Resource Series 10 Viability Rankings

[yuki]

These are the official Viability Rankings for VGC Series 10. In this thread, we as a community will be ranking each and every usable pokemon into different tiers based on how viable we believe them to be. We encourage you to post your thoughts and opinions on on the various usable Pokemon in VGC and what tier you think they should belong in. Posts in this thread will be taken into consideration when deciding changes to the VR.
The general idea of this is to rank every usable Pokemon in VGC into different rankings that will go in descending order. Since we are evaluating the entirety of the metagame, we will not be splitting Pokemon based on their roles within teams - supportive and offensive Pokemon will be ranked based on their impact that they have on the meta and the teams they will be brought for. For example, a Pokemon like Incineroar will be ranked highly for its supportive presence and Kartana for its offensive presence. While these examples are definitely present in the current Viability Rankings, as the metagame progresses and evolves so do Pokemon's utility and viability, so the Council will approach this with an open mind as we move forward.

Finally, there will be a Council of experienced players who will discuss and vote on the ranking of each Pokemon. As the Series tend to be fairly short, we will be attempting to keep this up-to-date based on what's going on in the tournament scene and adapting our list based on both tournament results and ladder success as the metagame evolves. Keep in mind, your posts and insights are still very valuable to us and will be a factor in any changes that we make. This thread would be nothing without the community and all of your input, so if you feel you have a good grasp on the metagame and fully understand the forum rules, then don't be hesitant to post.

Your VR Council:
Netherious
Raineko
zeefable
Deishu
maovgc
Namuko Pro
z0mOG
Human

VGC Series 10 Viability Rankings:

Restricted:

S-Tier:
There's nothing here right now!

A-Tier:
A+:
Calyrex-S

A:
Kyogre
Zacian-C

A-:
Groudon
Xerneas

B-Tier:
B+:
There's nothing here right now!

B:
Eternatus

B-:
Lunala
Palkia

C-Tier:
C+:
Ho-Oh
Yveltal

C:
Calyrex-I

C-:
Necrozma-DM

D-Tier:
Dialga
Kyurem-W
Reshiram
Zygarde

-------------------------------------------------

Non-Restricted:

S-Tier:
Incineroar

A-Tier:
A+:
Rillaboom
Urshifu-R

A:
Entei
Landorus
Regieleki
Tornadus
Tsareena

A-:
Amoonguss
Mienshao
Stakataka
Volcarona
Whimsicott

B-Tier:
B+:
Ditto
Indeedee-F
Nihilego
Urshifu-S

B:
Landorus-T
Suicune
Thundurus

B-:
Gothitelle
Shedinja
Tapu Fini
Tapu Lele
Venusaur
Zapdos

C-Tier:
C+:
Aegislash
Araquanid
Gyarados
Porygon2
Talonflame
Torkoal

C:
Celesteela
Charizard
Gastrodon
Mandibuzz
Milotic
Moltres-G
Zapdos-G

C-:
Cherrim
Dracovish
Drifblim
Ferrothorn
Grimmsnarl
Kartana
Naganadel
Pelipper
Raichu
Regidrago
Weavile

D-Tier:
Clefairy
Hitmontop
Ludicolo
Ninetales-A
Politoed
Tapu Koko
Togekiss
Weezing
Weezing-G

 

[Evelyie]

TSAREENA IS A TIER I CAN'T BELIEVE

Anyway, just thoughts regarding some Pokémon people do not care:
I am not sure regarding their placements, I think both Togekiss and Clefairy perform very poorly on this format, and with Volcarona and Amoonguss being just better, I think they should be out or lower

There is nothing that Torkoal does now. You are not enabling the best Pokémon of the tier, neither you are spamming Eruption inside of Trick Room. This thing has pretty much died to be on B tier, could be lower, or even out

 

[Prinz]

What I disagre about: yveltal is better than eternatus imo, it should be B, Palkia is better than Reshiram, it's probably better than zygarde too... Palkia + staka is a very legit team, and I havent seen yet a good Reshiram/ zygarde team

Milotic/dracovish/clefairy/togekiss/zapdos (especially kanto) suck and they should be a tier or two lower

If venusaur is B, ditto/ shedinja should be B too

 

[pix]

Milotic/dracovish/clefairy/togekiss/zapdos (especially kanto) suck and they should be a tier or two lower

False!! Milotic is such a great mon providing hh,icy wind while also getting competitive boost to heavily punish your opponent for lowering it's stats

 

[mayamajig]

I'm surprised that crobat's not on here at all. I don't think this mon is top tier or anything, but with its combination of Inner Focus, Haze, Tailwind, Hypnosis, and even Quick Guard I'm surprised that it's not at least in any of the lower tiers.

 

[Helios of Sun]

Some quick thoughts:

Restricteds:
I think Calyrex-Shadow is worthy of being S- or S Tier right now. This mon can be used in so many archetypes be it balance teams, hyper offense teams with Lele Whimsicott, or just good mons in general. Groudon is probably also A-, it seems quite strong right now with the Life Orb builds popping up, and those Heat Crash calcs are honestly insane. I also think Palkia should be higher, maybe in C+ or B-, I've seen several Palkia teams have a little success and I think it could get better as the meta goes on.

Non-Restricteds:
Regieleki should go down to A tier. I feel like whenever I use these goodstuffs core of Incin Urshifu Rilla Eleki + restricted I find myself bringing Eleki the least as its a little more mu reliant. I also believe that Tsareena might be a tad lil overrated. I think she's good but not A-Tier worthy yet, primarily because there are only very few archetypes that rely on her to succeed (Kyogre, maybe Lunala), and I'd rather just use Rillaboom instead most of the time. I also think Suicune should get a major rise to B or B+, I think it's one of the best-supporting mons in the metagame and it's been doing especially well on the new Zacian teams that has Suicune in it.

 

[KachiVGC]

A summary of my thoughts:

Restricteds:
I think Groudon should be in B or B-, and my explanation is that after playing a few battles I noticed that Groudon can definitely struggle against the current metagame, the idea of playing around Incineroar can be troublesome. Calyrex-Shadow should be S- or S tier because the mix of its speed and power with the support of Indeedee-F offers Calyrex-Shadow rider greater longevity.

Nonrestricteds:
Urshifu-RS should be in A- or B+ tier since it has a negative matchup against the metagame's threats. With Xerneas and Calyrex-Shadow as restricteds that may give it a hard time. Landorus-I does a better job at beating Incineroar. Incineroar should drop down to A+ because of the threats that have the ability to one shot Incineroar, Snarl is still valued but when you have Mienshao running around it's not easy to get Incineroar on the field. Regieleki should go to S- because Choice Specs/Magnet variants popping up which can cause serious damage to the opponent who's not resistant or immune to its electric type attacks.

 

[Namuko Pro]

We're going to be updating the rankings soon based on results that have happened recently. Given how early we are in the format (it hasn't officially started yet still!), a lot of the first batch of rankings was more just based off theoretical potential, and I think we have a clearer idea of what is and isn't good. To address some of the comments here:

I am not sure regarding their placements, I think both Togekiss and Clefairy perform very poorly on this format, and with Volcarona and Amoonguss being just better, I think they should be out or lower

There is nothing that Torkoal does now. You are not enabling the best Pokémon of the tier, neither you are spamming Eruption inside of Trick Room. This thing has pretty much died to be on B tier, could be lower, or even out

I agree on dropping both Togekiss and Clefairy, I think I had voted them a tier below where they ended up in the rankings. Beyond the fact that four of the five Restricteds have spread moves and don't really care about anything those two do, they also get hit for Super-Effective by Zacian while the actual good redirectors have some relevant stuff they do against at least some Restricteds. Neither of those two have any super relevant resists/immunities either (besides Togekiss resisting Grass kind of), unlike the main three redirectors which all have relevant resistances/immunities against at least one top restricted. Torkoal still has value in that it can put in work against both Zacian and Xerneas (especially earlier on when they were 1A and 1B as opposed to Ogre and Caly-S being just as relevant as them) and that it can mess up Kyogre, but given the lack of good TR builds I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up somewhere in C.

Palkia is better than Reshiram, it's probably better than zygarde too... Palkia + staka is a very legit team, and I havent seen yet a good Reshiram/ zygarde team

If venusaur is B, ditto/ shedinja should be B too

Palkia is definitely going to get moved up, chalk that ranking up to the lack of clarity in the early meta. I'd be shocked if it doesn't end up in whatever the first tier of restricteds after Groudon is.

On Venusaur/Ditto/Shedinja, I think it's more a case of Venusaur being rated too highly. I had it as a C, with the thought being that it only works with one restricted, which is a B tier Restricted, and unlike something like Tornadus isn't critical to the success of a Restricted. So you have a Good but not Great mon with a Good but not Great restricted, which sounds C-tier to me. I also ranked Shed lower than almost everyone else, since this list is assuming cartridge play, where it's infinitely easier to timer stall Shedinja. If this list was for Showdown, I'd rank Shedinja B, since it basically forces you to bring at least one Pokemon that can hit it, while you don't necessarily need to do that on cart.

I'm surprised that crobat's not on here at all. I don't think this mon is top tier or anything, but with its combination of Inner Focus, Haze, Tailwind, Hypnosis, and even Quick Guard I'm surprised that it's not at least in any of the lower tiers.

Crobat was a bit too low of usage for us to include on the initial vote (and none of us suggested to add it), but it's relevant enough that we will be voting on it this time. That doesn't guarantee it'll make the list, but thanks for helping us make sure it at least gets considered!

Some quick thoughts:

Restricteds:
I think Calyrex-Shadow is worthy of being S- or S Tier right now.

Given how the tiers are set up, it's really hard for any Restricted to justify being S-tier. S-tier basically implies that something is so far ahead of anything else you'd consider for the role that nothing can really replace what it brings to a team (see: Incin being the only S-tier because of the Intimidate/Fake Out/Parting Shot combo and utility against a ton of top restricteds), and that it's a level above "one of the best Pokemon in the game", which is what A+ is. Having only one Restricted in S tier implies that it's THE restricted you should be using, which definitely isn't true; having multiple in (like Zacian/Caly-S/Kyogre) could work, but at that point if S is so full of Pokemon that directly contradict each other it may as well just be A tier.

As far as some other stuff that wasn't addressed in the thread, here's some of the big things that I'm going to be voting moving at least two levels up/down from my last rating (eg C+ to C- or B to A-), as well as Ho-oh which I am only bumping down one spot but it sucks so why not include it:

The way I personally voted Restricteds was Zacian at A+, Caly-S/Kyogre at A, Xern at A-, Groudon at B, and everything else at most C+. My thought was that the order is pretty clearly Zacian > Caly-S/Kyogre > Xern >> Groudon >> Everything Else. So while I actually had Ho-oh at C+, moving it down to C because I just don't think it's all that good, and I'm actually moving a couple restricteds I had in C tier up to B-, so Ho-oh gets lowered more harshly than C+ -> C might otherwise imply.

Had this at C+ given how theoretically strong it is with TR and Glacial Lance, as well as my personal success with it in S8, but I think it's just legitimately bad in S10. Bad MUs against 3 of the top 4 restricteds (and it's not crazy good against Xern by any means), and it's really bad against Intimidate/Fake Out Cycling, especially with no Dynamax. Legitimately putting it in D-Tier, the best thing about it is you can maybe cheese some wins with it if your opponent has no MU against Oranguru + Caly-I.

Bumping this down from B -> C+, it was really good in the first week or two of the meta but dropped off hard once the meta developed a bit,. I think it's still decent on the right team, but gets OHKO'd way too easily and doesn't put in enough work against the popular partners of stuff like Rilla/Incin to be rated too highly.

(this is the dark urshifu not the good urshifu) Moving it from A- -> B, it dropped off super hard after the first couple weeks (and after all the people who said Goth/Urshifu would be meta-breaking looked really stupid). It was used less than Araquanid in the recent Victory Road WC Open lol. Only really good against Caly-S teams, and the biggest issue with it is you can't use Rapid-Strike, which is good against so many teams and is generally also on the teams you'd want Single-Strike on.

I had it at C+ which was pretty low compared to most others, but I'm moving it further down to C-. I think it's just not good and I have no clue what team actually really wants to run it. It's not even that good against Kyogre teams, and running it over Rilla or Tsareena feels really bad.

We are including them in voting this time after not voting on them last time and I voted them both D so meh. Also I just now realized it's Naganadel not Nagandel so I've spent the last couple years sounding like an idiot.

 

[Evelyie]

RESTRICTEDS

Yveltal B- > B/B+
When putting my thoughts, I often think of Yveltal being the best restricted off the "Big 4". I feel like its stronger then Ho-Oh and even Groudon and should definetly be higher.

Eternatus B- > B/B+
It's the same as Yveltal. I think Eternatus is another very good restricted and maybe not that better then Groudon but has same power as Ho-Oh in my opinion.

Zygarde C- > D-
Why Zygarde is here? I think this Pokémon performs really poorly in Series 10, and for me its really weird to be higher then Palkia and Reshiram.

Palkia / Reshiram C- > C/C+
In contrast of Zygarde, both of them got results. Specially Palkia, and I think both of them deserves to be higher, at least higher then Zygarde.

The Big 4 A > S
When you say S tier, you state "the best of them all", and these guys are the best of them all. I think putting them on A while leaving the "S tier shelf" catching dust is kind of weird. This is just my thoughts, of course, but since it is kind of estabilished that not using one of these 4 is wasting a restricted slot, I think they should all be S tiers.

NON-RESTRICTEDS (aka boring stuff)

Indeedee B+ > B-/C+
I don't think Indeedee has something going on with it. It is really outclassed by Amoonguss and Volcarona nowadays, plus I think it lacks bulk and utility else just spamming Follow Me and Helping Hand. I feel like redirectors that have more longevity such as the beforementioned are better then these type of redirectors like Indeedee which are more "descartable" in the S10 meta. It's the same reason why I nominated Clefairy and Togekiss out.

Aegislash C+ > B-
When comparing Aegislash to other Pokémon in the higher tiers, I feel like it performs eaqually or even better then the B- ones. I think Aegislash has the same characteristic from Xerneas where it got nerfed by Dynamax and even with not much Urshifu-S and Yveltal around I think this Pokémon definetly deserves a raise.

Swampert D- > C
You VR guys did Swampert dirty. When compared to other Pokémon in its tier, it feels way better then the rest. Wide Guard, Yawn, Flip Turn and good bulk are all amazing features this Pokémon have, eliminate Rillaboom from town and it's Swampert time, baby.

VR DROPS (aka SUPER boring stuff)

Politoed
I want to know who is the Politoed fan among the VR. This Pokémon is outclassed by Kyogre every way, and no one is running Perish Song + Shadow Tag because it is a bad archetype in a metagame full of pivoting moves and Fake Out.

Togekiss / Clefairy
Same reason as before, but I am just reinforcing it because I kind of regret telling Torkoal to drop because it has popped in some interesting teams.

 

[ihammerhead23]

RESTRICTEDS
View attachment 361795 Yveltal B- > B/B+
When putting my thoughts, I often think of Yveltal being the best restricted off the "Big 4". I feel like its stronger then Ho-Oh and even Groudon and should definetly be higher.

I tried to make Yveltal work for a long time, but it just feels awful in this format. Was not surprised at all to see 0 placements in the recent s10 tour. It struggles heavily against Xerneas and has a really poor matchup into Zacian, so your team really has to compensate for those restricteds. Meanwhile, it goes fairly even into Kyogre, and goes negative if the Kyogre team has Eleki. Its only real purpose is to invalidate Calyrex-S teams, but you can easily do that without consuming a restricted slot.

Yveltal's only viable set is AV because it needs the boost to have a chance of beating Kyogre. And the AV set feels like forfeiting the Zacian matchup because you really want protect. By the end of my Yveltal testing, I wasn't even bringing it against Zacian teams anymore. Traditionally, in a "bad" Yveltal matchup, it can still sit on the field and click snarl to harm the opposing team. But Zacian teams can one shot it, and they don't typically bring many special attackers. So your restricted feels like a dead weight. Against the common core of Zacian-C, Regieleki, Incineroar, and Rillaboom, Yveltal provides almost nothing. Best case scenario, you trade your entire Yveltal for ~55% chip on Zacian or bringing Eleki down to sash.

I can see how it might do better into some of the recent metagame developments (Lando-I, non-Sash Urshifu, Palkia). But the former are just not brought in the Yveltal matchup, and the latter is often paired with Stak which hurts Yveltal's chances in the matchup. So even these teams are closer to an even matchup. Unless Calyrex-S explodes in popularity, I don't expect to see much Yveltal.

Personally, I believe that Yveltal should be C+, and Eternatus, Palkia, and Groudon should all sit above it on the VR. The first two have shown results and have favorable matchups into a lot of top mons. Groudon doesn't have the results yet, but sun and a solid Zacian matchup feels much better than what Yveltal provides.

 

[TyphoeusVGC]

some quick thoughts

Aegislash C+ -->B- Aegislash imo is rly good rn ,hard walling xern and zacian .With a swords dance set it can be phenomenal in endgames where it just sits on opponents setting up and chipping them down .It also pressurises Caly-S with shadow sneak (enabled by partner rillaboom) needing only 76+ to ohko it (which also happens to be a stat bump) . I think aegislash needs a lot of care and a clear plan in building but if u get a solid gameplan it can really shine.

Kyogre A+ -->A kyogre teams have a set game plan and partners which make it exploitable .While i do beleive it deserved its place in the first list i think the recent VR results make a solid case that the meta has shifted against it. besides struggling with caly-S almost every team has a well thought out gameplan against kyogre which puts you on the backfoot from team preview . The new restricteds that have beendoing well like palkia and eternatus dont do it any favours either.

Eternatus B- -->B+ this is one more restricted who like palkia had a fantastic showing at VR. the meteor beam sets hit common bulky cores really well and the cosmic power sets are hell to face on PS ladder due to them needing to remove such a small number of threats b4 setting up.

 

[Ace Emerald]

Time to hype up some Pokemon that I've been playing with a lot recently that I think are underrated right now.

Eternatus B- --> B+: honestly I considered posted a real hot take and advocating for A-, but one step at a time. I've been playing Meteor Beam Eternatus a lot, and it continues to be underrated. Yes, it lacks a strong spread move like Calyrex or Kyogre, and yes its attacking stats aren't quite as busted as Zacian. But what it lacks in raw power it makes up for in defensive typing and offensive coverage. Most of the time, teams have (at best!) 2 answers for dealing significant damage into Eternatus, and most of those answers are threatened by Eternatus in return. For example, Landorus-I does 90%+ with Earth Power. But it also takes 90%+ from Meteor Beam and 60% minimum from +1 Flamethrower, so after a some chip damage it completely falls apart as a check. So Eternatus can easily sit on the field, threatening 2HKOs on most of the popular unrestricted Pokemon. It also has fairly neutral matchups into the most popular restricteds (with Calyrex as a notable exception), so matchups come down to effectively using speed and damage control to stay ahead. Really, the only strong con to Eternatus is that Calyrex is excellent (maybe the best) and that matchup is hard.

Suicune C+ --> B-: Suicune is the second best non-restricted Water-type, and the best support Water-type. If you don't need to threaten Incineroar with an OHKO, and do need a solid option for speed control, Suicune can really shine. Snarl can pressure Calyrex and reduce the effectiveness of Kyogre, Scald discourages Zacian from sticking around too long. I'm not advocating too high a rank, as Rillaboom and Regieleki do a ton of damage and are some of the best Pokemon, but its worth a B tier ranking.

 

[pix]

Quick Thoughts
Aegislash is such a good mon this meta taking care of calyrex-s,zacian and xern. It ha a wide movepool with sword dance, gyro ball, sacred sword and shadow sneak. I think it should be moved to C+--> B- or B

C+ -->B such a good mon provides snarl,icy wind, tailwind and scald while also having inner focus to stop fake out and has been seen in the VR world cup alot.

I haven't came across this mon in a long time it super frail and just dies to almost everything this meta. It's hype has fallen down. I think it should be dropped to C tier

These mon provides nothing in the meta. Volc, Amoongus and Indeedee outclass these two.

Kartana is outclassed by rillaboom and tsareena which are better grass mons these meta. It should be dropped to the C tier

 

[Sole Survivor]

RESTRICTEDS

A -> A+
Bias aside, Xerneas is absolutely phenomenal right now. The LIV(E)R core of Landorus-I, Incineroar, Volcarona and Rillaboom support it so fantastically well that only Tornadus-Kyogre-Tsareena teams stand even a fraction of a chance if the Xerneas player plays well and that's assuming they don't have a Regieleki (which, coincidentally enough, can fill the "E" slot of LIVER now that I think about it) for which there is no realistic reason. Of course, the meta will slowly develop towards being indirectly good vs this core but right now we're concerned with the current meta and this is my current impression of Xerneas.

B- -> C-
Yveltal, in my opinion, has no role in this meta apart from being a "good" Calyrex-Shadow Rider counter. By "good" I mean that Caly-S is always paired with one or sometimes even both of Tapu Lele and Mienshao, two Pokemon which can heavily chip Yveltal, especially the former so it's not exactly the strongest counter. Besides, they sometimes even run Regieleki so there is almost no argument one can make about Yveltal. Furthermore, it crumbles to Xerneas, folds to Zacian-C and takes a huge chunk of damage from Kyogre even if it's equipped with an Assault Vest and doesn't do much damage in return in either. It's basically just a gimmick now along with the likes of Calyrex-Ice Rider which one would only use if they were a hard stan for it.

C- -> B-
Palkia seems to be much, much better than people are rating it to be right now. It's extremely powerful and can set up Trick Room for partners that support it so well like Stakataka and hits extremely hard in general. Water-Dragon is a pretty good type combo and there are almost no Pokemon that can resist both of Palkia's aforementioned STABs. Granted, it gets walled and murdered by Xerneas, Stakataka actually helps cover its weaknesses unlike Yveltal who gains nothing from having a Xerneas-beating partner since it's so bad into everything else anyway. For example, Palkia gets rid of Incineroar pretty handily for Stakataka and Stakataka is very good into Regieleki, Xerneas and Rillaboom, assuming it doesn't run High Horsepower. Palkia also deals with Zacian pretty well to boot.

D- -> C
This is relatively niche but Dialga is actually fairly legit right now. I've messed around a bit with Dialga Aegislash and it tends to do great into Calyrex-S, Zacian, Kyogre, Xerneas and blah blah blah, you get it, I've taken these Pokemon up several times now. The idea is you get Trick Room up with Aegislash and Fake Out support from Incineroar and Rillaboom, what a surprise, and then just hit your opponent really hard for some very good damage especially into Xerneas, Caly-S and Zacian-C.

NON-RESTRICTEDS

C+ -> B+
Yeah, you've seen a lot of this, it's Aegislash. As so many other people have mentioned already, it's fantastic into Zacian and Xerneas, while also being very good into Caly-S and Kyogre, granted they do not run Shadow Ball and Scald respectively as one of Aegislash's selling points is Wide Guard. With Gyro Ball, it deals immense damage to Zacian-C and OHKO's most Xerneas so it's really good into the "Big 4" already. Not much else to say about it as it's the perfect mix of offense and defense while not being as passive as things like Incineroar for example.

B -> B-
This Pokemon is just bad right now. Its only selling point is a good matchup into Incineroar and Rillaboom and Quick Guard, I guess. It crumbles to absolutely everything else, be it Xerneas, Regieleki, Zacian-C, both of the Calyrex Horses, Kyogre and the list goes on and on. If you are looking to grab some wins in Series 10 and have good success in general, I suggest not using Zapdos-G if you're not the best teambuilder as it's just not worth it. It might see some usage moving on as the meta develops but as of right now, it's just a really bad Pokemon.

B- -> C-
Torkoal is very sub-par right now. I wouldn't say it's bad, but it just doesn't fill the role it used to when Dynamax was around. It can no longer freely click Eruption and call it a day either. It is seeing a bit of usage right now but overall I'd say it's very niche when you compare it with Groudon who is now substantially better than Torkoal. Not much else to say about it.

Those are my current thoughts on the meta right now and what Pokemon have the potential to be good or actually are good and also those which don't necessarily deserve the rankings they got in my opinion and I've ranked them according to my understanding and I completely respect other's opinions on this as opinions are bound to differ. Have a great day y'all.

 

[zee]

hi i played a lot of s10 this week in preparation for world cup. let me respond to what's been posted so far.

Quick Thoughts
Aegislash is such a good mon this meta taking care of calyrex-s,zacian and xern. It ha a wide movepool with sword dance, gyro ball, sacred sword and shadow sneak. I think it should be moved to C+--> B- or B

No. Absolutely not. What you fail to consider is that while these matchups are seemingly good on paper, they fall apart hard in practice. Starting with Calyrex-S, which I'm assuming you think can wall out with Wide Guard or pressure with Shadow Sneak. The problem is that a considerable amount of Calyrex-S are running Shadow Ball to bypass Wide Guard, if not Encore, Substitute, or Disable to punish its passivity. Calyrex-S teams often come in two forms, those with psychic terrain support which could keep it safe from an incoming Shadow Sneak, or balanced Incineroar/Rillaboom teams that can easily switchin and dispell it later with one of Incineroar / Landorus-I / Entei etc.

The later half of that last statement is basically what I want to address for your claims with regards to Xerneas and Zacian-C. Sure, the on paper matchups are good, but Xerneas is paired with more than 1 fire on average (sometimes 3!) if not a Landorus-I, and Zacian-C isn't really a separate story. In short, you have to put this situation into a practical sense and realize the only way it's really beating these Pokemon is endgame 1v1s. C+ is perfectly fine for it.

C+ -->B such a good mon provides snarl,icy wind, tailwind and scald while also having inner focus to stop fake out and has been seen in the VR world cup alot.

Not sure what VR world cup you were watching considering week 1 went up yesterday and the first game was played only a few hours ago. That being said, it's like... fine I guess. I really dislike Suicune if I'm being honest, it's clunky and often a momentum sap because it has no offensive presence but its utility isn't on the level of Whimsicott or Porygon2. It's getting the results which makes it a bit hard to ignore I guess. I think B- is fine for a clunky support Pokemon that only really works in the context of Zacian or Calyrex, maybe Eternatus as well but that's pushing fringe territory.

View attachment 362517 I haven't came across this mon in a long time it super frail and just dies to almost everything this meta. It's hype has fallen down. I think it should be dropped to C tier

View attachment 362518View attachment 362520 These mon provides nothing in the meta. Volc, Amoongus and Indeedee outclass these two.


View attachment 362521 Kartana is outclassed by rillaboom and tsareena which are better grass mons these meta. It should be dropped to the C tier

This was all based on early metagame theorymonning but with ~150 games played in the past 72 hrs I can confidently say these suck and I would support dropping to D tier or unranking. No need to keep Pokemon around for the novelty of it.

View attachment 361795 Yveltal B- > B/B+
When putting my thoughts, I often think of Yveltal being the best restricted off the "Big 4". I feel like its stronger then Ho-Oh and even Groudon and should definetly be higher.

Read ihammerhead23's post which offers great insight into why this Pokemon is extremely limited. I would not support rising it.

View attachment 361796 Eternatus B- > B/B+
It's the same as Yveltal. I think Eternatus is another very good restricted and maybe not that better then Groudon but has same power as Ho-Oh in my opinion.

I like Eternatus a fair bit, would probably support this rise. Meteor Beam is my favorite set but Cosmic Power also annoys a lot of people on PS ladder because it's generally hard to hit before it starts boosting.

View attachment 361797 Zygarde C- > D-
Why Zygarde is here? I think this Pokémon performs really poorly in Series 10, and for me its really weird to be higher then Palkia and Reshiram.

probably enosh lol. it's clunky and not as efficient as higher ranked Pokemon though. I support a drop.

View attachment 361798View attachment 361799 Palkia / Reshiram C- > C/C+
In contrast of Zygarde, both of them got results. Specially Palkia, and I think both of them deserves to be higher, at least higher then Zygarde.

at this point I'm kinda getting fed up with you just saying x deserves to be higher without justifying y, something to keep in mind when you come back to post.

but anyways, I support a Palkia rise, probably to low B rank tbh. See BK's team in the team bazaar, it's really cool and takes great advantage of Palkia's great natural bulk and ability to pressure Fire- and Ground-types. Disagree with a Reshiram rise though. Offensive Fires aren't really in short supply for less cost, see the likes of Entei, Volcarona, and Charizard.

View attachment 361807View attachment 361808View attachment 361809View attachment 361810 The Big 4 A > S
When you say S tier, you state "the best of them all", and these guys are the best of them all. I think putting them on A while leaving the "S tier shelf" catching dust is kind of weird. This is just my thoughts, of course, but since it is kind of estabilished that not using one of these 4 is wasting a restricted slot, I think they should all be S tiers.

This is not the definition we've been using for S tier for the length of this VR. S's definition is somewhere between "universally beneficial" and "so good it hurts your team to not have it". None of this is true for any of these Pokemon, the gap isn't so wide between them and their next contenders that it's worth establishing such a stark difference in ranking.

View attachment 361800 Indeedee B+ > B-/C+
I don't think Indeedee has something going on with it. It is really outclassed by Amoonguss and Volcarona nowadays, plus I think it lacks bulk and utility else just spamming Follow Me and Helping Hand. I feel like redirectors that have more longevity such as the beforementioned are better then these type of redirectors like Indeedee which are more "descartable" in the S10 meta. It's the same reason why I nominated Clefairy and Togekiss out.

Really mixed feelings on this one. I don't think it's outclassed by the two restricteds you mention, because Indeedee has a lot of benefits, namely priority blocking for Xerneas/Zacian-C and enabling Calyrex-S's Expanding Force. However, its offensive pressure is considerably worse than Tapu Lele and its Fake Out prevention abilities aren't exactly exclusive to it, see Tapu Lele, Tsareena, Entei, Mienshao, Suicune, and the decent number of viable Ghost-types. I'd probably just support a drop to B.

View attachment 361802Aegislash C+ > B-
When comparing Aegislash to other Pokémon in the higher tiers, I feel like it performs eaqually or even better then the B- ones. I think Aegislash has the same characteristic from Xerneas where it got nerfed by Dynamax and even with not much Urshifu-S and Yveltal around I think this Pokémon definetly deserves a raise.

See my response to PixxelsVGC

View attachment 361803 Swampert D- > C
You VR guys did Swampert dirty. When compared to other Pokémon in its tier, it feels way better then the rest. Wide Guard, Yawn, Flip Turn and good bulk are all amazing features this Pokémon have, eliminate Rillaboom from town and it's Swampert time, baby.

Nah this is definitely just not true. Pert's really just as clunky as Suicune, Wide Guard is pretty telegraphed (and at this point all the spread move restricteds have non-spread STAB coverage at the ready), Yawn has a lot less payoff in a format where your Pokemon aren't obligated to be on the field for 3 turns, and Flip Turn isn't anything special when the 2 best Pokemon in the format are way sturdier pivots.

View attachment 361804Politoed
I want to know who is the Politoed fan among the VR. This Pokémon is outclassed by Kyogre every way, and no one is running Perish Song + Shadow Tag because it is a bad archetype in a metagame full of pivoting moves and Fake Out.

This is a really weird way of thinking about Politoed's place in the metagame. Politoed is no means a Kyogre substitute nor is it a Perish Trap exclusive tool. Politoed punishes passive, slow teams with its ability to constantly launch Icy Winds and enable its partner with Helping Hand. Calyrex teams (typically ran with Kingdra in this scenario) like its ability to pressure Incineroar and Assault Vest Crunch Entei while being a HH fountain, and Zacian-C teams appreciate its ability to effectively sever its weaknesses in half. Decent mon, surely worth ranking at the bottom of the barrel.

At this point I've responded to every nom except these two so allow me to do so.

A -> A+
Bias aside, Xerneas is absolutely phenomenal right now. The LIV(E)R core of Landorus-I, Incineroar, Volcarona and Rillaboom support it so fantastically well that only Tornadus-Kyogre-Tsareena teams stand even a fraction of a chance if the Xerneas player plays well and that's assuming they don't have a Regieleki (which, coincidentally enough, can fill the "E" slot of LIVER now that I think about it) for which there is no realistic reason. Of course, the meta will slowly develop towards being indirectly good vs this core but right now we're concerned with the current meta and this is my current impression of Xerneas.

Absolutely not, most of the council actually voted for Xerneas to drop to A-. The lack of a 2nd restricted partner focuses the entire point of the game to setting up a Geomancy, but all the other restricteds just straight up have ways to put more pressure on it before it can get set up, be it matching the amount of Fake Outs with their own Rillaboom/Incineroar, matching speed control with Whimsicott/Tornadus, or just overpowering it because Zacian-C is naturally positive into it and doesn't have to work hard to win even with 2 Fires on the board.

D- -> C
This is relatively niche but Dialga is actually fairly legit right now. I've messed around a bit with Dialga Aegislash and it tends to do great into Calyrex-S, Zacian, Kyogre, Xerneas and blah blah blah, you get it, I've taken these Pokemon up several times now. The idea is you get Trick Room up with Aegislash and Fake Out support from Incineroar and Rillaboom, what a surprise, and then just hit your opponent really hard for some very good damage especially into Xerneas, Caly-S and Zacian-C.

I'm firm in my belief that Aegislash is hot garbage and your nom of this Pokemon seems very contingent on Aegislash being a partner. TR builds just generally kinda suck with the presence of so many pivots and spread attackers, but I think if you're going to use one of these its Palkia for higher special defense and better offensive coverage.

The one Pokemon I want to nom publicly is Charizard, probably for C+/C rank

Been using it on Groudon sun with a variety of items and the damage calcs are just genuinely insane. Xerneas drops to Fire Blast in sun, Zacian-C drops to Heat Wave, etc. The thing's just absolutely stupid offensively, but it is reliant on sun for the most part and frail so C+ at the absolute highest seems like a nice fit.

 

[Sole Survivor]

Absolutely not, most of the council actually voted for Xerneas to drop to A-. The lack of a 2nd restricted partner focuses the entire point of the game to setting up a Geomancy, but all the other restricteds just straight up have ways to put more pressure on it before it can get set up, be it matching the amount of Fake Outs with their own Rillaboom/Incineroar, matching speed control with Whimsicott/Tornadus, or just overpowering it because Zacian-C is naturally positive into it and doesn't have to work hard to win even with 2 Fires on the board.

this isn't true. the game is absolutely not reliant on Xerneas setting up Geomancy since it has 3 other offensive partners in Regieleki, in Landorus-I and in Rillaboom and 4 offensive members is plenty if you ask me. Volcarona also deals heavy damage to neutrals and super effective targets even with no investment. also the whole point of dual Fake Out and Rage Powder is to bypass attacks from other restricteds and opposing Fake Outs and pivoting so your argument of other restricteds out-damaging it before it potentially gets a Geomancy up doesn't really make sense to me. and what do opposing Fake Out users really gain by attacking into a Protect or at worst stopping Xern from setting up when Volc can just redirect the partner's attack away tbh bc at worst they have a Zacian and they Sub but then Xern breaks their Sub with ease even without a Geomancy and Volc can then do its thing.

I'm firm in my belief that Aegislash is hot garbage and your nom of this Pokemon seems very contingent on Aegislash being a partner. TR builds just generally kinda suck with the presence of so many pivots and spread attackers, but I think if you're going to use one of these its Palkia for higher special defense and better offensive coverage.

this is partially correct, however, keep in mind one has 4 more slots for Pokemon after this and I'm not obligated to have just a tr mode. besides, Aegislash doesn't give a fig for the damage from Scald or Shadow Ball when it can just OHKO or chip them hard in return since they then force their focus onto Aegislash. of course, they could just target around it but scouting with your main offensive options is always a good play. you do have a point with the Palkia thing though but I feel Dialga's really good vs the surge of Kyogre, Xerneas and Caly-S if accompanied by Aegislash. a little reminiscent of the DialOgre-Ferrothorn core by means of which Xerneas can (sadly) be destroyed.

 

[Helios of Sun]

this isn't true. the game is absolutely not reliant on Xerneas setting up Geomancy since it has 3 other offensive partners in Regieleki, in Landorus-I and in Rillaboom and 4 offensive members is plenty if you ask me. Volcarona also deals heavy damage to neutrals and super effective targets even with no investment. also the whole point of dual Fake Out and Rage Powder is to bypass attacks from other restricteds and opposing Fake Outs and pivoting so your argument of other restricteds out-damaging it before it potentially gets a Geomancy up doesn't really make sense to me. and what do opposing Fake Out users really gain by attacking into a Protect or at worst stopping Xern from setting up when Volc can just redirect the partner's attack away tbh bc at worst they have a Zacian and they Sub but then Xern breaks their Sub with ease even without a Geomancy and Volc can then do its thing.

this is partially correct, however, keep in mind one has 4 more slots for Pokemon after this and I'm not obligated to have just a tr mode. besides, Aegislash doesn't give a fig for the damage from Scald or Shadow Ball when it can just OHKO or chip them hard in return since they then force their focus onto Aegislash. of course, they could just target around it but scouting with your main offensive options is always a good play. you do have a point with the Palkia thing though but I feel Dialga's really good vs the surge of Kyogre, Xerneas and Caly-S if accompanied by Aegislash. a little reminiscent of the dialogue-Ferrothorn core by means of which Xerneas can (sadly) be destroyed.

In my opinion, I think you somewhat overestimate the ability of Xerneas to carry games. In my opinion, Xerneas teams in S10 is a lot more reliant on playing better than your opponent, and this becomes a problem at a high level of gameplay, when the skill discrepancy between players become a lot less clear. You provide the scenario of having four offensive Pokemon, but it also means that you absolutely have to nail the lead correctly, or you fall down flat on your face. In this case, Xerneas falls short of other restricteds such as Calyrex-Shadow or Zacian, which requires less reads and correct 50-50s to succeed.

On that same thought process, a lot more counterplay for Xerneas has been rising in the metagame, making it a lot harder for Xerneas to function. Whimsicott and Nihilego are mons that have been rising in the metagame for a bit, Stakataka is also rising in the metagame, making it harder for Xerneas to get safe spots to click Geomancy and function well.

To somehow reiterate my opinion, I agree with the opinion of the VR council members to drop Xerneas down to A-, as I do not see Xerneas being remotely close to the same level as Kyogre / Calyrex-Shadow / Zacian, and I think it is a fair bit worse.

 

[Sole Survivor]

In my opinion, I think you somewhat overestimate the ability of Xerneas to carry games. In my opinion, Xerneas teams in S10 is a lot more reliant on playing better than your opponent, and this becomes a problem at a high level of gameplay, when the skill discrepancy between players become a lot less clear. You provide the scenario of having four offensive Pokemon, but it also means that you absolutely have to nail the lead correctly, or you fall down flat on your face. In this case, Xerneas falls short of other restricteds such as Calyrex-Shadow or Zacian, which requires less reads and correct 50-50s to succeed.

On that same thought process, a lot more counterplay for Xerneas has been rising in the metagame, making it a lot harder for Xerneas to function. Whimsicott and Nihilego are mons that have been rising in the metagame for a bit, Stakataka is also rising in the metagame, making it harder for Xerneas to get safe spots to click Geomancy and function well.

To somehow reiterate my opinion, I agree with the opinion of the VR council members to drop Xerneas down to A-, as I do not see Xerneas being remotely close to the same level as Kyogre / Calyrex-Shadow / Zacian, and I think it is a fair bit worse.

you have a point with the nailing the lead thing but it's generally pretty obvious what your opponent's gonna lead to beat Xerneas and that can be exploited to your advantage. for example, if your opponent has a Stakataka, chances are pretty high they're gonna lead Stakataka to hard counter Xerneas, to which you can lead Lando-I or Urshifu depending on what you have and generally the only answer to Lando-I on Stakataka teams is Urshifu-RS so leading something like Lando+Rilla puts you in a commanding position right from turn 1.

 

[pix]

The later half of that last statement is basically what I want to address for your claims with regards to Xerneas and Zacian-C. Sure, the on paper matchups are good, but Xerneas is paired with more than 1 fire on average (sometimes 3!) if not a Landorus-I, and Zacian-C isn't really a separate story. In short, you have to put this situation into a practical sense and realize the only way it's really beating these Pokemon is endgame 1v1s. C+ is perfectly fine for it.

Mystic water urshifu has been popping off lately almost taking care of every fire type in the meta which give Aegislash a hard time. On paper Aegislash looks good but it proves itself on the field with good support. I feel like it will establish itself as a amazing anti meta pick in the coming days

Not sure what VR world cup you were watching considering week 1 went up yesterday and the first game was played only a few hours ago. That being said, it's like... fine I guess. I really dislike Suicune if I'm being honest, it's clunky and often a momentum sap because it has no offensive presence but its utility isn't on the level of Whimsicott or Porygon2. It's getting the results which makes it a bit hard to ignore I guess. I think B- is fine for a clunky support Pokemon that only really works in the context of Zacian or Calyrex, maybe Eternatus as well but that's pushing fringe territory.

The VR world cup open to be exact https://victoryroadvgc.com/2021/07/25/results-world-cup-open/ and I feel like suicuine is a good mon when you have the good idea of pivoting in and out.

Yveltal, in my opinion, has no role in this meta apart from being a "good" Calyrex-Shadow Rider counter. By "good" I mean that Caly-S is always paired with one or sometimes even both of Tapu Lele and Mienshao, two Pokemon which can heavily chip Yveltal, especially the former so it's not exactly the strongest counter. Besides, they sometimes even run Regieleki so there is almost no argument one can make about Yveltal. Furthermore, it crumbles to Xerneas, folds to Zacian-C and takes a huge chunk of damage from Kyogre even if it's equipped with an Assault Vest and doesn't do much damage in return in either. It's basically just a gimmick now along with the likes of Calyrex-Ice Rider which one would only use if they were a hard stan for it.

As for this one I feel like it's good as it is. It hard counters calyrex-s,Kyogre and does 70% (iirc) to zacian with foul play and most yveltal have good steel partners like stak or aegislash to take care Xerneas.

Bias aside, Xerneas is absolutely phenomenal right now. The LIV(E)R core of Landorus-I, Incineroar, Volcarona and Rillaboom support it so fantastically well that only Tornadus-Kyogre-Tsareena teams stand even a fraction of a chance if the Xerneas player plays well and that's assuming they don't have a Regieleki (which, coincidentally enough, can fill the "E" slot of LIVER now that I think about it) for which there is no realistic reason. Of course, the meta will slowly develop towards being indirectly good vs this core but right now we're concerned with the current meta and this is my current impression of Xerneas.

Xern is easily countered by trick room and the majority of steel types. It's easily countered by the chad guy running incin with roar or volc running Whirlwind.I feel like xern should be dropped to A- since the meta is just developing to counter it easily.

 

[Sole Survivor]

Mystic water urshifu has been popping off lately almost taking care of every fire type in the meta which give Aegislash a hard time. On paper Aegislash looks good but it proves itself on the field with good support. I feel like it will establish itself as a amazing anti meta pick in the coming days


The VR world cup open to be exact https://victoryroadvgc.com/2021/07/25/results-world-cup-open/ and I feel like suicuine is a good mon when you have the good idea of pivoting in and out.

As for this one I feel like it's good as it is. It hard counters calyrex-s,Kyogre and does 70% (iirc) to zacian with foul play and most yveltal have good steel partners like stak or aegislash to take care Xerneas.

Xern is easily countered by trick room and the majority of steel types. It's easily countered by the chad guy running incin with roar or volc running Whirlwind.I feel like xern should be dropped to A- since the meta is just developing to counter it easily.

not at all. if that were the case then tr would be the strongest archetype as it matches up so well into Xerneas, Zacian-C, Kyogre and most importantly, Calyrex-S. just the sheer ubiquity of dual Fake Out and notably also Intimidate cycling makes having tr set up redundant on most team comps. also Roar Incin and Whirlwind Volc are all but gimmicks and it's actually pretty telegraphed imo. a smart Xerneas player (I don't necessarily imply me by that) will cover for at least Roar Incin and play around it so there's that.

 

[pix]

not at all. if that were the case then tr would be the strongest archetype as it matches up so well into Xerneas, Zacian-C, Kyogre and most importantly, Calyrex-S. just the sheer ubiquity of dual Fake Out and notably also Intimidate cycling makes having tr set up redundant on most team comps. also Roar Incin and Whirlwind Volc are all but gimmicks and it's actually pretty telegraphed imo. a smart Xerneas player (I don't necessarily imply me by that) will cover for at least Roar Incin so there's that.

Meta has already developed against Xern pretty well. Xern isn't good as it was in the starting of s10 with Geomancy just the idea of Stak and taunt scare it off.Let's not forget the chad guy running taunt mienshao with another fake out mon

 

[Sole Survivor]

Meta has already developed against Xern pretty well. Xern isn't good as it was in the starting of s10 with Geomancy just the idea of Stak and taunt scare it off.Let's not forget the chad guy running taunt mienshao with another fake out mon

like I've said in posts before, Stak is not even a fraction of a problem with dual FO and Intim and PShot cycling paired with a Landorus or Urshifu and as far as I've seen, Mienshao never runs Taunt. the only somewhat relevant Taunter is Whimsicott. however, the meta is working out some good checks to Xerneas like Naganadel and Nihilego so you have that assumption right.

 

[Yourwelcomethanku]

to C
Mandibuzz has a niche on mainly Groudon teams being able to check the combination of Mienshao and Calyrex-S on its own. It also has overcoat Tailwind and Snarl giving it other points of usefulness and can win endgames with Roost(Keep in mind ingame timer lol). Asides this its pretty passive and clunky, and can be deadweight as its fairly easy to ignore so its not that good. Mandibuzz just won the rose tower clash 6 on a Groudon team.

 

[Microwave Raccoon]

--> D tier

Guzzlord has a small niche in the metagame with access to snarl and wide guard in combination with its defensive typing. With snarl, it is able to slow down Calyrex-Shadow and Kyogre as it resists both ghost and water, and is immune to psychic. It can also be a good switch-in to Rillaboom, Incineroar and Regieleki. It can also run an iron defense amnesia win con set to capitalize on its good resistances.

Wide guard lets Guzzlord block a multitude of moves that would otherwise cripple its teammates such as electroweb from Regieleki and struggle bug from Volcarona. It also allows it to block high damage moves like Kyogre's water spouts or Calyrex-Shadow's astral barrages. Being as uncommon of a pokemon as it is, Guzzlord has an advantage over other users of wide guard in closed teamsheet formats, being that its use of wide guard is far less telegraphed as many people may not even know it learns the move. It also has a way of capitalizing on the opponent attempting to block wide guard in snarl, which can cripple special attackers while its teammate protects.

Guzzlord also has a decent damage output, with a powerful knock off as well as access to weight based moves heat crash for steel types and heavy slam to hit the occasional fairy types. With a weight of 888kg, Guzzlord is almost guaranteed high power from said moves, the only exceptions being against the very heavy restricted pokemon. This ensures that it won't just be dead weight on the field and can still contribute to a team offensively.

These semi-useful traits i think are enough to put it on the same level as the other pokemon in the D tier.

 

[pix]

Guzzlord has a small niche in the metagame with access to snarl and wide guard in combination with its defensive typing. With snarl, it is able to slow down Calyrex-Shadow and Kyogre as it resists both ghost and water, and is immune to psychic. It can also be a good switch-in to Rillaboom, Incineroar and Regieleki. It can also run an iron defense amnesia win con set to capitalize on its good resistances.

Wide guard lets Guzzlord block a multitude of moves that would otherwise cripple its teammates such as electroweb from Regieleki and struggle bug from Volcarona. It also allows it to block high damage moves like Kyogre's water spouts or Calyrex-Shadow's astral barrages. Being as uncommon of a pokemon as it is, Guzzlord has an advantage over other users of wide guard in closed teamsheet formats, being that its use of wide guard is far less telegraphed as many people may not even know it learns the move. It also has a way of capitalizing on the opponent attempting to block wide guard in snarl, which can cripple special attackers while its teammate protects.

Guzzlord also has a decent damage output, with a powerful knock off as well as access to weight based moves heat crash for steel types and heavy slam to hit the occasional fairy types. With a weight of 888kg, Guzzlord is almost guaranteed high power from said moves, the only exceptions being against the very heavy restricted pokemon.

These semi-useful traits i think are enough to put it on the same level as the other pokemon in the D tier.

as much as I am a fan of Shiny Guzzlord I feel like it's just dead weight on the team when you could have better dark types such as goltres. It has almost 0% of usage in the current meta. On second thought it would pair amazingly well with Zacian imo. I have seen goltres with zacian-c alot recently and it's actually a thing with the help of snarl, sucker punch, foul play and air slash. I feel like guzzlord is a cheaper version of goltres and yveltal and would work well in Trick room.