Thoughts and my own special nomination. We will be using Always's Shitmon Score (ASS) as a relative metric for ranking these Pokemon:
It has some pretty nice attributes that make it a solid defogger like its amazing bulk and great movepool. The awkward part is that it doesn't really beat the most common hazard setters 1v1 (assuming good sets! It will own stuff like SR + 3 Excadrill), meaning that you can't really play it in a fat team trying to "totally deny" SR / Spikes / Toxic Spikes over the longterm; Mandibuzz instead will use its bulk to shut down something else to get the chance to Defog and potentially U-Turn out. Its main issue is that it's a status magnet that at best will only be threatening 3HKOs on the setters instead of 2HKOs (unlike e.g. Defog Zapdos). Cleric support feels pretty necessary as a result. I wonder if it can leverage its unique properties on more balanced teams. Shoutouts Thunder Pwoell (Omari P) for stanning this Pokemon for like a decade across multiple OUs. ASS: 7/10, very solid.
This mon is so peak bro. What sets this Pokemon apart from most others is not just its "unique" (i.e. rarely distributed) options like Spikes or Toxic Spikes, but the fact that it has so many of them. Spikes + Toxic Spikes + Sleep Powder + Stun Spore + Natural Cure + Technician + Poison-type + strong STABs that allow you to circumvent most hazard removal without needing to blow Sleep Powder + Synthesis + Aromatherapy + ...I think that's it actually, maybe Worry Seed? lol. Anyways the obvious caveat is that you can't run all of these on a single set which means you need to pick what you want it to do. Positive: your opponent will likely only be able to guess 1 move (probably Spikes) but everything else is up in the air. Major negative: This thing is insane Weavile food unless you're running Protect (which further limits your utility moves), and that will really cut into your team's defensive profile because you will either be tempted to run unmons to deal with it, or you will inadvertently end up creating a team that gets trucked by offense or Fire-types. It's a weird Pokemon, but it's been a member of one of the most reliable teams I've ever built (feels like it'd be good enough for an RMT), so I'm biased. ASS: 8/10, glazing aside, I think it's pretty decent.
This Pokemon is pretty cool ngl. Cool options with Scarf, neat coverage with STABs + HP Ice, and all the usual goodies like Wisp and TWave that come with being a Rotom form. I think it's somewhat underexplored, but Grass-types can only go so far before their typing catches up with them, and like Roserade before it, Rotom-Mow is no exception. The fact that there are some teams where it's the "right choice" instead of Rotom-Wash implies a degree of innate viability. ASS: 6.5/10, tough competition but it can find its place to shine.
Nightmare for a lot of modern offenses, and Substitute sets can put you up 2 Pokemon if your opponent does not respect it. SR sets are also pretty cool as well, but Endeavor shenanigans are pretty hit or miss. There's not much to say about Mamoswine; Ice / Ground offensive typing and access to Ice Shard just makes it a decently anti-meta Pokemon. ASS: 7.5/10, good counter-team pick.
First time I saw this Pokemon used in ORAS was around 9 years ago during POWC on a Zenadark team (still have the paste: https://pokepast.es/26a7b93e09e85a0f). I'm pretty sure I never saw it again until awyp started using a team with it, where it seemed to do Slowking stuff. It's place in the metagame is weird; on one hand, it loathes the existence of Weavile and a more physically-oriented metagame, not in the least because most common special sweepers can (not necessarily will!) beat it by virtue of their typings / coverage (think Serperior / Manaphy); this just raises the question of why you would ever use this over Slowbro. However, Volcanion and Keldeo stocks have rose recently, and while Slowking probably gets trolled by Scald burns / Toxic anyways, it at least shuts them down for a lot longer than Slowbro would. I think a big advantage that Slowking has over Slowbro, and something that causes it to function in a different role of sorts, is access to Dragon Tail. Being able to tank a hit and phaze out a dangerous special sweeper is often something only Slowking can do. Its other moves and utility options are also fine, like CM + Psyshock, TWave, AV, etc. Just need to know when Slowking is right for you. ASS: 6/10, when you need it most, it'll be there for you.
I'm not sold on it personally but Ruffles either makes it work or almost makes it work whenever he brings it, so that's got to mean something. The theory behind it with the Wish-passing is admittedly very big-brained. All I know is that I would never be able to KO this thing due to my lack of skill, so I feel like it's kind of a noobslayer choice. ASS: 6.5/10, I can't break fat.
I guess being able to speed-tie base 130 Pokemon with Scarf is cool, but the cut in bulk compared to Magnezone is pretty noticeable and will usually matter more. However, this does kind of let you rely on only one Pokemon as a "real" Scarfer, so you could potentially avoid having to double up on Scarfers for speed control. Technically its higher base speed actually gives it more options than just Scarf if focused solely as a trapper for Skarm / Ferro / MSciz, but I cannot in good conscience say any of it is viable. Running it alongside Magnezone for dual-trapping shenanigans with like Flash could also be funny. ASS: 4/10, you better know what you're doing.
The OG stallbreaker. Scarf had an appearance in ORAS Invitational III, but wasn't able to do much in the matchup. Amazing movepool and utility options, epic ways to bypass checks, and solid bulk make it a fair choice to do whatever you want. The bad news is that the prevalence of Weavile, Mega-Metagross, Excadrill, Thundurus, and Zapdos means that you're going to have to get creative to really make the most out of it in a lot of matchups, but typing and stat-wise, this Pokemon easily stands above the rest of the contenders for the last 2 VR slots. ASS: 8/10, just flinch bro.
It's sort of weird because Politoed isn't on the VR, but realistically this Pokemon should only be ranked AT MINIMUM 1 rank below Mega-Swampert; honestly it probably would be more reasonable to rank it 1 rank above since it doesn't require your Mega-slot. Rain honestly would be a joke if this Pokemon didn't exist, and I would argue it's the only Pokemon that should always be present on a rain team outside of Politoed. Empirically I believe this is true, since I don't think I've ever seen a rain team without it. Nothing much to say here, pretty one-dimensional Pokemon, just hit Hydro Pump / Draco Meteor, maybe LO could be cool, waiting for someone to bring mixed DD like it's DPP LMAO, the usual. ASS: 7.8/10, too much water.
Klefki seems pretty strong right now because of its amazing typing, automatic speed control, and hazard game. I'm surprised it's not used more on HO teams, but the pain of Dual Screens is that you (probably) can't have both TWave and Spikes at the same time. Access to Flash Cannon for Mega-Diancie and Magnet Rise / Foul Play for Excadrill means it's can fight to keep its layers up in a few matchups. Even when it's not stacking hazards, Prankster TWave is crazy good and Klefki's typing means that removing it is a lot harder than removing something like Thundurus. In my humble opinion, just resisting Weavile's STABs (not like Fraudaunt) is enough to keep it viable. Tack on everything else and you've got a real winner. ASS: 8/10, I love paralysis.
An epic Pokemon with horrible 4MSS. You have DD/SD + Waterfall and then 2 of Ice Punch / Crunch / Superpower / Aqua Jet. As a result, it's going to be pretty hit or miss. I suppose it could go crazy when you correctly pick the moves in the builder, but odds of this are pretty low. In addition, Feraligatr lacks some of the defensive merits that other Water-types do. A lot of the time your choice of Water-type is heavily influenced by what kind of defensive utility it provides (e.g. Keldeo, Volcanion, Azumarill). I think as a result Feraligatr doesn't have much going for it in the metagame most of the time. ASS: 5/10, pray you get the MU right.
The transition to a more priority-heavy metagame leaves the odds of a humiliating Hawlucha sweep pretty low. Stone Edge sets would seem to be the most useful since you can pretty confidently lure and wipe out Zapdos at +2. Unfortunately most teams are going to have either too much offensive pressure for Hawlucha to properly set up, or will be too fat for it to break through even at +2. Screens support and options like Sub will help, but it's an uphill battle more often than not. I'm just going to shoutout JspKiC for no reason, because him owning people with Hawlucha this OST was beautiful and made me fear this Pokemon, no matter the generation. ASS: 5.5/10, sweep or be swept.
Alright, this is a good Pokemon that keeps getting used on wacky fish teams to troll and set Screens. I think its real value should just be as a pivot to completely shut down fat teams. I mean like completely. Skarm, Hippo, Ferro, even some TankChomp just get horribly stonewalled by this Pokemon. The best set imo is something like Protect / Roost / U-Turn or TWave / Heat Wave with a Colbur Berry. If you like to live dangerously then RH is good too. If you can bypass your opponent's Pursuit user, you're golden. Let's ignore the fact that Exca can still set SR on it. Overall, a fun counter-team pick! ASS: 7/10, I still can't break fat.
I tried Specs Goodra but I can't predict to save my life and it didn't even feel that strong anyways. Those AV sets with Dragon Tail are way better though. With the rise of special offense teams, Goodra is a pretty solid check to the archetype. It's movepool is also feasibly good(ra) enough that you could try an LO or EBelt wallbreaker set with a physical move such as Rock Slide or EQ (or even Superpower?) to potentially own a Volcarona or Heatran that think they're slick. It really needs solid hazard removal support though, since it seems like it gets chipped down fast by SR. Tagging Genesis7 because it reminded me of this. ASS: 7/10, I think male Goodra is perfectly fine.
Special nomination time:
This Pokemon is kind of awesome. I am incapable of getting a Destiny Bond turn right, so imagine what power lies in the hands of a player who can? Sure, you lose your Mega-slot, but Mega-Banette is a genuinely annoying Pokemon for a lot of standard offense teams to beat. It's crazy strong and can even go uninvested in Attack and run no STABs, fitting in Knock Off and Gunk Shot which is a major pain to all non-Gliscor teams (and Gliscor itself is never a safe switch-in until it can proc Toxic Orb). Meanwhile, it has strong priority in STAB Shadow Sneak and Sucker Punch, meaning you can instead go Attack invested with Phantom Force + priority with the neat combo of Destiny Bond -> slower Phantom Force on a non-attacking turn -> opponent cannot attack or is forced to switch out and gets chunked by Phantom Force -> finished off by Shadow Sneak / Sucker Punch if they aren't KOed. There are obviously many issues with this but it requires serious thought from an opponent to play around if they don't respect it. I've had a lot of fun using it thus far. It's movepool is great with Taunt and the like, and it's only really held back by the initial turn it needs to Mega (which defense investment can greatly help with). ASS: 8/10, we are so back.
Selected tournament replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-844125 (vs Mada for ORAS GC)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-842856?p2 (vs StepC for ORAS GC)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-844022?p2 (vs Hyssou for ADPL)
Bonus content:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6ou-2371049842 (mixnite can win with it!)
Final result: If I had to vote for 2 Pokemon, I'd probably say Roserade and Klefki; I think they have real demonstrated merit. Mega-Banette as an honorable mention.
It has some pretty nice attributes that make it a solid defogger like its amazing bulk and great movepool. The awkward part is that it doesn't really beat the most common hazard setters 1v1 (assuming good sets! It will own stuff like SR + 3 Excadrill), meaning that you can't really play it in a fat team trying to "totally deny" SR / Spikes / Toxic Spikes over the longterm; Mandibuzz instead will use its bulk to shut down something else to get the chance to Defog and potentially U-Turn out. Its main issue is that it's a status magnet that at best will only be threatening 3HKOs on the setters instead of 2HKOs (unlike e.g. Defog Zapdos). Cleric support feels pretty necessary as a result. I wonder if it can leverage its unique properties on more balanced teams. Shoutouts Thunder Pwoell (Omari P) for stanning this Pokemon for like a decade across multiple OUs. ASS: 7/10, very solid. This mon is so peak bro. What sets this Pokemon apart from most others is not just its "unique" (i.e. rarely distributed) options like Spikes or Toxic Spikes, but the fact that it has so many of them. Spikes + Toxic Spikes + Sleep Powder + Stun Spore + Natural Cure + Technician + Poison-type + strong STABs that allow you to circumvent most hazard removal without needing to blow Sleep Powder + Synthesis + Aromatherapy + ...I think that's it actually, maybe Worry Seed? lol. Anyways the obvious caveat is that you can't run all of these on a single set which means you need to pick what you want it to do. Positive: your opponent will likely only be able to guess 1 move (probably Spikes) but everything else is up in the air. Major negative: This thing is insane Weavile food unless you're running Protect (which further limits your utility moves), and that will really cut into your team's defensive profile because you will either be tempted to run unmons to deal with it, or you will inadvertently end up creating a team that gets trucked by offense or Fire-types. It's a weird Pokemon, but it's been a member of one of the most reliable teams I've ever built (feels like it'd be good enough for an RMT), so I'm biased. ASS: 8/10, glazing aside, I think it's pretty decent. This Pokemon is pretty cool ngl. Cool options with Scarf, neat coverage with STABs + HP Ice, and all the usual goodies like Wisp and TWave that come with being a Rotom form. I think it's somewhat underexplored, but Grass-types can only go so far before their typing catches up with them, and like Roserade before it, Rotom-Mow is no exception. The fact that there are some teams where it's the "right choice" instead of Rotom-Wash implies a degree of innate viability. ASS: 6.5/10, tough competition but it can find its place to shine. Nightmare for a lot of modern offenses, and Substitute sets can put you up 2 Pokemon if your opponent does not respect it. SR sets are also pretty cool as well, but Endeavor shenanigans are pretty hit or miss. There's not much to say about Mamoswine; Ice / Ground offensive typing and access to Ice Shard just makes it a decently anti-meta Pokemon. ASS: 7.5/10, good counter-team pick. First time I saw this Pokemon used in ORAS was around 9 years ago during POWC on a Zenadark team (still have the paste: https://pokepast.es/26a7b93e09e85a0f). I'm pretty sure I never saw it again until awyp started using a team with it, where it seemed to do Slowking stuff. It's place in the metagame is weird; on one hand, it loathes the existence of Weavile and a more physically-oriented metagame, not in the least because most common special sweepers can (not necessarily will!) beat it by virtue of their typings / coverage (think Serperior / Manaphy); this just raises the question of why you would ever use this over Slowbro. However, Volcanion and Keldeo stocks have rose recently, and while Slowking probably gets trolled by Scald burns / Toxic anyways, it at least shuts them down for a lot longer than Slowbro would. I think a big advantage that Slowking has over Slowbro, and something that causes it to function in a different role of sorts, is access to Dragon Tail. Being able to tank a hit and phaze out a dangerous special sweeper is often something only Slowking can do. Its other moves and utility options are also fine, like CM + Psyshock, TWave, AV, etc. Just need to know when Slowking is right for you. ASS: 6/10, when you need it most, it'll be there for you. I'm not sold on it personally but Ruffles either makes it work or almost makes it work whenever he brings it, so that's got to mean something. The theory behind it with the Wish-passing is admittedly very big-brained. All I know is that I would never be able to KO this thing due to my lack of skill, so I feel like it's kind of a noobslayer choice. ASS: 6.5/10, I can't break fat. I guess being able to speed-tie base 130 Pokemon with Scarf is cool, but the cut in bulk compared to Magnezone is pretty noticeable and will usually matter more. However, this does kind of let you rely on only one Pokemon as a "real" Scarfer, so you could potentially avoid having to double up on Scarfers for speed control. Technically its higher base speed actually gives it more options than just Scarf if focused solely as a trapper for Skarm / Ferro / MSciz, but I cannot in good conscience say any of it is viable. Running it alongside Magnezone for dual-trapping shenanigans with like Flash could also be funny. ASS: 4/10, you better know what you're doing. The OG stallbreaker. Scarf had an appearance in ORAS Invitational III, but wasn't able to do much in the matchup. Amazing movepool and utility options, epic ways to bypass checks, and solid bulk make it a fair choice to do whatever you want. The bad news is that the prevalence of Weavile, Mega-Metagross, Excadrill, Thundurus, and Zapdos means that you're going to have to get creative to really make the most out of it in a lot of matchups, but typing and stat-wise, this Pokemon easily stands above the rest of the contenders for the last 2 VR slots. ASS: 8/10, just flinch bro. It's sort of weird because Politoed isn't on the VR, but realistically this Pokemon should only be ranked AT MINIMUM 1 rank below Mega-Swampert; honestly it probably would be more reasonable to rank it 1 rank above since it doesn't require your Mega-slot. Rain honestly would be a joke if this Pokemon didn't exist, and I would argue it's the only Pokemon that should always be present on a rain team outside of Politoed. Empirically I believe this is true, since I don't think I've ever seen a rain team without it. Nothing much to say here, pretty one-dimensional Pokemon, just hit Hydro Pump / Draco Meteor, maybe LO could be cool, waiting for someone to bring mixed DD like it's DPP LMAO, the usual. ASS: 7.8/10, too much water. Klefki seems pretty strong right now because of its amazing typing, automatic speed control, and hazard game. I'm surprised it's not used more on HO teams, but the pain of Dual Screens is that you (probably) can't have both TWave and Spikes at the same time. Access to Flash Cannon for Mega-Diancie and Magnet Rise / Foul Play for Excadrill means it's can fight to keep its layers up in a few matchups. Even when it's not stacking hazards, Prankster TWave is crazy good and Klefki's typing means that removing it is a lot harder than removing something like Thundurus. In my humble opinion, just resisting Weavile's STABs (not like Fraudaunt) is enough to keep it viable. Tack on everything else and you've got a real winner. ASS: 8/10, I love paralysis. An epic Pokemon with horrible 4MSS. You have DD/SD + Waterfall and then 2 of Ice Punch / Crunch / Superpower / Aqua Jet. As a result, it's going to be pretty hit or miss. I suppose it could go crazy when you correctly pick the moves in the builder, but odds of this are pretty low. In addition, Feraligatr lacks some of the defensive merits that other Water-types do. A lot of the time your choice of Water-type is heavily influenced by what kind of defensive utility it provides (e.g. Keldeo, Volcanion, Azumarill). I think as a result Feraligatr doesn't have much going for it in the metagame most of the time. ASS: 5/10, pray you get the MU right. The transition to a more priority-heavy metagame leaves the odds of a humiliating Hawlucha sweep pretty low. Stone Edge sets would seem to be the most useful since you can pretty confidently lure and wipe out Zapdos at +2. Unfortunately most teams are going to have either too much offensive pressure for Hawlucha to properly set up, or will be too fat for it to break through even at +2. Screens support and options like Sub will help, but it's an uphill battle more often than not. I'm just going to shoutout JspKiC for no reason, because him owning people with Hawlucha this OST was beautiful and made me fear this Pokemon, no matter the generation. ASS: 5.5/10, sweep or be swept. Alright, this is a good Pokemon that keeps getting used on wacky fish teams to troll and set Screens. I think its real value should just be as a pivot to completely shut down fat teams. I mean like completely. Skarm, Hippo, Ferro, even some TankChomp just get horribly stonewalled by this Pokemon. The best set imo is something like Protect / Roost / U-Turn or TWave / Heat Wave with a Colbur Berry. If you like to live dangerously then RH is good too. If you can bypass your opponent's Pursuit user, you're golden. Let's ignore the fact that Exca can still set SR on it. Overall, a fun counter-team pick! ASS: 7/10, I still can't break fat. I tried Specs Goodra but I can't predict to save my life and it didn't even feel that strong anyways. Those AV sets with Dragon Tail are way better though. With the rise of special offense teams, Goodra is a pretty solid check to the archetype. It's movepool is also feasibly good(ra) enough that you could try an LO or EBelt wallbreaker set with a physical move such as Rock Slide or EQ (or even Superpower?) to potentially own a Volcarona or Heatran that think they're slick. It really needs solid hazard removal support though, since it seems like it gets chipped down fast by SR. Tagging Genesis7 because it reminded me of this. ASS: 7/10, I think male Goodra is perfectly fine.Special nomination time:
This Pokemon is kind of awesome. I am incapable of getting a Destiny Bond turn right, so imagine what power lies in the hands of a player who can? Sure, you lose your Mega-slot, but Mega-Banette is a genuinely annoying Pokemon for a lot of standard offense teams to beat. It's crazy strong and can even go uninvested in Attack and run no STABs, fitting in Knock Off and Gunk Shot which is a major pain to all non-Gliscor teams (and Gliscor itself is never a safe switch-in until it can proc Toxic Orb). Meanwhile, it has strong priority in STAB Shadow Sneak and Sucker Punch, meaning you can instead go Attack invested with Phantom Force + priority with the neat combo of Destiny Bond -> slower Phantom Force on a non-attacking turn -> opponent cannot attack or is forced to switch out and gets chunked by Phantom Force -> finished off by Shadow Sneak / Sucker Punch if they aren't KOed. There are obviously many issues with this but it requires serious thought from an opponent to play around if they don't respect it. I've had a lot of fun using it thus far. It's movepool is great with Taunt and the like, and it's only really held back by the initial turn it needs to Mega (which defense investment can greatly help with). ASS: 8/10, we are so back.Selected tournament replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-844125 (vs Mada for ORAS GC)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-842856?p2 (vs StepC for ORAS GC)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-844022?p2 (vs Hyssou for ADPL)
Bonus content:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6ou-2371049842 (mixnite can win with it!)
Final result: If I had to vote for 2 Pokemon, I'd probably say Roserade and Klefki; I think they have real demonstrated merit. Mega-Banette as an honorable mention.
) was ranked. it has a ton of good traits thanks to its good movepool and great ability.
D / #91 -> C / #83
C- / #85 -> C+ / #77
Unchanged