Other XY OU Viability Ranking Thread (B- and C+ Pokemon discussion)

[Scarbo]

Ah I've been waiting a long time to post this :]
Goodra can do virtually nothing back after taking hits-I touched on this in the last section but it is a major reason as to why I would never use Goodra so I figured it should get its own section. The fact that Goodra is basically just sitting there makes it nearly useless in my opinion. Very rarely will you come across a team that has Goodra as a major offensive threat. Almost any balanced team has something such as Heatran, Hippowdon, Aegislash that can come in and shrug off nearly any attack Goodra may be running and either cripple it with Toxic in Heatran / Aegi's case or wear it down with the combination of EQ / Slack off in Hippo's case. Outside of that Goodra is setup bait for sooo many bulky Megas and setup sweepers in the current metagame. BellyJet Azumarill, Mega Mawile, Mega Tyranitar, Mega Gyarados, even Mega Charizard X with Roost if it hasn't mega evolved yet can easily switch into Goodra and start setting up in its derpy face which will almost certainly result in at least 2 or 3 pokes being removed from Goodra's side of the field. This makes Goodra a liability to run on your team!

A lot of this seems like a pretty big exaggeration. Goodra has a wide range of coverage options and is reasonably powerful with max investment (the standard set). Basically nothing you listed can actually swap in and set up. Max HP Mawile is outsped and actually has a chance to be OHKOed by Fire Blast after any hazards, Mega Gyarados is cleanly 2HKOed by Thunderbolt after SR, Belly Drum Azumarill loses one on one if it tries to setup on Thunderbolt, and Charizard dies to Thunderbolt + Draco Meteor if it tries to set up with Roost so it also can't swap in. In most of these cases, Goodra can also phaze them out with Dragon Tail even if it guesses wrong on the swap. As for the walls, Aegislash is 2HKOed after SR by Fire Blast on the standard set, while Goodra has the coverage moves to beat Heatran and Hippowdon if it wants (Muddy Water deals pretty well with both but Earthquake's there if you want to beat Heatran more easily). Add to this that Goodra will OHKO frailish stuff like Thundurus after rocks with Draco Meteor. Sure, it's not a wallbreaker, but please save "does virtually nothing" for actually weak stuff like Chansey and Dusclops.

I do agree that it's outclassed by Chansey and Lati@s, but it has enough clear advantages over both of these (it actually does damage and has phazing compared to Chansey and beats Aegislash + not Pursuit weak + much better coverage than Lati@s) to be worthy of much higher than C rank.

Edit: I guess it also has Focus Blast for Tyranitar, but it's hard to fit this on a set.

calcs

252+ SpA Goodra Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 164-194 (50.6 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Goodra Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Mawile: 244-288 (80.2 - 94.7%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes
252+ SpA Goodra Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gyarados: 154-182 (46.3 - 54.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Goodra Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Azumarill: 230-272 (56.9 - 67.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Goodra Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 232-274 (67.8 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Goodra Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Charizard: 220-260 (73.8 - 87.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Goodra Draco Meteor vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Charizard: 237-280 (79.5 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Goodra Muddy Water vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Hippowdon: 252-298 (60 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Goodra Muddy Water vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 134-158 (34.7 - 40.9%) -- 57.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0- Atk Goodra Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 248-292 (64.2 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Goodra Focus Blast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Tyranitar in Sand: 292-348 (85.3 - 101.7%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

 

[Colonial]

Along with all of this, I'd also like to mention that Crawdaunt has very very few counters. Chesnaught is pretty much the only thing that can come in and force it out consistently. Azumarill resists both STABs, but doesn't like losing its item to Knock Off. You might also say Mega Venusaur, but then I say this:

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Mega Venusaur in Rain: 312-368 (85.7 - 101%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Crawdaunt almost always OHKOs Mega Venusaur, one of the best walls in OU, with a resisted attack with rain, hazards, and one boost. It's not too much to ask of Crawdaunt. He deserves B- because of his nearly unrivaled power.

I must disagree with this. A boost, LO, and Rain to potentially OHKO after Stealth Rock? On such a frail and slow pokemon as Crawdaunt? Such a scenario is most definitely too much to ask of Crawdaunt, in fact I cannot see it occurring enough, if at all, to be considered. Crawdaunt is powerful, but don't use an extremely unlikely event that will almost never happen as your example.
Especially considering this:

0 SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Crawdaunt: 308-366 (93.3 - 110.9%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO


Here's a better example:

252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mandibuzz: 205-244 (48.3 - 57.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Mandibuzz, one of the best walls in OU, cannot switch in if Rocks are on the field. Band Crawdaunt can 2HKO even without rocks. Crawdaunt wins either way though, because Foul Play 4HKOs.

Ah I've been waiting a long time to post this :]
The poke I really want to talk about this round is Goodra. And unlike my previous posts I don't want to move this thing up. Not even close. Goodra, at the very best, deserves to be C Rank but I honestly wouldn't mind if it dropped further. I'll list a few points and provide explanation in the following paragraphs.

1. Goodra is severely outclassed-This is point number one simply because its so goddamn obvious. Goodra's most popular, and as far as i know only, set is the Assault Vest set. This set's purpose is to act as somewhat of a tank to sponge special hits and then retaliate with its subpar special attack stat and mediocre coverage options. If we take a look at the pokes that Goodra can reliably tank hits from the list is actually quite small. Special Thundurus (and other Electric types), Landorus, Greninja, Aegislash (those w/o Toxic), and Charizard-Y. While those are some top tier threats that's a pretty specialized list. Especially when you take into account so many things can check these threats and provide so much more to the team. Conkeldurr can check all of these threats as well, while providing much more offensive pressure and support through knock off. Plus it has recovery in Drain Punch and can punish the opponent for using status moves thanks to Guts whereas Goodra simply gets worn down. The Lati's can check many of these threats as well as providing Defog Support, have extremely reliable recovery in Roost and can hit much much harder than Goodra can. On more defensive oriented teams Chansey takes hits just as well if not better from the special side, infinitely better from the physical side, has instant Recovery, and can support the team through a variety of support moves such as Wish, Heal Bell, Stealth Rocks, Thunder Wave, Toxic, etc.
2. Goodra can do virtually nothing back after taking hits-I touched on this in the last section but it is a major reason as to why I would never use Goodra so I figured it should get its own section. The fact that Goodra is basically just sitting there makes it nearly useless in my opinion. Very rarely will you come across a team that has Goodra as a major offensive threat. Almost any balanced team has something such as Heatran, Hippowdon, Aegislash that can come in and shrug off nearly any attack Goodra may be running and either cripple it with Toxic in Heatran / Aegi's case or wear it down with the combination of EQ / Slack off in Hippo's case. Outside of that Goodra is setup bait for sooo many bulky Megas and setup sweepers in the current metagame. BellyJet Azumarill, Mega Mawile, Mega Tyranitar, Mega Gyarados, even Mega Charizard X with Roost if it hasn't mega evolved yet can easily switch into Goodra and start setting up in its derpy face which will almost certainly result in at least 2 or 3 pokes being removed from Goodra's side of the field. This makes Goodra a liability to run on your team!
3. Goodra has no form of Recovery and is easily worn by status-Again something touched upon previously but something that cannot be stressed enough. Goodra is not going to be tanking hits for long bottom line. Sure its bulk is impressive but every single team that is any good is either going to have A) some sort of Tank w/ a status move that will shrug off anything Goodra throws at it, severely crippling it for the match or B) A hazard lead with Stealth Rocks and Spikes to make it extremely difficult for Goodra to continuously switch into attacks. There is just no playstyle or team archetype that Goodra will ever really have a good matchup in. It just sits there and dishes out mediocre damage in the best case scenario against any well built team.

So I think I basically covered everything. Feel free to respond though because I really do enjoy talking about how terrible this thing is :] But yea for these reasons I firmly believe that Goodra needs a large drop in this thread.

As usual I have to nitpick. Goodra gets Focus Blast and Fire Blast and has 110 base SpA (the same as Torn-T), so it can 2HKO even bulky Aegislash and has a chance to OHKO Tyranitar after Stealth Rock. As far as I know, 110 SpA is hardly "subpar" it isn't sweeping anything but it's enough to get by.

 

[madbadger]

Guess I can nominate Hydreigon as much as I like and it won't make the ranking it deserves.

Like mentioned many times before, Hydreigon is suffering this gen through the special move nerf and the introduction of Fairy Typs. However, Dark typ got buffed and now it is Hydreigon's main spammable move.
With great bulk, good speed and great offensive stats Hydreigon can run a large number of sets like Specs, SpecialScarf, MixScarf, Expert Belt, Life Orb and more.
It has a large movepool on from both attacking sides like Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, Draco Meteor, Earth Power, Earthquake, Crunch, Head Smash, Iron Tail, Flamethrower, Surf, Focus Blast, Superpower, Flash Cannon, U-Turn, making it really difficult to counter.

It deserve at the very least B- Rank

Hydreigon is definitely not a threat to ignore. The fact that it has so many options available means that the opponent never knows exactly what coverage it is using. It also functions as an excellent pivot, forcing switches and then U-Turning out. Definitely deserves B-

I would also like to nominate Alomomola for C+ Rank. With a huge HP stat, and regenerator, Alomomola can easily pass huge wishes while recovering itself on the switch. It also has the bulk to take quite a few physical hits and can fish for a burn with scald. A specially defensive variant is also viable and lures mega charizard Y:

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Alomomola: 348-410 (65.1 - 76.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Alomomola can tank the hit and KO with mirror coat.

 

[Salt]

I must disagree with this. A boost, LO, and Rain to potentially OHKO after Stealth Rock? On such a frail and slow pokemon as Crawdaunt? Such a scenario is most definitely too much to ask of Crawdaunt, in fact I cannot see it occurring enough, if at all, to be considered. Crawdaunt is powerful, but don't use an extremely unlikely event that will almost never happen as your example.
Especially considering this:

0 SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Crawdaunt: 308-366 (93.3 - 110.9%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO


Here's a better example:

252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mandibuzz: 205-244 (48.3 - 57.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Mandibuzz, one of the best walls in OU, cannot switch in if Rocks are on the field. Band Crawdaunt can 2HKO even without rocks. Crawdaunt wins either way though, because Foul Play 4HKOs.

I understand that I may be blowing it a bit out of proportion, but the conditions are not impossible to achieve. Crawdaunt forces a ton of shit out, especially stuff on defensive teams so SD isn't as hard to get as you would think. Politoed is one of Crawdaunt's best teammates, and Crawdaunt is used in rain often anyway. Stealth Rock is a given for pretty much every relevant calc. And I would say the "potential" OHKO, which happens to occur 87.5% of the time, works much more in Crawdaunt's favor than against it. I understand that it is a bit of an ideal scenario and probably won't happen often. I'm just trying to illustrate Crawdaunt's power more than sell it as a way to beat Mega Venusaur switch-ins.

 

[Eievui-Nymphia]

About the discussion of Goodra, CB Dragonite and the like. In general tanks).
Tanks has a secret advantage (because it's genersally unknown), it can afford, unlike many sweepers, to run a boosting nature. The not big necesity of speed afford to run a boosting nature. And when see (itern apart) that standard Goodra has only 9 point lower than standard Latios.

There are a lot of pokemon whose 252 HP/252 Atk or 252 SpA with (special) attack boosting natureand slught variations are viable... more than ewhat you think (specially Mega Evolutions).

 

[Impy]

A lot of this seems like a pretty big exaggeration. Goodra has a wide range of coverage options and is reasonably powerful with max investment (the standard set). Basically nothing you listed can actually swap in and set up. Max HP Mawile is outsped and actually has a chance to be OHKOed by Fire Blast after any hazards, Mega Gyarados is cleanly 2HKOed by Thunderbolt after SR, Belly Drum Azumarill loses one on one if it tries to setup on Thunderbolt, and Charizard dies to Thunderbolt + Draco Meteor if it tries to set up with Roost so it also can't swap in. In most of these cases, Goodra can also phaze them out with Dragon Tail even if it guesses wrong on the swap. As for the walls, Aegislash is 2HKOed after SR by Fire Blast on the standard set, while Goodra has the coverage moves to beat Heatran and Hippowdon if it wants (Muddy Water deals pretty well with both but Earthquake's there if you want to beat Heatran more easily).

I do agree that it's somewhat outclassed by Chansey and Lati@s, but it has enough clear advantages over both of these (it actually does damage and has phazing compared to Chansey and beats Aegislash + not Pursuit weak + much better coverage than Lati@s) to be worthy of much higher than C rank.

Edit: I guess it also has Focus Blast for Tyranitar, but it's hard to fit this on a set.

calcs

252+ SpA Goodra Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 164-194 (50.6 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Goodra Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Mawile: 244-288 (80.2 - 94.7%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes
252+ SpA Goodra Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gyarados: 154-182 (46.3 - 54.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Goodra Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Azumarill: 230-272 (56.9 - 67.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Goodra Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 232-274 (67.8 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Goodra Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Charizard: 220-260 (73.8 - 87.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Goodra Draco Meteor vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Charizard: 237-280 (79.5 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Goodra Muddy Water vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Hippowdon: 252-298 (60 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Goodra Muddy Water vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 134-158 (34.7 - 40.9%) -- 57.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0- Atk Goodra Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 248-292 (64.2 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Goodra Focus Blast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Tyranitar in Sand: 292-348 (85.3 - 101.7%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

I agree with all of this... It's not supposed to be a massive offensive threat, it's a special tank that can absorb heavy special attacks and fight back. Gooey punishes physical attackers, too. It's overrated, sure, but definitely better than what he said.

 

[Cobalt314]

I would like to nominate Metagross to C+ or even B- rank.
In the transition from BW to XY, the metagame shift has not been kind to the quad core supercomputer. For one thing, Metagross gained 2 new weaknesses in Dark and Ghost, which are not minor weaknesses in any respect considering the high usage of Aegislash, Tyranitar, and other Pokémon of the types. And speaking of Aegislash, Metagross has to deal with many new threats, including Talonflame, Aegislash, and the Mega Charizard duo, all of which are no lower than A+ viability. Compounding this with its old dilemmas, like lackluster speed and low-coverage STABs, it's not very difficult to see why Metagross has fallen out of OU.
However, there are a few boons Metagross has received. With the introduction of Fairy types, and the change in typing of many old Pokémon, Metagross has many new Pokémon on which it can set up. GameFreak also introduced a new item into the Metagame called the Assault Vest, which makes Metagross into an even better tank than it was last generation.
So, overall, it has lost a lot of its former potential, but it also gained new potential simultaneously, which is why I'm putting it at C+/B-.
Tl;dr: Metagross: Unranked—>C+/B-

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

I saw a post earlier to move Espeon up, and I'm here to say that I think Espeon should stay where it is. It is pretty outclassed in the current metagame, especially by Deoxys-S, who is faster and has extra hazard support, and does most things Espeon does better. Magic Bounce is a cool ability but Espeon can't beat most hazard setters; since Tyranitar can use Crunch or Pursuit and laugh at everything Espeon can do, Heatran spams moves until Espeon dies, Landorus-T has U-turn, Scolipede and Galvantula have Bug STAB, and some of the lesser used ones like Krookodile can still beat it. Espeon's poor typing and frailty means it gets wrecked by most hazard setters, and Espeon is also very one dimensional; most competent players will know what it's going to do as soon as they see it. If I wanted a weapon against hazards, I'd rather stick to a Defog or Rapid Spinner like Mandibuzz or Excadrill, respectively, since Espeon is not great even at what it does. It has its niches in Dual Screens and Baton Pass but those niches aren't too amazing, especially when there are other Pokemon for the role.

I also think Galvantula is fine where it's at, simply because it is the one of the few Sticky Web users available. While Galvantula is not much on its own, its niche is definitely good enough for where it's at, Sticky Web can prove useful to provide nice team support to slow down faster threats for things like Manaphy and Kyurem-B if you'd like to have a method of Speed control, Galvantula is one of the few bets you have out there. There are plenty of Pokemon who will mind the Sticky Web effects, such as Garchomp, Terrakion, etc. Also, Galvantula can at least put up a fight against Mandibuzz and Latios, which is something. Also, Bug+Electric coverage is okayish too I guess. Sticky Web is in my opinion a larger role than most of the C-Rank mons, so I feel it's fine where it's at simply because it has a unique niche, even if somewhat limited.

I'd support moving Chesnaught up though because it's a pretty cool mon in the current metagame. Although it gets wrecked by Talonflame and Mega Pinsir, it walls quite a few threats thanks to its nice physical bulk, Bulletproof, and a great set of resistances. Along with that, Chesnaught has a really cool support movepool, with Spikes, Roar, Leech Seed, etc. so while it can take on a number of threats in the tier it also supports its team pretty well. A nice 107 Attack with a good offensive movepool is quite solid for a primarily defensively oriented Pokemon, so it's not a real slouch either. So I'd totally be cool with moving Chesnaught up some.

Indifferent on Goodra because I haven't used it an extensive amount; used it a little with largely inconclusive results so I'll come back after testing it some.

 

[Magcargo]

Mega Aerodactyl---> B-/B
The ban of Mega Lucario and Genesect has made Mega Aerodactyl's life a lot easier in the current metagame, as it no longer needs to worry about either of these Pokemon revenge killing it. Apart from that, Mega Aerodactyl does fairly well against a majority of higher ranked Pokemon due to its excellent coverage and Speed. Depending on what coverage moves it runs, Mega Aerodactyl is able to check common threats such as Mega Charizard X, Talonflame, Mega Charizard Y, Garchomp, Landorus, Conkeldurr, and Garchomp. Mega Aerdactyl is also fairly powerful, being able to 2HKO bulky walls such as Hippowdown and Mandibuzz after some prior damage. That being said, Mega Aerodactyl Stealth Rock weakness and competition for a Mega slot makes it no higher than B-Rank.

I also support moving Chesnaught to B/B+ Rank

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

I saw a post earlier to move Espeon up, and I'm here to say that I think Espeon should stay where it is. It is pretty outclassed in the current metagame, especially by Deoxys-S, who is faster and has extra hazard support, and does most things Espeon does better. Magic Bounce is a cool ability but Espeon can't beat most hazard setters; since Tyranitar can use Crunch or Pursuit and laugh at everything Espeon can do, Heatran spams moves until Espeon dies, Landorus-T has U-turn, Scolipede and Galvantula have Bug STAB, and some of the lesser used ones like Krookodile can still beat it. Espeon's poor typing and frailty means it gets wrecked by most hazard setters, and Espeon is also very one dimensional; most competent players will know what it's going to do as soon as they see it. If I wanted a weapon against hazards, I'd rather stick to a Defog or Rapid Spinner like Mandibuzz or Excadrill, respectively, since Espeon is not great even at what it does. It has its niches in Dual Screens and Baton Pass but those niches aren't too amazing, especially when there are other Pokemon for the role.

I also think Galvantula is fine where it's at, simply because it is the one of the few Sticky Web users available. While Galvantula is not much on its own, its niche is definitely good enough for where it's at, Sticky Web can prove useful to provide nice team support to slow down faster threats for things like Manaphy and Kyurem-B if you'd like to have a method of Speed control, Galvantula is one of the few bets you have out there. There are plenty of Pokemon who will mind the Sticky Web effects, such as Garchomp, Terrakion, etc. Also, Galvantula can at least put up a fight against Mandibuzz and Latios, which is something. Also, Bug+Electric coverage is okayish too I guess. Sticky Web is in my opinion a larger role than most of the C-Rank mons, so I feel it's fine where it's at simply because it has a unique niche, even if somewhat limited.

I'd support moving Chesnaught up though because it's a pretty cool mon in the current metagame. Although it gets wrecked by Talonflame and Mega Pinsir, it walls quite a few threats thanks to its nice physical bulk, Bulletproof, and a great set of resistances. Along with that, Chesnaught has a really cool support movepool, with Spikes, Roar, Leech Seed, etc. so while it can take on a number of threats in the tier it also supports its team pretty well. A nice 107 Attack with a good offensive movepool is quite solid for a primarily defensively oriented Pokemon, so it's not a real slouch either. So I'd totally be cool with moving Chesnaught up some.

Indifferent on Goodra because I haven't used it an extensive amount; used it a little with largely inconclusive results so I'll come back after testing it some.

I'm going to disagree about espeon, because Bounce is that good, and aside from screens and a type doesn't conflict with Deoxys at all. I know for a fact that Heatran loses to a good calm mind set, and it functions as a very decent special tank if that's what you need. Not better than Goodra or such, but that's what magic bounce is for.

Galvantula needs to go down because SW is arguably the most overrated new thing this gen, and that's saying something because most people realize its bad, but its still overrated.

Chesnaught is indeed cool, but not better than B-. I'm almost supporting moving it down because there's literally no instance where I'd personally use it over some other grass stall like Ferrothorn. B- is fine though, because it communicates its flaws while showing its usability. It just needs serious support before it can make a difference.

I would like to nominate Metagross to C+ or even B- rank.
In the transition from BW to XY, the metagame shift has not been kind to the quad core supercomputer. For one thing, Metagross gained 2 new weaknesses in Dark and Ghost, which are not minor weaknesses in any respect considering the high usage of Aegislash, Tyranitar, and other Pokémon of the types. And speaking of Aegislash, Metagross has to deal with many new threats, including Talonflame, Aegislash, and the Mega Charizard duo, all of which are no lower than A+ viability. Compounding this with its old dilemmas, like lackluster speed and low-coverage STABs, it's not very difficult to see why Metagross has fallen out of OU.
However, there are a few boons Metagross has received. With the introduction of Fairy types, and the change in typing of many old Pokémon, Metagross has many new Pokémon on which it can set up. GameFreak also introduced a new item into the Metagame called the Assault Vest, which makes Metagross into an even better tank than it was last generation.
So, overall, it has lost a lot of its former potential, but it also gained new potential simultaneously, which is why I'm putting it at C+/B-.
Tl;dr: Metagross: Unranked—>C+/B-

I was actually going to mention Metagross, but I was going to wait til next time. It does have value this gen, but C+ is overstating it a little

 

[Ruffles]

Nominating Lucario to move up to B rank:

Lucario was severely overshadowed by Mega Lucario and was revenge killed by Genesect, with that out of the way, Lucario has better existance in the game, unlike last gen, where speed was everything, his gen, speed doesn't matter as much as powerful priority, and Lucario is a master of priority between BP, ES, and VW, not only that, but it can boost them with SD and NP to reach tremendous power. It's extreme speed outspeeds Talonflame's BB, even though doesn't do that much, though it's extremely versatile and can run Rock Slide and EQ to surprise Charizard, Talonflame, Aegislash, and some other relevant pokes such Char Y.

The Sash set is extremely good as it can check many threats with the right movement, such as Talonflae, Charizard Y, Charizard X, Terrakion, and much more.

Lucario is also an excellent Knock off abosrber, as it Justified boot is amazing especially when switching in on Bishapr and the likes, it's also a great synergy with Chansey as Chansey lures in Knock off and the switching to Lucatio getting +1 followed by SD is a sweep especially if rocks are up. And without rocks ES has ~70% chance to OHKO Talonflame at +3.

I do run adamant nature which sucks when you get outsped by Gliscor but its an extremely good wallbreaker and Sweeper.

The only thing that counters this thing (out of mind right now) for the physical set is Mega Venusaur, even though Specialset poops on it by Flash cannon, Skarmory can Whirlwind but it is taking 65.8 - 77.5% from +2 CC.

Nominating Crawdaunt to move up tp B- rank:

+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Venusaur: 221-260 (60.7 - 71.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

the power is real, I've seen Choice Band sets, choice Scarf sets, Life Orb sets, and the most common, is the Sash set, as it is the most set that nails sweepsw as even a beginner can utilize it to the maximum and it's as easy as ever to set up. While Knock Off is great and all, Crunch is more reliable for Mega Venusaur, personally I have pokemons that can deal with Mega Venusaur so I can use Knock off, but if your team is not ready, Crunch is more reliable IMO.

From Crabhammer, Aqua Jet, crunch, Superpower, and Knock off, Crawdaunt is not very versatile, but it's an extremely powerful nuke that could not be stopped if not prepared even though predictable.

Nominating Dugtrio to move up to B- rank:

The Focus Sash set especially, this set revenge kills so many viable pokemons in the metagame.

Mega Charizard X (Already Mega evolved):
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 218-258 (73.1 - 86.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Heatran:
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 448-532 (116 - 137.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Tyranitar:
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 218-258 (53.9 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Mega Tyranitar:
252 Atk Dugtrio Reversal (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Tyranitar: 444-524 (109.9 - 129.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Mega Gyarados (already Mega evolved):
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 109-130 (32.8 - 39.1%) -- 99.8% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Dugtrio Reversal (200 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 294-346 (88.5 - 104.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO (guaranteed after SR)

Excadrill (non balloon or already popped):
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 356-422 (98.3 - 116.5%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

Mega Mawile (Depends on the mind games):
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 198-234 (65.1 - 76.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Dugtrio Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 26-31 (8.5 - 10.1%) -- possibly the worst move ever

The mindgames are what decides really.

Keldeo:
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 129-153 (39.9 - 47.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Dugtrio Reversal (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 172-203 (53.2 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Terrakion:
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 258-306 (79.8 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And it keeps going, it also forces many switches such as Mega Pinsir, Thundurus-I, Talonflame, Mega Charizard Y, and more, and if they don't switch they end up being dead.

I am also supporting arguments for Weavile, Hydreigon, and Gothitelle to be nominated to B-:

I believe they have been argues about enough, Gothitelle is a great stall breaker, can check stuff pretty good, Hdreigon is a fantastic wallbreaker with it's amazing coverage, Life Orb, and Rash nature, while Scarf set is fantastic revenge killer. Weavile is pretty good with Knock Off and Ice Shard, Sash, Band, and Life Orb sets are all extremely viable.

Mega Aerodactyl---> B-/B
The ban of Mega Lucario and Genesect has made Mega Aerodactyl's life a lot easier in the current metagame, as it no longer needs to worry about either of these Pokemon revenge killing it. Apart from that, Mega Aerodactyl does fairly well against a majority of higher ranked Pokemon due to its excellent coverage and Speed. Depending on what coverage moves it runs, Mega Aerodactyl is able to check common threats such as Mega Charizard X, Talonflame, Mega Charizard Y, Garchomp, Landorus, Conkeldurr, and Garchomp. Mega Aerdactyl is also fairly powerful, being able to 2HKO bulky walls such as Hippowdown and Mandibuzz after some prior damage. That being said, Mega Aerodactyl Stealth Rock weakness and competition for a Mega slot makes it no higher than B-Rank.

I also support moving Chesnaught to B/B+ Rank

Not to mention it can run Adamant nature, StoneQuake is real, Ariel Ace is usable b/c it gets boosted by Tough Claws (IIRC) and fangs coverage wih tough claws can check so many things. Agreeing on B- for Mega Aerodactyl.

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

Nominating Lucario to move up to B rank:

Lucario was severely overshadowed by Mega Lucario and was revenge killed by Genesect, with that out of the way, Lucario has better existance in the game, unlike last gen, where speed was everything, his gen, speed doesn't matter as much as powerful priority, and Lucario is a master of priority between BP, ES, and VW, not only that, but it can boost them with SD and NP to reach tremendous power. It's extreme speed outspeeds Talonflame's BB, even though doesn't do that much, though it's extremely versatile and can run Rock Slide and EQ to surprise Charizard, Talonflame, Aegislash, and some other relevant pokes such Char Y.

The Sash set is extremely good as it can check many threats with the right movement, such as Talonflae, Charizard Y, Charizard X, Terrakion, and much more.

Lucario is also an excellent Knock off abosrber, as it Justified boot is amazing especially when switching in on Bishapr and the likes, it's also a great synergy with Chansey as Chansey lures in Knock off and the switching to Lucatio getting +1 followed by SD is a sweep especially if rocks are up. And without rocks ES has ~70% chance to OHKO Talonflame at +3.

I do run adamant nature which sucks when you get outsped by Gliscor but its an extremely good wallbreaker and Sweeper.

The only thing that counters this thing (out of mind right now) for the physical set is Mega Venusaur, even though Specialset poops on it by Flash cannon, Skarmory can Whirlwind but it is taking 65.8 - 77.5% from +2 CC.

Nominating Crawdaunt to move up tp B- rank:

+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Venusaur: 221-260 (60.7 - 71.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

the power is real, I've seen Choice Band sets, choice Scarf sets, Life Orb sets, and the most common, is the Sash set, as it is the most set that nails sweepsw as even a beginner can utilize it to the maximum and it's as easy as ever to set up. While Knock Off is great and all, Crunch is more reliable for Mega Venusaur, personally I have pokemons that can deal with Mega Venusaur so I can use Knock off, but if your team is not ready, Crunch is more reliable IMO.

From Crabhammer, Aqua Jet, crunch, Superpower, and Knock off, Crawdaunt is not very versatile, but it's an extremely powerful nuke that could not be stopped if not prepared even though predictable.

Nominating Dugtrio to move up to B- rank:

The Focus Sash set especially, this set revenge kills so many viable pokemons in the metagame.

Mega Charizard X (Already Mega evolved):
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 218-258 (73.1 - 86.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Heatran:
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 448-532 (116 - 137.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Tyranitar:
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 218-258 (53.9 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Mega Tyranitar:
252 Atk Dugtrio Reversal (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Tyranitar: 444-524 (109.9 - 129.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Mega Gyarados (already Mega evolved):
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 109-130 (32.8 - 39.1%) -- 99.8% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Dugtrio Reversal (200 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 294-346 (88.5 - 104.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO (guaranteed after SR)

Excadrill (non balloon or already popped):
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 356-422 (98.3 - 116.5%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

Mega Mawile (Depends on the mind games):
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 198-234 (65.1 - 76.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Dugtrio Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 26-31 (8.5 - 10.1%) -- possibly the worst move ever

The mindgames are what decides really.

Keldeo:
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 129-153 (39.9 - 47.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Dugtrio Reversal (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 172-203 (53.2 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Terrakion:
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 258-306 (79.8 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And it keeps going, it also forces many switches such as Mega Pinsir, Thundurus-I, Talonflame, Mega Charizard Y, and more, and if they don't switch they end up being dead.

I am also supporting arguments for Weavile, Hydreigon, and Gothitelle to be nominated to B-:

I believe they have been argues about enough, Gothitelle is a great stall breaker, can check stuff pretty good, Hdreigon is a fantastic wallbreaker with it's amazing coverage, Life Orb, and Rash nature, while Scarf set is fantastic revenge killer. Weavile is pretty good with Knock Off and Ice Shard, Sash, Band, and Life Orb sets are all extremely viable.



Not to mention it can run Adamant nature, StoneQuake is real, Ariel Ace is usable b/c it gets boosted by Tough Claws (IIRC) and fangs coverage wih tough claws can check so many things. Agreeing on B- for Mega Aerodactyl.

Would you mind posting some Lucario calcs?

As for Crawdaunt, I agree with predictability issues, but nobody except 'saur wants to take a banded knock off, so his niche is a good enough one I'll support B-

Dugtrio is one I'm against moving up as its kinda like regular Alakazam. It can usually revenge kill specific targets, but the number of pokemon that can avoid it and its reliance on a sash make it vulnerable. If you think its worth the same as Alakazam, then I won't argue, but I personally find the psychic fox to be a little more viable.

 

[Magnemite]

I think Espeon should be moved down to D rank. The main reason is that the other Pokemon that are only good on Baton Pass teams (Mawile, Mr. Mime) are all in D rank. Since Baton Pass is Espeon's best set in OU by far and the only thing it can do without being outclassed, it is reasonable to think that it should be in the same rank as the other Baton Pass Pokemon. Other than Baton Pass, there's really nothing Espeon is good at. Espeon's only other "viable" set is Dual Screens, which is much better done by Deoxys-S unless your team consists of 4 SR weak Pokemon (which is bad teambuilding anyway). Deoxys-S has much better Speed, better bulk, and most importantly, versatility. Just being on the field, Deoxys-S can prevent Stealth Rock from going up because most good Stealth Rock users can't risk staying in because they are all OHKOed by the most common Deoxys-S set, the offensive set (which is, not-so-coincidentally, much better than offensive Espeon in every way). Landorus-T, Garchomp, Terrakion, Tyranitar, and Landorus-I are OHKOed outright by Life Orb Deoxys-S while Heatran is easily 2HKOed, so there aren't many Stealth Rock setters that want to stay in on it. So even Espeon's ability to prevent hazards, which is by far its biggest niche over Deoxys-S, isn't really that big of an advantage. Magic Bounce simply isn't good enough to save Espeon from being horribly outclassed.

While Espeon is far better than Mr. Mime and non-mega Mawile outside of Baton Pass, I don't really think this is enough of a reason to move it above these Pokemon. If we're ranking Pokemon based on their best roles in the metagame, then why should Espeon be above Mawile and Mr. Mime just because it is less awful than them outside of its best set? If Espeon didn't have Baton Pass, it would be so outclassed in everything it could possibly do that calling it "viable" would be a stretch. Therefore, Espeon is in the same boat as Mr. Mime in that it is only on this list because of Baton Pass and should be ranked accordingly, either by moving them up or moving Espeon down.

(Also 493rd post praise Arceus)

 

[Srn]

Ok, muh boy raptor needs some damn justice here. B-? More like B+

Everybody knows what he does, yet he does his job so damn well. While 100 base speed is a pretty sub-par speed tier, he more than makes up for it with a reliable and easy to spam STAB move, with the proper coverage moves to destroy things that don't take his STAB. He definitely sets himself apart from the other normal/flying pokemon GameFreak feels obligated to throw at us, mostly because of his great coverage move in Close Combat, possibly the best fighting move in the game.

His most popular set (from what i've seen) is his banded set, and this thing is absolutely no joke. Banded Reckless Brave Birds from a respectable 120 base attack is nothing to scoff at. This guys Brave Birds are so obscenely powerful, you guys don't too many calcs but here's an important one anyway:

252 Atk Choice Band Reckless Staraptor Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 117-138 (44.8 - 52.8%) -- 84% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Even tank slash takes a solid 40% from this thing, and tank slash is usually the bulkiest pokemon on a given team. Nothing else enjoys taking banded brave birds to the face.
His fabulous coverage move, Close Combat, lets him beat common flying resists like tyranitar and heatran. Close Combat is a boon for a pokemon that would otherwise be doomed to the fate of a pitiful normal/flying bird, and it truly sets him apart from his pathetic competition.
Even Double Edge is great, catching the common Rotom-W switch in for some huge damage:

252 Atk Choice Band Reckless Staraptor Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 229-270 (75.3 - 88.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

What would otherwise be regarded as a strong check is almost OHKO'd with rocks! This obscene amount of power also lets him pair with our favorite bird, Talonflame, and he beautifully weakens talonflame's checks and counters so the the smogonbird can clean up. He is thus the key part to the strategy I like to call "Bird Spam."

From all the switches he forces, he can even gain momentum with U-turn, and even boasts strong priority in Quick Attack. He has a variety of moves to choose from, and can run each one to decent use.

Unfortunately, it's not all easy for our feathered friend with a mohawk. He's super frail and weak to rocks, and a lack of useful resistances means he has some trouble getting in safely. Even when you do get in, despite the insane damage you inflict, you take a huge amount of recoil too (remember, while reckless boosts power by 33% on recoil moves it also increases the recoil by 33%) This guy certainly won't last long, but he'll definitely leave a team weakened when used right.
So, to summarize:

Pros:
Obscene Power
Can pivot
Has good priority
Forms strong core with Talonflame, "Bird Spam."
Reliable STABs, good coverage moves.

Cons:
Super Frail, Prone to priority
Rocks weakness
Very predictable

The definition of a B-ranked pokemon, once more:
B Rank: Reserved for Pokemon who cannot sweep through or wall significant portions of the metagame, but can properly fulfill a given offensive/defensive niche. Support Pokemon in this category have flaws that prevent them from doing their job or are setup bait for dangerous sweepers. Pokemon who are partially outperformed by a Pokemon in A or S Rank, but are otherwise very dangerous, may also fall into this category.

He cannot sweep, he isn't sweeping any decent team, but damn can he perform his offensive niche! His niche is weakening talonflame's counters and checks extremely well, and nobody save mega pinsir really does it better. Raptor is partially outperformed by Mega Pinsir, but doesn't take up a mega slot and can dent deal with Rotom-W with proper prediction. He is indeed dangerous, and he basically fits this definition perfectly!

Raptor for B+

There's something else that needs to be addressed here:

Chesnaught is indeed cool, but not better than B-. I'm almost supporting moving it down because there's literally no instance where I'd personally use it over some other grass stall like Ferrothorn. B- is fine though, because it communicates its flaws while showing its usability. It just needs serious support before it can make a difference.

Why would you use chesnaught over ferrothron? Bulletproof. Do you know an important move that aegislash likes to spam that Bulletproof blocks? That's right! SHADOW BALL! That move that ferrothorn is cleanly 3HKO'd by, while not doing too much back. Chesnaught, on the other hand, blocks shadow ball, eats up iron head and sacred sword, can even spiky shield for more chip damage, and actually have a STAB with offensive prowess to throw around! He's FAR better than Ferrothorn!

The list of pokemon Chesnaught can take on easily includes:
Aegislash, Bisharp, Landorus-T, Tyranitar (Mega), Gyarados Mega (which are most, Bounce is a rarity), Excadrill, Scizor, Conkeldurr, Terrakion, and a bunch of other B+ and lower pokemon.
Which ones can Ferrothorn take? Loses to aegislash, conkeldurr, terrakion, and tyranitar which carry fire blast (a lot).
This isn't even mentioning that one of the most influential pokemon of the tier right now, Keldeo, cannot 2HKO chesnaught outside of hp flying/icy wind when you move just 44 evs to sp. def.
This is very very important as a lot of matches on the higher end of the ladder are just a rock-paper-scissor of Keldeo-Pursuit user-Lati@s, and Chesnaught can handle any pursuit user AND soft check Keldeo, which Ferrothorn cannot. Ferrothorn even risks getting low kicked by Bisharp, Fire Blasted by Tyranitar, or just plain shadow balled by aegislash, all of which chesnaught can rather easily shrug off.
He's a great counter to many influential pokemon like pursuit users and Aegislash, while checking so much more. Don't shortchange him just yet.
And while it's unreliable, Chesnaught even has access to instant recovery in synthesis, on top of leech seed, and you can keep this guy healthy for a long time. Ferrothorn, on the other hand, has to rely on leech seed, and gets constantly forced out by the popular Conkeldurr and Keldeo.
Ferrothorn was definitely once king, but he's honestly underwhelming right now.
Chesnaught for B+

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

Chesnaught is indeed cool, but not better than B-. I'm almost supporting moving it down because there's literally no instance where I'd personally use it over some other grass stall like Ferrothorn. B- is fine though, because it communicates its flaws while showing its usability.

Ferrothorn doesn't have Synthesis. It also doesn't have Taunt, Roar, or Spiky Shield. And Fighting>Steel, offensively. Chesnaught's typing is arguably worse with so many weaknesses, but resisting QuakeEdge and only being 2x weak to fire (e.g. Dragonite can easily overcome Ferrothorn with Fire Punch) and not being weak to Fighting (e.g. Keldeo, Terrakion) are definite pluses for Chesnaught.

It also can't wall a number of the things I mentioned. Aegislash, notably, doesn't really care about anything Ferrothorn can do to it, and it 2HKOs Ferrothorn.

It just needs serious support before it can make a difference.

What support? It is the support.

 

[DestinyGallade]

just out of intrest, why is arcanine blacklisted? I can understand the other two but not arcanine. Anywho, I feel slowbro should be B+ its like a better skarmory. Its main problem is its weak to both parts of volturn.

 

[DestinyGallade]

Entei, Heatran, and Darmanitan all generally do what Arcanine does better.

oh, so it's a florges, situation, got it.

 

[Max Carvalho]

C Rank: Reserved for Pokemon who can be effective given the right support, but either have crippling flaws that prevent them from consistently executing their strategy or are completely eclipsed by a Pokemon in the above ranks. Honestely, moove galvantula from B- to C. That thing is here only for sticky web. Its only viable set for it is focus sash, otherwise its KOed by anything who outspeeds. After putting sticky web in the field, even with thunder this thing is very weak, frail, stupid defensive typing and there are a lot of better leads instead of this thing. The only things who saves him are: sticky web and thunder.

 

[Ruffles]

Would you mind posting some Lucario calcs?

As for Crawdaunt, I agree with predictability issues, but nobody except 'saur wants to take a banded knock off, so his niche is a good enough one I'll support B-

Dugtrio is one I'm against moving up as its kinda like regular Alakazam. It can usually revenge kill specific targets, but the number of pokemon that can avoid it and its reliance on a sash make it vulnerable. If you think its worth the same as Alakazam, then I won't argue, but I personally find the psychic fox to be a little more viable.

+3 252 Atk Lucario Extreme Speed vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 256-302 (85.9 - 101.3%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
+3 252 Atk Lucario Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 318-374 (98.4 - 115.7%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Lucario Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 924-1088 (131.2 - 154.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Venusaur: 225-265 (61.8 - 72.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+3 252+ Atk Lucario Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 208-245 (64.1 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+3 252+ Atk Lucario Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 374-440 (115.4 - 135.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 252+ Atk Lucario Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Skarmory: 274-324 (82 - 97%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Getting +3 isn't as hard as you think as it's easy just switch on Knock off from Bisharp and use SD on him switching out. Also Lucario's typing will force out a lot of switches. A sweep is almost guaranteed if you at +3 w/ SR up.


That's exactly why I'm nominating it only to B-, because IMO it's as good as Alakazam.

Ok, muh boy raptor needs some damn justice here. B-? More like B+

Everybody knows what he does, yet he does his job so damn well. While 100 base speed is a pretty sub-par speed tier, he more than makes up for it with a reliable and easy to spam STAB move, with the proper coverage moves to destroy things that don't take his STAB. He definitely sets himself apart from the other normal/flying pokemon GameFreak feels obligated to throw at us, mostly because of his great coverage move in Close Combat, possibly the best fighting move in the game.

His most popular set (from what i've seen) is his banded set, and this thing is absolutely no joke. Banded Reckless Brave Birds from a respectable 120 base attack is nothing to scoff at. This guys Brave Birds are so obscenely powerful, you guys don't too many calcs but here's an important one anyway:

252 Atk Choice Band Reckless Staraptor Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 117-138 (44.8 - 52.8%) -- 84% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Even tank slash takes a solid 40% from this thing, and tank slash is usually the bulkiest pokemon on a given team. Nothing else enjoys taking banded brave birds to the face.
His fabulous coverage move, Close Combat, lets him beat common flying resists like tyranitar and heatran. Close Combat is a boon for a pokemon that would otherwise be doomed to the fate of a pitiful normal/flying bird, and it truly sets him apart from his pathetic competition.
Even Double Edge is great, catching the common Rotom-W switch in for some huge damage:

252 Atk Choice Band Reckless Staraptor Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 229-270 (75.3 - 88.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

What would otherwise be regarded as a strong check is almost OHKO'd with rocks! This obscene amount of power also lets him pair with our favorite bird, Talonflame, and he beautifully weakens talonflame's checks and counters so the the smogonbird can clean up. He is thus the key part to the strategy I like to call "Bird Spam."

From all the switches he forces, he can even gain momentum with U-turn, and even boasts strong priority in Quick Attack. He has a variety of moves to choose from, and can run each one to decent use.

Unfortunately, it's not all easy for our feathered friend with a mohawk. He's super frail and weak to rocks, and a lack of useful resistances means he has some trouble getting in safely. Even when you do get in, despite the insane damage you inflict, you take a huge amount of recoil too (remember, while reckless boosts power by 33% on recoil moves it also increases the recoil by 33%) This guy certainly won't last long, but he'll definitely leave a team weakened when used right.
So, to summarize:

Pros:
Obscene Power
Can pivot
Has good priority
Forms strong core with Talonflame, "Bird Spam."
Reliable STABs, good coverage moves.

Cons:
Super Frail, Prone to priority
Rocks weakness
Very predictable

The definition of a B-ranked pokemon, once more:
B Rank: Reserved for Pokemon who cannot sweep through or wall significant portions of the metagame, but can properly fulfill a given offensive/defensive niche. Support Pokemon in this category have flaws that prevent them from doing their job or are setup bait for dangerous sweepers. Pokemon who are partially outperformed by a Pokemon in A or S Rank, but are otherwise very dangerous, may also fall into this category.

He cannot sweep, he isn't sweeping any decent team, but damn can he perform his offensive niche! His niche is weakening talonflame's counters and checks extremely well, and nobody save mega pinsir really does it better. Raptor is partially outperformed by Mega Pinsir, but doesn't take up a mega slot and can dent deal with Rotom-W with proper prediction. He is indeed dangerous, and he basically fits this definition perfectly!

Raptor for B+

There's something else that needs to be addressed here:
[quote="Kairyu_Gen1, post: 5303476, member: 201943"
Chesnaught is indeed cool, but not better than B-. I'm almost supporting moving it down because there's literally no instance where I'd personally use it over some other grass stall like Ferrothorn. B- is fine though, because it communicates its flaws while showing its usability. It just needs serious support before it can make a difference.

Why would you use chesnaught over ferrothron? Bulletproof. Do you know an important move that aegislash likes to spam that Bulletproof blocks? That's right! SHADOW BALL! That move that ferrothorn is cleanly 3HKO'd by, while not doing too much back. Chesnaught, on the other hand, blocks shadow ball, eats up iron head and sacred sword, can even spiky shield for more chip damage, and actually have a STAB with offensive prowess to throw around! He's FAR better than Ferrothorn!

The list of pokemon Chesnaught can take on easily includes:
Aegislash, Bisharp, Landorus-T, Tyranitar (Mega), Gyarados Mega (which are most, Bounce is a rarity), Excadrill, Scizor, Conkeldurr, Terrakion, and a bunch of other B+ and lower pokemon.
Which ones can Ferrothorn take? Loses to aegislash, conkeldurr, terrakion, and tyranitar which carry fire blast (a lot).
This isn't even mentioning that one of the most influential pokemon of the tier right now, Keldeo, cannot 2HKO chesnaught outside of hp flying/icy wind when you move just 44 evs to sp. def.
This is very very important as a lot of matches on the higher end of the ladder are just a rock-paper-scissor of Keldeo-Pursuit user-Lati@s, and Chesnaught can handle any pursuit user AND soft check Keldeo, which Ferrothorn cannot. Ferrothorn even risks getting low kicked by Bisharp, Fire Blasted by Tyranitar, or just plain shadow balled by aegislash, all of which chesnaught can rather easily shrug off.
He's a great counter to many influential pokemon like pursuit users and Aegislash, while checking so much more. Don't shortchange him just yet.
And while it's unreliable, Chesnaught even has access to instant recovery in synthesis, on top of leech seed, and you can keep this guy healthy for a long time. Ferrothorn, on the other hand, has to rely on leech seed, and gets constantly forced out by the popular Conkeldurr and Keldeo.
Ferrothorn was definitely once king, but he's honestly underwhelming right now.
Chesnaught for B+

This, supporting both Chesnaught and Staraptor arguemtns, so many Rotom-W leads died to my CB double edge and many of them just went an rage quit lol

 

[Magnemite]

Can we please quit with the Espeon bashing? No shit Espeon is outclassed if it uses the sub-par Calm Mind, Offensive, Or Dual Screens set, but try to evaluate Espeon based on what it does well, rather than some ineffective sets where it's outclassed in comparison to other threats. These sort of arguments of bringing up outclassed sets to bring it down a rank while completely disregarding its actual niche (aka the only pokemon in the game that makes baton pass chains viable) is 100% preposterous. That's like saying Skarmory is garbage because it's outclassed as a Choice Band user by Scizor, the logic is quite literally the same. If you've been playing at the upper ends of the ladder, you know just how ferocious Baton Pass teams are, as there are only TWO full-proof ways to beat them. The first is carrying a specific counter-measure like Haze (which no relevant OU threat has) or Prankster Taunt (which as far as good OU Pokemon are concerned, is limited to Thundurus). Baton Pass teams are so cheap and disgustingly easy to use, and in all honestly, these teams are just downright broken due to the limited counter-measures available. Now, guess which Pokemon is setting at the center of all this? Oh, that's right, Espeon. I'm not saying Espeon is a god or anything, but there's a reason why its usage is still solid even when factoring the 1760 stats. Its niche is limited because it only fits on one type of team, but boy does it work SO well on those teams. D or C rank for Espeon is absurd. B- is the lowest it should go and B+ is the highest. /end rant

The point I was making was that Espeon should be in the same rank as the other Pokemon that are outclassed outside of Baton Pass (aside from normal Mawile I guess since it's not exactly mandatory on Baton Pass, unlike Espeon and Mr. Mime). I only suggested D rank because Mr. Mime and Mawile were in that rank already and I don't really have much of an opinion where Baton Pass mons should be ranked (Although now that I think about it, D rank is pretty low for it). I was merely saying that Espeon should be in the same rank as the other BP mons. By ranking Espeon and Mr. Mime on the list, we are more ranking Baton Pass as a playstyle and much less ranking Espeon and Mr. Mime as individual Pokemon. Sure, Espeon is more useful than Mr. Mime on BP, but the point still stands that neither of them are viable outside of BP, so they should be in the same rank, whatever rank that may be.

 

[Hootie]

Adding to the fact that Chesnaught has just enough support options at its disposal including Spikes, Leech Seed, Roar, and Spiky Shield (eat your heart out Ferro). Spiky Shield is amazing move and it goes so well with Leech Seed and it honestly makes it more annoying to deal with than Ferrothorn. It's typing on paper looks bad with a whopping six weaknesses, but its resistances to important types (Water, Ground, Rock, Electric, Dark) more than make up for those shortcomings that can be made up with teammates. Adding to the fact that from all those resistances makes it an absolute bitch to face on VoltTurn teams. It also has slew of interesting coverage options such as EdgeQuake. Despite having a limited movepool, it has all the tools it needs to be successful in the meta. It has its flaws of being x4 weak to Flying and weak to Fire so bird spamming teams give it a lot of trouble. From all of that I also support Chesnaught for B+.

 

[Magcargo]

The point I was making was that Espeon should be in the same rank as the other Pokemon that are outclassed outside of Baton Pass (aside from normal Mawile I guess since it's not exactly mandatory on Baton Pass, unlike Espeon and Mr. Mime). I only suggested D rank because Mr. Mime and Mawile were in that rank already and I don't really have much of an opinion where Baton Pass mons should be ranked (Although now that I think about it, D rank is pretty low for it). I was merely saying that Espeon should be in the same rank as the other BP mons. By ranking Espeon and Mr. Mime on the list, we are more ranking Baton Pass as a playstyle and much less ranking Espeon and Mr. Mime as individual Pokemon. Sure, Espeon is more useful than Mr. Mime on BP, but the point still stands that neither of them are viable outside of BP, so they should be in the same rank, whatever rank that may be.

The difference between Espeon and Mr. Mime/Mawile is that Espeon is mandatory on Baton Pass teams and makes the entire playstyle viable in the first place, while Mr. Mime/Mawile are simply niche options on Baton Pass teams and don't really hold them together like Espeon.

 

[Sturdynips]

Here we go, third time's the charm.

Breloom for C Rank. Breloom is just not very good in XY. Spore was greatly nerfed meaning that it has several safe switch-ins in Mega Venusaur, Celebi, Mandibuzz, and Chesnaught, and the inability to freely put something to sleep means that it rarely finds a safe opportunity to set up an SD or a Sub. If sleep clause is activated then the list of hard counters is far larger, including very common Pokemon such as Aegislash, Latias, Skarmory, Dragonite, and Zapdos. Rock Tomb is nice for coverage, but Breloom's very low speed means it has to hit its targets on the switch. It also has several excellent checks that are extremely common, namely Thundurus, Talonflame, and Mega Pinsir.

The fact that Breloom can't ever come close to breaking stall teams while still having a huge amount of very common counters and checks in offensive teams are "crippling flaws" in my opinion, which makes Breloom C Rank material.

 

[Magnemite]

The difference between Espeon and Mr. Mime/Mawile is that Espeon is mandatory on Baton Pass teams and makes the entire playstyle viable in the first place, while Mr. Mime/Mawile are niche options on Baton Pass teams.

Mr. Mime isn't mandatory per se, but BP has enough auto losses as it is (Prankster Taunt, Haze, etc.) that there's very little reason not to run it. In addition, because sound moves now bypass substitutes, Mr. Mime is great at stopping strong Bug Buzz / Hyper Voice users from ruining the BP chain. Its immunity to Roar (also Dragon Tail) also takes tons of pressure off of Espeon needing to switch into everything that carries Roar. Mawile I'll give you though.

Anyway, regarding Espeon, while it is the most useful member of BP teams, there are other Pokemon such as Scolipede and Mr. Mime that are on almost every (good) Baton Pass team, so the fact that Espeon is the most useful member of BP shouldn't necessarily put it above these Pokemon.

 

[acestriker19]

Okay I'm did this a long time ago but Reuniclus: Unranked -> B- Rank

Reuniclus is a excellent stallbreaker with his calm mind set and destroys HO teams with his Trick Room set. While Reuniclus's calm mind set is partially outperformed by Clefable, Reuniclus has superior bulk and the ability to take on Mega-Venasaur the most prominent pokemon on stall teams. Reuniclus can also drop focus blast and use a TR calm mind set that can both deal with stall and still ruin HO's day. Reuniclus definitely has an offensive and defensive niche in the meta game and deserves at least B- rank. I honestly don't know how we could have gone 200 pages without ranking Reuniclus.