean that you'll always give it tera in the battle.
If you find a way to make it work on balance/ semi-stall please send me a team because I'd be very interested. I don't doubt that it would 'work.' My concern is that it is outclassed. I'm kind of skeptical that you could make it work with Heal Bell/Aroma support. On Bob's (I'll shoutout bigbaurens as well who did something similar with Teleport Blissey around the same time) Chien-Pao Semistall Blissey doesn't run these moves and it doesn't have the room for it. Maybe you could drop Toxic, but I'm not sure. The other option is Calyrex-I which is both great and heavily underused on balance, but I don't see how you're going to make a blance with both NP Mewtwo and Calyrex-I.

When Bob was first discussing Chien Pao (I've seen and faced most of the iterations) one of the things that came to mind is that in a lot of the replays Marshadow would do the exact same thing. The final version definitely benefits from Chien-Pao but I do think previous versions would work just as well with something else.

I see Mewtwo running into a more exaggerated version of this. Sure it 'works' but why use this over something else? With Chien-Pao I thought that it was good, but there was an argument to be made that it could be replaced with some other mon. With Mewtwo I'm almost certain this is the case. If you'd like to provide either a team or some replays I'd love to see them as I'm pretty curious and always happy to see some heat.

Second, if you bring M2, you won't expect it to provide defensive utility. You want it to break through. For this task regular M2 clearly outplays MM2Y. MM2Y is just bad: not that strong, no flexibility, extremely weak on the physical side. You could give it 88 defense EV and it's still much frailer on this side than regular M2, not to mention that its power becomes even weaker in this set. Regular M2 may die from recoil, but that's much better than being OHKOed.
Sami can correct me, but I think that they're talking about any defensive utility, even if it is scant. In the Zacian-C example, it barely has any defensive utility, but it does have some. It can switch into Yveltal and some CM Arceus formes. Its natural typing and decent bulk (92/115/115 is pretty good with the typing) generally enables it to find space to setup. Even Marshadow, which is infamous for having near zero defensive utility does handle Arceus and can survive an attack from defensive Primal Groudon or unboosted Eternatus.

What separates Mewtwo is that even assuming it can find a turn to setup, it usually takes so much damage doing so that it is hard for it to wallbreak as it only has a couple of attacks due to LO chip and will be in range of most priority. I agree that the def investment for MMY seems frivolous, but when Zrp200 and I ran the calcs for max SpA we couldn't find any where it made a difference. It is something that will come into play from time to time. At least when I use MMY, I rarely mega evolve immediately unless I need the speed as the defence from base Mewtwo does come into play as you've mentioned.

Re: the last sentence. They're both dying to the same thing almost every time anyways.

Third, coverage. Yes, regular M2 needs to pick between fire and ground, but that's its only concern. MM2Y has four important coverage moves (fire, ice, fight, ground) and it could only choose two. It means whatever they choose, tera fairy M2 will always miss one important coverage move in the battle, while MM2Y will miss two. Someone says that focus blast is as powerful as tera fairy. Well, if you really trust that move...
They are pretty much the same here as MMY is only really choosing between Fighting and Ice-type coverage. Fire Blast is needed for the Steels. If you're running Mewtwo on HO Ferrothorn in particular is less of a concern given its poor matchup into HO in general though it does beat this Mewtwo. Yeah 4MSS is a huge reason why MMY isn't great and it is also a huge reason why base Mewtwo also isn't great.

Relying on Focus Miss sucks, I won't deny that. This extends well beyond MMY and is a problem that plagues a lot of mons in NDUbers. Most moves just arn't 100% accurate and it will bite you at times, it is something you have to deal with. I'm not really sure whether Tera Blast truly counts as coverage when it will not or should not use it every game tbh. Even with MMY's coverage issues, it can still click its moves without hesitation.

Fourth, matchups. Compared to MM2Y, optional tera fairy M2 has obvious MU advantages over top pokemons such as Yveltal, Marshadow, Ho-oh, Zygarde, and its MU against Groudon, Dusk Mane, Zacian is also arguably better. Flutter Mane is rare, and Chien-Pao is not the most common pokemon either. Eternatus is the only MU against top tier pokemon which MM2Y is clearly better, but Eternatus has natural disadvantage against any type of M2 and may not dare to risk the speed tie with regular M2. Also, it doesn't know the M2's variant before it mega evolves or reveals LO. Defensive Eternatus usually won't run 394 speed, while many Meteor beam variants run recover instead of sludge bomb. All things considered, when facing Eternatus, MM2Y's advantage over regular M2 is not that significant.

I'll address the speed bit first. Chien-Pao runs 396 speed (iirc) and its ability to outspeed Eternatus (and by extension Mewtwo) is a large part of what even makes it good in the first place. Give it 120 Speed and it is fringe viable. Outspeeding Eternatus is actually pretty big considering how threatening it can be to a lot of squads. I'm pretty aware of Meteor Beam + Recover Eternatus since it is the main set I use and I had to fight for a while to get it a dex entry. Like Mewtwo, it also frequently runs Tera Fairy and is probably at worst trading given that Mewtwo doesn't exactly take its attacks well.

These comparison vary in validity. It certainly is better against Yveltal generally. I'd call them equal against Marshadow because unless Mewtwo is setting up a Nasty Plot for free it is going to find itself in Shadow Sneak range even with Tera Fairy. Marshadow isn't switching into either Mewtwo so it comes in after something dies or gets pivoted in. After thinking about it more I'd say MMY is better against Zygarde since +2 Psystrike still OHKOes defensive and it isn't outsped by +1 Zygarde. MMY is better against Necrozma-DM since it OHKOes with +2 Fireblast and Mewtwo is never OHKOing even after Stealth Rock. On paper Mewtwo is better than MMY against Zacian-C, but in game it is about even. Zacian-C isn't really switching into either of them, but if it does it is living most attacks either would throw at it comfortably. Because of the LO chip Mewtwo dies after one attack anyways making it a wash. It is better against Pdon because of Focus Miss.

I brought up Flutter Mane as an example of a mon I do not like and think is quite bad to make a point. I wasn't trying to say it is common or something that requires attention in the builder. I don't know if Chien-Pao sees enough ladder usage to account for, but iirc it was 6.2% last month. It is definitely something to consider, but not explicitly prep for currently.

Overall, my opinion doesn't change: regular M2 with the potential to tera fairy is better than MM2Y. If you ask me, regular M2 is C+ while MM2Y is C-.
Recently, I met several tera dark chansey in high ladder stall teams, and I'm sure when they made that decision, they were not considering M2's VR in this forum. Their only concern was that it's a nightmare, and it's the same for me because I also used stall a lot on the top ladder and I knew who beat me (though I still use tera grass because Kyogre is more common).
Finally, Gholdengo is viable and should be ranked in this tier, but that's another topic.
I have many Mewtwo and Gholdengo's replays against ArcFairy, Xu9, Bobsican, and Bodden town, but that's too many different accounts and teams... I don't want to show all of them.
Feel free to show them. Bodden Town is me and I have me losing to who I'll assume is you. I saved that one because I wanted to see what I did incorrectly and not the 3 games before this I won. If you're nominating a mon to be ranked replays are required to show that the mon can actually do what is claimed rather than just being a paper tiger.

I do think Mewtwo can do a lot of what you've claimed, but I think you are vastly overhyping it. I do agree with most of your criticisms regarding MMY, but think MMY is C+ and Mewtwo is C- at best. I'll reiterate, if you have replays please post them because you've talked a lot about Mewtwo without providing any.

On a final note, re: Ghold it is ranked at C-. Re: Tera Dark Blob, if it is Bobsican's team, it was for Psyspam and Lunala in particular, not Mewtwo. Also going forward please use line breaks between your paragraphs as it makes your posts much easier to read.
 
I'm not sure if you read my reply or not but I pretty clearly said I don't think it is a B+ mon. I think it is a C+, maybe B- mon. I voted it B on the last slate and still felt that was potentially a bit high. There will be another slate in the nearish future. It hasn't been decided exactly when that is going to happen, but it will be relatively soon. A week before voting is planned to start I'll make a post here letting people know so they can make sure there is time to get nominations in. If you have any other nominations feel free to do make them as any nominations made since the last slate will be considered. You can rest easy knowing that I think there is a very small chance MMY retains a B+ rank. We agree that it is not a good mon.


If you find a way to make it work on balance/ semi-stall please send me a team because I'd be very interested. I don't doubt that it would 'work.' My concern is that it is outclassed. I'm kind of skeptical that you could make it work with Heal Bell/Aroma support. On Bob's (I'll shoutout bigbaurens as well who did something similar with Teleport Blissey around the same time) Chien-Pao Semistall Blissey doesn't run these moves and it doesn't have the room for it. Maybe you could drop Toxic, but I'm not sure. The other option is Calyrex-I which is both great and heavily underused on balance, but I don't see how you're going to make a blance with both NP Mewtwo and Calyrex-I.

When Bob was first discussing Chien Pao (I've seen and faced most of the iterations) one of the things that came to mind is that in a lot of the replays Marshadow would do the exact same thing. The final version definitely benefits from Chien-Pao but I do think previous versions would work just as well with something else.

I see Mewtwo running into a more exaggerated version of this. Sure it 'works' but why use this over something else? With Chien-Pao I thought that it was good, but there was an argument to be made that it could be replaced with some other mon. With Mewtwo I'm almost certain this is the case. If you'd like to provide either a team or some replays I'd love to see them as I'm pretty curious and always happy to see some heat.


Sami can correct me, but I think that they're talking about any defensive utility, even if it is scant. In the Zacian-C example, it barely has any defensive utility, but it does have some. It can switch into Yveltal and some CM Arceus formes. Its natural typing and decent bulk (92/115/115 is pretty good with the typing) generally enables it to find space to setup. Even Marshadow, which is infamous for having near zero defensive utility does handle Arceus and can survive an attack from defensive Primal Groudon or unboosted Eternatus.

What separates Mewtwo is that even assuming it can find a turn to setup, it usually takes so much damage doing so that it is hard for it to wallbreak as it only has a couple of attacks due to LO chip and will be in range of most priority. I agree that the def investment for MMY seems frivolous, but when Zrp200 and I ran the calcs for max SpA we couldn't find any where it made a difference. It is something that will come into play from time to time. At least when I use MMY, I rarely mega evolve immediately unless I need the speed as the defence from base Mewtwo does come into play as you've mentioned.

Re: the last sentence. They're both dying to the same thing almost every time anyways.


They are pretty much the same here as MMY is only really choosing between Fighting and Ice-type coverage. Fire Blast is needed for the Steels. If you're running Mewtwo on HO Ferrothorn in particular is less of a concern given its poor matchup into HO in general though it does beat this Mewtwo. Yeah 4MSS is a huge reason why MMY isn't great and it is also a huge reason why base Mewtwo also isn't great.

Relying on Focus Miss sucks, I won't deny that. This extends well beyond MMY and is a problem that plagues a lot of mons in NDUbers. Most moves just arn't 100% accurate and it will bite you at times, it is something you have to deal with. I'm not really sure whether Tera Blast truly counts as coverage when it will not or should not use it every game tbh. Even with MMY's coverage issues, it can still click its moves without hesitation.



I'll address the speed bit first. Chien-Pao runs 396 speed (iirc) and its ability to outspeed Eternatus (and by extension Mewtwo) is a large part of what even makes it good in the first place. Give it 120 Speed and it is fringe viable. Outspeeding Eternatus is actually pretty big considering how threatening it can be to a lot of squads. I'm pretty aware of Meteor Beam + Recover Eternatus since it is the main set I use and I had to fight for a while to get it a dex entry. Like Mewtwo, it also frequently runs Tera Fairy and is probably at worst trading given that Mewtwo doesn't exactly take its attacks well.

These comparison vary in validity. It certainly is better against Yveltal generally. I'd call them equal against Marshadow because unless Mewtwo is setting up a Nasty Plot for free it is going to find itself in Shadow Sneak range even with Tera Fairy. Marshadow isn't switching into either Mewtwo so it comes in after something dies or gets pivoted in. After thinking about it more I'd say MMY is better against Zygarde since +2 Psystrike still OHKOes defensive and it isn't outsped by +1 Zygarde. MMY is better against Necrozma-DM since it OHKOes with +2 Fireblast and Mewtwo is never OHKOing even after Stealth Rock. On paper Mewtwo is better than MMY against Zacian-C, but in game it is about even. Zacian-C isn't really switching into either of them, but if it does it is living most attacks either would throw at it comfortably. Because of the LO chip Mewtwo dies after one attack anyways making it a wash. It is better against Pdon because of Focus Miss.

I brought up Flutter Mane as an example of a mon I do not like and think is quite bad to make a point. I wasn't trying to say it is common or something that requires attention in the builder. I don't know if Chien-Pao sees enough ladder usage to account for, but iirc it was 6.2% last month. It is definitely something to consider, but not explicitly prep for currently.


Feel free to show them. Bodden Town is me and I have me losing to who I'll assume is you. I saved that one because I wanted to see what I did incorrectly and not the 3 games before this I won. If you're nominating a mon to be ranked replays are required to show that the mon can actually do what is claimed rather than just being a paper tiger.

I do think Mewtwo can do a lot of what you've claimed, but I think you are vastly overhyping it. I do agree with most of your criticisms regarding MMY, but think MMY is C+ and Mewtwo is C- at best. I'll reiterate, if you have replays please post them because you've talked a lot about Mewtwo without providing any.

On a final note, re: Ghold it is ranked at C-. Re: Tera Dark Blob, if it is Bobsican's team, it was for Psyspam and Lunala in particular, not Mewtwo. Also going forward please use line breaks between your paragraphs as it makes your posts much easier to read.
For some damage calc:

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Mewtwo Earth Power vs. 24 HP / 0 SpD Necrozma-Ultra: 296-350 (86.8 - 102.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
We all know that M2 facing Dusk Mane is a gamble unless you run shadow ball (probably wouldn't), but with a little bit of chip, you don't need to guess whether it ultra-bursts or not in this case. That's what I meant in my first reply. Of course if you run fire blast, you still need to guess.

+2 204 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psystrike vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 271-321 (64.5 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 204 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Zygarde: 359-423 (85.4 - 100.7%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
I think you mean MMY OHKOs the DD version, not this one. Also, for DD version, MMY outspeeds +1 Z100%, but would be outsped by +1 Z50%, so there are some nuances here. Considering both versions, the difference of MUs might be closer than I said.

+1 252 SpA Eternatus Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mewtwo: 212-250 (60 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
If that's its best move, it's not that bad for M2. Tera Fairy is surely common for Eternatus, but given the natural MU disadvantage, using tera against M2 seems too much a risk for me. When you use your tera, you would expect the effect to be as guranteed as possible.

252 Atk Choice Band Technician Tera Ghost Marshadow Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tera Fairy Mewtwo: 210-248 (59.4 - 70.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Technician Marshadow Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tera Fairy Mewtwo: 136-161 (38.5 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
I'm not sure why you think it enters the shadow sneak range that easily.

For being outclassed:
If you're solely talking about breaking stall, I would nominate Gothitelle. That's an extreme strategy and her A- rank is legit. But if you want to find an attacker outclassing tera fairy M2, probably none. As a stall user myself, I could name some big threats: CM+water spout P Kyogre, DD Kyurem Black, SubDD Zekrom, mixed Yveltal with taunt and knock off, CB Marshadow, Bobcisan's CB Chien-Pao. I would say none of these is as threatening as M2, or at least they could be handled by a common tera pick. My final nomination is CB tera fly Rayquazza. It's as threatening as M2, but it would be outsped by Eteratus and Arceus Dark (which could tank a hit), so it needs to hit the field repeatedly, and it's weak to stealth rock. Most importantly, to unleash its full potential, tera is also mandatory. So I wouldn't say it outclasses M2, especially considering its speed tier against more offensive teams.

For teams and replays:
I'm not ready to show them in public yet. If you want, I could send them in private chat.
 
For some damage calc:

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Mewtwo Earth Power vs. 24 HP / 0 SpD Necrozma-Ultra: 296-350 (86.8 - 102.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
We all know that M2 facing Dusk Mane is a gamble unless you run shadow ball (probably wouldn't), but with a little bit of chip, you don't need to guess whether it ultra-bursts or not in this case. That's what I meant in my first reply. Of course if you run fire blast, you still need to guess.
I'm making the assumption that you're always running Fire Blast on MMY. Ironically this is the same roll Eternatus has to OHKO Zacian-C with +1 Fire Blast which I don't consider reliable in the slightest. It is a guessing game and I wouldn't consider MMY a good answer to Ultra Necrozma. 18.8% is not something to rely on.

+1 252 SpA Eternatus Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mewtwo: 212-250 (60 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
If that's its best move, it's not that bad for M2. Tera Fairy is surely common for Eternatus, but given the natural MU disadvantage, using tera against M2 seems too much a risk for me. When you use your tera, you would expect the effect to be as guranteed as possible.
This is fine? If it is Tera Fairy it means it is usually running Recover so it is a trade of tera for tera at worst.

+2 204 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psystrike vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 271-321 (64.5 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 204 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Zygarde: 359-423 (85.4 - 100.7%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
I think you mean MMY OHKOs the DD version, not this one. Also, for DD version, MMY outspeeds +1 Z100%, but would be outsped by +1 Z50%, so there are some nuances here. Considering both versions, the difference of MUs might be closer than I said.
Yeah I did. +1 Zygarde Complete hits 396 speed by the way. +1 Zygarde 50% hits 426.

252 Atk Choice Band Technician Tera Ghost Marshadow Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tera Fairy Mewtwo: 210-248 (59.4 - 70.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Technician Marshadow Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tera Fairy Mewtwo: 136-161 (38.5 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
I'm not sure why you think it enters the shadow sneak range that easily.
I'm not sure how you think it doesn't? I was talking about CB which I should have clarified. If rocks are up and it takes literally any attack it is dead. Even something as weak as an Alomomola Flip Turn or toxicing it nearly puts it in range after it uses a single attack. Having a Toxic Spike up puts it in range. If it is LO sure.

For being outclassed:
If you're solely talking about breaking stall, I would nominate Gothitelle. That's an extreme strategy and her A- rank is legit. But if you want to find an attacker outclassing tera fairy M2, probably none. As a stall user myself, I could name some big threats: CM+water spout P Kyogre, DD Kyurem Black, SubDD Zekrom, mixed Yveltal with taunt and knock off, CB Marshadow, Bobcisan's CB Chien-Pao. I would say none of these is as threatening as M2, or at least they could be handled by a common tera pick. My final nomination is CB tera fly Rayquazza. It's as threatening as M2, but it would be outsped by Eteratus and Arceus Dark (which could tank a hit), so it needs to hit the field repeatedly, and it's weak to stealth rock. Most importantly, to unleash its full potential, tera is also mandatory. So I wouldn't say it outclasses M2, especially considering its speed tier against more offensive teams.
We have lots of great stallbreakers and I guess Mewtwo is passable? I'd certainly run most of these Mewtwo. I'd say most of them are signficantly better than Mewtwo with the exception of Marshadow which I don't find to be a good stallbreaker. Water Spout Primal Kyogre is really only a Sticky Web thing and it is a much better stallbreaker on paper than in game. It has to be played incredibly precisely and the moment a Toxic Spike goes up it no longer is.

Yeah some of them are relying on tera, but they also arn't chipping themselves with every single attack that they also have to get right. Rayquaza has the issue of 8 PP and can U-Turn on everything but Arceus-Dark which doesn't OHKO with Foul Play so it has some margin for error. I'd add Choice Specs Lunala and defensive Primal Kyogre to this list which is far better at breaking stall than the offensive set. Breaking stall is not particularly difficult.

For teams and replays:
I'm not ready to show them in public yet. If you want, I could send them in private chat.
Why? This set has been around for a long ass time at this point. It wasn't created last week. There isn't really much point in sending them to me as I'm of the opinion that MMY could be ranked. Its just that you're hyping something up and going trust me mate. I'm fine voting for it C-, but other voters are probably going to want to see some replays where it does stuff that couldn't be replicated by some other mon.
 
Personal NDUbers VR

It's been like 5 months since I last did one of these, and a lot of stuff has changed, like Xerneas being banned, or new developments into certain mons. So I figured I'd just do this again. You could take the lower rankings as a sort of "pseudo-nomination" since these are probably gonna be brief.
my-image (15).png


S TIER
Pokemon that must be considered offensively and defensively for any team archetype, and these Pokemon will usually fit on the majority of teams without major support.

S+
:GROUDON-PRIMAL:This should be pretty straightforward as to why it's here. Fantastic stats, great typing, superb ability and a very deep movepool both offensively (Precipice Blades, Earthquake, Rock Tomb, Stone Edge, Overheat, Eruption, HP Ice) and defensively (Stealth Rock, Spikes, Dragon Tail, Toxic, Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp, Roar). You could argue it's falling off just a bit, but not nearly enough to justify another mon being S+ or even worse, this thing dropping to S.

S
:eternatus:
Very flexible Pokemon. It's got a great defensive profile, is one of the only Toxic Spikes setters and absorbers in the tier, and can run a very wide variety of items, moves and strategies. I put Eternatus over Zygarde because not only does it fit on more playstyles (i.e Zygarde doesn't fit on Stall or HO as well as Eternatus does), but also because Eternatus's checks are much less harsh as Zygarde's are, barring Blissey and Chansey. It also has more sets than Zygarde, with almost all of them being quite splashable and effective no matter what type of team Eternatus is on.

:zygarde: People say its banworthy, I'd argue the tier would be worse without it since it's physically defensive profile is amazing against Primal Groudon, Marshadow and Mega Salamence. It's a splashable answer to these guys for Balance and Bulky Offense teams which are doing great right now, and it's potential to sweep with Coil + Tera is not only potent, but still manageable assuming it's a balance matchup (such as the opponent actually bringing a Special Attacker). It feels like people are preparing for it more though, so this is also why I'd argue it's worse than Eternatus is, although it's still extremely good.

S-

:KYOGRE-PRIMAL: There aren't many situations where this thing does nothing. It's a great progress maker into teams that can't afford to run secure checks to this thing, and a lot of teams I see usually resort to just Primal Groudon as their answer, meaning Primal Kyogre has amazing offensive synergy with others like Zacian-C and Arceus-Fairy. Due to it's uncommon weaknesses, it's abnormally tanky too, so even it's offensive sets can be a pain to remove without taking massive damage in the process. Unlike all the other mons in S- though, I'd argue this thing has no direct weakness. Yveltal is susceptible to rocks or Dark resists, Zacian-C is still quite easy to check defensively with Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM, Ho-Oh is kinda passive and Giratina-O has no real longevity, but the only issue Primal Kyogre has is that it's kinda slow, which the bulk makes up for.

:yveltal: Defensive and Choice Scarf are kinda medicore. One doesn't do much outside of Taunt and Toxic to anything that isn't a physical attacker, and the other is an inconsistent, rocks weak form of Speed control. Life Orb is a great set, but that has it's limits too, such as Zacian-C, it's own recoil combined with rocks damage, and the 4MSS it can struggle with between Sucker Punch and Knock Off, the former needed to beat Ultra Necrozma reliably, while the latter is needed to further push wallbreaking and to actually scare Ho-Oh. It's a good mon, but the first two sets are simply done better by others like Arceus-Dark or Chien Pao, while the LO set has its own issues, meaning it does require a bit of thought before throwing onto a team.

:zacian-crowned: Having only one set hurts, it's easy to predict even the Tera Blast Ground sets from preview as well, and even these sets aren't guaranteed to handle Primal Groudon. The Tera-hogging nature of these sets hurts the Hyper Offense teams it fits on as well. But it's not all bad, after all, it's still the best form of Speed Control in the tier in my opinion, still checks a lot like support Arceus formes, Yveltal, Chien Pao and even Giratina-O to an extent, and still works outside of HO for Bulky Offense teams.

:ho-oh: Defensive Ho-Oh is so unbelieveably passive that not even Toxic can save it. Offensive Ho-Oh is the ideal set for most Bulky Offense teams unless Ho-Oh is the only Defog user on the team, but even then, having yourself completely open to Primal Kyogre and Groudon is a horrible idea. Although it's typing is good, on the physical side, it's not that bulky even with the investment, and a lot of the time it's passivity makes it lose to Pokemon it should on paper beat, like Eternatus or Arceus-Fairy. This thing does feel a bit underexplored though; I've been using a Choice Scarf Ho-Oh set recently and it actually isn't horrible at revenge-killing Pokemon like Zacian-C, and Choice Band sets are still great wallbreakers. Overall, Ho-Oh is far from bad, but it's not the same defensive behemoth it once was back during Xerneas's meta.

:giratina-origin: Just like Eternatus, this thing is very flexible, but unlike Ho-Oh, it's a defogger that isn't completely passive. There aren't that many mons that want to switch directly into Giratina-O, the only ones being Refresh Arceus-Fairy/Dark or Garganacl, the last two being forced out by Dragon Tail anyways. It's a great Tera user, a great status spreader, and has been seeing loads of use on Bulky Offense, which is probably the most splashable archetype in the tier right now, which this thing fits on best.

A TIER
Meta-defining threats, but not as versatile as S-Tier. Minimal support needed to function, although they may be specific to certain archetypes.
A+

:ARCEUS-GROUND:This guy has felt much less splashable as he used too, since defensive sets are usually done better by Pokemon like Zygarde, Eternatus and Giratina-O, and the offensive sets have a lot of issues too, such as Dragon Dance sets taking up a Z-Crystal slot, or Calm Mind sets struggling between Power Gem and Ice Beam coverage. Arceus-Ground also faces competition from other Arceus formes, since it doesn't hard check anything like the others, such as Arceus-Fairy, do, especially since it doesn't have a Calm Mind Refresh moveset due to Judgment being problematic without coverage. I'd even argue Rock Polish Primal Groudon is better in some situations for HO, since it can still check Zacian-C and Primal Kyogre in a pinch, the former already being a nuisance for HO with it's superb speed and attack. Overall, Arceus-Ground is still the best Arceus forme in my opinion, but it's facing stronger competition from other Arceus formes, as well as feeling less effective overall.

:marshadow: Still a fantastic revenge-killer, wallbreaker and sometimes sweeper for Bulky Offense and HO teams alike. Didn't change too much from original VR, and I don't think the meta has shifted enough to change any opinions about this guy, although you could argue it's worse now since it has to face competition with Chien Pao, but it still has multiple redeeming qualities over it, such as the lack of rocks weakness, immunity to Extreme Speed and arguably better STAB combo.

:arceus-dark: With the rise in Yveltal, Arceus-Dark becomes much less splashable, especially since it struggles to get much done by Pokemon that aren't affected by Foul Play such as Eternatus or Arceus-Fairy. It's Calm Mind Refresh set is easily the most potent out of the other Arceus formes, but this still doesn't save the Utility set, which I feel is much less effective barring the Necrozma-DM matchup, since all the others MUs the Calm Mind Judgment set handles just as well.

A

:ARCEUS-FAIRY: For bulky offense and balance teams alike, this mon is great glue. Although it struggles against Zacian-C, NDM and sometimes Primal Groudon, it's still great at pushing out Yveltal, Giratina-O and Arceus-Dark, meaning it does amazing into opposing bulky offense teams, and sometimes even balance teams that lack Ho-Oh. It's also a good Marshadow and Chien Pao switch, making it a cornerstone on defensive structures. On the other hand, offensive sets have great surprise factor, even outside of Calm Mind Refresh, making this thing actually really good at late-game sweeps, arguably better than Arceus-Dark since it requires less to be broken down (it only needs Necrozma-DM, Zacian-C and Ho-Oh gone before Judgment/Earth Power can start putting in the work in my opinion). I was deciding between A and A+, but I think the former is fine for now.

:arceus: Outside of HO, I can barely justify this thing compared to Marshadow for a revenge-killing sweeper. In HO though, it's not that bad, but it does have a bit of 4MSS with Recover (needed vs bulkier teams), Taunt (needed for Zygarde MU) and Earthquake (to hit Necrozma-DM and Zacian-C and maybe Primal Groudon). It does have Dragon Dance which alleviates it's issues with Marshadow, but I'd argue Arceus-Ghost is better in that situation, who also runs Extreme Speed. This still doesn't solve how it's completely deadweight against Stall since it can't break through Dondozo or Giratina at all. There are simply better mons than it, even if it's potent sometimes, and the rise of Garganacl isn't helping its case. Also Trick Room sucks I'm not using that set to argue it's good.

:necrozma-ultra: People already prep for this guy so hard to the point where it's basically natural. Ultra Necrozma shreds through badly built teams, sure, but against teams with at least one good answer, like Arceus-Dark, it basically does nothing. It's a huge hit or miss Pokemon, you either shred through easily, or get curbstomped. At least, that's for Dragon Dance Ultra Necrozma. Stealth Rock lead Ultra Necrozma, and Calm Mind Ultra Necrozma, while unpopular, can be quite effective at luring physical walls like Zygarde to try and stop them, and I feel like if these sets were explored more, it could probably rise above Arceus.


A-

:necrozma-dusk-mane: Very similar issues to Ultra Necrozma, barring Defensive NDM which is a different case altogether (it's not all that and is rather specific compared to other defensive options like Zygarde or Primal Groudon). It is slightly better into Arceus-Dark thanks to Solganium Z, but it's still worse into Scarf Yveltal, as well as Primal Groudon or Zygarde.

:deoxys-speed: Hyper Offense is still good even without Xerneas, and this guy is still the best lead in the metagame by far, almost beating every other hazard lead with Taunt and/or Magic Coat. Not too sure why Deoxys-S dropped to begin with, since nothing has happened for it to drop apart from Bulky Offense being mildly more popular, but it's still a great mon.

:rayquaza: Choice Band is the best wallbreaker in the tier. But aside from that, Dragon Dance is still very good, and is an excellent Tera abuser, such as with Tera Fire V-Create to setup and remove Ho-Oh with ease. It's got a wide movepool, from Dragon Ascent, U-Turn, V-Create and Extreme Speed, to more niche options like Earthquake, Draco Meteor and even Waterfall.

:deoxys-attack: PsySpam is good and all, but outside of that it requires a bunch of support against Pokemon like Necrozma-DM, Arceus-Dark and Yveltal, all three of which easily curbstomp it unless they're heavily chipped. It's significantly less splashable than Rayquaza or Necrozma-DM, since it has 0 defensive utility even compared to their offensive sets. It's fully reliant on good prediction meaning it gets fucked against a mispredict or Tera, additionally meaning it's got a very high skill ceiling to use effectively.

:salamence-mega: Far from a staple on HO, and although Intimidate helps it setup, starting at 75% a lot of the time sucks. It suffers from 4MSS with Refresh, Facade, Earthquake, Roost or even Substitute as well. It's good at breaking through teams that lack Zygarde, but so is Rayquaza, who I'd rather use for the option to Tera and the option of Extreme Speed priority. Mega Salamence is also really weak to status even with Facade, since being burned limits it to just clicking the former, opening yourself up to a Necrozma-DM or Tera Steel Giratina-O revenge-kill.

B TIER
Pokemon that are solid and have good niches in the tier, which are quite valuable for certain team structures, but still require a bit more team support to truly shine compared to S and A tier mons, while also impacting the metagame as a whole much less.

For these tiers, I'm just going to address the changes from the current VR and why, just to save time and forum space I guess.

B+

:gothitelle: Is Gothitelle that impactful? It is far from splashable, and it's clear it requires significant team support to truly get going, such as with it needing Arceus-Fairy to prevent it from being complete setup fodder for Arceus-Dark and Yveltal after the initial trapping. Gothitelle is also prone to being baited in by mons it'd ordinarily trap, such as Dragon Dance Zygarde or Offensive Ho-Oh being able to muscle through Gothitelle, especially since Gothitelle gets destroyed by crits. It's also extremely MU dependant, basically hoping it doesn't load into anything remotely offensive so it actually has a chance to trap something and not die in the process. It's good, but it's still cheesy IMO and I don't think it's A- material.

B

:palkia-origin:
I LOVE MISSING ALL OF MY MOVES! Seriously even with Substitute support missing Hydro Pump or Fire Blast feels like ass to play with. I'd usually argue having one bad accuracy move isn't enough to justify something being bad, especially Focus Blast, but this is taking that idea too far. As for breakers, I'd rather use Choice Specs Eternatus any day to be honest, since at least it can absorb Toxic Spikes.

:mewtwo-mega-y:It's not that bad. 140 Speed + Nasty Plot is still really good and it's basically limited to priority (Shadow Sneak and Extreme Speed) or Zacian-C to reliably revenge-kill it. Speaking of Nasty Plot, I see loads of people get upset when their MMY is basically dead as they click Nasty Plot into a very obvious attack, and I feel like Nasty Plot should be used as a switch-punisher rather than a dedicated setup mon, outside of HO of course. It's more of a breaker/revenge-killer than a full-on sweeper, similarly to Marshadow.

:zekrom: Call me biased, I don't care, I love this guy, and it's not that bad. Apart from the fact that Stall almost never has a consistent check into it, and that teams lacking Arceus-Ground have to completely bank on Primal Groudon to stop it, which Dragonium Z shreds through, it's still a powerful setup sweeper, and one of the only setup sweepers that actually uses Substitute effectively, putting a dent into the Alomomola, Ferrothorn and more recently, Garganacl teams that have popped up as of late, as well as other things like stopping Ditto and priority from revenge-killing it. Difficult to build around? Sorta. A bad setup mon? Not really.

:chien-pao: I don't fw this guy at all but it's good I guess. Good speed tier, good STAB combo barring Zacian-C, and recent success with Bobsican's Top 3 Semi-Stall, Chien Pao is a threat I guess. Still faces competition from Marshadow though, and that Zacian-C or even Arceus-Fairy MU is horrid not gonna lie.

B-

:arceus-ghost:Shadow Force is really strong, and I wouldn't say it's outclassed by Marshadow or Extreme Killer since it does have notable advantages compared to both, but what really sets this thing down is that... it's coverage is horrid. It's like the Regieleki of the tier - anything that resists or is immune to Shadow Force basically walls Arceus-Ghost entirely. Granted, if you don't do either then fighting this guy is a bit tricky since i 2HKOes practically anything with +1 Shadow Force, with the Z-Move being something else entirely, but fighting Yveltal and Arceus-Dark and Arceus is just abysmal, to the point where I'd say it's more outclassed by Basculegion than the ones mentioned before.

:garganacl: I HATE SALT CURE. Honestly this move is AIDS to fight against. It gets up rocks for basically free against all of the relevant Defoggers, and I've seen this thing 1v1 Stall before, so it's far from a C tier niche mon IMO. And don't get me started on Tera Garganacl. If Tera were to be banned, I'd be because of this guy, not Zygarde. This guy is the reason why Covert Cloak should be slashed on Defensive NDM's analysis btw.

:glimmora: It's just a hazard lead I don't know why it's B tier when it's still shut down by Taunt.

:chi-yu: Nasty Plot Z-Move has no switch-ins on Sticky Web teams outside of hard Stall in my opinion. All of the specially defensive mons, mayybe outside of Arceus-Fairy, get nuked by either Darkinium Z or by Fire Blast. This little fish is heavily slept on and people need to use it more, it can be insane sometimes. Choice Specs should also get some attention since it's still great surprise factor and does a good job breaking through Bulky Offense more safely than Nasty Plot can.

C TIER
Pokemon that need significant support to function well, and don't have a major role in the tier. Often have smaller niches that require building around, and are far from versatile or consistent.

Note that Iron Treads is still here I haven't put it in UR, it's just not on the TierList Maker.
C+

:shuckle: Sticky Webs isn't the best and just like Glimmora it's just a lead, no need for B- IMO.

:arceus-rock: Although it's facing a bit of competition from Garganacl, it's still solid, since it's superior on the offensive side, making it much better for the more offensive teams it'd fit on. Additionally, it's immune to Knock Off, something that Garganacl doesn't really like, and has better tools to not make it as passive, such as Will-O-Wisp or Taunt.

:kingambit: Might seem strange, but this guy is secretly really good. It's bulky, strong, and is very good at punishing almost every mon in the tier except Primal Groudon and Zygarde, both of which aren't too hard to deal with anyways. There was this team that was really good that had Kingambit on it, and I'm not sure if i can send it here, so I won't go into too much detail, but Kingambit is more than a end-game cleaner.


C

:venusaur-mega:Ferrothorn isn't a good reason as to why this guy is in UR. It still has major advantages over it, such as access to reliable healing in Synthesis, effective neutrality to Fire as opposed to being 4x weak, and therefore not being as vulnerable to Eternatus or Palkia-O, and not being weak to Fighting to check Marshadow in a pinch. There are a multitude of hazard setters in the tier, so Ferrothorn setting them isn't anything major, while Mega Venusaur absorbing Toxic Spikes is very useful for the Fat Balance teams it works best on. It shouldn't have dropped in my opinion.

:smeargle:Hazard lead except more inconsistent than both Shuckle and Glimmora.

:cresselia: Just as useful as Hatterene for Trick Room, which is where this archetype would belong (C Tier). It's also insanely bulky, and has a bunch of good switch-ins, such as against Arceus-Ground, Ultra Necrozma or Primal Groudon.

:arceus-steel: Was heavily considering D Tier because I have no idea what this guy does but I'm open for suggestions (if they're good I'll let it stay but if not then it's going into D Tier, seriously just use Necrozma-DM the dark and ghost weaknesses are not that bad).

:arceus-grass: This thing is just as good as Mega Venusaur, if not worse because it takes up an Arceus slot. It's a similar situation to Garganacl vs Arceus-Rock, where I guess the Arceus forme is less passive, but it's significantly worse defensively without the good ability or access to useful moves like Leech Seed or Salt Cure. I guess it can Tera but at that point just use Arceus-Ground or something.

:darmanitan-galar: Great at revenge-killing, good pivoting option, hits the entire tier for at least neutral unlike Pheromosa and is only really stopped by Arceus-Water and Dondozo (and I suppose healthy Defensive Primal Kyogre), which it can still U-Turn out of. Enables a lot of attackers like Primal Groudon or Marshadow since it brings in quite a lot from Primal Groudon itself, to Necrozma-DM and Zacian-C, all three of which can still be beat by Tera Ground Earthquake which also removes it's Stealth Rock weakness. Solid speed control option for teams looking for an offensive answer to Eternatus and Zacian-C in one slot.

:grimmsnarl: Just use Deoxys-S lol. But it does have a better defensive profile, notably being able to set screens on Chien Pao (4x resist Crunch) and Basculegion, while also being able to pivot. Still worse than Deoxys-S though.

:annihilape: Needs more experimentation but if you don't have an extremely bulky mon like support Arceus or defensive Yveltal, or a Ghost type, Final Gambit Annihilape is taking a kill turn 1 barring surprise Tera Ghost or random priority moves, enabling powerful attackers like Mega Salamence or Yveltal who appreciate the dismantled defensive structure. It can pivot against predicted Ghost switch-ins with U-Turn, and in extremely niche cases, can attempt a Rage Fist sweep by abusing weak moves like Garganacl's Salt Cure or Alomomola's Flip Turn.

C-

This is C- if you can't see that.
:slowbro-mega: Probably a stretch, but it does a good job eating neutral hits from Primal Groudon, Mega Salamence and Zygarde, before walling with ease with Iron Defense. Unlike Garganacl, it has an arguably better type combination (does well into Necrozma-DM and Ultra Necrozma), learns Toxic, and has a better offensive presence with Ice Beam or Scald. Could do with some more testing though.

:mewtwo: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...gs-update-6-at-post-231.3712169/post-10206938

:lucario-mega: Potentially slept on, after a Swords Dance boost a lot of things get 2HKOed, and the lack of Xerneas removes the real need to run Bullet Punch, so Stone Edge is an option for Ho-Oh. Still niche to Sticky Web though, and it could be argued it's worse than Marshadow, although blocking Mortal Spin is a good form of role compression IMO.

:arceus-dragon: Incredibly niche, uncommon and I don't really know how to feel about it compared to Giratina-O or Mega Latios.

:cyclizar: Shed Tail can be deadly for fat teams and even Stall that rely on passive damage to secure wins, and it enables attackers like Lunala, Primal Kyogre, Zacian-C and Yveltal very easily. Has Rapid Spin support too, and can normally pivot with U-Turn as well.

:flutter-mane: Similar issue to Arceus-Dragon comparing it to Mega Mewtwo Y, Mega Diancie and even Deoxys-A to an extent.
 
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Personal NDUbers VR

It's been like 5 months since I last did one of these, and a lot of stuff has changed, like Xerneas being banned, or new developments into certain mons. So I figured I'd just do this again. You could take the lower rankings as a sort of "pseudo-nomination" since these are probably gonna be brief.
View attachment 654128



S+
:GROUDON-PRIMAL:This should be pretty straightforward as to why it's here. Fantastic stats, great typing, superb ability and a very deep movepool both offensively (Precipice Blades, Earthquake, Rock Tomb, Stone Edge, Overheat, Eruption, HP Ice) and defensively (Stealth Rock, Spikes, Dragon Tail, Toxic, Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp, Roar). You could argue it's falling off just a bit, but not nearly enough to justify another mon being S+ or even worse, this thing dropping to S.

S
:eternatus:
Very flexible Pokemon. It's got a great defensive profile, is one of the only Toxic Spikes setters and absorbers in the tier, and can run a very wide variety of items, moves and strategies. I put Eternatus over Zygarde because not only does it fit on more playstyles (i.e Zygarde doesn't fit on Stall or HO as well as Eternatus does), but also because Eternatus's checks are much less harsh as Zygarde's are, barring Blissey and Chansey. It also has more sets than Zygarde, with almost all of them being quite splashable and effective no matter what type of team Eternatus is on.

:zygarde: People say its banworthy, I'd argue the tier would be worse without it since it's physically defensive profile is amazing against Primal Groudon, Marshadow and Mega Salamence. It's a splashable answer to these guys for Balance and Bulky Offense teams which are doing great right now, and it's potential to sweep with Coil + Tera is not only potent, but still manageable assuming it's a balance matchup (such as the opponent actually bringing a Special Attacker). It feels like people are preparing for it more though, so this is also why I'd argue it's worse than Eternatus is, although it's still extremely good.

S-

:KYOGRE-PRIMAL: There aren't many situations where this thing does nothing. It's a great progress maker into teams that can't afford to run secure checks to this thing, and a lot of teams I see usually resort to just Primal Groudon as their answer, meaning Primal Kyogre has amazing offensive synergy with others like Zacian-C and Arceus-Fairy. Due to it's uncommon weaknesses, it's abnormally tanky too, so even it's offensive sets can be a pain to remove without taking massive damage in the process. Unlike all the other mons in S- though, I'd argue this thing has no direct weakness. Yveltal is susceptible to rocks or Dark resists, Zacian-C is still quite easy to check defensively with Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM, Ho-Oh is kinda passive and Giratina-O has no real longevity, but the only issue Primal Kyogre has is that it's kinda slow, which the bulk makes up for.

:yveltal: Defensive and Choice Scarf are kinda medicore. One doesn't do much outside of Taunt and Toxic to anything that isn't a physical attacker, and the other is an inconsistent, rocks weak form of Speed control. Life Orb is a great set, but that has it's limits too, such as Zacian-C, it's own recoil combined with rocks damage, and the 4MSS it can struggle with between Sucker Punch and Knock Off, the former needed to beat Ultra Necrozma reliably, while the latter is needed to further push wallbreaking and to actually scare Ho-Oh. It's a good mon, but the first two sets are simply done better by others like Arceus-Dark or Chien Pao, while the LO set has its own issues, meaning it does require a bit of thought before throwing onto a team.

:zacian-crowned: Having only one set hurts, it's easy to predict even the Tera Blast Ground sets from preview as well, and even these sets aren't guaranteed to handle Primal Groudon. The Tera-hogging nature of these sets hurts the Hyper Offense teams it fits on as well. But it's not all bad, after all, it's still the best form of Speed Control in the tier in my opinion, still checks a lot like support Arceus formes, Yveltal, Chien Pao and even Giratina-O to an extent, and still works outside of HO for Bulky Offense teams.

:ho-oh: Defensive Ho-Oh is so unbelieveably passive that not even Toxic can save it. Offensive Ho-Oh is the ideal set for most Bulky Offense teams unless Ho-Oh is the only Defog user on the team, but even then, having yourself completely open to Primal Kyogre and Groudon is a horrible idea. Although it's typing is good, on the physical side, it's not that bulky even with the investment, and a lot of the time it's passivity makes it lose to Pokemon it should on paper beat, like Eternatus or Arceus-Fairy. This thing does feel a bit underexplored though; I've been using a Choice Scarf Ho-Oh set recently and it actually isn't horrible at revenge-killing Pokemon like Zacian-C, and Choice Band sets are still great wallbreakers. Overall, Ho-Oh is far from bad, but it's not the same defensive behemoth it once was back during Xerneas's meta.

:giratina-origin: Just like Eternatus, this thing is very flexible, but unlike Ho-Oh, it's a defogger that isn't completely passive. There aren't that many mons that want to switch directly into Giratina-O, the only ones being Refresh Arceus-Fairy/Dark or Garganacl, the last two being forced out by Dragon Tail anyways. It's a great Tera user, a great status spreader, and has been seeing loads of use on Bulky Offense, which is probably the most splashable archetype in the tier right now, which this thing fits on best.



A+

:ARCEUS-GROUND:This guy has felt much less splashable as he used too, since defensive sets are usually done better by Pokemon like Zygarde, Eternatus and Giratina-O, and the offensive sets have a lot of issues too, such as Dragon Dance sets taking up a Z-Crystal slot, or Calm Mind sets struggling between Power Gem and Ice Beam coverage. Arceus-Ground also faces competition from other Arceus formes, since it doesn't hard check anything like the others, such as Arceus-Fairy, do, especially since it doesn't have a Calm Mind Refresh moveset due to Judgment being problematic without coverage. I'd even argue Rock Polish Primal Groudon is better in some situations for HO, since it can still check Zacian-C and Primal Kyogre in a pinch, the former already being a nuisance for HO with it's superb speed and attack. Overall, Arceus-Ground is still the best Arceus forme in my opinion, but it's facing stronger competition from other Arceus formes, as well as feeling less effective overall.

:marshadow: Still a fantastic revenge-killer, wallbreaker and sometimes sweeper for Bulky Offense and HO teams alike. Didn't change too much from original VR, and I don't think the meta has shifted enough to change any opinions about this guy, although you could argue it's worse now since it has to face competition with Chien Pao, but it still has multiple redeeming qualities over it, such as the lack of rocks weakness, immunity to Extreme Speed and arguably better STAB combo.

:arceus-dark: With the rise in Yveltal, Arceus-Dark becomes much less splashable, especially since it struggles to get much done by Pokemon that aren't affected by Foul Play such as Eternatus or Arceus-Fairy. It's Calm Mind Refresh set is easily the most potent out of the other Arceus formes, but this still doesn't save the Utility set, which I feel is much less effective barring the Necrozma-DM matchup, since all the others MUs the Calm Mind Judgment set handles just as well.

A

:ARCEUS-FAIRY: For bulky offense and balance teams alike, this mon is great glue. Although it struggles against Zacian-C, NDM and sometimes Primal Groudon, it's still great at pushing out Yveltal, Giratina-O and Arceus-Dark, meaning it does amazing into opposing bulky offense teams, and sometimes even balance teams that lack Ho-Oh. It's also a good Marshadow and Chien Pao switch, making it a cornerstone on defensive structures. On the other hand, offensive sets have great surprise factor, even outside of Calm Mind Refresh, making this thing actually really good at late-game sweeps, arguably better than Arceus-Dark since it requires less to be broken down (it only needs Necrozma-DM, Zacian-C and Ho-Oh gone before Judgment/Earth Power can start putting in the work in my opinion). I was deciding between A and A+, but I think the former is fine for now.

:arceus: Outside of HO, I can barely justify this thing compared to Marshadow for a revenge-killing sweeper. In HO though, it's not that bad, but it does have a bit of 4MSS with Recover (needed vs bulkier teams), Taunt (needed for Zygarde MU) and Earthquake (to hit Necrozma-DM and Zacian-C and maybe Primal Groudon). It does have Dragon Dance which alleviates it's issues with Marshadow, but I'd argue Arceus-Ghost is better in that situation, who also runs Extreme Speed. This still doesn't solve how it's completely deadweight against Stall since it can't break through Dondozo or Giratina at all. There are simply better mons than it, even if it's potent sometimes, and the rise of Garganacl isn't helping its case. Also Trick Room sucks I'm not using that set to argue it's good.

:necrozma-ultra: People already prep for this guy so hard to the point where it's basically natural. Ultra Necrozma shreds through badly built teams, sure, but against teams with at least one good answer, like Arceus-Dark, it basically does nothing. It's a huge hit or miss Pokemon, you either shred through easily, or get curbstomped. At least, that's for Dragon Dance Ultra Necrozma. Stealth Rock lead Ultra Necrozma, and Calm Mind Ultra Necrozma, while unpopular, can be quite effective at luring physical walls like Zygarde to try and stop them, and I feel like if these sets were explored more, it could probably rise above Arceus.


A-

:necrozma-dusk-mane: Very similar issues to Ultra Necrozma, barring Defensive NDM which is a different case altogether (it's not all that and is rather specific compared to other defensive options like Zygarde or Primal Groudon). It is slightly better into Arceus-Dark thanks to Solganium Z, but it's still worse into Scarf Yveltal, as well as Primal Groudon or Zygarde.

:deoxys-speed: Hyper Offense is still good even without Xerneas, and this guy is still the best lead in the metagame by far, almost beating every other hazard lead with Taunt and/or Magic Coat. Not too sure why Deoxys-S dropped to begin with, since nothing has happened for it to drop apart from Bulky Offense being mildly more popular, but it's still a great mon.

:rayquaza: Choice Band is the best wallbreaker in the tier. But aside from that, Dragon Dance is still very good, and is an excellent Tera abuser, such as with Tera Fire V-Create to setup and remove Ho-Oh with ease. It's got a wide movepool, from Dragon Ascent, U-Turn, V-Create and Extreme Speed, to more niche options like Earthquake, Draco Meteor and even Waterfall.

:deoxys-attack: PsySpam is good and all, but outside of that it requires a bunch of support against Pokemon like Necrozma-DM, Arceus-Dark and Yveltal, all three of which easily curbstomp it unless they're heavily chipped. It's significantly less splashable than Rayquaza or Necrozma-DM, since it has 0 defensive utility even compared to their offensive sets. It's fully reliant on good prediction meaning it gets fucked against a mispredict or Tera, additionally meaning it's got a very high skill ceiling to use effectively.

:salamence-mega: Far from a staple on HO, and although Intimidate helps it setup, starting at 75% a lot of the time sucks. It suffers from 4MSS with Refresh, Facade, Earthquake, Roost or even Substitute as well. It's good at breaking through teams that lack Zygarde, but so is Rayquaza, who I'd rather use for the option to Tera and the option of Extreme Speed priority. Mega Salamence is also really weak to status even with Facade, since being burned limits it to just clicking the former, opening yourself up to a Necrozma-DM or Tera Steel Giratina-O revenge-kill.




For these tiers, I'm just going to address the changes from the current VR and why, just to save time and forum space I guess.

B+

:gothitelle: Is Gothitelle that impactful? It is far from splashable, and it's clear it requires significant team support to truly get going, such as with it needing Arceus-Fairy to prevent it from being complete setup fodder for Arceus-Dark and Yveltal after the initial trapping. Gothitelle is also prone to being baited in by mons it'd ordinarily trap, such as Dragon Dance Zygarde or Offensive Ho-Oh being able to muscle through Gothitelle, especially since Gothitelle gets destroyed by crits. It's also extremely MU dependant, basically hoping it doesn't load into anything remotely offensive so it actually has a chance to trap something and not die in the process. It's good, but it's still cheesy IMO and I don't think it's A- material.

B

:palkia-origin:
I LOVE MISSING ALL OF MY MOVES! Seriously even with Substitute support missing Hydro Pump or Fire Blast feels like ass to play with. I'd usually argue having one bad accuracy move isn't enough to justify something being bad, especially Focus Blast, but this is taking that idea too far. As for breakers, I'd rather use Choice Specs Eternatus any day to be honest, since at least it can absorb Toxic Spikes.

:mewtwo-mega-y:It's not that bad. 140 Speed + Nasty Plot is still really good and it's basically limited to priority (Shadow Sneak and Extreme Speed) or Zacian-C to reliably revenge-kill it. Speaking of Nasty Plot, I see loads of people get upset when their MMY is basically dead as they click Nasty Plot into a very obvious attack, and I feel like Nasty Plot should be used as a switch-punisher rather than a dedicated setup mon, outside of HO of course. It's more of a breaker/revenge-killer than a full-on sweeper, similarly to Marshadow.

:zekrom: Call me biased, I don't care, I love this guy, and it's not that bad. Apart from the fact that Stall almost never has a consistent check into it, and that teams lacking Arceus-Ground have to completely bank on Primal Groudon to stop it, which Dragonium Z shreds through, it's still a powerful setup sweeper, and one of the only setup sweepers that actually uses Substitute effectively, putting a dent into the Alomomola, Ferrothorn and more recently, Garganacl teams that have popped up as of late, as well as other things like stopping Ditto and priority from revenge-killing it. Difficult to build around? Sorta. A bad setup mon? Not really.

:chien-pao: I don't fw this guy at all but it's good I guess. Good speed tier, good STAB combo barring Zacian-C, and recent success with Bobsican's Top 3 Semi-Stall, Chien Pao is a threat I guess. Still faces competition from Marshadow though, and that Zacian-C or even Arceus-Fairy MU is horrid not gonna lie.

B-

:arceus-ghost:Shadow Force is really strong, and I wouldn't say it's outclassed by Marshadow or Extreme Killer since it does have notable advantages compared to both, but what really sets this thing down is that... it's coverage is horrid. It's like the Regieleki of the tier - anything that resists or is immune to Shadow Force basically walls Arceus-Ghost entirely. Granted, if you don't do either then fighting this guy is a bit tricky since i 2HKOes practically anything with +1 Shadow Force, with the Z-Move being something else entirely, but fighting Yveltal and Arceus-Dark and Arceus is just abysmal, to the point where I'd say it's more outclassed by Basculegion than the ones mentioned before.

:garganacl: I HATE SALT CURE. Honestly this move is AIDS to fight against. It gets up rocks for basically free against all of the relevant Defoggers, and I've seen this thing 1v1 Stall before, so it's far from a C tier niche mon IMO. And don't get me started on Tera Garganacl. If Tera were to be banned, I'd be because of this guy, not Zygarde. This guy is the reason why Covert Cloak should be slashed on Defensive NDM's analysis btw.

:glimmora: It's just a hazard lead I don't know why it's B tier when it's still shut down by Taunt.

:chi-yu: Nasty Plot Z-Move has no switch-ins on Sticky Web teams outside of hard Stall in my opinion. All of the specially defensive mons, mayybe outside of Arceus-Fairy, get nuked by either Darkinium Z or by Fire Blast. This little fish is heavily slept on and people need to use it more, it can be insane sometimes. Choice Specs should also get some attention since it's still great surprise factor and does a good job breaking through Bulky Offense more safely than Nasty Plot can.


C+

:shuckle: Sticky Webs isn't the best and just like Glimmora it's just a lead, no need for B- IMO.

:arceus-rock: Although it's facing a bit of competition from Garganacl, it's still solid, since it's superior on the offensive side, making it much better for the more offensive teams it'd fit on. Additionally, it's immune to Knock Off, something that Garganacl doesn't really like, and has better tools to not make it as passive, such as Will-O-Wisp or Taunt.

:kingambit: Might seem strange, but this guy is secretly really good. It's bulky, strong, and is very good at punishing almost every mon in the tier except Primal Groudon and Zygarde, both of which aren't too hard to deal with anyways. There was this team that was really good that had Kingambit on it, and I'm not sure if i can send it here, so I won't go into too much detail, but Kingambit is more than a end-game cleaner.


C

:venusaur-mega:Ferrothorn isn't a good reason as to why this guy is in UR. It still has major advantages over it, such as access to reliable healing in Synthesis, effective resistance to Fire as opposed to being 4x weak, and therefore not being as vulnerable to Eternatus or Palkia-O, and not being weak to Fighting to check Marshadow in a pinch. There are a multitude of hazard setters in the tier, so Ferrothorn setting them isn't anything major, while Mega Venusaur absorbing Toxic Spikes is very useful for the Fat Balance teams it works best on. It shouldn't have dropped in my opinion.

:smeargle:Hazard lead except more inconsistent than both Shuckle and Glimmora.

:cresselia: Just as useful as Hatterene for Trick Room, which is where this archetype would belong (C Tier). It's also insanely bulky, and has a bunch of good switch-ins, such as against Arceus-Ground, Ultra Necrozma or Primal Groudon.

:arceus-steel: Was heavily considering D Tier because I have no idea what this guy does but I'm open for suggestions (if they're good I'll let it stay but if not then it's going into D Tier, seriously just use Necrozma-DM the dark and ghost weaknesses are not that bad).

:arceus-grass: This thing is just as good as Mega Venusaur, if not worse because it takes up an Arceus slot. It's a similar situation to Garganacl vs Arceus-Rock, where I guess the Arceus forme is less passive, but it's significantly worse defensively without the good ability or access to useful moves like Leech Seed or Salt Cure. I guess it can Tera but at that point just use Arceus-Ground or something.

:darmanitan-galar: Great at revenge-killing, good pivoting option, hits the entire tier for at least neutral unlike Pheromosa and is only really stopped by Arceus-Water and Dondozo (and I suppose healthy Defensive Primal Kyogre), which it can still U-Turn out of. Enables a lot of attackers like Primal Groudon or Marshadow since it brings in quite a lot from Primal Groudon itself, to Necrozma-DM and Zacian-C, all three of which can still be beat by Tera Ground Earthquake which also removes it's Stealth Rock weakness. Solid speed control option for teams looking for an offensive answer to Eternatus and Zacian-C in one slot.

:grimmsnarl: Just use Deoxys-S lol. But it does have a better defensive profile, notably being able to set screens on Chien Pao (4x resist Crunch) and Basculegion, while also being able to pivot. Still worse than Deoxys-S though.

:annihilape: Needs more experimentation but if you don't have an extremely bulky mon like support Arceus or defensive Yveltal, or a Ghost type, Final Gambit Annihilape is taking a kill turn 1 barring surprise Tera Ghost or random priority moves, enabling powerful attackers like Mega Salamence or Yveltal who appreciate the dismantled defensive structure. It can pivot against predicted Ghost switch-ins with U-Turn, and in extremely niche cases, can attempt a Rage Fist sweep by abusing weak moves like Garganacl's Salt Cure or Alomomola's Flip Turn.

C-

This is C- if you can't see that.
:slowbro-mega: Probably a stretch, but it does a good job eating neutral hits from Primal Groudon, Mega Salamence and Zygarde, before walling with ease with Iron Defense. Unlike Garganacl, it has an arguably better type combination (does well into Necrozma-DM and Ultra Necrozma), learns Toxic, and has a better offensive presence with Ice Beam or Scald. Could do with some more testing though.

:mewtwo: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...gs-update-6-at-post-231.3712169/post-10206938

:lucario-mega: Potentially slept on, after a Swords Dance boost a lot of things get 2HKOed, and the lack of Xerneas removes the real need to run Bullet Punch, so Stone Edge is an option for Ho-Oh. Still niche to Sticky Web though, and it could be argued it's worse than Marshadow, although blocking Mortal Spin is a good form of role compression IMO.

:arceus-dragon: Incredibly niche, uncommon and I don't really know how to feel about it compared to Giratina-O or Mega Latios.

:cyclizar: Shed Tail can be deadly for fat teams and even Stall that rely on passive damage to secure wins, and it enables attackers like Lunala, Primal Kyogre, Zacian-C and Yveltal very easily. Has Rapid Spin support too, and can normally pivot with U-Turn as well.

:flutter-mane: Similar issue to Arceus-Dragon comparing it to Mega Mewtwo Y, Mega Diancie and even Deoxys-A to an extent.
A bit unconventional, but I have to say I agree with most of this. My only real criticisms are that Smeargle should be even lower, and Arceus ghost should be higher.
 
Love this post Sami! Always great to see people giving their thoughts on the current metagame. I've posted my own personal VR in discord and discussed it w/ Sami yesterday, I don't know if it is appropriate to post here atm so I won't do it atm. I'll have a post similar to Sami's after the next VR update.
Very flexible Pokemon. It's got a great defensive profile, is one of the only Toxic Spikes setters and absorbers in the tier, and can run a very wide variety of items, moves and strategies. I put Eternatus over Zygarde because not only does it fit on more playstyles (i.e Zygarde doesn't fit on Stall or HO as well as Eternatus does), but also because Eternatus's checks are much less harsh as Zygarde's are, barring Blissey and Chansey. It also has more sets than Zygarde, with almost all of them being quite splashable and effective no matter what type of team Eternatus is on.
I'm fine w/ someone having Etern as their #2 even if I don't. Fwiw it is barely below Zygarde for me and the line is mildly blurred. I find when a lot of people talk about and build with Eternatus they treat it like it can do all of the offensive and defensive stuff at the same time. Yeah it can fit on every playstyle, but I do find a lot of people just haphazardly throw an Eternatus on teams because it fits well enough rather than because it is genuinely a good fit. The most common example I see is defensive Eternatus on some balances that are already solid v HO, but they want Toxic Spikes. Etern is a good mon so these teams are ok, but would be better with some other Pokemon that matches up well into fat. Eternatus is good enough by itself that it'll rarely be bad on a team, but that also applies to Zygarde.

:zygarde: People say its banworthy, I'd argue the tier would be worse without it since it's physically defensive profile is amazing against Primal Groudon, Marshadow and Mega Salamence. It's a splashable answer to these guys for Balance and Bulky Offense teams which are doing great right now, and it's potential to sweep with Coil + Tera is not only potent, but still manageable assuming it's a balance matchup (such as the opponent actually bringing a Special Attacker). It feels like people are preparing for it more though, so this is also why I'd argue it's worse than Eternatus is, although it's still extremely good.
One of the things I love about Tera Gound DD Zygarde is how it completely beats a lot of the standard Zygarde counterplay. Obviously it doesn't beat Dondozo. It also has issues with Scarf Yveltal and defensive Arceus-Dark. Coil doesn't have issues with Choice Scarf Yveltal, but it usually isn't beating defensive Arceus-Dark. Most other Arceus formes are setup fodder though as Tera Ground Thousand Arrows murks them at +1 or 2. Eternatus as well. Dragon Tail also prevents phasing from Ho-Oh and is a nice emergency stop to some setup stuff. Oh yeah and it is still ok v Marshadow since +1 Tera Ground Thousand Arrows OHKOes. Made and have used this recently and got to #2 I think on the ladder testing this (about 1900 at the time) the other week.

Coil Zygarde is not bad to handle for any playstyle. Every playstyle has a lot of good options for preventing it from doing its thing. It still will to some degree, but it is very containable. It rarely is going to do nothing, but shouldn't get out of hand against most good teams. The one set I havn't seen in forever is the trapper set. I've run into it probably three times in the last couple of months.

:KYOGRE-PRIMAL: There aren't many situations where this thing does nothing. It's a great progress maker into teams that can't afford to run secure checks to this thing, and a lot of teams I see usually resort to just Primal Groudon as their answer, meaning Primal Kyogre has amazing offensive synergy with others like Zacian-C and Arceus-Fairy. Due to it's uncommon weaknesses, it's abnormally tanky too, so even it's offensive sets can be a pain to remove without taking massive damage in the process. Unlike all the other mons in S- though, I'd argue this thing has no direct weakness. Yveltal is susceptible to rocks or Dark resists, Zacian-C is still quite easy to check defensively with Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM, Ho-Oh is kinda passive and Giratina-O has no real longevity, but the only issue Primal Kyogre has is that it's kinda slow, which the bulk makes up for.

I have Primal Kyogre in S- as well, but I do think that is a bit of a hot take and I have it lower in S-. It is debatable if Primal Kyogre has direct weaknesses, but it has quite a poor matchup against offense. Without bulk investment Primal Kyogre is very squishy on the physical side. It can EV to live stuff, but this does come at the loss of a lot of power or speed (i.e. Zacian-C Wild Charge). It is also tough to nagivate against stall though it does force sequences. Offensive sets do blow through everything else and I agree that it is deceptively bulky. Offensive sets are also difficult to get onto the field without sacing something or pivot support as not too much lets it in for free.

Defensive sets hate the rise of Alomomola as it just uses it to pass free wishes and even regens HP while doing so. Sure it can set up and eventually beat Alomomola, but whatever proper counterplay exists (often a defensive Primal Groudon) is never getting worn down. It doesn't hate Ferrothorn as much as offensive sets since it can fish for a Scald burn. Defensive Primal Kyogre is not a fan of Taunt Calm Mind Arceus formes. They're still damn good and will easily run through ill prepared teams that are unable to outoffense them, but S-[1] is too high imo.

Defensive and Choice Scarf are kinda medicore. One doesn't do much outside of Taunt and Toxic to anything that isn't a physical attacker, and the other is an inconsistent, rocks weak form of Speed control. Life Orb is a great set, but that has it's limits too, such as Zacian-C, it's own recoil combined with rocks damage, and the 4MSS it can struggle with between Sucker Punch and Knock Off, the former needed to beat Ultra Necrozma reliably, while the latter is needed to further push wallbreaking and to actually scare Ho-Oh. It's a good mon, but the first two sets are simply done better by others like Arceus-Dark or Chien Pao, while the LO set has its own issues, meaning it does require a bit of thought before throwing onto a team.
I think I rate Choice Scarf a bit more highly than you do, though I'm not the biggest fan of defensive Yveltal. I do like the role compression that Choice Scarf gives, though its flaws do have to be accounted for. Defensive is good, but it is a mon that doesn't often fit the style of teams I build and has some 4MSS between Toxic, U-Turn, Taunt, Sucker Punch, and rarely Defog in those last two slots. I'm also not a big fan of my main Ultra Necrozma counterplay having to tera to safely handle it.

Life Orb is amazing, but yeah it does not like the rise of Calm Mind Arceus-Dark and Arceus-Fairy increasing in prominence. I havn't used it much in a while because it doesn't fit well into a lot of the stuff I'm building, but I'll fix that soon. Picking between Knock Off and Sucker Punch can be rough, but I usually just go Knock Off and find more solid HO counterplay elsewhere. It feels near mandatory on webs as it is great at keeping them up v everything other than Choice Scarf Yveltal and Tera Fire Heat Wave is quite nice. Though some of that may have been the effectiveness at which it counterteams what I was running on the ladder at the time.

Having only one set hurts, it's easy to predict even the Tera Blast Ground sets from preview as well, and even these sets aren't guaranteed to handle Primal Groudon. The Tera-hogging nature of these sets hurts the Hyper Offense teams it fits on as well. But it's not all bad, after all, it's still the best form of Speed Control in the tier in my opinion, still checks a lot like support Arceus formes, Yveltal, Chien Pao and even Giratina-O to an extent, and still works outside of HO for Bulky Offense teams.
I voted this to A+ last slate and I'll definitely be voting it to A+ next slate as well. I don't think having one set is an issue as much as not being able to cover everything on that one set. It is always going to be missing coverage for something big, though you'll know what that is and your opponent won't which can be used to your advantage. The metagame has progressed to a state where Zacian-C has a very hard time being a self sufficient breaker or sweeper, though it is still one of the best cleaners. It being wholly reliant on tera plays into this as well as if you go with Play Rough Tera Blast Ground (by far the most threatening imo) you still have to account for a lot of stuff in the case that Zacian-C can't tera. This is quite a bit different from needing to account of offense generally with Primal Kyogre or certain Pokemon such as Eternatus with Ho-Oh.

It checks a lot of stuff and will sometimes sweep or wallbreak, but you have to account for way too many things in the builder for it to be S-. Even though it is good speed control, I don't find it be close to the best or sufficient by itself unless it is used on a fatter balance that doesn't have much concern with speed boosting threats or Marshadow.

:ho-oh: Defensive Ho-Oh is so unbelieveably passive that not even Toxic can save it. Offensive Ho-Oh is the ideal set for most Bulky Offense teams unless Ho-Oh is the only Defog user on the team, but even then, having yourself completely open to Primal Kyogre and Groudon is a horrible idea. Although it's typing is good, on the physical side, it's not that bulky even with the investment, and a lot of the time it's passivity makes it lose to Pokemon it should on paper beat, like Eternatus or Arceus-Fairy. This thing does feel a bit underexplored though; I've been using a Choice Scarf Ho-Oh set recently and it actually isn't horrible at revenge-killing Pokemon like Zacian-C, and Choice Band sets are still great wallbreakers. Overall, Ho-Oh is far from bad, but it's not the same defensive behemoth it once was back during Xerneas's meta.
I don't think its passivity at times is as big of a deal as you're making it out to be. It definitely was more important defensively in the Xerneas meta, but it feels more consistent now.

:giratina-origin: Just like Eternatus, this thing is very flexible, but unlike Ho-Oh, it's a defogger that isn't completely passive. There aren't that many mons that want to switch directly into Giratina-O, the only ones being Refresh Arceus-Fairy/Dark or Garganacl, the last two being forced out by Dragon Tail anyways. It's a great Tera user, a great status spreader, and has been seeing loads of use on Bulky Offense, which is probably the most splashable archetype in the tier right now, which this thing fits on best.

This one I find to be a bit of a headscratcher. I think Giratina-O is very good right now, but that to me makes it borderline A+. Its lack of longevity unless paired w/ Alomomola keeps it out of S- imo. It can do a bunch of stuff, but it is always going to be limited by whether it goes physical or special and its status move of choice. Its weird, Giratina-O is a great tera user, but I also rarely want to tera with it unless it is against stall. I'd add getting blanked by Taunt Arceus in general and getting screwed by LO Yveltal to that list. It softchecks a lot, but generally sacrifices itself to check stuff which makes using it hard at times. As great as its typing is v some stuff, the Fairy, Dark, Ghost, and Dragon weaknesses leave it vulnerable to a lot without tera.

It should definitely rise and probably should have been higher last slate.

:ARCEUS-GROUND:This guy has felt much less splashable as he used too, since defensive sets are usually done better by Pokemon like Zygarde, Eternatus and Giratina-O, and the offensive sets have a lot of issues too, such as Dragon Dance sets taking up a Z-Crystal slot, or Calm Mind sets struggling between Power Gem and Ice Beam coverage. Arceus-Ground also faces competition from other Arceus formes, since it doesn't hard check anything like the others, such as Arceus-Fairy, do, especially since it doesn't have a Calm Mind Refresh moveset due to Judgment being problematic without coverage. I'd even argue Rock Polish Primal Groudon is better in some situations for HO, since it can still check Zacian-C and Primal Kyogre in a pinch, the former already being a nuisance for HO with it's superb speed and attack. Overall, Arceus-Ground is still the best Arceus forme in my opinion, but it's facing stronger competition from other Arceus formes, as well as feeling less effective overall.

Agreed although Earth Plate is still good on DD sets. I really don't like defensive Arceus-Ground on most teams at the moment. We have a pretty similar issue of it soft checking a decent amount of stuff without hard checking a lot. I do like it more and more on HO over Ekiller these days.

:marshadow: Still a fantastic revenge-killer, wallbreaker and sometimes sweeper for Bulky Offense and HO teams alike. Didn't change too much from original VR, and I don't think the meta has shifted enough to change any opinions about this guy, although you could argue it's worse now since it has to face competition with Chien Pao, but it still has multiple redeeming qualities over it, such as the lack of rocks weakness, immunity to Extreme Speed and arguably better STAB combo.

At first I agreed with this, but Marshadow is borderline S- imo. The metagame seems to be trending towards stuff it does well against. Chien-Pao is competition, but it also isn't splashable and Marshadow could do most of its job on those types of teams. Importantly it doesn't require pivot support, though appreciates it and its bulk while non existent, does let it live some hits that Chien-Pao doesn't. The Rocks weakness really does suck for Chien-Pao.

If people don't see it worth rising I'm fine w/ that, but damn is it good. It isn't like a mon with as little defensive utility as Marshadow can go much higher anyways.

:arceus-dark: With the rise in Yveltal, Arceus-Dark becomes much less splashable, especially since it struggles to get much done by Pokemon that aren't affected by Foul Play such as Eternatus or Arceus-Fairy. It's Calm Mind Refresh set is easily the most potent out of the other Arceus formes, but this still doesn't save the Utility set, which I feel is much less effective barring the Necrozma-DM matchup, since all the others MUs the Calm Mind Judgment set handles just as well.

I agree that the defensive set is mid and Yveltal is a huge reason why before getting to Eternatus, Arceus Fairy, and Calm Mind Arceus-Dark. However, I do think that Calm Mind sets more than make up for it currently. Arceus-Fairy has a polarizing matchup against the top mons and that isn't horrible to cover. Personally I'd say Calm Mind Taunt is a lot more potent than Calm Mind Refresh, but has to be played more carefully. Calm Mind Refresh tends to struggle a lot v fat/stall in my experience.

:ARCEUS-FAIRY: For bulky offense and balance teams alike, this mon is great glue. Although it struggles against Zacian-C, NDM and sometimes Primal Groudon, it's still great at pushing out Yveltal, Giratina-O and Arceus-Dark, meaning it does amazing into opposing bulky offense teams, and sometimes even balance teams that lack Ho-Oh. It's also a good Marshadow and Chien Pao switch, making it a cornerstone on defensive structures. On the other hand, offensive sets have great surprise factor, even outside of Calm Mind Refresh, making this thing actually really good at late-game sweeps, arguably better than Arceus-Dark since it requires less to be broken down (it only needs Necrozma-DM, Zacian-C and Ho-Oh gone before Judgment/Earth Power can start putting in the work in my opinion). I was deciding between A and A+, but I think the former is fine for now.

Arceus-Fairy and Giratina-O are where I struggle to decide on A or A+, but currently I have them both in A+. I don't think Arceus-Fairy really needs additional coverage. Taunt or Refresh is so nice on Calm Mind sets to prevent phasing / recovery and it is going to need most of the same mons out of the picture anyways.

:arceus: Outside of HO, I can barely justify this thing compared to Marshadow for a revenge-killing sweeper. In HO though, it's not that bad, but it does have a bit of 4MSS with Recover (needed vs bulkier teams), Taunt (needed for Zygarde MU) and Earthquake (to hit Necrozma-DM and Zacian-C and maybe Primal Groudon). It does have Dragon Dance which alleviates it's issues with Marshadow, but I'd argue Arceus-Ghost is better in that situation, who also runs Extreme Speed. This still doesn't solve how it's completely deadweight against Stall since it can't break through Dondozo or Giratina at all. There are simply better mons than it, even if it's potent sometimes, and the rise of Garganacl isn't helping its case. Also Trick Room sucks I'm not using that set to argue it's good.

That first sentence has always been true imo. It is usable off of HO, but it is often that, usable. Whenever I see ekiller off of HO it seems like the person wanted to use Ekiller rather than it being a good choice. I agree with everything you've said, but the 4MSS makes it quite annoying to deal with as whether it is Taunt, Recover, or Earthquake in that last slot completely changes how you handle it. I.e. If you're checking it w/ Zygarde and it is Taunt it is not going to go well. I kinda feel this way about both Arceus and Ultra Necrozma. They have the feel of an A- mon but when I look at the mons in A- there is clearly a gap.

:necrozma-ultra: People already prep for this guy so hard to the point where it's basically natural. Ultra Necrozma shreds through badly built teams, sure, but against teams with at least one good answer, like Arceus-Dark, it basically does nothing. It's a huge hit or miss Pokemon, you either shred through easily, or get curbstomped. At least, that's for Dragon Dance Ultra Necrozma. Stealth Rock lead Ultra Necrozma, and Calm Mind Ultra Necrozma, while unpopular, can be quite effective at luring physical walls like Zygarde to try and stop them, and I feel like if these sets were explored more, it could probably rise above Arceus.

Agreed. SD can be added to the list of things people should try out more often.

:necrozma-dusk-mane: Very similar issues to Ultra Necrozma, barring Defensive NDM which is a different case altogether (it's not all that and is rather specific compared to other defensive options like Zygarde or Primal Groudon). It is slightly better into Arceus-Dark thanks to Solganium Z, but it's still worse into Scarf Yveltal, as well as Primal Groudon or Zygarde.

If anything Solganium Z is what makes it a borderline A+ threat to me. That is so good at deleting its most common counterplay, though notably Choice Scarf Yveltal is an exception. Zygarde gets deleted with minor chip and this is one thing that Defensive Arceus-Dark does handle better than Calm Mind. Defensive sets are pretty mid imo and are not a factor in Necrozma-DMs ranking for me. Grabbing a +1 means that something is getting fucked up and defensive Primal Groudon needs overheat to win since Earthquake 2HKOes with real minor chip.


:deoxys-speed: Hyper Offense is still good even without Xerneas, and this guy is still the best lead in the metagame by far, almost beating every other hazard lead with Taunt and/or Magic Coat. Not too sure why Deoxys-S dropped to begin with, since nothing has happened for it to drop apart from Bulky Offense being mildly more popular, but it's still a great mon.

Personally my B+ vote was competition with Glimmora on hazard stack teams. Deoxys-S is better, but it doesn't outclass it and it isn't that much better as a hazard setter. It dictates what beats it, but Glimmora is bloody annoying to get rid of. That competiton makes Deoxys-S less of a standin for HO in general imo. I'll probably vote it B+ again but don't have an issue with it being lower in A-.

:deoxys-attack: PsySpam is good and all, but outside of that it requires a bunch of support against Pokemon like Necrozma-DM, Arceus-Dark and Yveltal, all three of which easily curbstomp it unless they're heavily chipped. It's significantly less splashable than Rayquaza or Necrozma-DM, since it has 0 defensive utility even compared to their offensive sets. It's fully reliant on good prediction meaning it gets fucked against a mispredict or Tera, additionally meaning it's got a very high skill ceiling to use effectively.

I do think more people should try using it as a breaker on BO / Balance. Especially if Dragon Dance Zygarde becomes more common, being able to not give two fucks about that is super nice. It definitely is a skill intensive mon.

:salamence-mega: Far from a staple on HO, and although Intimidate helps it setup, starting at 75% a lot of the time sucks. It suffers from 4MSS with Refresh, Facade, Earthquake, Roost or even Substitute as well. It's good at breaking through teams that lack Zygarde, but so is Rayquaza, who I'd rather use for the option to Tera and the option of Extreme Speed priority. Mega Salamence is also really weak to status even with Facade, since being burned limits it to just clicking the former, opening yourself up to a Necrozma-DM or Tera Steel Giratina-O revenge-kill.

Agreed, but I do think it is still underused on HO. A lot of these passive, fatter balances get absolutely wrecked by Mence. It also threatens to sweep a lot of BOs if it can get a DD. When I think about it for a second I think B+, when I think about it more I think of an A- mon that is harder to fit.

:gothitelle: Is Gothitelle that impactful? It is far from splashable, and it's clear it requires significant team support to truly get going, such as with it needing Arceus-Fairy to prevent it from being complete setup fodder for Arceus-Dark and Yveltal after the initial trapping. Gothitelle is also prone to being baited in by mons it'd ordinarily trap, such as Dragon Dance Zygarde or Offensive Ho-Oh being able to muscle through Gothitelle, especially since Gothitelle gets destroyed by crits. It's also extremely MU dependant, basically hoping it doesn't load into anything remotely offensive so it actually has a chance to trap something and not die in the process. It's good, but it's still cheesy IMO and I don't think it's A- material.

It has 5 teammates to help w/ that and that it traps Ultra Necrozma means is pretty big since it is one of the few HO sweepers Ditto has trouble revenging. Idk for me Gothitelle is a mon that is never going to be near as good on ladder as it is in tournament. There is so much jank and counterteaming there that it is a difficult environment.

However, it is so damn effective at trapping and removing defensive mons that are huge roadblocks to stuff. Defensive Pdon, Defensive Etern, Coil Zygarde, Ho-Oh, ect are all trappable and there is enough role compression that handling HO isn't too bad given that a decent defensive core + Marshadow or Ditto should generally be enough. Yeah Gothitelle usually isn't trapping anything outside of Ultra Necrozma on HO, but it doesn't need to. It is so effective against the rest of the metagame that it more than makes up for it. If anything the ability to do much in a lot of HO matchups is the only thing keeping from being even higher.

:palkia-origin:I LOVE MISSING ALL OF MY MOVES! Seriously even with Substitute support missing Hydro Pump or Fire Blast feels like ass to play with. I'd usually argue having one bad accuracy move isn't enough to justify something being bad, especially Focus Blast, but this is taking that idea too far. As for breakers, I'd rather use Choice Specs Eternatus any day to be honest, since at least it can absorb Toxic Spikes.

Agreed. I think it should drop to B- tbh. Its also another thing when both moves you want to spam have immunities so picking which one to use adds another layer. It is very similar to MMY in a lot of ways.

:zekrom: Call me biased, I don't care, I love this guy, and it's not that bad. Apart from the fact that Stall almost never has a consistent check into it, and that teams lacking Arceus-Ground have to completely bank on Primal Groudon to stop it, which Dragonium Z shreds through, it's still a powerful setup sweeper, and one of the only setup sweepers that actually uses Substitute effectively, putting a dent into the Alomomola, Ferrothorn and more recently, Garganacl teams that have popped up as of late, as well as other things like stopping Ditto and priority from revenge-killing it. Difficult to build around? Sorta. A bad setup mon? Not really.

Biased. If anything that Dragon Dance Zygarde seems to be a bit more common isn't great for Zekrom, though it does love a lot of these fatter balances that are popping up. It is B-/C+ for me.

:mewtwo-mega-y:It's not that bad. 140 Speed + Nasty Plot is still really good and it's basically limited to priority (Shadow Sneak and Extreme Speed) or Zacian-C to reliably revenge-kill it. Speaking of Nasty Plot, I see loads of people get upset when their MMY is basically dead as they click Nasty Plot into a very obvious attack, and I feel like Nasty Plot should be used as a switch-punisher rather than a dedicated setup mon, outside of HO of course. It's more of a breaker/revenge-killer than a full-on sweeper, similarly to Marshadow.

Yeah I've always thought of MMY as a breaker rather than a sweeper. If it can that is great. It is B- for me atm.

:arceus-ghost:Shadow Force is really strong, and I wouldn't say it's outclassed by Marshadow or Extreme Killer since it does have notable advantages compared to both, but what really sets this thing down is that... it's coverage is horrid. It's like the Regieleki of the tier - anything that resists or is immune to Shadow Force basically walls Arceus-Ghost entirely. Granted, if you don't do either then fighting this guy is a bit tricky since i 2HKOes practically anything with +1 Shadow Force, with the Z-Move being something else entirely, but fighting Yveltal and Arceus-Dark and Arceus is just abysmal, to the point where I'd say it's more outclassed by Basculegion than the ones mentioned before.
I don't really think that it is all that comprable to Marshadow. That Arceus-Dark is more commonly using Calm Mind sets might mean that Tera Blast Fairy is more usable now? I remember looking at it back in the day for this and Kyruem-Black and was dissapointed at the damage it did to defensive sets.

:garganacl: I HATE SALT CURE. Honestly this move is AIDS to fight against. It gets up rocks for basically free against all of the relevant Defoggers, and I've seen this thing 1v1 Stall before, so it's far from a C tier niche mon IMO. And don't get me started on Tera Garganacl. If Tera were to be banned, I'd be because of this guy, not Zygarde. This guy is the reason why Covert Cloak should be slashed on Defensive NDM's analysis btw.

I'd be shocked if it didn't at least rise to B- on the next slate.

:glimmora: It's just a hazard lead I don't know why it's B tier when it's still shut down by Taunt.

What common Taunt user wants to take a Mortal Spin? You still have a sashed Glimmora that can get a layer up. Arceus-Dark taking a Mortal Spin makes it much easier to break through later for Ultra Necrozma for example.

:chi-yu: Nasty Plot Z-Move has no switch-ins on Sticky Web teams outside of hard Stall in my opinion. All of the specially defensive mons, mayybe outside of Arceus-Fairy, get nuked by either Darkinium Z or by Fire Blast. This little fish is heavily slept on and people need to use it more, it can be insane sometimes. Choice Specs should also get some attention since it's still great surprise factor and does a good job breaking through Bulky Offense more safely than Nasty Plot can.

Unless you're rating Choice Specs incredibly highly I'm not sure why this is a subrank above both the Sticky Web setters it is dependent on? I've seen specs a few times, but havn't really liked it much. It just seemed very outclassed by Eternatus.

:shuckle: Sticky Webs isn't the best and just like Glimmora it's just a lead, no need for B- IMO.

Whatever you think the best Sticky Web setter is should be around the same as you'd rate the playstyle. Personally I think Smeargle is better at the moment, but one of the two should be B-.

:kingambit: Might seem strange, but this guy is secretly really good. It's bulky, strong, and is very good at punishing almost every mon in the tier except Primal Groudon and Zygarde, both of which aren't too hard to deal with anyways. There was this team that was really good that had Kingambit on it, and I'm not sure if i can send it here, so I won't go into too much detail, but Kingambit is more than a end-game cleaner.

Agreed and I think I know the team you're talking about. I think it is fine at C, but I can see C+.

:venusaur-mega:Ferrothorn isn't a good reason as to why this guy is in UR. It still has major advantages over it, such as access to reliable healing in Synthesis, effective resistance to Fire as opposed to being 4x weak, and therefore not being as vulnerable to Eternatus or Palkia-O, and not being weak to Fighting to check Marshadow in a pinch. There are a multitude of hazard setters in the tier, so Ferrothorn setting them isn't anything major, while Mega Venusaur absorbing Toxic Spikes is very useful for the Fat Balance teams it works best on. It shouldn't have dropped in my opinion.

:venusaur-mega: <3

:cresselia: Just as useful as Hatterene for Trick Room, which is where this archetype would belong (C Tier). It's also insanely bulky, and has a bunch of good switch-ins, such as against Arceus-Ground, Ultra Necrozma or Primal Groudon.

I really disagree with this. Hatterene is undroppable for TR, Cresselia very much is. I'm not a fan of Cresselia without Melmetal. Arceus being able to Taunt or Lunala being able Teleport and handle LO Yveltal are bigger imo.

:arceus-grass: This thing is just as good as Mega Venusaur, if not worse because it takes up an Arceus slot. It's a similar situation to Garganacl vs Arceus-Rock, where I guess the Arceus forme is less passive, but it's significantly worse defensively without the good ability or access to useful moves like Leech Seed or Salt Cure. I guess it can Tera but at that point just use Arceus-Ground or something.

It is a lot more offensive and pops off with Gothitelle support. They're both Grass-types, but should be used very differently. Arceus-Grass is offensive, Mega Venusaur is defensive. The speed also makes a big difference.

:annihilape: Needs more experimentation but if you don't have an extremely bulky mon like support Arceus or defensive Yveltal, or a Ghost type, Final Gambit Annihilape is taking a kill turn 1 barring surprise Tera Ghost or random priority moves, enabling powerful attackers like Mega Salamence or Yveltal who appreciate the dismantled defensive structure. It can pivot against predicted Ghost switch-ins with U-Turn, and in extremely niche cases, can attempt a Rage Fist sweep by abusing weak moves like Garganacl's Salt Cure or Alomomola's Flip Turn.

It is D+. Fun shitmon.


I've been thinking about it last few days and honestly it feels closer to something like Terapagos which I don't think I'd rank. Havn't made up my mind and I'm still open to C- though.
 
Personal NDUbers VR

It's been like 5 months since I last did one of these, and a lot of stuff has changed, like Xerneas being banned, or new developments into certain mons. So I figured I'd just do this again. You could take the lower rankings as a sort of "pseudo-nomination" since these are probably gonna be brief.
View attachment 654128



S+
:GROUDON-PRIMAL:This should be pretty straightforward as to why it's here. Fantastic stats, great typing, superb ability and a very deep movepool both offensively (Precipice Blades, Earthquake, Rock Tomb, Stone Edge, Overheat, Eruption, HP Ice) and defensively (Stealth Rock, Spikes, Dragon Tail, Toxic, Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp, Roar). You could argue it's falling off just a bit, but not nearly enough to justify another mon being S+ or even worse, this thing dropping to S.

S
:eternatus:
Very flexible Pokemon. It's got a great defensive profile, is one of the only Toxic Spikes setters and absorbers in the tier, and can run a very wide variety of items, moves and strategies. I put Eternatus over Zygarde because not only does it fit on more playstyles (i.e Zygarde doesn't fit on Stall or HO as well as Eternatus does), but also because Eternatus's checks are much less harsh as Zygarde's are, barring Blissey and Chansey. It also has more sets than Zygarde, with almost all of them being quite splashable and effective no matter what type of team Eternatus is on.

:zygarde: People say its banworthy, I'd argue the tier would be worse without it since it's physically defensive profile is amazing against Primal Groudon, Marshadow and Mega Salamence. It's a splashable answer to these guys for Balance and Bulky Offense teams which are doing great right now, and it's potential to sweep with Coil + Tera is not only potent, but still manageable assuming it's a balance matchup (such as the opponent actually bringing a Special Attacker). It feels like people are preparing for it more though, so this is also why I'd argue it's worse than Eternatus is, although it's still extremely good.

S-

:KYOGRE-PRIMAL: There aren't many situations where this thing does nothing. It's a great progress maker into teams that can't afford to run secure checks to this thing, and a lot of teams I see usually resort to just Primal Groudon as their answer, meaning Primal Kyogre has amazing offensive synergy with others like Zacian-C and Arceus-Fairy. Due to it's uncommon weaknesses, it's abnormally tanky too, so even it's offensive sets can be a pain to remove without taking massive damage in the process. Unlike all the other mons in S- though, I'd argue this thing has no direct weakness. Yveltal is susceptible to rocks or Dark resists, Zacian-C is still quite easy to check defensively with Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM, Ho-Oh is kinda passive and Giratina-O has no real longevity, but the only issue Primal Kyogre has is that it's kinda slow, which the bulk makes up for.

:yveltal: Defensive and Choice Scarf are kinda medicore. One doesn't do much outside of Taunt and Toxic to anything that isn't a physical attacker, and the other is an inconsistent, rocks weak form of Speed control. Life Orb is a great set, but that has it's limits too, such as Zacian-C, it's own recoil combined with rocks damage, and the 4MSS it can struggle with between Sucker Punch and Knock Off, the former needed to beat Ultra Necrozma reliably, while the latter is needed to further push wallbreaking and to actually scare Ho-Oh. It's a good mon, but the first two sets are simply done better by others like Arceus-Dark or Chien Pao, while the LO set has its own issues, meaning it does require a bit of thought before throwing onto a team.

:zacian-crowned: Having only one set hurts, it's easy to predict even the Tera Blast Ground sets from preview as well, and even these sets aren't guaranteed to handle Primal Groudon. The Tera-hogging nature of these sets hurts the Hyper Offense teams it fits on as well. But it's not all bad, after all, it's still the best form of Speed Control in the tier in my opinion, still checks a lot like support Arceus formes, Yveltal, Chien Pao and even Giratina-O to an extent, and still works outside of HO for Bulky Offense teams.

:ho-oh: Defensive Ho-Oh is so unbelieveably passive that not even Toxic can save it. Offensive Ho-Oh is the ideal set for most Bulky Offense teams unless Ho-Oh is the only Defog user on the team, but even then, having yourself completely open to Primal Kyogre and Groudon is a horrible idea. Although it's typing is good, on the physical side, it's not that bulky even with the investment, and a lot of the time it's passivity makes it lose to Pokemon it should on paper beat, like Eternatus or Arceus-Fairy. This thing does feel a bit underexplored though; I've been using a Choice Scarf Ho-Oh set recently and it actually isn't horrible at revenge-killing Pokemon like Zacian-C, and Choice Band sets are still great wallbreakers. Overall, Ho-Oh is far from bad, but it's not the same defensive behemoth it once was back during Xerneas's meta.

:giratina-origin: Just like Eternatus, this thing is very flexible, but unlike Ho-Oh, it's a defogger that isn't completely passive. There aren't that many mons that want to switch directly into Giratina-O, the only ones being Refresh Arceus-Fairy/Dark or Garganacl, the last two being forced out by Dragon Tail anyways. It's a great Tera user, a great status spreader, and has been seeing loads of use on Bulky Offense, which is probably the most splashable archetype in the tier right now, which this thing fits on best.



A+

:ARCEUS-GROUND:This guy has felt much less splashable as he used too, since defensive sets are usually done better by Pokemon like Zygarde, Eternatus and Giratina-O, and the offensive sets have a lot of issues too, such as Dragon Dance sets taking up a Z-Crystal slot, or Calm Mind sets struggling between Power Gem and Ice Beam coverage. Arceus-Ground also faces competition from other Arceus formes, since it doesn't hard check anything like the others, such as Arceus-Fairy, do, especially since it doesn't have a Calm Mind Refresh moveset due to Judgment being problematic without coverage. I'd even argue Rock Polish Primal Groudon is better in some situations for HO, since it can still check Zacian-C and Primal Kyogre in a pinch, the former already being a nuisance for HO with it's superb speed and attack. Overall, Arceus-Ground is still the best Arceus forme in my opinion, but it's facing stronger competition from other Arceus formes, as well as feeling less effective overall.

:marshadow: Still a fantastic revenge-killer, wallbreaker and sometimes sweeper for Bulky Offense and HO teams alike. Didn't change too much from original VR, and I don't think the meta has shifted enough to change any opinions about this guy, although you could argue it's worse now since it has to face competition with Chien Pao, but it still has multiple redeeming qualities over it, such as the lack of rocks weakness, immunity to Extreme Speed and arguably better STAB combo.

:arceus-dark: With the rise in Yveltal, Arceus-Dark becomes much less splashable, especially since it struggles to get much done by Pokemon that aren't affected by Foul Play such as Eternatus or Arceus-Fairy. It's Calm Mind Refresh set is easily the most potent out of the other Arceus formes, but this still doesn't save the Utility set, which I feel is much less effective barring the Necrozma-DM matchup, since all the others MUs the Calm Mind Judgment set handles just as well.

A

:ARCEUS-FAIRY: For bulky offense and balance teams alike, this mon is great glue. Although it struggles against Zacian-C, NDM and sometimes Primal Groudon, it's still great at pushing out Yveltal, Giratina-O and Arceus-Dark, meaning it does amazing into opposing bulky offense teams, and sometimes even balance teams that lack Ho-Oh. It's also a good Marshadow and Chien Pao switch, making it a cornerstone on defensive structures. On the other hand, offensive sets have great surprise factor, even outside of Calm Mind Refresh, making this thing actually really good at late-game sweeps, arguably better than Arceus-Dark since it requires less to be broken down (it only needs Necrozma-DM, Zacian-C and Ho-Oh gone before Judgment/Earth Power can start putting in the work in my opinion). I was deciding between A and A+, but I think the former is fine for now.

:arceus: Outside of HO, I can barely justify this thing compared to Marshadow for a revenge-killing sweeper. In HO though, it's not that bad, but it does have a bit of 4MSS with Recover (needed vs bulkier teams), Taunt (needed for Zygarde MU) and Earthquake (to hit Necrozma-DM and Zacian-C and maybe Primal Groudon). It does have Dragon Dance which alleviates it's issues with Marshadow, but I'd argue Arceus-Ghost is better in that situation, who also runs Extreme Speed. This still doesn't solve how it's completely deadweight against Stall since it can't break through Dondozo or Giratina at all. There are simply better mons than it, even if it's potent sometimes, and the rise of Garganacl isn't helping its case. Also Trick Room sucks I'm not using that set to argue it's good.

:necrozma-ultra: People already prep for this guy so hard to the point where it's basically natural. Ultra Necrozma shreds through badly built teams, sure, but against teams with at least one good answer, like Arceus-Dark, it basically does nothing. It's a huge hit or miss Pokemon, you either shred through easily, or get curbstomped. At least, that's for Dragon Dance Ultra Necrozma. Stealth Rock lead Ultra Necrozma, and Calm Mind Ultra Necrozma, while unpopular, can be quite effective at luring physical walls like Zygarde to try and stop them, and I feel like if these sets were explored more, it could probably rise above Arceus.


A-

:necrozma-dusk-mane: Very similar issues to Ultra Necrozma, barring Defensive NDM which is a different case altogether (it's not all that and is rather specific compared to other defensive options like Zygarde or Primal Groudon). It is slightly better into Arceus-Dark thanks to Solganium Z, but it's still worse into Scarf Yveltal, as well as Primal Groudon or Zygarde.

:deoxys-speed: Hyper Offense is still good even without Xerneas, and this guy is still the best lead in the metagame by far, almost beating every other hazard lead with Taunt and/or Magic Coat. Not too sure why Deoxys-S dropped to begin with, since nothing has happened for it to drop apart from Bulky Offense being mildly more popular, but it's still a great mon.

:rayquaza: Choice Band is the best wallbreaker in the tier. But aside from that, Dragon Dance is still very good, and is an excellent Tera abuser, such as with Tera Fire V-Create to setup and remove Ho-Oh with ease. It's got a wide movepool, from Dragon Ascent, U-Turn, V-Create and Extreme Speed, to more niche options like Earthquake, Draco Meteor and even Waterfall.

:deoxys-attack: PsySpam is good and all, but outside of that it requires a bunch of support against Pokemon like Necrozma-DM, Arceus-Dark and Yveltal, all three of which easily curbstomp it unless they're heavily chipped. It's significantly less splashable than Rayquaza or Necrozma-DM, since it has 0 defensive utility even compared to their offensive sets. It's fully reliant on good prediction meaning it gets fucked against a mispredict or Tera, additionally meaning it's got a very high skill ceiling to use effectively.

:salamence-mega: Far from a staple on HO, and although Intimidate helps it setup, starting at 75% a lot of the time sucks. It suffers from 4MSS with Refresh, Facade, Earthquake, Roost or even Substitute as well. It's good at breaking through teams that lack Zygarde, but so is Rayquaza, who I'd rather use for the option to Tera and the option of Extreme Speed priority. Mega Salamence is also really weak to status even with Facade, since being burned limits it to just clicking the former, opening yourself up to a Necrozma-DM or Tera Steel Giratina-O revenge-kill.




For these tiers, I'm just going to address the changes from the current VR and why, just to save time and forum space I guess.

B+

:gothitelle: Is Gothitelle that impactful? It is far from splashable, and it's clear it requires significant team support to truly get going, such as with it needing Arceus-Fairy to prevent it from being complete setup fodder for Arceus-Dark and Yveltal after the initial trapping. Gothitelle is also prone to being baited in by mons it'd ordinarily trap, such as Dragon Dance Zygarde or Offensive Ho-Oh being able to muscle through Gothitelle, especially since Gothitelle gets destroyed by crits. It's also extremely MU dependant, basically hoping it doesn't load into anything remotely offensive so it actually has a chance to trap something and not die in the process. It's good, but it's still cheesy IMO and I don't think it's A- material.

B

:palkia-origin:
I LOVE MISSING ALL OF MY MOVES! Seriously even with Substitute support missing Hydro Pump or Fire Blast feels like ass to play with. I'd usually argue having one bad accuracy move isn't enough to justify something being bad, especially Focus Blast, but this is taking that idea too far. As for breakers, I'd rather use Choice Specs Eternatus any day to be honest, since at least it can absorb Toxic Spikes.

:mewtwo-mega-y:It's not that bad. 140 Speed + Nasty Plot is still really good and it's basically limited to priority (Shadow Sneak and Extreme Speed) or Zacian-C to reliably revenge-kill it. Speaking of Nasty Plot, I see loads of people get upset when their MMY is basically dead as they click Nasty Plot into a very obvious attack, and I feel like Nasty Plot should be used as a switch-punisher rather than a dedicated setup mon, outside of HO of course. It's more of a breaker/revenge-killer than a full-on sweeper, similarly to Marshadow.

:zekrom: Call me biased, I don't care, I love this guy, and it's not that bad. Apart from the fact that Stall almost never has a consistent check into it, and that teams lacking Arceus-Ground have to completely bank on Primal Groudon to stop it, which Dragonium Z shreds through, it's still a powerful setup sweeper, and one of the only setup sweepers that actually uses Substitute effectively, putting a dent into the Alomomola, Ferrothorn and more recently, Garganacl teams that have popped up as of late, as well as other things like stopping Ditto and priority from revenge-killing it. Difficult to build around? Sorta. A bad setup mon? Not really.

:chien-pao: I don't fw this guy at all but it's good I guess. Good speed tier, good STAB combo barring Zacian-C, and recent success with Bobsican's Top 3 Semi-Stall, Chien Pao is a threat I guess. Still faces competition from Marshadow though, and that Zacian-C or even Arceus-Fairy MU is horrid not gonna lie.

B-

:arceus-ghost:Shadow Force is really strong, and I wouldn't say it's outclassed by Marshadow or Extreme Killer since it does have notable advantages compared to both, but what really sets this thing down is that... it's coverage is horrid. It's like the Regieleki of the tier - anything that resists or is immune to Shadow Force basically walls Arceus-Ghost entirely. Granted, if you don't do either then fighting this guy is a bit tricky since i 2HKOes practically anything with +1 Shadow Force, with the Z-Move being something else entirely, but fighting Yveltal and Arceus-Dark and Arceus is just abysmal, to the point where I'd say it's more outclassed by Basculegion than the ones mentioned before.

:garganacl: I HATE SALT CURE. Honestly this move is AIDS to fight against. It gets up rocks for basically free against all of the relevant Defoggers, and I've seen this thing 1v1 Stall before, so it's far from a C tier niche mon IMO. And don't get me started on Tera Garganacl. If Tera were to be banned, I'd be because of this guy, not Zygarde. This guy is the reason why Covert Cloak should be slashed on Defensive NDM's analysis btw.

:glimmora: It's just a hazard lead I don't know why it's B tier when it's still shut down by Taunt.

:chi-yu: Nasty Plot Z-Move has no switch-ins on Sticky Web teams outside of hard Stall in my opinion. All of the specially defensive mons, mayybe outside of Arceus-Fairy, get nuked by either Darkinium Z or by Fire Blast. This little fish is heavily slept on and people need to use it more, it can be insane sometimes. Choice Specs should also get some attention since it's still great surprise factor and does a good job breaking through Bulky Offense more safely than Nasty Plot can.


C+

:shuckle: Sticky Webs isn't the best and just like Glimmora it's just a lead, no need for B- IMO.

:arceus-rock: Although it's facing a bit of competition from Garganacl, it's still solid, since it's superior on the offensive side, making it much better for the more offensive teams it'd fit on. Additionally, it's immune to Knock Off, something that Garganacl doesn't really like, and has better tools to not make it as passive, such as Will-O-Wisp or Taunt.

:kingambit: Might seem strange, but this guy is secretly really good. It's bulky, strong, and is very good at punishing almost every mon in the tier except Primal Groudon and Zygarde, both of which aren't too hard to deal with anyways. There was this team that was really good that had Kingambit on it, and I'm not sure if i can send it here, so I won't go into too much detail, but Kingambit is more than a end-game cleaner.


C

:venusaur-mega:Ferrothorn isn't a good reason as to why this guy is in UR. It still has major advantages over it, such as access to reliable healing in Synthesis, effective neutrality to Fire as opposed to being 4x weak, and therefore not being as vulnerable to Eternatus or Palkia-O, and not being weak to Fighting to check Marshadow in a pinch. There are a multitude of hazard setters in the tier, so Ferrothorn setting them isn't anything major, while Mega Venusaur absorbing Toxic Spikes is very useful for the Fat Balance teams it works best on. It shouldn't have dropped in my opinion.

:smeargle:Hazard lead except more inconsistent than both Shuckle and Glimmora.

:cresselia: Just as useful as Hatterene for Trick Room, which is where this archetype would belong (C Tier). It's also insanely bulky, and has a bunch of good switch-ins, such as against Arceus-Ground, Ultra Necrozma or Primal Groudon.

:arceus-steel: Was heavily considering D Tier because I have no idea what this guy does but I'm open for suggestions (if they're good I'll let it stay but if not then it's going into D Tier, seriously just use Necrozma-DM the dark and ghost weaknesses are not that bad).

:arceus-grass: This thing is just as good as Mega Venusaur, if not worse because it takes up an Arceus slot. It's a similar situation to Garganacl vs Arceus-Rock, where I guess the Arceus forme is less passive, but it's significantly worse defensively without the good ability or access to useful moves like Leech Seed or Salt Cure. I guess it can Tera but at that point just use Arceus-Ground or something.

:darmanitan-galar: Great at revenge-killing, good pivoting option, hits the entire tier for at least neutral unlike Pheromosa and is only really stopped by Arceus-Water and Dondozo (and I suppose healthy Defensive Primal Kyogre), which it can still U-Turn out of. Enables a lot of attackers like Primal Groudon or Marshadow since it brings in quite a lot from Primal Groudon itself, to Necrozma-DM and Zacian-C, all three of which can still be beat by Tera Ground Earthquake which also removes it's Stealth Rock weakness. Solid speed control option for teams looking for an offensive answer to Eternatus and Zacian-C in one slot.

:grimmsnarl: Just use Deoxys-S lol. But it does have a better defensive profile, notably being able to set screens on Chien Pao (4x resist Crunch) and Basculegion, while also being able to pivot. Still worse than Deoxys-S though.

:annihilape: Needs more experimentation but if you don't have an extremely bulky mon like support Arceus or defensive Yveltal, or a Ghost type, Final Gambit Annihilape is taking a kill turn 1 barring surprise Tera Ghost or random priority moves, enabling powerful attackers like Mega Salamence or Yveltal who appreciate the dismantled defensive structure. It can pivot against predicted Ghost switch-ins with U-Turn, and in extremely niche cases, can attempt a Rage Fist sweep by abusing weak moves like Garganacl's Salt Cure or Alomomola's Flip Turn.

C-

This is C- if you can't see that.
:slowbro-mega: Probably a stretch, but it does a good job eating neutral hits from Primal Groudon, Mega Salamence and Zygarde, before walling with ease with Iron Defense. Unlike Garganacl, it has an arguably better type combination (does well into Necrozma-DM and Ultra Necrozma), learns Toxic, and has a better offensive presence with Ice Beam or Scald. Could do with some more testing though.

:mewtwo: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...gs-update-6-at-post-231.3712169/post-10206938

:lucario-mega: Potentially slept on, after a Swords Dance boost a lot of things get 2HKOed, and the lack of Xerneas removes the real need to run Bullet Punch, so Stone Edge is an option for Ho-Oh. Still niche to Sticky Web though, and it could be argued it's worse than Marshadow, although blocking Mortal Spin is a good form of role compression IMO.

:arceus-dragon: Incredibly niche, uncommon and I don't really know how to feel about it compared to Giratina-O or Mega Latios.

:cyclizar: Shed Tail can be deadly for fat teams and even Stall that rely on passive damage to secure wins, and it enables attackers like Lunala, Primal Kyogre, Zacian-C and Yveltal very easily. Has Rapid Spin support too, and can normally pivot with U-Turn as well.

:flutter-mane: Similar issue to Arceus-Dragon comparing it to Mega Mewtwo Y, Mega Diancie and even Deoxys-A to an extent.
:sv/pheromosa:
A bit late I know, but I forgot to mention Pheromosa; she's alright I guess, but she's only C Tier because she really needs to hit all three Triple Axels because if she doesn't... she's dead, especially in a 1v1 situation:

:heavy-duty-boots: :yveltal:252 Atk Choice Band Pheromosa Triple Axel (60 BP) (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 76 Def Yveltal: 200-236 (43.9 - 51.8%) -- approx. 9.8% chance to 2HKO
:leftovers: :eternatus: 252 Atk Choice Band Pheromosa Triple Axel (60 BP) (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 88 Def Eternatus: 196-232 (40.5 - 48%) -- approx. 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
:power-herb: :eternatus: 252 Atk Choice Band Pheromosa Triple Axel (60 BP) (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Eternatus: 214-254 (50.8 - 60.3%) -- approx. 2HKO
Special :giratina-origin: 252 Atk Choice Band Pheromosa Triple Axel (60 BP) (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 152 Def Giratina-Origin: 178-212 (35.3 - 42.1%) -- approx. 3HKO
Physical :giratina-origin: 252 Atk Choice Band Pheromosa Triple Axel (60 BP) (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 192+ Def Giratina-Origin: 158-188 (31.4 - 37.3%) -- approx. 79% chance to 3HKO
Physical :giratina-origin: 252 Atk Choice Band Pheromosa Triple Axel (60 BP) (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 20 Def Giratina-Origin: 202-238 (40.1 - 47.3%) -- approx. 3HKO

The last one is less significant because Giratina-O can just Shadow Sneak and 2HKO Pheromosa anyways, potentially OHKOing if she's come in beforehand. This weakness to priority is also a pretty bad thing for Pheromosa, especially since it's main niche in checking Deoxys-A goes out of the window as Life Orb Extreme Speed OHKOes Pheromosa after Stealth Rock.

:deoxys-attack: 4 Atk Life Orb Deoxys-Attack Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pheromosa: 269-317 (95 - 112%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

Funnily enough, I'd argue Galarian Darmanitan is better than Phermosoa, since although it's still frail, it has 105 base HP, which does give it enough bulk to tank priority moves, with only Silk Scarf or Life Orb Tera Normal Extreme Speed EKiller reliably OHKOing it from full (Choice Band Tera Ghost Marshadow is a 18.8% chance to OHKO which is still rather small, especially since Galarian Darmanitan has similar odds to OHKO it back with Icicle Crash after Stealth Rock).
 
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Smeargle C+ --> C-/Unranked
Smeargle is genuinely a terrible choice for a Sticky Web setter. Yes, its more threatening than Shuckle, but this does not make up for its main flaw.

If your opponent has Taunt, you lose.

The only exception is if you run Magic Coat, which I think should definitely be a staple on it, since otherwise, if your opponent has Taunt, you lose. But even then, after it catches on, if your opponent predicts the Magic Coat and just attacks, you lose. In the best case scenario, if you lose the coin flip on what option your opponent uses if they have Taunt, you lose. Shuckle and Slurpuff don't have this problem, which makes them both infinitely better. If Slurpuff, a pretty consistant web setter, is unranked, then Smeargle, a very inconsistent web setter, should also be unranked. It doesn't matter how threatening Smeargle is, the fact that it can't reliably set webs makes it much, much, much worse than even Slurpuff. The more I think about it, the more I am genuinely baffled as to how some people consider Smeargle better than Shuckle. Easily the worst Pokemon currently on the viability rankings.
 
Smeargle C+ --> C-/Unranked
Smeargle is genuinely a terrible choice for a Sticky Web setter. Yes, its more threatening than Shuckle, but this does not make up for its main flaw.

If your opponent has Taunt, you lose.

The only exception is if you run Magic Coat, which I think should definitely be a staple on it, since otherwise, if your opponent has Taunt, you lose. But even then, after it catches on, if your opponent predicts the Magic Coat and just attacks, you lose. In the best case scenario, if you lose the coin flip on what option your opponent uses if they have Taunt, you lose. Shuckle and Slurpuff don't have this problem, which makes them both infinitely better. If Slurpuff, a pretty consistant web setter, is unranked, then Smeargle, a very inconsistent web setter, should also be unranked. It doesn't matter how threatening Smeargle is, the fact that it can't reliably set webs makes it much, much, much worse than even Slurpuff. The more I think about it, the more I am genuinely baffled as to how some people consider Smeargle better than Shuckle. Easily the worst Pokemon currently on the viability rankings.
I'll be honest I view Smeargle as a bit better than Shuckle at the moment. Between Nuzzle, Mortal Spin, and Stone Axe / Ceaseless Edge it has plenty it can do. Smeargle is far more annoying to handle for balance teams because it can always just switch out and come back later as you try and get your own hazards since its sash will still be intact. HO has an easier time denying it webs, but the same applies to Shuckle. Smeargle is slightly less conistent at getting webs up than Shuckle, but way more of a pain to handle because it can be running anything. Even Perish song sees use to help v something like Sub DD Zygarde.

I'm baffled how you'd consider it the worst mon on the VR tbh. If someone thinks it is C+ or even C worthy I'd understand, but C-/UR is something else. I'm genuinely unsure what could be considered better than Smeargle in C/C- other than maybe Pheromosa (which I think I'm a bit higher on than most).
 
I'll be honest I view Smeargle as a bit better than Shuckle at the moment. Between Nuzzle, Mortal Spin, and Stone Axe / Ceaseless Edge it has plenty it can do. Smeargle is far more annoying to handle for balance teams because it can always just switch out and come back later as you try and get your own hazards since its sash will still be intact. HO has an easier time denying it webs, but the same applies to Shuckle. Smeargle is slightly less conistent at getting webs up than Shuckle, but way more of a pain to handle because it can be running anything. Even Perish song sees use to help v something like Sub DD Zygarde.

I'm baffled how you'd consider it the worst mon on the VR tbh. If someone thinks it is C+ or even C worthy I'd understand, but C-/UR is something else. I'm genuinely unsure what could be considered better than Smeargle in C/C- other than maybe Pheromosa (which I think I'm a bit higher on than most).
If it switches out without setting up webs, you lose significant momentum. Not to mention that you can't switch back in at all if hazards are set up, unless you for some reason have hazard removal on a Sticky Web team. What do you do if you run into Deoxys Speed? Nothing. You saying its "slightly" less consistent is flat out wrong. An opponent having Taunt alone puts you in the corner, and you have to fight really really hard to have just a chance of winning. What's the point of running a web team if you cant set up webs until half your team is dead? Sticky Web teams are all about momentum, and rely on constantly threatening to outspeed and OHKO to get that momentum. If you run Smeargle, this goes out the window against Taunt. By the time you get Webs up, you will be in a terrible position. And that's assuming you can get it up at all. How are you going to apply enough pressure to stop the opponent from setting up hazards when you don't have webs? And again, if your opponent has Deoxys Speed, you just lose. Shuckle doesn't have this problem, and neither does Slurpuff. When it comes to most things in this tier, I usually accept that my knowledge on this tier is limited, and that I should trust the experts. But when it comes to Smeargle, I will die on this hill. I don't think Smeargle should ever be chosen on a team.
 
If it switches out without setting up webs, you lose significant momentum. Not to mention that you can't switch back in at all if hazards are set up, unless you for some reason have hazard removal on a Sticky Web team. What do you do if you run into Deoxys Speed? Nothing. You saying its "slightly" less consistent is flat out wrong. An opponent having Taunt alone puts you in the corner, and you have to fight really really hard to have just a chance of winning. What's the point of running a web team if you cant set up webs until half your team is dead? Sticky Web teams are all about momentum, and rely on constantly threatening to outspeed and OHKO to get that momentum. If you run Smeargle, this goes out the window against Taunt. By the time you get Webs up, you will be in a terrible position. And that's assuming you can get it up at all. How are you going to apply enough pressure to stop the opponent from setting up hazards when you don't have webs? And again, if your opponent has Deoxys Speed, you just lose. Shuckle doesn't have this problem, and neither does Slurpuff. When it comes to most things in this tier, I usually accept that my knowledge on this tier is limited, and that I should trust the experts. But when it comes to Smeargle, I will die on this hill. I don't think Smeargle should ever be chosen on a team.
Smeargle has counterplay to Taunt with Magic Coat, allowing it do just what Slurpuff does against Deoxys-S leads, which is constantly use Magic Coat until someone breaks. Smeargle doesn’t outright lose to Deoxys-S even without Magic Coat too, as it can just Mortal Spin any hazards Deoxys-S sets or bounces back while setting its own with Ceaseless Edge or Stone Axe, eventually forcing Deoxys-S out and finding an opportunity to set Sticky Web. To be honest, Shuckle has a harder time getting up Webs vs. Magic Coat Deoxys-S, as Deoxys-S can stall out Encore PP and thus force Shuckle to kill itself with Final Gambit to maintain momentum or switch out and hope to set Sticky Web up later. Spore + Mortal Spin is an absolute pain for balance to pivot around without Ferrothorn, as balance has to choose the least useful Pokemon in the matchup to sack to sleep. Smeargle definitely is viable although inconsistent due to the fact different sets allow you to beat different things or just outright lose.
 
Smeargle has counterplay to Taunt with Magic Coat, allowing it do just what Slurpuff does against Deoxys-S leads, which is constantly use Magic Coat until someone breaks
But Smeargle doesn't get unburden, which means it loses if it takes an attack.
Shuckle has a harder time getting up Webs vs. Magic Coat Deoxys-S, as Deoxys-S can stall out Encore PP
it cant stall out stealth rock pp though, and you can always run infestation to beat it anyways
Spore + Mortal Spin is an absolute pain for balance to pivot around without Ferrothorn, as balance has to choose the least useful Pokemon in the matchup to sack to sleep.
you know what's a bigger pain? actually getting up your win condition.

this conversation has, however, shown me that Shuckle is not an infallible web setter. In fact, I believe that Slurpuff might actually be a more consistent web setter then both of them. probably gonna get some actual good replays of it soon.

you have made a good argument for smeargle, but I still think it might deserve ur. c- at best imo.
 
f it switches out without setting up webs, you lose significant momentum. Not to mention that you can't switch back in at all if hazards are set up, unless you for some reason have hazard removal on a Sticky Web team. What do you do if you run into Deoxys Speed?
Against HO sure, against other playstyles? Smeargle can just switch back in as the hazard setters on most teams will be very telegraphed and its sash will remain intact. It also outspeeds the common SR/ Spikes setters so it is less troublesome than you're implying. At some point your opponent is going to want their own hazards up and that is an easy point for Smeargle. None of the Sticky Web setters really get or keep Webs up against other HO leads consistently anyways without Tera and Smeargle can run Rapid Spin to ignore Tera Steel. If you run into Deoxys-S with any of the Sticky Web setters webs are likely either not going up or going up for both sides.

Yes you will lose some momentum, but against balance and fatter stuff you can generally position things easily enough. Just about the only thing that is going to wholly prevent Smeargle from being a nuisance is Taunt Stealth Rock Arceus-Ground and it still would want sub on top of that. Other Arceus formes do not want to take Nuzzle, neither does LO Yveltal.

You saying its "slightly" less consistent is flat out wrong. An opponent having Taunt alone puts you in the corner, and you have to fight really really hard to have just a chance of winning. What's the point of running a web team if you cant set up webs until half your team is dead?
Most of the mons on Sticky Web teams are not a fish out of water until Sticky Web is set. The strong breakers are going to outspeed the defensive mons balance teams rely on. For example, a poisoned Arceus-Dark is going to have struggles taking on what it needs to, especially if it is the CM sets that have been taking off recently. Likewise Yveltal can't afford to take Mortal Spin or Nuzzle and it hates Rocks being up which cannot be blocked by Taunt. A sticky web team that cannot function at all if webs arn't up probably isn't a great team. No setter gets them up consistently enough to assume that they'll always be up.

How are you going to apply enough pressure to stop the opponent from setting up hazards when you don't have webs? And again, if your opponent has Deoxys Speed, you just lose. Shuckle doesn't have this problem, and neither does Slurpuff. When it comes to most things in this tier, I usually accept that my knowledge on this tier is limited, and that I should trust the experts. But when it comes to Smeargle, I will die on this hill. I don't think Smeargle should ever be chosen on a team.
This is something every Webs setter fails to do. Taunt and Magic Coat are standard on Deoxys-S and neither Shuckle nor Slurpuff should be getting past them. It is a little surprising that you hate Smeargle so much given how much time you spend trying to find some niche for mons that are far worse. Not that I'd ever run it, but Taunt, Magic Coat, Imprison, Sticky Web gets past Deoxys-S, denies Shuckle, and can deny other Smeargle as well.

Smeargle has counterplay to Taunt with Magic Coat, allowing it do just what Slurpuff does against Deoxys-S leads, which is constantly use Magic Coat until someone breaks. Smeargle doesn’t outright lose to Deoxys-S even without Magic Coat too, as it can just Mortal Spin any hazards Deoxys-S sets or bounces back while setting its own with Ceaseless Edge or Stone Axe, eventually forcing Deoxys-S out and finding an opportunity to set Sticky Web. To be honest, Shuckle has a harder time getting up Webs vs. Magic Coat Deoxys-S, as Deoxys-S can stall out Encore PP and thus force Shuckle to kill itself with Final Gambit to maintain momentum or switch out and hope to set Sticky Web up later. Spore + Mortal Spin is an absolute pain for balance to pivot around without Ferrothorn, as balance has to choose the least useful Pokemon in the matchup to sack to sleep. Smeargle definitely is viable although inconsistent due to the fact different sets allow you to beat different things or just outright lose.
Mostly agreed. Also remember we are talking about mons that are in B-/C+, if they were more consistent they'd be ranked higher. Sticky Web is powerful, but consistency in setting and maintaining them hold the playstyle back a lot (a good thing imo - webs on something like Deo-S would be banworthy imo).

But Smeargle doesn't get unburden, which means it loses if it takes an attack.
The unburden is mostly going to come into play against non HO teams which are significantly more annoyed by Smeargle. Yawn / Misty Explosion is nice, but they're not bad to play around.

it cant stall out stealth rock pp though, and you can always run infestation to beat it anyways
If Shuckle had free moveslots you'd already see it runing Toxic or Knock Off.

you know what's a bigger pain? actually getting up your win condition.

this conversation has, however, shown me that Shuckle is not an infallible web setter. In fact, I believe that Slurpuff might actually be a more consistent web setter then both of them. probably gonna get some actual good replays of it soon.

you have made a good argument for smeargle, but I still think it might deserve ur. c- at best imo.
If you believe Slurpuff is better feel free to grab some good replays an make a nomination. Yeah all the webs setters are inconsistent to some degree and Slurpuff has significantly more issues than any of the others.

------
Speaking of other webs setters....

:sv/ribombee: UR ->C-?
Sticky Web / Imprison / Filler / Filler


Imprison lets it deny other Sticky Web setters and Shield Dust means that Ho-Oh can't attempt to OHKO through a burn. The last two moves have some flexibility. Moonblast/ U-turn work as STAB or pivoting. Its utility movepool is surprisingly adept for the role. Stun Spore is obvious, but it has Skill Swap to get through Mega Diancie. I can even see something like Trick Scarf for Deoxys-S, Thief, or a screen having some use cases.
 
Speaking of other webs setters....

:sv/ribombee: UR ->C-?
Sticky Web / Imprison / Filler / Filler


Imprison lets it deny other Sticky Web setters and Shield Dust means that Ho-Oh can't attempt to OHKO through a burn. The last two moves have some flexibility. Moonblast/ U-turn work as STAB or pivoting. Its utility movepool is surprisingly adept for the role. Stun Spore is obvious, but it has Skill Swap to get through Mega Diancie. I can even see something like Trick Scarf for Deoxys-S, Thief, or a screen having some use cases.
Seconding this nomination, Ribombee is pretty solid and does better into HO matchups than Shuckle does since Stun Spore is great for punishing Pokemon that try to setup on it, while it's immune to Glimmora's Mud Shot speed drop too.

Ribombee @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sticky Web
- Skill Swap / Imprison
- Stun Spore
- Pounce / Moonblast

Reflect and Light Screen are also pretty cool options.
 
This is something every Webs setter fails to do. Taunt and Magic Coat are standard on Deoxys-S and neither Shuckle nor Slurpuff should be getting past them. It is a little surprising that you hate Smeargle so much given how much time you spend trying to find some niche for mons that are far worse. Not that I'd ever run it, but Taunt, Magic Coat, Imprison, Sticky Web gets past Deoxys-S, denies Shuckle, and can deny other Smeargle as well.
Slurpuff straight up beats deoxys Speed if you run endeavor. and while pokemon like linoone and he who shall not be named might be bad, they aren't strictly outclassed, and them doing nothing doesn't doom your entire game.
Smeargle can just switch back in as the hazard setters on most teams
probably after two or three of your pokemon are already dead, leaving only half of your team to benefit from sticky webs.

anyways, I don't think we should clog up the thread on a single topic, so if you have a response, feel free to dm me on discord.
 
Slurpuff straight up beats deoxys Speed if you run endeavor. and while pokemon like linoone and he who shall not be named might be bad, they aren't strictly outclassed, and them doing nothing doesn't doom your entire game.
it doesn't beat, its down to 5050s in the end between taunt / spikes and webs / coat

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-2179828071-76r5xmhgdxcp5r0ch50bl1k73zuycoipw
if deo wins the 5050 then puff gets taunted and webs don't go up, if puff wins the 5050 (endeavors one of these early coat turns) then puff has to win a second 5050 next time, between taunt on the webs or spike/rock on the coat, if puff gets this wrong then puff loses. the more times puff endeavors (max 4 because of pressure) the more chances at a 5050 it will have in the end game, but if it gets 1 wrong then webs (and deo hazards) go up onpuffs side, with taunt + pressure wasting all the remaining endeavor pp, meaning deo will win the hazard war completely.

tldr most likely outcome is puff maybe gets off 1 or 2 (max 4) endeavors on the coat turns, at which point it will end up turning into 1-2 5050s after coat pp for deo finishes, between taunt / spike on the webs / coat turns from puff. the matchup is inherently against puff, with puff needing to make 1-2 risky endeavors to have a chance to win this matchup during the coat turns, and even then its still 1-2 5050s to try and set webs, while completely losing if deo gets one taunt turn right. deo s setting 1-2 hazards on its own team is much more helpful if it also prevents webs from puff.

e: i forgot deo s can also do what puff does, albeit a bit more detrimental since it sets hazards on its own team, but that can also waste a coat turn from puff.

So no, it does not straight up beat deo s, it is favoured to lose the interaction actually, and it is at best equal depending on how much you want to weigh the interactions.

also linoone is outclassed by every single ho mon, since every ho mon can actually get one free turn of setup, while linoone cannot, as i demonstrated to you the other day.
 
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it doesn't beat, its down to 5050s in the end between taunt / spikes and webs / coat

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-2179828071-76r5xmhgdxcp5r0ch50bl1k73zuycoipw
if deo wins the 5050 then puff gets taunted and webs don't go up, if puff wins the 5050 (endeavors one of these early coat turns) then puff has to win a second 5050 next time, between taunt on the webs or spike/rock on the coat, if puff gets this wrong then puff loses. the more times puff endeavors (max 4 because of pressure) the more chances at a 5050 it will have in the end game, but if it gets 1 wrong then webs (and deo hazards) go up onpuffs side, with taunt + pressure wasting all the remaining endeavor pp, meaning deo will win the hazard war completely.

tldr most likely outcome is puff maybe gets off 1 or 2 (max 4) endeavors on the coat turns, at which point it will end up turning into 1-2 5050s after coat pp for deo finishes, between taunt / spike on the webs / coat turns from puff. the matchup is inherently against puff, with puff needing to make 1-2 risky endeavors to have a chance to win this matchup during the coat turns, and even then its still 1-2 5050s to try and set webs, while completely losing if deo gets one taunt turn right. deo s setting 1-2 hazards on its own team is much more helpful if it also prevents webs from puff.

e: i forgot deo s can also do what puff does, albeit a bit more detrimental since it sets hazards on its own team, but that can also waste a coat turn from puff.

So no, it does not straight up beat deo s, it is favoured to lose the interaction actually, and it is at best equal depending on how much you want to weigh the interactions.

also linoone is outclassed by every single ho mon, since every ho mon can actually get one free turn of setup, while linoone cannot, as i demonstrated to you the other day.
Ok, I wasnt gonna respond to continue this debate, but you said something that I just have to refute.
No, Puff doesn't have to win a 50/50. The average Deoxys Speed runs Taunt, the hazards, and Magic Coat. Now, if you notice, the only move not redirected by Magic Coat is Magic Coat. This means that Deoxys Speeds only safe move is Magic Coat. Yes, technically on the turn it uses Endeavor, Deoxys Speed could use Taunt, but that is an incredibly risky move that no sane player would ever make. This means that as long as you aren't incredibly obvious on what turn you use Endeavor on (I usually do it some time after turn 5), since Pressure doesn't affect Magic Coat, you will ultimately win the Magic Coat PP war unless the Deoxys player hazards themself, which they will have to do to deny webs. Once they hazard themself, you can explode, and leave with equal hazards, putting you at equal ground and making sure that Deo can only get one more layer of hazards. So, I guess it doesn't beat Deoxys, but it dosent lose to it nearly as hard as you claim.

Anyways, about Linoone, it actually can get a turn if you run a very specific pokemon (floober). Does this make it good? No. But I will continue to use it, because it is funny. And I encourage players better than me to try to make it work, because it would be hilarious if we can get this thing on the viability rankings.
My team:https://pokepast.es/f4b639ce74830cbb
 
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-2180048314

Slurpuff Unranked --> B-
Allow me to introduce you to the new and improved Slurpuff.

Slurpuff (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
Level: 83
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Sticky Web
- Misty Explosion
- Dazzling Gleam
- Magic Coat

Now, there are a few things that seem unusual. First of all, the level is a lot lower, as it no longer needs to outspeed Deoxys-Speed. With this new low level, it can get its sash triggered on much more, most importantly Yveltal, which makes that matchup no longer a 50/50, but instead puts it in Slurpuffs favor. Technically it can go to level 82 and still outspeed Phermosa, but at level 83, it can 4HKO Deoxys-Speed. That's right. Slurpuff beats Deoxys-Speed.
 
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Slurpuff Unranked --> B-
Allow me to introduce you to the new and improved Slurpuff.

Slurpuff (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
Level: 83
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 1 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Sticky Web
- Misty Explosion
- Hidden Power [Ghost]
- Magic Coat

Now, there are a few things that seem unusual. First of all, the level is a lot lower, as it no longer needs to outspeed Deoxys-Speed. With this new low level, it can get its sash triggered on much more, most importantly Yveltal, which makes that matchup no longer a 50/50, but instead puts it in Slurpuffs favor. Technically it can go to level 82 and still outspeed Phermosa, but at level 83, it can 4HKO Deoxys-Speed. That's right. Slurpuff beats Deoxys-Speed.

Not gonna lie, you made it worse. Firstly, there is zero counterplay to Glimmora for this set, since you're Tera Ghost. Secondly, level 83 is extremely slow despite Unburden, notably being slower than Mega Mewtwo Y and Zacian-C, which is less than ideal, since it hits 404 Speed after Unburden. Before Unburden is an issue as well, since it's slower than uninvested Primal Groudon, Giratina-O, Ho-Oh (this one especially being huge since it can just Toxic you as you Sticky Web and then spam Defog) and Zygarde, with the latter being able to Tera and spam Coil which is extremely bad for the HO teams it's on, the former being able to Swords Dance on the Utility Swords Dance sets, and Giratina-O can just Poltergeist into Shadow Sneak to remove you entirely. Thirdly, no Yawn means you're complete setup fodder for anything not weak to Ghost (and even then you're piss weak anyways).

1723655581546.png

First of all, you can just switch to a steel type against glimora. now, regarding the speed issue... no it isn't. now, regarding the issue of it being set up fodder... yeah, that's true

Cancel cult Turns out Pokemon Calculator doesn't like to import Natures for some reason. But as for the Steel-type issue, then you just get Mud Shot, while allowing something like Arceus-Ground or Primal Groudon to come in and remove you, and since Slurpuff is not only missing Yawn, but probably taking Stealth Rock damage, it's not gonna be very good for the team.
 
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Not gonna lie, you made it worse. Firstly, there is zero counterplay to Glimmora for this set, since you're Tera Ghost. Secondly, level 83 is extremely slow despite Unburden, notably being slower than Mega Mewtwo Y and Zacian-C, which is less than ideal, since it hits 404 Speed after Unburden. Before Unburden is an issue as well, since it's slower than uninvested Primal Groudon, Giratina-O, Ho-Oh (this one especially being huge since it can just Toxic you as you Sticky Web and then spam Defog) and Zygarde, with the latter being able to Tera and spam Coil which is extremely bad for the HO teams it's on, the former being able to Swords Dance on the Utility Swords Dance sets, and Giratina-O can just Poltergeist into Shadow Sneak to remove you entirely. Thirdly, no Yawn means you're complete setup fodder for anything not weak to Ghost (and even then you're piss weak anyways).
1723655581546.png

First of all, you can just switch to a steel type against glimora. now, regarding the speed issue... no it isn't. now, regarding the issue of it being set up fodder... yeah, that's true.
 
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-2180048314

Slurpuff Unranked --> B-
Allow me to introduce you to the new and improved Slurpuff.

Slurpuff (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
Level: 83
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 1 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Sticky Web
- Misty Explosion
- Hidden Power [Ghost]
- Magic Coat

Now, there are a few things that seem unusual. First of all, the level is a lot lower, as it no longer needs to outspeed Deoxys-Speed. With this new low level, it can get its sash triggered on much more, most importantly Yveltal, which makes that matchup no longer a 50/50, but instead puts it in Slurpuffs favor. Technically it can go to level 82 and still outspeed Phermosa, but at level 83, it can 4HKO Deoxys-Speed. That's right. Slurpuff beats Deoxys-Speed.
In the replay you provided, Slurpuff actually loses the lead interaction with Deoxys-S. The point of a hazard lead is to get up hazards and, unless you’re Shuckle, deny opposing hazards, not KO the opposing lead. Deoxys-S is able to both put up hazards and deny Sticky Web, the one hazard your team relies on. The only way Slurpuff wins the interaction is 50/50 decisions. Either predict Taunt or hazards and Magic Coat it back or predict the opponent will use Magic Coat and use Hidden Power Ghost FOUR TIMES.
 
In the replay you provided, Slurpuff actually loses the lead interaction with Deoxys-S. The point of a hazard lead is to get up hazards and, unless you’re Shuckle, deny opposing hazards, not KO the opposing lead. Deoxys-S is able to both put up hazards and deny Sticky Web, the one hazard your team relies on. The only way Slurpuff wins the interaction is 50/50 decisions. Either predict Taunt or hazards and Magic Coat it back or predict the opponent will use Magic Coat and use Hidden Power Ghost FOUR TIMES.
First of all, I would have set hazards if they didn't have Kyurem. Second of all, an actual good player wouldn't Taunt randomly, as 9/10 times, that results in Deoxys getting Taunted. They got the Taunt by sheer luck. Getting four HP Ghosts (or Dazzling Gleams, as that does the same damage) isn't that hard, as I stated earlier. Taunting is way too risky, as assuming that you use Magic Coat a lot more than attacking, which is what you should do, in most scenarios it results in a redirected Taunt.
 
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