VGC 2020 Series 5 Viability Rankings

[zee]

VGC VIABILITY RANKING

SERIES 05


​

Welcome to the VGC Series 5 Viability Ranking project, where we rank the viability of Pokemon in VGC Series 5. With Player’s Cup II well underway, this metagame is still very much alive. The floor will always be open to discussion, and after a period of time (roughly every two weeks), the viability rankings council will vote on any of the Pokemon being discussed and post the results and reasoning here. A Pokemon moving from UR to Ranked must receive a consensus "yes" or a very convincing argument in order to be Ranked. The rankings and tier descriptions have been assigned to describe each Pokemon's state within the metagame, and the Pokemon in each tier are listed in alphabetical order.

When making a nomination for a shift in the VR, many things can improve the quality of your post and thus the likelihood of it convincing the VR council. Calcs, reasons why the current metagame is different for the Pokemon, replays, and discussion on how the Pokemon interacts with other relevant Pokemon are all potentially solid inclusions. Additionally, you may want to discuss usage stats as part of your argument, but don't base your entire argument on the usage of a Pokemon - usage and viability are not the same thing.

>>VR Council<<
These users have the ultimate say on shifts in Viability Rankings tiers. The council consists of experienced players who have different styles and perspectives to offer to the table when deciding the strength of any individual Pokemon.

AldrichYan
BaconVGC
DomarpVGC
Grandmas Cookin
joey hassam
Luckyboy123
Mishimono
Walrain




>>S Tier<<
Pokemon that dominate a large portion of the metagame. They are either quite powerful or offer great team support, and can fit on almost any team. You can't really go wrong by using these Pokemon.

S
Dragapult
Incineroar
Rillaboom
Togekiss

S-
Cinderace
Venusaur-Gmax


>>A Tier<<
Pokemon that are generally strong and can easily be placed on a variety of teams, but don't have the same level of prowess as the threats in S tier. These pokemon are extremely important within the current metagame.

A+
Amoonguss
Excadrill
Porygon2
Primarina
Tyranitar


A
Dusclops
Lapras-Gmax
Terrakion
Urshifu-Single-Strike

A-
Charizard-Gmax
Clefairy
Ferrothorn
Gyarados
Hatterene-Gmax
Indeedee-F
Magnezone
Milotic
Rotom-Wash
Torkoal

>>B Tier<<
Pokemon that are fairly strong in the current metagame. Pokemon in this tier offer offensive, defensive, or supportive capabilities to a considerable amount of team compositions, or have a notable impact on the meta.

B+
Arcanine
Coalossal-Gmax
Corviknight
Dracovish
Dracozolt
Porygon-Z
Whimsicott

B
Azumarill
Bisharp
Braviary
Duraludon
Goodra
Grimmsnarl
Mimikyu
Talonflame
Urshifu-Rapid-Strike


B-
Conkeldurr
Durant
Dragalge
Gastrodon
Indeedee-Male
Inteleon
Kingdra
Marowak-Alola
Ninetales-Alola
Politoed
Rhyperior
Urshifu-Rapid-Strike
Toxtricity-Gmax


>>C Tier<<
Pokemon that are generally strong, but less powerful than those in B Tier or Pokemon that require a decent amount of support or a specific team style to function well, but are defining pieces to said archetypes.These Pokemon do not have much impact on the metagame.

C+
Blastoise-Gmax
Cobalion
Comfey
Gigalith
Gothitelle
Krookodile
Ninetales
Rotom-Heat
Sableye
Snorlax-Gmax
Volcarona
Weezing-Galar


C
Butterfree-Gmax
Chandelure
Diggersby
Hitmontop
Jellicent
Raichu
Rotom-Mow
Sylveon
Tsareena
Vanilluxe

C-
Alakazam
Araquanid
Bronzong
Escavalier
Gengar
Hydreigon
Kommo-o
Liepard
Ludicolo
Luxray
Mudsdale
Pikachu-Gmax
Raichu-Alola
Roserade
Sneasel
Virizion
Volcarona


>>D tier<<
This tier contains either Pokemon that have broad applications on a variety of teams, but are simply less effective than those in higher tiers, or are only particularly useful for certain team styles. These Pokemon typically have very little impact on the metagame.
Abomasnow
Alcremie
Barraskewda
Chansey
Flygon
Kangaskhan
Klefki
Meowstic-M
Mr.Mime-Galar
Obstagoon
Ribombee
Scizor
Scrafty
Slowbro-Galar
Starmie
Stonjourner
Weezing

>>E tier<<
-None Currently. This will serve as the blacklist.

Rules for posting:

• Post intelligently. Posts like "I think pokemon X should be in this tier" will not be tolerated. Expand on your opinion with actual analysis showing understanding of the metagame and perhaps bringing a unique perspective to the conversation.
• Absolutely no flaming, personal attacks, or general idiocy will be tolerated.
• Usage statistics may be used to support an argument or a claim, but don't base your ENTIRE argument around them. There needs to be more substance than just this. For example, you can't just say "Pokemon X shouldn't be this tier because they aren't used that often!"
• When nominating a Pokemon to move from one rank to another, do not merely list its obvious qualities such as stats, typing, movepool, etc. If you think a Pokemon deserves to rise or drop, explain what has changed in the meta to cause such Pokemon to get better or worse. I can assure you that the VR Council already knows the obvious qualities and we are far more interested in understanding why you believe it has increased or decreased in viability.

 

[RAlexa21th]

I'm not sure about Goodra at B+ tier. I don't find any great matchup with any of the higher tier. Among it's own tier it loses to Dracozolt (I guess depending on speed control but by default Zolt is stronger and faster). Arcanine and Porygon-Z also have a decent matchup against it and brings way more utility. The only thing it outright wins against are Corviknight and Whimsicott, and beating Whim in combat isn't that impressive.

I think it should move to B-

 

[Pyritie]

What niche does thwackey have in a format where rilla is legal?

 

[zee]

Hi everyone! The council has finally gotten a chance to sit down and iron out some kinks in our ranks, so we'll be calling this our first set of shifts.

But first I would like to say that we will be adding sample sets to Pokemon on the VR, as we do not have analyses. These will be on the form of hyperlinks that you can click on. If you would like to suggest a sample set, please send me a VM or PM rather than posting in this thread.

Now onto the shifts!

So first off, we have decided to create an S tier as well as an S- rank. Dragapult, Rillaboom, and Incineroar will be staying in S tier at this time.

S Rank shifts

S -> S-
Cinderace has been in the metagame for a considerable amount of time now, and players have constructed their team to find ways to check it, through means such as Intimidate or Defense boosting. It is still a dominant Pokemon, but its role is rather linear and there are answers to it, so we figured it would be fair to drop it down a notch.

A+ -> S-
Togekiss can run a variety of sets, and they can all accomplish different things. The offensive and supportive utility it provides, as well as its excellent typing, are unparalled. While its usage his declined considerably since the earlier series, it still sees high level placements incredibly often, such as first place in both Player's Cup and the Rose Tower Finals.

A+ -> S-
G-Max Venusaur is insane, simply put. Its movepool allows it to hit almost all top threats for massive damage, and even the ones that it can't, such as Dragapult, can just get put to sleep. Often times it is very difficult to cover for all of the options a sun-boosted Venusaur can go for on a given turn. In addition, unlike most weather Speed boosters, Venusaur is perfectly viable outside of sun. It has one of the best Dynamax movepools in the game, pairing the absolutely broken Vinelash with Ooze and Poison, meaning Venusaur can either turn into a defensive leviathan or a boosted powerhouse.

A Rank Shifts

A -> A+
Primarina has the highest Special Attack out of all legal Water-types in VGC. Not only that, but it has access to the immensely strong Hydro Cannon and/or Water-type Hyper Voice, meaning it will be able to take a chunk out of any team one way or the other. It also has access to incredibly strong Moonblast, Energy Ball, and Blizzard, giving it great coverage to roundout its toolkit. Primarina is THE defining offensive water at the moment.

A -> A-
Gmax-Charizard is very powerful, but needs a fair amount of support to get going. To really utilize its potential to the fullest, it requires Drought or manual Sunny Day support, neither of which come from extremely splashable Pokemon. Even on Sun compositions, it finds itself often competing with Venusaur for a Gigantamax in any given game. However, it still has a very strong STAB Max Move combo in Wildfire and Airstream, and will give any unprepared team a hard time.

A -> B-
Similar to the reasons for Charizard, Coalossal is very reliant on team support. The main reason we have chosen to move Coalossal down a further tier is that it is significantly less effective without Steam Engine and WP boosts than Charizard-Gmax is without Drought.

Lower Tier Shifts

B+ -> B
(Rapid-Strike) B+ -> B
B -> B-
B -> B-
C -> C+
C -> C-
UR -> C-
D -> UR

Responding to posts

I'm not sure about Goodra at B+ tier. I don't find any great matchup with any of the higher tier. Among it's own tier it loses to Dracozolt (I guess depending on speed control but by default Zolt is stronger and faster). Arcanine and Porygon-Z also have a decent matchup against it and brings way more utility. The only thing it outright wins against are Corviknight and Whimsicott, and beating Whim in combat isn't that impressive.

I think it should move to B-

The council thought pretty hard about this one, and we have decided to move it to B. Goodra makes excellent use of Weakness Policy and has a solid ability in Sap Sipper. It can hit for both Physical and Special Damage and has excellent movepools for both. It works very well on Comfey/Lapras/Goodra cores and is a solid tech for a sun matchup.

What niche does thwackey have in a format where rilla is legal?

I originally left it in from the Series 6 VR as maybe there was some calc where Eviolite bulk came into play, but I did my research and can't find anything. Thwackey will be moved to Unranked.

 

[R-B-Y]

I'm not sure about Goodra at B+ tier. I don't find any great matchup with any of the higher tier. Among it's own tier it loses to Dracozolt (I guess depending on speed control but by default Zolt is stronger and faster). Arcanine and Porygon-Z also have a decent matchup against it and brings way more utility. The only thing it outright wins against are Corviknight and Whimsicott, and beating Whim in combat isn't that impressive.

I think it should move to B-

Goodra outright wins vs tons of pokemon, for one, literally any special attacker that can't hit it for super effective damage.

I've been using AV goodra since series 5 began and find it an excellent sort of blanket check to a lot of things, much owing to the insane coverage it has, and how mono dragon is actually an excellent defensive typing which dismantles the common FWG cores by itself. Depending on the set you run you can probably hit most mons out there for SE damage. Probably the biggest thing is that it hard counters venusaur sun, and can end either torkoal or venusaur with hydro pump or fire blast respectively. With an assault vest literally no special attacker can kill it, to the point where it basically has a neutral matchup with non-av primarina:

252+ SpA Primarina Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Goodra: 84 (42.6%) - 98 (49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

If you run mixed you straight up win:

0 Atk Goodra Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Primarina: 114 (60.9%) - 136 (72.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

This calc vs Pz is a good demonstration of how fat it is, both maxed

252 SpA Life Orb Adaptability Porygon-Z Max Strike (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Goodra: 109 (27.6%) - 130 (32.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

like, bruh

I'd argue that B+ was a good place for it tbh, it has a huge niche in just being able to end every grass type on earth, especially with rilla running around everywhere. I like running a set of draco meteor/fire blast/sludge bomb/power whip, quiet, though hydro pump could go over power whip. The thing is you can run literally any coverage moves you goddamn want with goodra to end any list of troublesome mons you please, thunderbolt being notable for gyara, focus blast for ttar, etc, it's incredibly versatile with it's ev's too, 80 speed in this format is actually pretty respectable.

 

[The Dragon Master]

Some nitpicks:

Alakzam

I've never heard of alakzam.

Also rhyperior is nowhere to be found.

 

[Walrain]

Some nitpicks:


I've never heard of alakzam.

Also rhyperior is nowhere to be found.

Alakazam was a pick for faster psyspam teams that didn't want to run trick room while still having heavy hitting mons. Rhyperior is also currently in B-

 

[The Dragon Master]

Alakazam was a pick for faster psyspam teams that didn't want to run trick room while still having heavy hitting mons. Rhyperior is also currently in B-

The spelling was wrong, that's what I meant.

And I couldn't see rhyperior on the rankings when I posted it.

 

[Bananers]

S- to S+
Its the most used mon for a reason. It can fit on any team, it can fit into so many roles, and it's stats are insane. Not to mention it has two great abilities. I don't think there is a single team where Kiss would be a bad idea on. Definitely the best mon of the format and in my opinion deserves S+.

 

[Bananers]

Ferrothorn A- -> B+
I mean, in a sun meta, does ferrothorn have any business in the A tier? Yeah sure, if it sets up a couple iron defenses it can deal some good damage, but it probably will just get blown up by an eruption or a Gmax-Wildfire. Even it's (in my opinion) more consistent leech seed set, three of the top 10 most used mons are grass types so it just gets walled by them. B+ definitely, but i'd argue lower. It's really just a sitting duck in this meta.

 

[Bananers]

Sorry for posting so much. Here are my last recommendations for a bit.

Talonflame B -> C+
In a meta with Whimsicott, what niche does Talonflame have? I guess priority max airstreams, but that can be taken away with some chip damage which is very prevalent with Ttar and priority everywhere. Speaking of Whimsicott...

Whimsicott B+ -> A-
Whimsicott is such a good suppot mon. Prankster TW is so good now with the speed mechanics changed. It also gets Prankster Charm, Tickle, Fake Tears, Taunt, Encore, Stun Spore, Memento, Eject button Switcheroo. So many good options. Deserves at least A-.
After finishing my post:
Forgot beat up.
Dracovish B+ -> A-
Dracovish definitely got hurt in this meta, but it does do one thing very well. Hard countering Cinderace. Scarf fish always outspeeds and will always kill cinderace (252+ Atk Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Dynamax Cinderace-Gmax: 474-558 (151.9 - 178.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO). Even against a team with no cinderace, it still does fine of the abundant sun and sand teams. A- imo.

 

[Pyritie]

Ferrothorn A- -> B+
I mean, in a sun meta, does ferrothorn have any business in the A tier? Yeah sure, if it sets up a couple iron defenses it can deal some good damage, but it probably will just get blown up by an eruption or a Gmax-Wildfire. Even it's (in my opinion) more consistent leech seed set, three of the top 10 most used mons are grass types so it just gets walled by them. B+ definitely, but i'd argue lower. It's really just a sitting duck in this meta.

Sure, ferro doesn't like sun, but that's why you don't bring it to sun games. Ferro absolutely thrives against all the bulky waters in this meta, especially primarina

 

[Bananers]

Sure, ferro doesn't like sun, but that's why you don't bring it to sun games. Ferro absolutely thrives against all the bulky waters in this meta, especially primarina

Well if it's job is countering waters, Rilla just outclasses it.