Along with the above post I also wanted to make a few nominations of my own:
Arceus-Rock: B+ to B
I honestly think Arceus-Rock is a little lost in its place in the AG metagame right now. The new Pokemon Dusk Mane and Ultra Necrozma certainly have hampered the viability of Arceus-Rock, making Will-O-Wisp almost a certainty on this Pokemon, and then when they actually reveal Calm Mind Ultra Necrozma you find yourself wishing you had never used Arceus-Rock in the first place. This Pokemon simply fails to do what it's supposed to achieve; it's a very weak Mega Rayquaza check, losing to sets such as Dragon Dance Earthquake, Choice Banded sets with Earthquake or Outrage, the only set this Pokemon can beat is... Choice scarf, and even then any Max HP Max Defence Supportceus can be used instead to check Choice Scarf Mega Rayquaza. Even with that said toxic Mega Rayquaza can help pressure Arceus-Rock, however I understand that Refresh is a popular set on Arceus-Rock, most commonly at the expense of Will-O-Wisp, which means Dusk Mane will be able to pressure Arceus-Rock a ton. Ho-oh is another Pokemon Arceus-Rock is supposedly supposed to deal with. Again, Toxic from Ho-Oh pressures non Refresh Arceus-Rock, and Earthquake from Choice Banded Ho-Oh does an absolute ton, forcing it to switch out. It's quite clear that Arceus-Rock's major issue is being hit with coverage moves; down to the fact it is weak to an immense 5 types. These being Ground, Fighting, Grass, Water and of course Steel. Ground and Steel in particular are the glaring issues, leaving this Pokemon weak to Earthquake coverage and Dusk Mane's Sunsteel Strike or Arceus-Steel's Judgment. There are so many Pokemon that pressure Arceus-Rock out there that I think it's hard to defend why it is so high on the VR. Threats could include Primal Kyogre, Dusk Mane, Primal Groudon, Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Steel, Ferrothorn, Gothitelle, Marshadow.. that is a long list of dangerous Pokemon that can set up on Arceus-Rock and cause some real damage. Arceus-Rock is just really passive in this manner that so many things can come in on its Judgment and threaten it while in return I don't think it offers enough defensively. I think the point of the matter is that rock is just
not a good type to use in AG. There are no other viable Rock types in AG, barring Solrock if you want to be really out there. I also feel that Arceus-Rock does not function to its best without pairing up with Celesteela or Skarmory. This of course covers Arceus-Rock's glaring ground weakenss and allows you to counter Mega Rayquaza reasonably well, besides having to try and predict Choice band Mega Rayquaza, which of course is all good fun. I think the fact that Arceus-Rock has to rely on other Pokemon to function, and the fact in my opinion Arceus-Rock is one of the least splashable Arceus-formes out there, hell I'd say even Arceus-Grass or Arceus-Dragon are way easier to slap on a team and they are C rank, discredits Arceus-Rock's viability. I just don't this Pokemon does what this Pokemon is supposed to do, therefore not doing enough for me to warrant a B+ Rank, hence I think a drop would be appropriate.
Calcs:
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus-Rock: 512-603 (115.3 - 135.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Rayquaza-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus-Rock: 394-464 (88.7 - 104.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Rayquaza-Mega Outrage vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus-Rock: 354-417 (79.7 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Ho-Oh Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus-Rock: 306-362 (68.9 - 81.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Giratina: B to B+
I've been wanting to talk about this Pokemon for a little while now, because I think it needs more recognition in how good it is. This thing is an absolute beast on stall, and can also fit on some balances as well. Pressure is an outstanding ability for a defog Pokemon, meaning that Stealth Rock will not be able to out PP defog. Pressure is also very annoying for leech seed users such as Ferrothorn and Celesteela, as leech seed only has 16 PP and to see that be chopped in half honestly makes it almost useless, considering leech seed will only be chipping away 6% HP due to Leftovers. Other moves Giratina can utilize is roar and Will-O-Wisp, with WoW becoming an increasingly popular option, being able to hamper physical Dusk Mane/Ultra Nezrocma as well as annoy steel types such as Ferrothorn and Celesteela. I think WoW also just makes this Pokemon less passive, being able to stop Physical Set up Pokemon easier rather than having to Roar or Dtail them out. Dragon/Ghost typing is honestly fine right now, being able to resist Fire, Poison, Grass and Water notably, as well as Bug and Electric. Giratina is also unique in that by being a Ghost Type, it is a defogger that is not trapped by Gothitelle nor Mega Gengar, which is honestly huge and makes it much more reliable. While it does have common Weaknesses, honestly it's absolutely huge bulk can shrug off
Supereffective attacks, with supereffective Judgment only doing around net 50 (After leftovers recovery), non Life Orb Spectral also doing less than 50, and Ice Beam from Primal Kyogre also doing less than 50 (calcs below). I think people's main issue with this Pokemon is lack of reliable recovery, right? But I honestly think Rest with a Heal Bell user works perfectly fine. On Stall Heal Bell is pretty much guaranteed, and because Giratina has such huge bulk it can still afford to spend 2 turns asleep. The benefits gained from using this Pokemon is clear. Giratina is able to defog off of the most used Stealth Rock user in the game, Primal Groudon. Support Primal Groudon sets can only 4HKO Giratina, meaning it can rest off status from Primal Groudon safely. Primal Groudon hates being toxiced, meaning it is susceptible to Giratina's toxic, and will sometimes switch after laying rocks in the risk of this happening. Pressure again also ensures that eventually Primal Groudon will run out of Stealth Rocks before Giratina runs out of Defogs, which is very handy. Other common rockers I would say is Dusk Mane and Arceus Formes. Will-O-Wisp hampers Dusk Mane, particularly if it is holding a Z crystal instead of Leftovers. Dusk Mane can also do very little back to Giratina, besides Toxic which Giratina can simply rest off. Popular Stealth Rock Arceus-Formes such as Rock and Poison Giratina can also deal with and hamper either Arceus-Forme with Toxic or WoW respectively. The only Arceus-Formes Giratina can't handle are Dark and Fairy. These Stealth Rock users are much rarer than Primal Groudon and Dusk Mane, and in addition can be covered by other Defog Pokemon such as Arceus-Poison and Ho-Oh, as I believe Giratina should never be the sole defogger, particularly if you need a strong Defog Core. I've talked a lot about the Defog aspect of Giratina, but there are also plenty of Pokemon this can actually check. These include Primal Groudon (as mentioned), non Choice Banded Ho-Oh, Ekiller (With Roar for Sub or WoW for other sets), Physical Primal Kyogre and... Mega Blaziken? I think this Pokemon is more of a nuisance for passive Pokemon and Stealth Rock users, but can occasionally check some hard hitting threats, which I think is really nice and as such I believe it should be moved up in the VR. I think Giratina really appreciates the decreased usage of Swords Dance Primal Groudon in AG, which means it cannot be pressured so much from Primal Groudon and makes it more efficient at switching into Primal Groudon.
Calcs:
0 Atk Groudon-Primal Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 144-169 (28.5 - 33.5%) -- 96% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
0- SpA Kyogre-Primal Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Giratina: 160-190 (31.7 - 37.6%) -- 0.2% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Marshadow Spectral Thief vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 188-224 (37.3 - 44.4%) -- 100% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Pixie Plate Arceus-Fairy Judgment vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Giratina: 248-294 (49.2 - 58.3%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Life Orb Ho-Oh Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 140-165 (27.7 - 32.7%) -- 76.1% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Ho-Oh Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 108-127 (21.4 - 25.1%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Arceus Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 208-246 (41.2 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 352-417 (69.8 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-762863025 OMPL vs Pigeons, I get this game was haxy but I think Giratina really put in some work this game, keeping rocks off early and then using roar to help chip his Pokemon.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-748662419 Giratina pretty much saved me in this game tbh as I was able to get the Will-O-Wisp off onto Mega Rayquaza, showing its immense bulk as it was able to withstand a Dragon Ascent at +1.
Excadrill: B- to B
I'm not going to go into much detail on this one, I think it's reasonably obvious what this Pokemon does. However, I think this Pokemon deserves more credit due to the fact how well it pairs up with Vivillon. It's no secret that Vivillon loves Pokemon that have their speed decreased, and as such Excadrill is the perfect lead that can both decrease the opposing Pokemon's speed and lay Stealth Rock. This obviously allows Vivillon to use sleep powder and then set up sub and quiver dance and then proceed to say gg. I simply think that if Vivillon moves up in the VR, then Excadrill should as well.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-779490941 HunterStorm with an excellently played 11 turn game in OMPL
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-769909987 HunterStorm thinking about sweeping with viv but had to make do with sending Mag to sleep and then winning from there
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-782871121 HunterStorm again sets up rocks with exca and then finally got his chance to sweep with Viv
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-752118813 Arushiii actually sweeping HunterStorm this time with the exca viv combo
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-776129264 And yes I did not forget myself falling victim to this tactic
I get in the last few replays exca didn't set up viv straight away, but rocks were maintained which really does pressure the opponent and of course leads to the Viv sweep. These replays also supporting viv to S+ plus btw as well as supporting exca.