Resource SV PU Viability Rankings

[DD Joe]

Salutations, Residents.
Starting off with the new additions to the tier:

Espeon NEW -> PUBL
Playing against this thing has been pretty fun overall PU has been missing a magic bouncer for some time so, a welcome change. However as predicted (not just by yours truly but other respectable community members) it is straight up too much on grassy terrain, Potentially un-phaseable/Encore & status immune. Imo it is too much to answer for; for teams that aren't prepping for it exclusively.

And yes grassy is the problem and without throwing any shade an Espeon ban would be the most simple solution (imo).

Milotic NEW -> S Yeah I agree this thing can probably go to S tier, it is often my recommendation to those asking what to add to their team last. no reason not to run it really, it does it all kinda. It hazes. It pivots. It spreads burns. It absorbs burns & getting knocked often means little unless 3 layers of spikes are up. Also using multiple useful defensive tera types is cool to see.

Slowbro-galar NEW -> A+
Alongside magic bounce PU has been devoid of a regenerator pokemon for some time now so it is no suprise this thing is doing well. Certain Pokémon definitely look a little worse when up against it like Florges and Decidueye.

Typhlosion-hisui NEW -> B+
Pretty funny how the set that was speculated to make it banworthy is actually a non-factor. Scarf is honestly great and so is specs if you can effectively keep off hazards to give it more ins, Which is certainly tricky but manageable. Boots is probably its safest and most consistent set, On a team with Milotic/Bellibolt/Altaria nothing will escape without being statused.

Now to the rest:

Bruxish A+ -> B
Imo not enough damage output outside of terrain Seeing as this is a Pokémon I struggle mostly to get working I can only really go by how well I see it do against me or others and that is...not good.

Pawmot A -> A+
Probably the best scarfer i've used post shift

Skuntank A-> A+
You could pick any Skuntank set and it'd still be good really, Probably the best offensive check to Typhlosion-hisui forcing it to switch almost every time. Fantastic Pokémon.

Golurk A- -> B
I think it's gotten a little worse right now with the amount of seed any Poltergeist user would suffer really. Have you actually seen one switch to HHP also ?

B+ -> U/R Still wanna keep it ranked or ??????

Broken record U/R

Rotom-mow Yeah I just see 0 case where this should be used/would be good.
Sneasel }
Minior } Wanna keep these ranked despite dropping to NFE/ZU or ??????
Smeargle

Agree with a lot of your stuff but i think rotom mow is decent rn

 

[Oofhixd]

Salutations, Residents.
Starting off with the new additions to the tier:

Espeon NEW -> PUBL
Playing against this thing has been pretty fun overall PU has been missing a magic bouncer for some time so, a welcome change. However as predicted (not just by yours truly but other respectable community members) it is straight up too much on grassy terrain, Potentially un-phaseable/Encore & status immune. Imo it is too much to answer for; for teams that aren't prepping for it exclusively.

And yes grassy is the problem and without throwing any shade an Espeon ban would be the most simple solution (imo).

Milotic NEW -> S Yeah I agree this thing can probably go to S tier, it is often my recommendation to those asking what to add to their team last. no reason not to run it really, it does it all kinda. It hazes. It pivots. It spreads burns. It absorbs burns & getting knocked often means little unless 3 layers of spikes are up. Also using multiple useful defensive tera types is cool to see.

Slowbro-galar NEW -> A+
Alongside magic bounce PU has been devoid of a regenerator pokemon for some time now so it is no suprise this thing is doing well. Certain Pokémon definitely look a little worse when up against it like Florges and Decidueye.

Typhlosion-hisui NEW -> B+
Pretty funny how the set that was speculated to make it banworthy is actually a non-factor. Scarf is honestly great and so is specs if you can effectively keep off hazards to give it more ins, Which is certainly tricky but manageable. Boots is probably its safest and most consistent set, On a team with Milotic/Bellibolt/Altaria nothing will escape without being statused.

Now to the rest:

Bruxish A+ -> B
Imo not enough damage output outside of terrain Seeing as this is a Pokémon I struggle mostly to get working I can only really go by how well I see it do against me or others and that is...not good.

Pawmot A -> A+
Probably the best scarfer i've used post shift

Skuntank A-> A+
You could pick any Skuntank set and it'd still be good really, Probably the best offensive check to Typhlosion-hisui forcing it to switch almost every time. Fantastic Pokémon.

Golurk A- -> B
I think it's gotten a little worse right now with the amount of seed any Poltergeist user would suffer really. Have you actually seen one switch to HHP also ?

B+ -> U/R Still wanna keep it ranked or ??????

Broken record U/R

Rotom-mow Yeah I just see 0 case where this should be used/would be good.
Sneasel }
Minior } Wanna keep these ranked despite dropping to NFE/ZU or ??????
Smeargle

Yes, we do still wanna keep sneasel ranked EVEN when its in the best spot its ever been in.
Ok but like
B -> B+
Dark type are so great rn and this guy is no exception. Stab taxels are hitting hard and it makes decent progress into milo anyways.

A few more noms because why not

UR -> C
This mon is really good rn with its sub BU set and bdrum could be alright aswell.

UR -> C
Niche tspikes setter and semi-stall mon whilst able to dish out decent damage.

UR -> C
quad resists scald from milo and doesnt give a shit about the burn and it is able to deal massive damage back. Just scout for ice beam first!

 

[Aurist]

The VR council is going to start voting today on the full slate (all mons on the VR) + new mons + nominations from UR->ranked. This is likely to be completed by Sunday next week.

The VR council discussed a handful of mons, and the following mons will be nominated for voting in addition to above posts:

Oricorio-Pa'u, Malamar, Poliwrath, Piloswine

Next slate will likely be Nomination based and posts after this one will be considered for the next slate. Thanks!

 

[Oofhixd]

Ok one more nom that i kinda forgot about
UR -> C
LO sforce sets are really powerful and it has a really nice speed tier

Calcs

252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Body Slam vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Espeon: 298-351 (109.9 - 129.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Body Slam vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Florges: 269-317 (90.5 - 106.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Tauros Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Avalugg-Hisui: 333-395 (100.6 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO (for non custap — even still avalugg doesnt ko back)
252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Delphox: 322-382 (110.6 - 131.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Body Slam vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Zoroark: 296-348 (113.4 - 133.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Typhlosion-Hisui: 304-359 (105.9 - 125%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Body Slam vs. 252 HP / 200 Def Milotic: 191-226 (48.4 - 57.3%) -- 93.4% chance to 2HKO (if it doesnt get burned back, and lets face it — it will)
252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Body Slam vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Bellibolt: 212-251 (50.2 - 59.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Bruxish: 328-387 (118.4 - 139.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO (lives wave crash)
252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Throat Chop vs. 132 HP / 0 Def Golurk: 296-351 (84 - 99.7%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

This mon absolutely isnt flawless, its so weak into hound especially that its absolutely hilarious. Imo this mon deserves to be ranked and has alot of unexplored potential. Honestly on the 4th moveslot you can just run sub tbh since eq isnt hitting anything that this doesnt.

 

[Wnedy]

I love Pu
Anyways…

C —> C+
Very solid as a check to non icebeam sets of Milotic given its typing and ability natural cure, it can force Milotic to take an tera to survive Seed Flare at times. Also walls out Bellibolt which is very useful against sets using toxic to make progress. Seed flare is a spammable move into most teams (outside of guno whom can switch in free and potentially benefit from a stat drop) which can help chip down foes if need be. 100 base speed is solid given its natural bulk honestly.

B —> B+
With drops such as Espeon, Galarian Slow Bro, and Typloshion Hisui, Qwilfish H typing is even more valuable than before serving as a nice mon to help out against these new foes. Solid as an offensive sweeper despite its speed tier and even without the pivoting of its other form specially defensive sets can help team’s immensely while setting spikes.

New —> S / Ban worthy
The thing is a ravenous beast. Typing is superb and has plenty of set variety making it hard to counter at times. Its bulk plus haze / Dragon Tail makes it a great option against many offensive threats who like setting up. Scald’s burn chance dissuades hecid from switching into it which is huge for keeping the thing around. And while marvel scale is preferred, competitive can be used to surprise enemies to punish Defog in some cases. Overall this thing is meta defining to put it short. Might be worth looking towards a suspect test this time around.

C+ —> C
Hazards + Spin is nice role compression but it’s outclassed by many other mons in this role. Muds and sandaconda are better for the lead ground role with both lasting longer and proving extra utility (albeit knock is nice). Coal and Sandslash Alola have more defensive use than Sandslash while also providing hazards + spin combo. It has a solid stat spread still however but yeah imo it doesn’t feel C+.

 

[Aurist]

Our next VR update is in! The voting can be found here. Thank you to kyuss for creating the new formula for the sheet.

The results are as follows:

S

Milotic NEW -> S

A+
Arcanine S -> A+
Articuno-G
Florges S -> A+
Rotom-H A -> A+
Skuntank A -> A+
Slowbro-G NEW -> A+

A
Bellibolt A+ -> A
Espeon NEW -> A
Mudsdale A- -> A
Pawmot
Rhydon S -> A
Salazzle A+ -> A
Tauros-P-F
Wo-Chien B+ -> A
Zoroark A+ -> A

A-

Bombirdier A -> A-
Cramorant
Delphox
Dudunsparce B+ -> A-
Goodra
Sandslash-A B+ -> A-
Scrafty
Tatsugiri
Typhlosion-H NEW -> A-
Venusaur

B+

Altaria
Ambipom B -> B+
Bruxish A+ -> B+
Decidueye-H A -> B+
Electrode-H A- -> B+
Frosmoth
Grimmsnarl
Golurk A- -> B+
Hariyama
Hoopa
Palossand B -> B+
Persian-A C -> B+
Qwilfish B -> B+
Qwilfish-H B -> B+
Uxie A- -> B+

B

Avalugg-H B+ -> B
Braviary-H
Floatzel B+ -> B
Magneton
Oricorio B+ -> B
Sneasel
Sneasel-H B+ -> B

B-

Brute Bonnet
Dipplin
Froslass
Glastrier B -> B-
Grafaiai
Hitmonlee C+ -> B-
Houndstone B -> B-
Indeedee-F C+ -> B-
Lanturn C+ -> B-
Mesprit B -> B-
Naclstack B+ -> B-
Oricorio-Pa'u UR -> B-
Orthworm
Sandaconda B -> B-
Sceptile
Shaymin C -> B-
Snorlax C -> B-
Thwackey C+ -> B-
Trevenant UR -> B-

C+

Alcremie C -> C+
Farigiraf B- -> C+
Mismagius C -> C+
Poliwrath UR -> C+
Rotom-C B -> C+
Whimsicott B- > C+
Vikavolt

C

Abomasnow
Arboliva C+ -> C
Articuno B- -> C
Coalossal B+ -> C
Ditto B -> C
Emboar C+ -> C
Exeggutor-A UR -> C
Jolteon
Kingdra
Lurantis C+ -> C
Lycanroc C+ -> C
Malamar UR -> C
Minior B -> C
Passimian C+ -> C
Regirock C+ -> C
Sableye C+ -> C
Sandslash C+ -> C
Venomoth UR -> C
Virizion B -> C

UR

Bastiodon C -> UR
Cryogonal C -> UR
Drifblim C -> UR
Hattrem C -> UR
Smeargle C -> UR
Weezing C -> UR

 

[Breakfastbiscuit]

All well and good.

Imo voting council has gotten too large, would certainly like to see it reduced

haha this post if you agree

 

[658Greninja]

I am curious as to why Palossand rose on the VR?

I figured that Toxtricity rising to NU would make it less viable. It does have reliable recovery which lets it stand out from its competition (Rhydon/Mudsdale)

But I am interested in hearing the council’s thoughts on Palossand.

 

[asa]

I am curious as to why Palossand rose on the VR?

I figured that Toxtricity rising to NU would make it less viable. It does have reliable recovery which lets it stand out from its competition (Rhydon/Mudsdale)

But I am interested in hearing the council’s thoughts on Palossand.

Aside from recovery, which is nice when dealing with Arcanine, Pawmot, Tauros-F, etc., being a spinblocker that also sets hazards is handy role compression. Palossand does well at boosting the threat level of Spikes in a lot of games, which is noteworthy considering how oppressive Spikes can be. Palossand’s matchup against opposing hazard setters is also pretty good, so they can’t just comfortably trade hazards with you, and its ability to spread poison/burn is nice with Milotic and Wo-Chien popping up more. There’s smaller stuff, too; walls like Glowbro and Bellibolt aren’t too keen on switching into it (same for offensive threats like Hyphlosion, Hoopa, Bruxish, etc.), bulky Espeon can’t safely block its rocks, and with Tera it can trade better than you’d initially think.

That’s my view of its positives, at least. Palossand isn’t what I would call a go-to, even for Spikes stack, but it strangely feels more viable now than during the previous meta (though even then I’d argue it was slightly underrated).

 

[Aurist]

We're going to be running another small VR voting slate that we'll get out around Sunday 4th May, as a lot changes in 2 weeks! We're encouraging nominations and I'm going to make a couple of my own.

Piloswine UR -> C/C+

This one was my mistake - it was supposed to be nominated in last slate and was accidentally missed off the sheet. Piloswine has been seen recently as a decent Stealth Rock setter with good matchups vs removal (Sandslash-A, Altaria, Avalugg-H, Frosmoth, etc) and also not being easy to switch in on for some other removal that can beat it (Tatsugiri, Cramorant), it also makes use of Smack Down to annoy several mons that it would otherwise struggle with and giving it an immaculate matchup vs Rotom-Heat which is not the easiest mon to check.

Espeon A -> A+

I'm sorry but how is this mon not A+ already. People have been hung up on Grassy Seed and defensive utility sets, which are ok, but simple Life Orb 3a or 4a sets are what take over the tier, with people finally catching up to the tech and using Grass Knot which pairs beautifully with Psyshock the mons that actually check this thing are not common, and it's not even that easy to kill with priority when Sucker Punch is the only thing it's ever gonna be in range of, making Tera Fairy Draining Kiss even easier to click. The speed tier and power make this mon one of the best offensive choices in the entire tier.

Shaymin B- -> B+

People are starting to get it - Shaymin sits on so many fat mons in PU and its ground + fairy coverage is not easy to come in on. It's a pretty hard shut down on Milotic/Wo-Chien/Bellibolt, it makes CM Florges not a thing, stuff like Glowbro/Skuntank/Bombirdier can't actually come in safely, it's simply a good mon. Because Rotom-Heat and Articuno-G are so good it has more limited scope than it could, but once people properly start using LO 3 attacks Shaymin they'll see what's up.

Rotom-Mow C+ -> B

I feel like in the last slate Rotom-Mow went down as punishment for not being used pre-shifts, but this mon actually got better in the new meta not worse. Rotom-Mow has an easier time pivoting around than Rotom-Heat right now despite Rotom-Heat being an overall better mon, because it matches better into Milotic and is riskier to come in for the volt immunes like Rhydon, Mudsdale, Palossand, Lanturn, etc. Low HP Pain Split mons are also thriving right now because there's more fat passive stuff to exploit.

Froslass B- -> C/C+

Froslass right now is a HO lead that loses to all other HO leads, matches poorly into spinners and is already being hard prepped for by the meta without anyone having to change anything. Theoretically more attacking sets could work but that's not so explored at the moment. It has no place in B tier.

That's all I have for right now, would love to know other peoples' thoughts before we go to voting next week!

 

[Theycallmephil]

Writing some noms to try to express my own sentiments and things talked about in cord im not sure will carry over to a smogon post(unless I do it)

A- -> A+
i know everyone is super high on pawmot right now but id like to throw the name of PUs actual best fighter in the ring. Scrafty has tons of sets, and somewhat varied answers. This pokemon takes full advantage of gen 9s tera mechanic to flip matchups on their head and it has access to the best offensive stab in PU right not imo(that being knock off) this pokemon has absolutely blown me away in tests and I've heard similar sentiment around it from others. A- is a tier for fighters like yama, not the king of fighters in pu.

B -> A-
ive noticed a weird theme of pokemon with regional forms getting thrown in the same tier as said form? (Not you ) but i think, to pretend sneasel is only about as good as it's hisui ancestor would be to massively undersell it. Sneasel is FAST and with a stab combo who's only real switchin is the all out offensive who even itself would rather not take a knock. I've found this pokemon to absolutely blow away my expectations of it at every turn

B+ -> A-
"Are you done nomming dark types yet" NO! Anyone's who's discussed meta with me over these last few weeks(you poor souls) has heard me sing this pokemons praise, despite not having knock off or flip turn the toolkit provided to hwilfish is exceptional. The same stab as the dangerous skuntank, but this one has much much better bulk and spikes. I've used hwil on all manner of teams, from offense to semistall and its been consistently useful.
I'm glad it rised up, im just not sure it was enough.

B+ ->A-
Its no secret PU bulked up and hit the gym. So now I turn to a dangerous bulk up sweeper using the slowed down bulkier tier to its advantage. With guts to take advantage of and beat down the best mon in the tier, and generally just very solid stats. Hariyama has proven itself as a relevant sweeper in pu once again.

B+ -> A
Why did this drop btw? If it was worry that espeon was outclassing it i certainly do not agree. I actually think uxie is flat better than espeon for things like sweeping. It's great bulk and timeless movepool keep it on top here in pu. I don't think a whole lot changed for it, it doesn't like that knock got a bit better but it does love things slowing down some.
Big uxie fan.

B+ -> B
Id love to be proven wrong but hoopa feels plain irrelevant right now.
Strong dark types on every team, more things that can eat a hit from it, etc.
This meta looks bad for hoopa, but due to a very low amount of information on it I don't think I can justify throwing it into C tiers.

C+ -> B-
Are we still doubting the stupid cakes ability to steal games?
This mon lives and dies by its access to tera, but it's so fucking good at it.
Alcremie can rip through teams after little pressure from Teammates and honestly it's hard not to exhaust ones answers to it before it comes in.
Another devastating set up threat sadly overlooked.

Thats all i can think of rn I fear.

 

[Hera]

first time doing this in years cause i'm bored

a+ -> a
it's good but i think we're slightly overrating this mon. if you look at the rest of the top mons here, it loses to milo, guno (set-dependent, loses to tera steel anyway), flor (set-dependent), heattom, and skunk, while only really consistently beating arc (overrated mon as well but not nomming it down). it just wants to do too much and wants to be both boots phydef and av but it also wants all its coverage moves cause otherwise it can't hit something important, and relying on poison chances to make progress means it ends up being too passive. it's decent enough glue but it doesn't feel as impactful as the other a+ and s mons.

b+ -> b
this feels noticeably worse than hfish. unlike hfish it takes up your water slot which means you can't use better waters like milo and cram without significant clash in typing. your bulk is also worse than hfish due to a lack of evio, and even though you're "better" into knock due to not being reliant on your item, you're a worse skunk check cause you don't actually resist the move. qwil also needs psplit more than hfish which requires you to pick between flip/barb/taunt/psplit/twave while hfish can just go barb/taunt/filler and problem solved. as a spiker you need intim more due to your worse bulk in comparison, and because guno is a top mon intim is increasingly becoming a liability, and you can't block any removal like alt or cram cause the former brings you super low and can burn you on the switch, while the latter clicks cane and there's 50% of your health gone.

c+ -> ur
we do not need to rank every mon that can take a milo scald, and while i think some like lanturn and trev are a bit too high, poli is a prime example of a mon that's just directly worse than a bunch of its competition, namely, why are you using this over scrafty? you're slightly faster at the cost of less coverage (people seem to agree this can only run knock/drain/bu/sub or encore while scrafty gets so much more), no way to boost your speed, no effective status immunity, lose to all the same mons scrafty does due to your fighting type, and you don't even beat the other waters (cram clicks cane, tastu clicks draco, lanturn clicks volt). the worst part is its main niche, beating milo, is invalidated by milo itself the moment it uses alluring voice. it's been argued to be viable by council but when pressed for replays none were provided, so i think its niche is theoretical and not something that's actually been proved yet. if poli does end up proving itself then i will admit i'm wrong, but until then i believe this should not be ranked.

 

[Corvy]

I usually don't make these types of posts, but I felt like I had some takes to add to this VR specifically!


A -> A+
I feel like this mon is being a bit underrated and downplayed here. Putting this as A tier because of how it worked in Grassy terrain is disingenuous. This thing does work with specs or lorb, and helps a ton with hazards/status simply by existing. Having this mon in the back makes your opp reluctant on hitting any hazards or status moves in fear of magic bounce, and often makes them press suboptimal attacking moves. This is imo the mon that makes HO possible rn and demands more respect than A.

B+ -> A-
The typing is just that good rn. The bulk + utility and damage this mon provides is pretty nice rn.


B+ -> B-
Honestly cannot see a reason to run this mon when Milotic fills out the water type slot in most teams, and Hwilfish just simply does better than it as a util mon.

B+ -> C+
I'm not buying the hype around this mon. I tested it extensively before, and it kight be my playstyle not suiting it, but I saw no reason to run thia over smrh like Grimsnarl.

B -> B+
This mon still does absurd damage and is the best rocker for HO, stop the disrespect.

B -> A
Phil said it before me, but idk why this is ranked the same as SneaselH. It does insane work rn with band and has a decent stab combo for most things, mainly just dark type. We gotta stop ranking mons low, just because of speculations.

B -> B-
What does this goober even do when Glowbro and Espeon run around? The type combo doesn't help it much either as a stray Psyshock or Psychic murders this poor child, while it can threaten with gunk shot 80% of the time.

B- -> UR
Let this mon go. It's outclassed in HO, and not useful anywhere else. She may have been good in past metas, but so was Perrserker, and I don't see his viking ahh anywhere on here .

C -> B-
This is my spice pick of the month. After experimenting with bulky Minior and SpA minior I came to the conclusion that ranking it solely based on phys herb sets is a bit daft. It can do a ton of things and its ability protects it from status moves, letting it do things pretty safely for a good while. U-turn, rocks, 2 attacks is a pretty decent set for it, if you let go of the dream of that 1 in 10 chance of shell smash letting you sweep an opponent.


C -> B-
Typing is ass rn, but ability + role compression is supreme. Does decently well with Boots or AV from experience.

 

[Breakfastbiscuit]

Greetings Folks! I come bearing nominations!

Rises:

Floatzel B -> A-

I really think this Pokémon has just gotten a whole lot better this meta, Its movepool and high speed tier are just invaluable to any line-up. Not a whole lot wants to switch into it really and it's just kind of thriving.

Sneasel B -> A-

This here Pokémon finds so many ins these days, and really threatens big damage against the better physical walls currently. A great late-game sweeper I've found and keeping off rocks for the band set is easy.

Passimian C -> B-

Great versatility, Great damage output and overall quite splashable, This meta has been pretty kind to this one. And its pivoting and breaking prowess shouldn't carry on as under-represented as it is.

Poliwrath C -> B

This guy can really exploit some current threats and you don't even have to expend tera usually to get any value out of it. For that reason alone I think it deserves a little bump. But also a nice feature it adds is stuff like Circle throw for Espeon; or tera dark + knock off to serve as a lure.

Drops:

Pawmot A -> B+

Simply too one-track in its functionality and in turn making it too easily exploitable with only one set being worth using, I don't quite get the fuss around it when people say it's good. To easily revenged and its defences-low hp make it too vulnerable to chip.

Articuno-g A+ . B+

Too frail to really get sweeps happening. Speed tier is kind of lacking. I find it to be too reliant on Heavy duty boots to be considered anything other than middle-tier.

Ambipom B+ -> C+

Rather over-rated really, Coalossal is too strong right now to justify this guy as a pick without missing out on too much in the builder. It is too hazard weak and is usually clicking in-accurate moves.

Bellibolt A -> B

Not in a great spot I feel solely by being pressured too hard by Espeon and it being a total momentum sink against stuff like Slowbro who it can't even toxic and switches into it way too easy.

 

[Aurist]

Greetings Folks! I come bearing nominations!

Rises:

Floatzel B -> A-
Sneasel B -> A-
Passimian C -> B-
Poliwrath C -> B


Drops:

Pawmot A -> B+
Articuno-g A+ . B+
Ambipom B+ -> C+
Bellibolt A -> B

You made the troll nominations too obvious, the sarcasm too overt and chose too many mons you've historically been saying are bad for me to take this post seriously. I don't know what you think you're doing with this, whether you think you're "making a joke of the system" or whatever but this "system" is the good will of the users contributing to it and testing it just makes you look bad.

I'm going to disregard every nom in this post and if the troll stuff keeps coming I'll disregard your noms permanently.

 

[DD Joe]

Hello,

DDJoms:


Rises:

B-B+ Mag is thriving right now. It can check Florg, safely switch in, spread para, and doesn't have too many switch ins at the moment. Copperajah's departure means that it's hard to find ways to stop Mag spamming Volt Switch and Flash Cannon.

C-B Malamar feels quite oppressive sometimes. If you don't have the adequate tools to deal with it, it can steamroll you pretty easily! It functions very nicely on Spike Stack builds when paired with a ghost. Don't defog in front of this man!

B+-A- Persian A has some fantastic traits. Bulky, very fast mon that can spam knock and also force out the oppressive Espeon with Parting Shot. It can cripple fat with switcheroo scarf sets as well as spam para. Underrated lil fella!

B-- A Hoopa is strong right now. Being able to both cripple fat with trick and set up with NP and Sub makes this thing a force to be reckon with. Specs is also very underrated. Being able to blast through both Slowbro and Milotic is an underrated trait.

A-A+ Pawmot 2hko's most of the tier right now and can OHKO Zoroark with mach punch. It has unpredictable sets and feels very hard to switch in on right now. Probably the next mon to be looked at suspect wise.

Falls:

A- -B Cramorant feels far less impactful with the lessened impact of Rhydon on the meta. It's still a decent defogging choice but defog in general is rarer with spin builds being preferred. It just isn't doing as much as it did when Tauros and Rhydon were stronger.

B-C+ Floatzel is just a bit miserable. Band doesn't get anywhere with Milotic and Rocky Helmet Tera Water Glowbro being everywhere and Scarf lacks breaking power. The popularity of Storm Drain mons doesn't help either!

B-C+Sneasel lacks the breaking power required for the current meta. Struggles into Milo and Glowbro and can't seem to get going as easily as it once could.

A-A- Salazzle is again having a bit of a torrid time. Rhydon is still popular enough to check it, Milo can flip on it, Glowbro walls it pretty hard with its very popular AV set. The Sub-Corrosion build is probably still serviceable but Salazzle feels no where near as oppressive as pre-shifts.

A-A- This one might be a hot take but the prevelence of Pawmot, Skuntank and Zoroark currently have Articuno struggling for relevancy. It's slightly too slow, struggles into Milotic (unless you air slash them to death) and Rhydon still loves to come in on it. It's still great, but not as problematic as pre shift.

 

[Aurist]

Our latest VR shifts are in, and you can find the voting here.

The results are as follows:

Rises

Espeon A -> A+
Pawmot A -> A+

Scrafty A- -> A

Uxie B+ -> A-

Sneasel B -> B+

Shaymin B- -> B

Rotom-C C+ -> B-
Malamar C -> B-

Piloswine UR -> C
Tauros UR -> C

Drops

Cramorant A- -> B+

Qwilfish B+ -> B

Floatzel B -> B-
Sneasel-H B -> B-

Froslass B- -> C+

Thanks to all the nominators and voters. Next voting slate does not have a set date, but we are accepting nominations for next slate.

 

[Oofhixd]

Yeah ig I’ll do a few noms.

B+ -> A-
This mon has one of the undisputed best typings in the game and is super fat with its evio set. Not to mention that dark is currently the best type in the tier. On top of that, it has nice recovery with pain split and is probably the best spike setter in the tier. This mon is almost necessary on bulky hazard stack.

B+ -> A
Yeah this cat is insane. One of the fastest mons in the tier, great physical wall and insane utility movepool. Our fastest knocker joint with sneasel and has pivot moves. Imo better than Grimm rn.

B+ -> A-
Speaking of Grimm, it’s still good rn! Prankster BU is nice as well as the utility it provides. This has priority pivoting and has spirit break just to be extra annoying. It’s still a great and versatile mon.

B+ -> A-
Ok I promise this is the last B+ dark type (ignore that it’s the only one left). Insane breaker imo, can crush unprepared teams and has the same speed tier as alopers. This guy’s taxels are gonna hit so fucking hard especially on band sets. The only issue with this mon is that it’s not particularly splashable and it’s hard to fit.

A+ -> S
Yeah this mon can go to S. insane typing with levitate, insanely splashable, great bulk and so much set variety. Feels like an S mon, possibly better than milo.

A+ -> S
I originally had this as pawmot but the more i look at this mon the more it screams S tier. Currently the best knocker in the game and it has so many things going for it. This meta just lets it shine more than it EVER has.

A -> A+
Do you guys seriously think I’m done nomming dark types? No! This mon is currently only getting better and better in my eyes and whilst it is tera reliant, it can currently steal so many games. With enough EVs it can outspeed max speed rotom-heat at +1, whilst also managing to out speed uninvested milo at base. On top of its insane ability and immense bulk, it has a massive movepool and can run sets outside of DD and BU. Tbh in the future I could see this going higher.

A- -> A+
Dudun is genuinely amazing rn. All 3 sets are great and all around the same in viability, my favourite being the special set. Reliable recovery is really nice for it and phasing with dtail also really helps. Imo a top 10 mon rn.

A- -> A
This mon is just as good as it was before If not better! Uxie still does Uxie things with rocks and utility shenanigans and can prevent milo from healing with psychic noise.

B+ -> A/A-
Im undecided on this guy. I previously had it at A+ last meta and thought of it as somewhat banworthy, but its still great in this meta! It has 3 or 4 viable sets, and is currently the fastest mon in the meta. It can dish out nice damage with all of its sets, and is our fastest non-scarf pivoter in the meta. The typing is also great and actually, as im writing this im leaning A rn.

B+ -> A-
I mean this mon has been having so much success lately. Lefties BU sets are great as ever, and bdrum and flame orb sets are… not viable BUT ladder likes them ig! It loves being burned by milo and just feels great in this meta.



B- -> B+
Oh, and ig B- -> B
I think terrain is pretty underranked in B- rn. Terrain won PU love tour and is on 2 of samples. The archetype is just great rn and it’s seeing lots of success both on ladder and in high level play.

B -> B+
I think B is too low for the mon representing non-terrain HO rn. Hell, this thing is even good on terrain HO, where a rocker is never traditionally present. This is the best mon that uses both spin and rocks in its moveset (looking at you, coalossal) and actually has a pretty damn good attack stat so it can dish out some pretty nice damage when in custap range. This mon has some moveset versatility, and in general isn’t half bad as a breaker. This is all neat and all for avalugg, but this is me nomming HO up a tier as this being the only viable HO lead (sorry not sorry )

B- -> B
Yeah this mon is super nice on fat balance (the premiere playstyle currently) and works super well with milo. It also fares well against milo and is always gonna be a fat fuck due to sticky hold unless you toxic it down. Overall a great mon rn and I think I actually underranked it here, but we need more mons in B.

B- -> B
Hi Milo, enjoy salt cure, haha byeeeeee! In all seriousness though, nacl is, and always has been a fine rocker with a broken signature move. It also has great bulk furthered by eviolite and reliable recovery. Definitely deserves a higher rank.

B- -> B
Would also possibly put this higher in the future. agreeing with a lot of people, I think this mon has been punished for being so shit pre shifts that it’s super underranked post shifts. It has a great milo MU and it’s perfectly fine on some teams in replacement of heattom which already have a fire. This mon also isn’t limited to boots making running scarf sets easier than on heattom.

C+ -> B
LOL this mon is great idk why you guys are sleeping on it but a lot of great points have already been made so I’ll keep this one short but essentially this mon is a devil which can clean up late game.

C -> B- ok this is just another oof emboar haha nom. But i think all of my previous points still stand, except for the fact that milo is in the meta. Thats knocked it down 2 subranks for me but i still believe its much better than all the shit in C and C+. To recap, emboar is a really powerful mon with scarf, amd has some insane setup potential with its BU trailblaze set.

C -> C+
Pretty minor change which I could see going higher in the future. This is mainly due to the rise of scrafty rn and how good it is behind veil. 4 turns of veil on some mons is more than worth it for the 5.5 vs 6. Using abomasnow also enables you to run a snow abuser: (beartic, sandslash-a) which is nice and gives the team some speedier options. It’s not like this mon is THAT shit on its own and can put in work under the right circumstances.

C -> C+
I mean it’s a fine special wall. Forced into boots but it’s essentially like cryogonal but slower and with stats. It’s a bit team dependent but it’s a nice option on some bulky balance teams.

C -> C+
This mon is nice on some semi-stall and ultrafat teams. It has nice stats and it’s a good physical wall having the issue of not being able to output much back. Twave can also annoy the enemy and this mon works on twave spam.

Now for drops (damn this is gonna be a long post)

A+ -> A
Hes just not that guy anymore. Arcanine is still good, but curse sets are meh at best rn making the only good set band. Arcanine is still an amazing mon and one of the best in the tier, but imo its nowhere near as good as it was before this meta.

A -> A-
This is gonna be my broken record bit but i do think that muds has improved in this meta. It feels nearly as good as rhydon rn and it works on some teams. That being said, it doesn’t feel like an A tier mon at all. CB sets are cute but they arent very good, and its much less splashable than rhydon, or any A tier mon for that matter.

A -> A-
Just not the electric that youre always running on balance rn. A lot of the time balance doesnt even need an electric and if it does, rotom heat is right there as one of (if not the best) mon in the tier. That being said, belli still works well into milo and its one of the best toxic spreaders in the tier.

A- -> B+
This feels pretty overranked rn. All sets have issues and currently by far the best set is hdb which struggles with both damage and speed. Its only suitable for some archetypes and even then there are other options that you very well could use such as delphox and rotom heat. It also lacks set up options and overall, it feels pretty underwhelming in general and i could see a further drop to B tbh.

A- -> B+
This imo isnt the best spinner in the tier rn due to having so so many issues with typing, stats and just generally being slow. On most teams i’d rather use a tatsu as my spinner due to actually having offensive capabilities and not being quad weak to two of the most common types in the tier. Imo, theres currently way too much holding this back to be any higher than B+ for me.

B+ -> B
Lol rip hoopa this used to be a mon. Darks are now so common that hoopa will be catching a stray knock off 50% of the time. Hoopa also has super poor bulk meaning that its ohko’d by any mon that outpeeds it, and it likely isn’t killing them back due to the opponent usually having much better bulk. Just an underwhelming pokemon rn imo.

B+ -> B-
Lol rip bruxish, this used to be a mon. Milo coming to the tier really fucking hurt it and it now has competition in a speedy offensive psychic in espeon. The rise in darks really is not helping this mon aswell especially since it was already falling off towards the end of last meta. Scarf sets are most likely awful atp leaving only sd which is just… average. See you in a few months when milo rises back up!

B -> B-
I never really got the hype with this mon tbh. I’ve used it quite a bit due to research project and its like, fine?? Other than that theres nothing that much special abt it, there are plenty of electrics and plenty of scarf special breakers. We dont have many steels and this mon is not one. Rotom-heat is more of a steel than this mon, its more like an electric type that happens to have steel stab.

B- -> C+
Tbh this mon is so shit. It has uh, good attack and defense ig? That doesn’t matter when you’re slow as bricks and an ice type tho. It doesn’t even get glacial lance which is sad and it has to be under the (unviable) trick room to do ANYTHING threatening. In almost every case you’re better off using another ice type.

B- -> C+
Honestly psychic terrain isn’t good rn. Grassy terrain is usually so much better that you wouldn’t even consider psychic terrain in most cases. The defense boost is much more helpful than the special defense boost, and the passive healing that gterrain provides is really nice. That being said, psychic terrain turning off prio is really nice, and psy terrain in general isnt TOO awful

B- -> C+
I’ve never gotten the hype around this mon tbh. It just doesn’t do ANYTHING. It has a good typing and 2 great abilities but honestly you’re just playing a 5v6 bringing lanturn. It has no stats and no movepool aswell and even though this meta is amazing for it, its still an absolutely awful mon.

B- -> UR
Tbh ive never got any of the hype around this mon. Its completely outclassed by dudunsparce and just doesn’t have anything that makes it stand outfrom the myriad of other normals. I would love to be proven wrong, but this old king has lost his crown.

C+ -> UR
This mon is so shit LMAO, the premiere HO lead is avalugg and anything other than that on non-terrain HO is trolling. Like sure, this mon is unique but like so is fucking rampardos. Destiny bond could be cute, but it isn’t. Imo in the current meta, froslass just isn’t viable.

Ok these next 4 noms are just gonna be me being a broken record since ive already previously nommed them to UR

C+ -> C/UR
Me being a broken record starts here. This mon is really ass and has no place in the PU metagame rn. Sub np dkiss is the only real set and its underwhelming to say the least. I’ve elaborated on it so much more in the PU research project so i suggest that you check that out but honestly, this is enough of a summary imo bc when have you seen mismagius put in work? Once? Twice? This mon has no results and just underwhelms me in every way imaginable.

C -> UR
Wooooooo more broken record. Jolteon may seem better rn bc of milo, but i assure you, it isnt. Its outclassed in every way as it always has been and it just lacks any sort of damage output. Sure its a fast electric, but you know whats also a fast electric? Electrode-hisui, one of the best mons in the tier. Overall i think that jolt is an absolute shitmon and should not be used.

C -> UR
I mean ive also discussed this in the research project lmao but like whatever. Kingdra is an ass mon. All of its sets are either too gimmicky or just outclassed. There are so many better dragon dance sweepers, and while I admit critdra is fun, it also isn’t any good. It just simply lacks the damage and therefore is an unmon to me.

C -> UR
Last mon. This mon currently has no niche as a? an? HO lead due to being completely outclassed by avalugg. Both phil and I have made points earlier about how awful it is so id suggest you check them out, but this mon has absolutely no niche as a rocks lead, and is even worse as a swords dance sweeper.

Finally, I’m done. This has been a fucking long post and I spent well over 2 hours on it which was way more than I was expecting to. Genuinely love you PU and tysm so much for reading.

 

[sufys]

one quick nom:
UR to C+

this mon is a pretty cool pick on ho, the agility power herb set only really matches up badly into bulky electrics like rotom-heat/bellibolt, the latter of which certainly isn't at its best right now. it's also just really strong... i'll let the replays do the talking:

fragments vs obb from fcl: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9pu-834320

some ladder games:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pu-2360451951-e6pattxjtgte18gm9haqp71flpgewyvpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pu-2360464650-wvtlylc7s48shd8ms8ml4fl9hht64copw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pu-2360472016-mm7l2nepyyfnn7s4frs17thrbauftjkpw

 

[gulch]

yeah been a minute since i've done this huh.

A+ > S
i've talked about pawmot in pucord to a decent extent at this point, i think it's very clearly the strongest breaker in the tier right now and there's not much that can really consistently deal with it long-term. a strong electric in a meta where balance structures are frequently (if not nearly always) leaning on milotic as part of their backbone is already a great boon, and none of the grounds we have available really enjoy facing it either. rhydon is weak to fighting, mudsdale doesn't have any recovery, and palossand and sandaconda don't fit on as many structures as you'd like. in the case of the latter three, iron fist ice punch also still does very respectable damage (as does close combat against mudsdale and sandaconda). it's fast, with a relatively small crop of unboosted mons being able to both outspeed it and do something meaningful to it (most of these can not come in reliably), and also comes packed with stab priority thanks to iron fist boosted mach punch. the only real, genuine problem i find pawmot facing on a consistent match-to-match basis is that it effectively does not have access to tera due to double shock basically necessitating that you use tera electric, and using it is a requirement to being able to repeatedly click your electric stab. however, especially considering the fact that it is highly unlikely you will be staring down two pokemon that you want to click double shock into consecutively one after the other, the latter feels like a relatively small price to pay for the plethora of upsides that pawmot provides. fuck this stupid rat.

i have some other noms but not a ton of meaningful commentary on them so i'll hold for now, do want to comment on the following though:

agree with getting the boot, havalugg has pretty clearly cemented itself as the chosen one amongst the three HO leads and the days of it being "pick whichever one suits your fancy" are over

agree that should drop but probably not that much? it's worse now, actual wave crash resist on every fat team makes your life sad and pathetic, but it's still fine i think

agree should rise, this fat fuck never dies and although it hogs tera a bit you will still consistently underestimate how hard of a beating it can take and be sad about it when you get dragon tailed into spikes again

disagree with dropping , curse is still excellent (although definitely worse due to milo), cleaning up stupid HO bullshit remains a powerful niche and the defensive value with intimidate is very nice

disagree with rising, maybe up to A- but i don't think it would stick, i'll ride for this mon but i think some people are definitely overblowing the long-term value it has. it's really good but not THAT good y'all

 

[Breakfastbiscuit]

G'day m8's

Just some food for thought post slate.

As per usual i'll start with the most pressing.

Lanturn
Okay so giving this one a rank was probably a little generous, It's matchups are too niche and its switch-in potential is very limited. I've personally found it lacking in bulk to the point where it is only getting one real switch-in unless it has an ideal matchup. And can't really put in the same work as other rest-talkers such as Malamar and Snorlax who can boost up their defences and be left at comfortable enough hp range after a couple of sleep turns allowing for non ideal pulls from sleep talk.

Lanturn's window is much much narrower and often is the case not getting the burn on scald is disastrous. While i'm pretty indifferent to weather it deranks I nominate Lanturn for U/R.

Malamar
Currently residing in the C tier and I think it's abit of a shame as this thing can really put you on the back foot. Aside from one user who uses it to great effect with full support as a win-con, I've seen it on some other very good teams in which it utilizes other tera types and it thrives in lengthier games. And can really whittle down threats for itself to clean up later with the right support.

Having it ranked in the tier of / / / / / & is kind of sorry and I nominate it to go to B+ which is a big leap but it's simply better than / / / ( too imo) and very much on the level as / and others in B+.

Glastrier
Seeing this one retain its spot in B- for several metas was a genuine gross misrepresentation. Not only was no one using it, it was also not very good. Trick room is almost never seen & it really needs those turns to begin a snowball. Without healing wish support there is no real point in using it which means you are almost forced to run it with (Imo over ranked in its own regard)

For these reasons I nominate it for C rank.

Regirock
I keep seeing this thing receiving some serious respect among vr voters and I just don't understand it. I have only seen on player use it on a regular basis spanning back some time and I actually feel it is one of the biggest examples of a relic of the past Pokémon. Sorely outclassed as a hazard & weather setter and it simply gives up on too much if it drops iron defence for utility.

I'll place it under the same umbrella here as I do - Unless you are one of the indivduals I know actually used it; I don't think there is much to dispute that Regirock should be anything other than niche descendant.

I nominate it for U/R.

Less than pressing:

Braviary-h
Love this Pokémon but it's awful right now, It can still fit onto HO just fine but keeping off stealth rocks for what personally regard as its best set (Choice specs) is too unforgiving. I also think that boots cm is rather bad and from what I've seen its success rate is less than impressive. If I had to pick a spot for it I think C is most fitting.

Goodra
In times past I had it nommed as high as A, Now ? I think it is feeling the pinch of a HO/Hazard stack heavy meta it can't really keep up with, Suffering the same fate as Copperajah did being very prone to chip but without the steel typing even more so. It still has a lot going for it like being a solid grass/fire/water/electric check and having several good sets and utility in knock + toxic. But imo there's a lot that can exploit Goodra. I've got my eye on this one.

Articuno
Missing out on Defog is tragic for it. It really doesn't do much apart from sit on hypothetical matchups and what it did best prior in haze+pivot has been long replaced by Milotic. I've seen it on some interesting stall teams but I don't see enough roles it fills for it to be ranked - Nominating for U/R.

Some other things I feel could go unranked:
- A knee-jerk reaction I feel. I understand it can work on grassy and makes it quite potent. I wasn't all impressed by it.
- Poor fella. While getting Kingdra sweeps is super fun getting off the two turn setup is a big ask.
My sentiments on it have not changed and I still think it's awful it just doesn't switch in well or threaten much in return.


**For those who care for some y a p**

Onto the next phase of the post - A couple of roles I feel are historically underrated as far as vr placings go are the following.

Lead dynamics

Lycanroc C -> B-
This is one I've seen really slammed in recent times and I really don't understand why. Sure there is almost noone left who doesn't know what it does so it doesn't usually get off good endeavors. But it really doesn't matter; There is almost always a scenerio in which a Lycanroc team can exploit a player maneuvering around endeavor. Be it information on a choice scarf or setting up on a ghost type trying to block it.

It certainly got left in the wake by but for me it always remained solid.
Worth noting It can literally out lead with certain sets, rather impressive not many can.

Froslass C+ -> B
Much like its Lupine sistren - In my personal experience players are scarily proficient in maneuvering around destiny bond, But in the same way Lycanroc does Froslass forces the catch 22; In avoiding losing a Pokémon to destiny bond. It will almost always have something that can exploit/punish what is in immediately.

Also worth noting that no longer run rock blast nor have they in quite some time. Froslass now functions as one of the only anti-leads into it & the only one who won't have to tera against it due to it's typing and move pool. My two cents on them is that they've rarely ever felt bad if it all.


The beast. Now i've touch why I considered it slightly under ranked previously but the main selling points are just how many Pokémon are enabled by it for example the recently nominated now most would consider this Pokémon to be otherwise unviable without support from it (There are exceptions but very few have "Braviary cred") but the list is actually maybe deeper than it gets credit for.

Some more examples:
/ / / / /

The other ZUBL's function well on other teams but makes them often look top tier.

Also it runs deeper with greedier movesets on already meta threats.

It's for these reasons I've been nominating it A-

Pivot dynamics

Pokémon with knock off & u-turn.

Thwackey B- -> B+

Thwackey from my standpoint so long as you can avoid being crippled by status can usually put in good work, couple it with the fact it is one of the biggest enablers in the tier I think Thwackey can get a more fitting rank. It's simply been that good for too long not to. Respectable speed tier as a taunter and potential for a swords dance surprise - It's rather good honestly.

Ambipom
As for Ambipom it does indeed have its drawbacks one of which being bad matchups into some of the most common stuff. / / / / / & most notably .

While it does have a great movepool some of the aforementioned Ambipom simply doesn't have an answer for and terrastilizing it often feels kind of bad. But with all of these cons out of the way Ambipom has a lot going for it. Enough anyways for me to merit it being A-.

As I've touched on previously; Ambipom offers an OHKO or combo down on a vast array of Pokémon few others can un-boosted

Pokemon OHKO'd by axel:
/ / / / / (Not to mention 4x weaknesses / (Miniscule roll but Dipplin is monstrous like that.)

Add to the fact it OHKO's / with knock and threatens in conjunction with fake out the likes of / / / (Max phys def probably lives most but others can topple)

It also serves to pressure the tiers ground types in / / and can often make progress into by knocking it initially.

It is a great remover of leftovers on the mons you need them gone for; / / / / /
Its speed tier is great at outspeeding the likes of / & at +1 Speed and fake out can bail you out of would be sweepers such as & .

 

[tom holland]

it has been a while since I made some noms, and I have been pretty actively lately so i figured I would share some thoughts.

A- to A : I seem to love snowslash more by the day. I used to really dislike the pokemon when copperajah was in the tier, but I have found a newfound appreciation for it since its departure, and I also find it pretty easy to stack spikes in this meta with it. I would personally consider it one of the best removal options at the moment, and spikestack is a very dominant force in the meta currently. The combination of spin+spikes as well as its consistency in answering florges, I end up having snowslash on my team more than nearly everything else in the tier. I understand it can be a little weak offensively, and it has some crippling 4x weaknesses, but the reality is that its role doesn't require it to need to tank those types, and its role is so valuable right now that it ends up being a great utility option on a plethora of teams.

A- to A : With the departure of p2 a whlie back, I have found myself also using this more and more. The versatility this pokemon offers is astonishing. It can go physically defensive, specially defensive, coil, calm mind, stealthrocks+toxic, agility, etc. It has enough bulk to be a great secondary wall on either side of the spectrum, and it provides a valuable ghost immunity that is very tough to find these days. Due to its bulk, recovery, and flexible options, it can easily turn a game around with proper setup or paralysis spread. This is just a great staple in balance structures right now!

B+ to A- : If you look at PULT and Open replays, you will see that ambipom is on the rise, and for good reason. This pokemon is an excellent anti-offense tool in a landscape filled with Hyper Offenses fast threats in general. It also has the flexibility in what coverage it runs, and with the right choice on the right team, it can be an excellent lure or breaker. Low kick is an option for snowslash, silk scarf double edge is very powerful and many teams forgo a normal resist for some reason right now, triple axel is a great generic coverage option that hits very hard, and knock off is an excellent cripple move and ghost hitter. It synergizes really well with spikes and toxic, and is capable of cleaning up endgames on its own sometimes.

A+ to S : This might be a hot take to some, but I am so tired of this thing bullying me and seemingly everyone else in tour replays. It is a menace to society. We all know what it does, but at high-level play this thing can cheese games with tera steel, pain split, and pivoting throughout the game. Sometimes, it randomly is running will-o-wisp and can cripple your rhydon, which is one of the only non-tera answers. It is incredibly easy to splash on teams, as you always need a florges answer, and its typing is actually really nice outside of that. It also rarely can run tera water or grass to nail rhydon and surprise murder bruxish/floatzel. I find this to be a low-risk, high reward bring in this meta, and an S-tier level threat offensively. I thought pawmot was S rank for a long time too, but then I realized rotom breaks things just as well as it really, and is even easier to splash on teams. The impact this pokemon has in the builder and in practice warrants S tier imo.

B+ to A- : So I really believe the people who think this thing is only B+ are not running sludge bomb over ghost stab. This pokemon is an excellent use of the electric immunity on spikestack teams, and can actually spread status really well with scorching sands and sludge bomb. sludge bomb in general is the coverage you need to not be too passive and have enough utility. This pokemon beats all the essential things Rhydon and Mudsdale beat on the physical end, with the perk of reliable recovery. I am a big believer in this choice for spikestacks, and think it deserves a boost.

Quick C-UR mentions
I am still incredibly unconvinced by this thing. It is a more passive, slower, worse feeling snowslash imo. It really NEEDS to go tera ghost to make an impact vs opposing spikestack/spin teams, and it struggles to spin itself vs common ghost types.
this thing is so passive and exploitable.. way too frail for how passive it is.
this is a ground type that loses to most fire types including arcanine, which is quite unfortunate. I think you are sacrificing way too much for role compression with this version of sandslash.
I have tried this and must say its just too weak. It can't do enough damage to be worth it over like, ambipom for example which puts up similar numbers with fake out and uturn.

These are the main things I wanted to call out :)

 

[Bella]

its been a reallyyyyyyy long time since I've done one of these VR posts, which is honestly half due to my unmotivation with Pokemon as of late and half because of life being kinda dog for me lately. But now that I have some motivation back it's time to talk about Pokemon some more :3. Sorry if this post is all over the place, its been a minute.

I wanna first start of by talking about the 2 Pokemon I feel like needs to be in S tier:

Rises:
A+ -> S
Rotom-H is probably the Second or Third best Pokemon in the tier atm. The incredible thing about Rotom-H is that I personally believe it has extremely little set variety (all good Rotom sets are in some form NP bulkyish sweeper sets) but it does the exact thing you want it to do every. single. time. What is that thing, you may ask? Rotom-H absolutely demolishes bulky teams relying on Milotic or Slowbro-G or Wo-Chien or.. well anything not named Rhydon or Goodra really as its defensive backbone. Its extremely safe to fire off an Overheat or set up a NP and then Volt without much worry, and it can keep itself going with Pain Split too. Absolutely bonkers Pokemon if you ask me, easily an S tier.

These next 2 are kind of controversial...

A -> S
If you've been following my recent ramblings on the discord lately, you would know that I think that Wo-Chien is absolutely insane in this tier. I personally believe it is the single best user of Tera in the tier, since Tera Poison turns extremely losing matchups like Florges, Pawmot, or Firebull into matchups Wo-Chien steamrolls. With Leech Seed + Protection + Lefties recovery, Wo-Chien never fucking dies. Like, seriously. Its such a fatass that it takes like 30% from an attack and then Leech seeds you to recover it all off. For being a tank, Wo-Chien is not passive at all either. Aside from Leech Seed, Wo-Chien pretty freely spreads Knock Offs and has Ruination to decimate opposing walls too or make them use up their recovery moves extremely extremely quickly. Its a great Pokemon, and probably my personal pick behind Milo as the second best Pokemon in the tier atm, but Rotom-H is very close behind and I could see an argument for it being ahead.

A -> A+
So this is probably the other best Tera user in the tier. Rhydon does it all, and has the benefit of not being extremely weak to U-turn or Status as much as Wo-Chien! Yippie! Its really good tldr. Theres not much to say about it, extremely solid Pokemon that can do it all and both act as a strong defensive wall and a terrifying sweeper with SD. So why not S tier, you may ask? Well, I think the other Grounds are just a bittt too good to not automatically use Rhydon over them plus its 100% more reliant on using Tera than Wo-Chien is and needs its Eviolite around to do anything. solid mon though!

Ok, time for a few others.

B+ -> A-
Been running this goober a lot recently and found it really enjoyable. Quiver Dance shenanigans are plenty fun on the right hyper offense team for it, but I found it really shines as a Defogger imo. It's really good at its job at that end, its sky high Special Attack makes it not passive at all even with little investment with Ice Beam and its a very solid backup Special Wall into the Florges', Hoopa's, and Tatsugiri's of the world if needed (although, I'll be honest having no recovery reallyyy fucking sucks for it). The Ice Stab really comes in clutch too, since you hit a lot of the other major walls like Wo-Chien, Muds, Rhydon, Goodra, etc for good damage with it. Very solid Pokemon overall, probably the best non Aslash removal atm if you ask me.

B -> B+
I've been seeing this Mon pop up more and more lately, and honestly? I kinda.. get it? It is a VERY solid attacker in the tier, since being able to hit Milotic and Rhydon while also being able to chip away at Galarbro and Wo-Chien with coverage is pretty great rn. It's also fairly bulky for an attacker in the tier, and its never safe to switch into it with somewhat decent switchins like Florges and Altaria since you're always at the threat of a Seed Flare drop ruining your day. Natural Cure is also amazing on it, since it makes it a solid status blocker against Pokemon like the beforementioned Galarbro and stuff like Altaria and Qwilfish and w/e. Very underrated mon, in general I feel like the tier's grasses are all in fairly great spots rn.

DROPS:

A- -> B+ / B
Honestly I've felt like the bird has had it rough as of late. The metagame is shifting and its pretty hard for it to be a reliable offensive pivot in this meta. The tier has seen some of its worse offensive and defensive matchups like Milotic, Florges, Rotom-H, Muds / Rhydon, and Alolaslash see rises while some of its better matchups (like Espeon Articuno Arcanine etc) are now just generally done better by skunk atm. Flying STAB and PShot is nice and all, but I don't think it justifies the much more niche space Bombirdier is in now. Add onto the growth of other Dark-types like Grimm and Alola Persian, and Bombirdier is just not that good anymore imo.

B- -> C
I don't know why this is here, tbh. Lanturn is a very hyper specific pivot atm. Its very good if you need a check to Bellibolt and Milotic, but its not very good at much else? It's really not that bulky, and it's typing is nice but it loses to quite a few of the better opposing walls. Feels kind of bad, idk.

STUFF I AGREE WITH!!!!
I'll make this quick because I want to nap.

A- to A
It's really good and the best removal option atm. Defensively can be somewhat lacking, but its pure utility makes up for it.

A- to A
It's annoying and fat. Not much else to say, very nice Pokemon since there's not that many fightings and teams are not running Normal resists as hard anymore.

B+ to A-
The sandcastle is annoying but really good (: There is no safe option into it because it will always poison or burn you (: Fun mon (:

A- -> A
It's really good and really fat and annoying. Not much to say about it.

C+ -> B
I think it's better in B-, but if you don't prep for this thing it will just 6-0 you, even on non terrain. Great Pokemon.

A- -> B+
It's really weak even with a +1 for some reason. Choice Sets are fun but overall just inconsistent.

C -> UR
This Pokemon is so bad lmao, it takes like 70% from everything and most of what it does it just feels like Grimm or Grafaiai lite.

STUFF IM IFFY ON??
B+ -> A-
Im kind of iffy on it? It's pretty strong against Rhydon-less teams, but it still feels like against alot of fat its pretty mediocre. Against offense it's great and it dominates the matchup, but otherwise it feels like B- tier meh. Not bad at all, but I think keeping it at B+ is fine.

A+ -> S
I mean, I get it. It's very strong and has incredible coverage to hit alot of its would be checks, while also having a bunch of good set options (Choice, Life Orb AoA, Even Leppa Blessing isnt that bad rn.) But.. as gulch says in his post, not having a real tera slot really fucking sucks. You basically need to run Tera Electric, and that can be easily exploited by any competent player. I personally think its easily in the top 5, but an S tier is an overreach.

B+ -> B
As a resident Hoopa fangirlie, I'll admit its taken a dip a bit with Wo-Chien and Skunk around more. But i feel like it doesn't make sense to drop it to B tier because in the right matchup, Hoopa is still an absolute Nuke and Cleaner. 150 SPA isnt no joke.

STUFF I SAY HELL NO! ive been watching alot of food reviews lately
A+ -> A
This dog is still very good as a sweper. If the Rhydon or Milotic is gone and / or chipped / tera'd, this thing clicks Curse once or twice and easily becomes the most consistent and scariest wincon in the entire tier.

B- -> C
Still a good pick on the right HO team if you know how to properly play it. I feel like it has quite a different playstyle than most other setup sweepers since it doesn't have speed and unlike stuff like Scrafty or K9 it doesn't get bulkier in the process, but it's still great with the right hands.

B -> C
An Agility'd HBrav is still one of the most threatening things to deal with if you have a chipped team. It's gotten more inconsistent, so I think perhaps a B- might be justified, but C is way too low. This is not the same as Piloswine.

C+ -> UR
I think Froslass is still decent on HO as not as a lead, but as an attacker. Maybe its troll, but Ice / Ghost stab is really nice and you have quite a bit of utility for being an offensive threat. C tier is fine, but I feel like URing it would be silly.

 

[Breakfastbiscuit]

Howdy Partners, with a debatably healthy sample size I’ve caught a decent glimpse of the metagame and there’s some things I’m keen to chat about.

For those in the know I’ve been pleading the case for it; But it’s traction on the ladder has been ramping up more and more over the past few cycles and has now got to the point where I personally feel it has become a top tier threat. Including some stuff I’ve posted about it here’s a little write up about it.

Ambipom - The widely loved monkey is everywhere currently and understandably so, its set variety is simply stellar, right up there with Florges & Scrafty Never knowing which move you are about to get nailed by. Having said that it makes sense it fits onto just about any archetype with the only exception that springs to mind being weather teams.

With it’s biggest opponent in Arcanine being much more manageable with the likes of Milotic around Ambipom has been a far more consistent choice across all brackets.

An often overlooked fact is that its revenge killing is even more potent in the post Tera phase of a game, Pokémon that didn’t resist fake out before now become threatened by it and keeping it alive is always always useful.

This is another one that sees a surge in usage surrounding happenings in the tier. (Ladder tournaments & suspect tests) but lately especially so, and Hoopa is just kind of monstrous I couldn’t imagine any other players experience facing this thing to be much different than mine. It isn’t inherently oppressive but it certainly has the traits of such. And I feel is now approaching the A- tier viability wise.

Some noms

Tinkatuff U/R -> C

I think this one has a niche and I know just going by some of the other teams I’m seeing it featured on that there would be handfuls of people who would agree.

I’ve actually found it to be quite consistent and very non Tera reliant.

In terms of reliability I’d put it above Pokémon such as: Venomoth/Poliwrath/Exeggutor-a,Sableye,Mismagius & Tauros.

It does have its drawbacks such as limited movepool devoid of a viable steel type attack or it’s sluggish speed stat but it really puts a halt to a lot of nasty setup sweepers; Grimmsnarl,Uxie,Frosmoth,Dudunsparce ,Florges and the most notable Espeon.

Tauros C -> U/R

KimagureOrangeRoad & r256 your Tauros teams are fantastic read no further.

Sorry but this Pokémon is just bad and isn’t viable I think it could vanish from the list. Apart from my ladder savants it’s just nowhere to be seen. Also to my knowledge it hasn’t seen a single/any use in tournaments either.

It has the tools to be good in theory but there’s just too many pitfalls worst of which being its coverage.

Mesprit B- -> U/R

Now it is Mesprit facing the chopping block. As I’ve brought up previously about Pokémon I’d describe as in a similar state (Glastrier & Regirock) to tar it with the same brush I feel the same way about Mesprit as I do those; Relic of the past Pokémon and over represented in the list spanning several metas despite it almost never being used.

I do acknowledge the fact it can offer some great utility especially in scarf and on paper but I’m of the opinion that saying this one has a niche would be a slight stretch.

 

[DD Joe]

Quick noms cause why not

Rises-

B+/A Incredibly flexible mon with a huge variety of sets. Band is extremely potent and can cripple fat mons who like to switch in on it, sub bulk up is a nasty win con and utility grimmsnarl is still dangerous for paraspam and enabling set up mons with parting shot. Underrated!

B+/A- Hits most of the tier hard, beats cheese with fake out and can deal monstrous damage with silk scarf double edge. Always outspeeding Espeon and hurting is is a big win.

A/A+ Again, both sets are violent. Sub Toxic can delete whole teams if unprepared and nasty plot still knocks massive dents into teams. Terrifying mon right now.

B+/A Terrifying on all kinds of teams. Can wreck with sub pinch berry, nasty plot, specs and scarf. Blows through most of the tier and feels amazing.

Drops-

B-/C Feels borderline unviable with Milotic knocking about. It hits it like a wet noodle.

B+/B- Feels slow and passive. Defog teams are gaining more popularity and its niche is dwindling.

A-/B+ Rhydon and Milo as a defensive core is extremely common and this mon struggles to gain a foothold currently. Eruption just doesn't do enough damage.