Espeon is C+ imo. It has two very clear-cut uses, one being as a Dual Screener in HO teams with SR weak Pokemon (Latios can't set up screens while making sure your Dragonite keeps his MS active can he?) and the other is on full Baton Pass teams. Those uses are enough to put it in C+, as Espeon is pretty good in both those roles and has basically zero competition (as a BP receiver immune to phazing that can use set up moves too, and as a dual screener that can prevent hazards from ever getting up).
TooMuchSugar said:
So on the subject of dugtrio (which seems to be the thing from my last post people found most interesting), I admit I was forgetting its utility as a partner for certain thing, particularly Genesect and, apparently, Talonflame (haven't ever seen this but it makes perfect sense). Actually I want to go try out CB Talon + SashTrio ASAP, that's how fun it sounds. In light of this, maybe C- or C would be a be a better place for him.
Dugtrio is worthy of at least of C+, maybe B-. It's an exceptional partner for top-tier Pokemon, such as Mega Charizard Y, Genesect, and Talonflame, and it leaves any team relying on Heatran, Tyranitar, Terrakion, etc helpless against those monsters (so it basically punishes you for using the best answers available to those Pokemon). It is very easy to fit in Volt-turn teams to pick apart defensive cores and can even act as an emergency check to sweepers if you manage to keep its Sash intact, which is not that hard to do with Defog.
Ziaf999 said:
I'm not sure if I can nominate it, but I'm curious why Tornadus-T isn't on this list. Even outside of rain teams it's an amazing pivot. If it's ran with 1-2 other U-Turn/Volt Switch users (like Genesect/Scizor/Rotoms/Talonflame), then it gets multiple opportunities to come in and threaten to KO or Knock Off their switch in. Regenerator lets it stay healthy all game to keep coming in, and it has so much synergy with U-Turn.
I thought he'd be B- or B at worst.
Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Of course you can nominate it, and Torn-T actually deserves higher than this. Assuming we put Politoed to A Rank, which is where it should be,
Torn-T should be B+, or in the worst case B. It's fast, fucking hard to wall, and impossible to wear down. It can even cripple its own counters now, with Knock Off making Chansey, Aegislash, and Zapdos so much easier to deal with, so fully countering it is almost impossible. It can even use Assault Vest to have an easier time switching in and provide some defensive synergy, while still hitting quite hard. His downsides are that it needs rain to function and that it's somewhat hard to bring in, which although significant downsides that need strong team support, don't stop it from being a fucking monster once it gets in.
Let's also rank Politoed while we are at it.
Politoed should be in A rank. As i have mentioned in the general discussion thread, rain offensive and rain balance are still very potent and effective playstyles, as long as you use the right Politoed, which is defensive Damp Rock Politoed. Rain teams have fast and strong sweepers (Kabutops, Kingdra, LO Keldeo, Torn-T), great walls and pivots (SpD Tentacruel, which walls both Mega Char Y and Aegislash, Rest Hydration Goodra, Ferrothorn, Mega Scizor), and terrific wallbreakers (Azumarill, Analytic Starmie, Crawdaunt, Torn-T). As long as you use Politoed right, and you are not facing an opposing weather team, you almost always have a slight advantage, due to the sheer effectiveness of the rain abusers (boosted Speed and power for Swift Swimmers, unparalleled wallbreaking potential for Pokemon such as Crawdaunt and LO Keldeo, and extreme walling abilities of Pokemon such as Rain Dish Tenta and Rest Goodra). I could even see Politoed being A+, but for now let's start with the absolute minimum and put him in A.
Slowbro should go to B+ rank. Slowbro is not any worse than all the other defensive Pokemon that are up there, being one of the best checks to a ton of physical attackers, such as physical Mega Lucario, Talonflame, Mega Char X, CB Azumarill, Terrakion, Excadrill, Garchomp, and many more. It covers so much, and it doesn't even need to waste time healing, instead spreading status such as burn and paralysis, making it not easy at all to switch in. In general, he has great utility on bulky offense teams, and even though he struggles a bit vs the common Volt-turn cores that everybody uses, it can still easily take some weaker U-turn and find a chance to do something useful, while healing most of the damage by simply switching out. Slowbro is one of the very few defensive Pokemon that can make it until late-game while taking on not one, but a plethora of physical attackers throughout the game, thanks to Regenerator and its great bulk.
Although i am not sure where Vaporeon should go, one important pro it has over the other OU viable Wish passers (Chansey, Blissey, Sylveon, Clefable) is that it's the only one that is not screwed up by the new phazing mechanics that allow those moves to bypass Protect, effectively cutting down the recovert source of those Pokemon, as long as the phazer can switch into those, which all of Heatran, Skarmory, and SpD Hippo can. However, none of those can switch into Vaporeon, as Scald fucks them up, so they would never risk switching into it unless it's very super fucking important.
Finally,
Crawdaunt should be C+ or even B-. It's an absolute monster in rain teams, try it out and you will see what i mean. A simple 3 attacks + SD set with LO, or a CB set will do the trick. Have fun 2HKOing Mega Venusaur with Crabhammer after SR and rain up. With him on your team, there is no defensive core that you can't break through.
