Project SV PU Personal Viability Rankings

[Breakfastbiscuit]

Posting in here and not the srs bznz thread, I will foreshadow the post by saying for the most part people are pretty spot on and i agree for the most part with what i read viability ranking wise and any remark made no matter how jaded is not a personal dig at any specific user.

Do note that due to the inclusion of ceratain tiers actual ranks may be a little "skewe whiffe"

As for the busted tier not a whole lot to say about these two

apart from the fact i don't think I've witnessed a Pokémon get up a second swords dance so consistently and it is very push tera to win button (more so than most)

And as far as Meloetta

goes it's just on every second team and gross imo, pretty much taken the role of what old inteleon did: Lead and click uturn but this time round comes with a fun guessing game: Scarf/Specs or war crime, serene grace allows it to chew through things it normally has no business beating genuinely hope this is next in line for a suspect.

Moving on to the S tier and really not much to say other than powerhouses.

A+ Tier the first of the biscuit takes commences. (Rofls)

I put Arboliva here as i just think it is a fantastic mon that almost always carries its own weight, fantastic coverage, seed sower allows it to win some un-favorable matchups and is imo one of the best specs users (even better than tornadus)
does really well even if it gets knocked. A-mazing.

Tatsugiri would have no place being this high on most players lists but I have found it to be the most reliable source of removal this gen. great offensive presence, boasts a couple different tera avenues making this guy quite a threat. the storm drain is super nice against the likes of Floatzel and Bruxish (which both run choice as their best feasible set)

Ambipom another i don't think most would value as high but i think it's fantastic as a threatening pivot and revenge killer the likes of

Delphox and

Zoroark certainly don't appreciate seeing this guy and the combination of knock and uturn is few and far between right now.

Next up is the A tier and these are slightly more matchup reliant as the aforementioned: A bit of a mixed bag here but I think

p2 is gaining some traction and for good reason this guy is much like

Altaria in the sense of it is not unheard of for it to cripple multiple mons with status per game and render some top tier threats obsolete with trace (Mainly

Toxtricity)

Also i don't quite get why people all of a sudden stopped using

Braviary H, it was set to be the next big problem i still think it's terrifying,

Pick any of these dark types and you won't be disappointed not much to report on these guys,

Grimmsnarl probably a little hard done by when it comes to the placement here.

Also just me or does

Minior somehow feel even worse now despite

Bronzong leaving ?

Rotom H is my boy but

Goodra is on the up and is straight bullied by

Meloetta and even

Florges

Next up is the A- tier: still fantastic mons but can venture into liability territory with the most consistent out of these guys probably being

Articuno-g

Moving onto the tier that consists of mons which i think are underrated and don't know why aren't being picked more, with the top of this list being

Clawitzer, fantastic coverage great tera mon can run several tera types, just a very rewarding poke if you get the turns right.

In recent times i have seen

Toucannon put in immense work and in my opinion can be fit onto just about any team beak blast just goes crazy.

As for

Virizion if i knew i wouldn't become a laughing stock i'd put it in worse than Tauros so i guess i was reserved with this one, This mon comes with the guessing game of swords dance or calm mind and like rhydon has an uncanny knack of having enough bulk to get that second one off. has a handful of useful tera types, often a fantastic knock off punish only let down a little by raw power and coverage. if i had it my way it would actually be publ.

And lastly the tier where I see these guys all to often and i just don't know why, hear me out:

Passimian, never have i been more disappointed by a lack of damage output non stab uturn non stab knock just tickles, contact punish prone, hazard prone. Omega chronic underperformer

Sneasel H, just lack of coverage, no priority no knock. Chronic underperformer

Quaxly, Just tragic and i couldn't let this one slide the success rate I've witnessed for this guy is astonishingly low. can't believe i saw this guy suggested for a rank. (kinda pains me to say it because if it got aqua step it would've been a pu god) Omega chronic underperformer

Dodrio, Like Braviary H people for the most part have stopped using it but you would have to be crazed for this one.

Magneton, This pokemon is okay but looking at what's currently good. Like venusaur goodra rotom-heat gastrodon to name a few this one is for the brave is the politest i can put it.

Golurk, i want to love this pokemon but the only thing it outspeeds and wants to click eq on just tera waters on it and beats it in miserable fashion, the band set fell off hard and now I hate to say it now only the colbur and assult vest sets are good (imo) putting this thing in a position where it can land some outspeeds (webs tailwind scarf) are all noob traps (grain of salt no butthurt please) there are tera hogs and then there is Golurk who you need to tera not to suck. Chronic underperformer

Floatzel It is decent but feels so awful unless you are clicking a water move, locking into ice spinner often a liability i genuinely think this guy lacks the raw damage output outside of rain. Chronic underperformer

Orthworm, This guy is hard done by being on this list, but allow me to be critical here outside of the occasional snowball i only really see this guy succeed on full hazard stack (which has fallen off in recent times) this poor dude just gets encored roared and taunted all day long exceeded only by Golurk when it comes to push tera to stop bully a true step up from tera hog. Chronic underperformer

 

[tom holland]

I made this in like 10 minutes but this would be my personal vr off the top of my head. Meloetta, Arcanine, and Scyther stand out to me as the most meta-defining pokemon right now so they are all S tier. All three have great diversity behind what they do and are excellent in their respective niches. Below that, we see four very powerful offensive threats, each offering unique traits but all have the common trait of steamrolling an unprepared team. To me, the meta is very offensive currently so my vr reflects that. Outside of that I just want to call out some of my weirder takes.

Delphox is criminally underrated and 100% deserves A rank in my list. Specs, magician seed, calm mind sub, nasty plot, Wisp hdb, I could keep going.

Toxtricity is not even close to broken, would not consider it a top threat either.

Rotom heat is oddly annoying defensively and punishes no surf gastro and no sticky hold gastro

Dude literally if I was brave I would put dipplin in like A rank I see it putting in WORK lately.

Anyways yeah I felt like yapping so here ya go

 

[Theycallmephil]

S
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
UR

The 30 minutes of typing above is my personal viability rankings as of 11/13/24.
The purpose of this post is not just to show my opinion, but also to discuss why I feel the way I do about these pokemon. I believe it goes without saying this post will not cover every single pokemon ranked in PU as that would be annoying for me and you.
However I will do my very best to cover the important ones and the interesting ones.

[The Top tiers]
-in my opinion arcanine is a rather easy pick for the best pokemon in SV PU, intimidate and extreme speed are probably the most infamous tools in this pokemons arsenal. other important things to point out is that there is currently only 1 defensive water type ranked in PU, that being gastrodon.
Arcanine was originally used near-exclusively as a win-condition using its dangerous curse set. However it's Band set and to a much lesser extent its howl set have picked up greatly recently which makes it much harder to check.

-At the time of writing this post Scyther is being suspect tested. In my personal opinion Scyther should be banned from the tier. it's absolutely absurd Swords dance sets, known for their versatility in tera type and move options, have essentially taken over the tier. This pokemon consistently flips matchups vs checks and is all-around an extremely central presence. I believe 2nd spot belongs to it.

-I used to say this was the best PU pokemon, bar none. While newer threats have overtaken it, I still believe it to be an S tier pokemon. Calm mind has long been its most established set and thats still incredibly good. But I lean more towards its potent choiced sets nowadays, stab fairy attacks run wild thru this tier as our steels are rough and overworked and the poisons don't actually resist fairy(besides Salazzle). This pokemon boasts incredible stats and a great typing, an excellent movepool both offensively and defensively, to me this is a clear number 3.

-This may be a shocking take to some, but I do believe Salazzle is the 4th best pokemon in the metagame right now. First of all the obvious, fire type is insane offensively right now, throw in poison and you hit most things very hard. On top of this Salazzle is a great abuser of SVs tera mechanic, most commonly choosing to tera into a ground type. This pokemon rocks nasty plot sets mostly but is often seen with subtox sets, sometimes even throwing knock off or encore in there for extra utility. Point I'd its very versatile and has an incredible speed tier, outrunning almost all unboosted pokemon and the ever annoying scarf Decidueye-hisui

-having dethroned skuntank as the tiers premier knock-bot and Decidueye answer, bombirdier is found on a huge amount of teams, providing utility, priority, general good damage from solid types, and occasionally hazards in the form of Stealth rock. This pokemon is very centralizing without really feeling too overwhelming. Perfect number 5 in my eyes.

-A pokemon many are deeming as S tier or even broken, meloetta is a dangerous special threat in SV PU, from choice specs to assault vest, she really does it all. However I believe her typing to hold her back a bit, with good prediction you can get around her stabs pretty well and she's infamously weak to knock off as well as only having 306 speed. This is why I believe middle of A+ to be more fitting than S tier.

- This pokemon is broken, illusion is extremely frustrating and forces very awkward interactions consistently. Especially because zoroark can run literally any set you can think of.
Choice Specs, Choice band, life orb, expert belt, Scarf, the list goes on. It really is extremely difficult to know what this pokemons going to do, for that I give it A+ tier.

[Other high tier threats]
-Rhydon burst onto the scene around the start of SCL this year iirc and has impressed every PU player to get their hands on it since. Using its signature Swords dance+rock polish Rhydon can absolutely tear through teams with little difficulty, tera is a huge help in finding these turns. As is its one and only item, the Eviolite. Rhydons great bulk and terrifying stabs and offensive stats have made it a staple in all levels of play.

-Previously thought to have fallen off, Guno has recently resurged, primarily in PUWC as a devastating and frankly extremely annoying set-up sweeper, not much else to say. It's great, A tier I feel.

-after recently dodging a ban, Redbull has seen public opinion sour on it a bit, as it was often talked about as a top 3 pokemon and is now in the mid A tiers, Redbull takes advantage of the new gen 9 move trailblaze to enable its bulk up sets as well as threaten gastrodon greatly.

-Briefly discussed as the undisputed #1 of the tier, decid hasn't fallen far and remains an incredibly threatening pokemon. Using more choice band than ever while still frequenting its trademarked Swords dance sets. Oh it defogs too lol

-this pokemon has rapid spin and uses it well, better than it ever has before. In my opinion tatsugiri removing hazards isn't even the biggest draw of rapid spin on it, it's the speed boost.
After a boost and possibly a nasty plot, tatsugiri becomes one of the scariest threats in the tier.

[Other cool pokemon I wanna talk about]
-I use this thing more than mudsdale, possibly as much as gastrodon. It's solid base speed relative to other ground types let's it creep more things much easier. Access to glare and coil save it from ever being a blob like alot of other ground types. I just adore using this pokemon and think it deserves more credit.

-A rise I never could've predicted, Frosmoth returns to SV PU as an incredible special wall. It's ability ice scales halves all special damage, combine this with access to defog and a strangely potent uninvested ice beam and you have what is in my opinion PUs best hazard removal. Don't become too complacent with its slow pivoting and defogging however as the quiver dance set is very much still out there.

-This pokemon is absurdly fast and dangerous, alot of what I wanted to say was touched on above tho.

-Triple arrows+scrappy is a combination only a mother could love. Slap on a choice scarf and feel your opponents deep hatred for you and everything you stand for grow. But really it's cemented itself as a great threat.

-i used to make fun of this pokemon and call it worse mowtom, I've come around tho. Being this fast and this annoying earns you high ranks right now (it also walls some Toxtricity sets lol)

[Not so cool pokemon I hate and will still talk about]

-i hate this pokemon and it's stupid nonsense ability, yes it provides removal which we much need but I wholeheartedly believe this tier would be better without it.

This post is getting fairly long and I'm getting hungry so goodbye.
Hope my insight is entertaining if not helpful.
Love you PU

I'm a big dumb stupid idiot and in being quirky forgot the tiermaker list(point of the thread) so here it is

 

[asa]

I don't have a ton of comments on this, just wanted to post because I see others sharing their personal VRs. Mine isn't terribly different than the official one (big shock), but Big Flower doesn't care about your Fairy resists, Meloetta was a hasty S vote in hindsight, and Pokemon #123 in S hasn't super grown on me either. Salazzle and Galarcuno do well at exploiting recent trends, mainly Decidueye-H and the rise of BelliGastroMoth, and are just kind nuts all the time, so they both got big rises here compared to their regular ranking. Some other stuff got ranked slightly lower just because I feel the opposite way about them, and yeah, that's the idea. Post reply.

 

[Oofhixd]

My personal tier list, but with C- included bc i personally think its a good idea. Melo, Scyther and florges are definitely BL of A+ and S and cant decide so ive just gone with the official ranking of them. In the higher tiers my ranking is pretty similar to official but in the lower tiers they vary a bit as i disagree with some mons (Salazzle is also BL A/A+, just went with official again)

 

[Oofhixd]

Also, visual tier list of the current official VR

 

[Bouff]

posting my rankings as of end of this meta (with scyther still in) - there are prob some stupid placements here that im too lazy to adjust

 

[asa]

Final personal VR of the year and for this meta. No explanations because it's New Year's Eve, drink responsibly.

 

[Breakfastbiscuit]

The current VR is getting quite dated so here are some of my picks for this current iteration of PU.

Now I will not be commenting on every potential shift or drop but I have a good few things to mention and will segment it to not be an eye sore.

Part 1 (Rises)

Okay.

Not a rise or anything but this is hands down the best Pokémon in the tier currently and I’d go a little further in saying the most restrictive builder-wise and slightly concerning overall.

Last time I nominated this was as the PUWC was wrapping up and since then not a lot has changed with this thing being one of the biggest staples when push comes to shove. anything trying to stop this thing from gaining momentum gets punished by toxic or hit up to 4x by muddy water. Incredibly clutch Pokémon.

Pretty self explanatory. The nasty sets are still emerging in non-ladder format matches. A little sorry not to see this thing banned but I’ve seen worse. Probably one of the most safest picks for any team really; I liken it to Hoopa/Florges in the sense that no matter how poorly a team is built if this Pokémon is on it you’re in with a chance.

Currently the tiers premiere scarfer. Narrowly missing out on the S tier but for me usually it’s limited to 3 so to the top of A+ for this absolute unit.

Although falling out of favour somewhat post suspect test this thing has remained one of the best breakers (never doubted it for a second) gaining a new possible bulk up set variant and become the tiers second best scarfer I think this one can go to A+.

Despite the presence of Articuno-g I still think this is one of the better picks great momentum gainer in the scarf set but also has other good sets (possibly the best swords dancer currently) but other sets are not to be shrugged off either such as sub bulk up or defensive Defog.

Truly irritating Pokémon this thing with pain split is just so hard to get rid of and offers great momentum on slower things.

I’ll echo a previous sentiment about this Pokémon that most people wouldn’t have this quite so high, but I’ve found it to be the most consistent removal of this generation and straight up my favourite paldea Pokémon to use. the threat it can pose with a speed boost is quite scary also the eject pack set is going pretty nutty right now.

Now not that I feel the need to defend this one or anything but I look at the A tier currently and Ambipom has a pretty good matchup into the likes of Toxtricity/Pawmot/Decidueye-h/Skuntank respectively. It can pressure rotom with knock off and fake out but I think the matchup is rotom favoured.

With Ambipom straight up out-speeding scarfed Decidueye-h while threatening an OHKO.

Threatening Toxtricity with 100-0 with fake out + triple axel or 2x fake out for the scarf set or one that is getting way out of control (after rocks that is, with better odds after 2 switch ins)

Threatening an OHKO (or at least 1-100) on any Bombirdier set.

Threatening a 100-0 on Skuntank with fake out + triple axel on an attempted contact punish (even bulkier sets run the risk with Tera ice)

Threatening a 100-0 on Pawmot with the committal of Tera and only running the risk of an OHKO in return by iron fist/life orb/mach punch or scarf (I recommend scouting for the latter)

Now Tera normal has never been for me but it makes said matchups even more favorable

Also worth noting some of the Pokémon Ambipom can OHKO; Articuno-g/Goodra/Golurk/Altaria/Hoopa/Minior/Braviary-h/Mismagius/Dipplin just to name some.

This is probably the most “controversial” take here but this thing has gotten some great usage recently. One of its’ biggest selling points for me is the lack of special walls available and for me this Pokémon is a great addition to any team really. Causing major problems for any underprepared team in terms of a fighting immunity. Also has pretty nice utility in roar/rocks.

Things will be brief from here on out I promise.

- Never been for me but I think it is the only viable webs setter. Twave utility is nice.

This one pisses me off a lot less than it used to, now I actually think it’s kinda cool with life orb synthesis natural cure offering a slew of good matchups.

& I think terrain got a little better being pretty “spammable”


Bad boys (these guys are why I placed gurdurr here)

Honourable mentions to the r256 Swalot
and to the Hera Lanturn being so impressive I feel earn a spot.

Part 2 (Drops)

Main ones that I haven’t covered recently

I think the time has come where this thing may no longer be S tier facing too much resistance from the likes of Bellibolt/Rhydon (even Mudsdale)

I just don’t see this poke primed to sweep so much these days.

I don’t think there are many cases where sneasel is good.

I think this one slips into obscurity for me, not to say it isn’t good once in a while though.

Fallen right off would have to Tera to not be out-lead.

I would not advise one to bring this. Rather sluggish though and I don’t think the scarf set cuts the mustard.

This guy has been surpassed as the best lead by Avalugg-hisui but it’s not to say that it isn’t solid still.

Still seeing it; still disappointed..each time, With it playing a large role in many losses I’ve been seeing recently, the lack of STAB coverage really hurts it when facing competition such as Bruxish. (I actually like Floatzel too)

I don’t think I could actually fit it onto a decent team if I tried, imo defiant is down there on the list of good abilities and as I’ve said prior nothing disappoints quite like Passimian.

This Pokémon isn’t bad but I just think it stinks. Can’t really break past a single physical wall.

 

[UberSkitty]

lol

 

[DD Joe]

Here is my PVR for May 2025, I will not elaborate:

 

[tom holland]

ddjoe gave me motivation to make one too so here u go sorry if some of this is different from how I voted last slate my opinions may have changed on some things since then

 

[Heatranator]

 

[Theycallmephil]

 

[asa]

These are cool to share again? Wow!

 

[Hera]

didn't put too much thought into this one but i still have some thoughs

-muds is top 5 in the meta rn, people hate it cause it's "passive" but when you transition it from a rocker to a tank you realize this thing takes hits and dishes them back out like nothing else. 3 atks roar and av are both very strong sets that can stop problematic mons like pawmot long enough for you to win.
-tastu is busted, nothing bar flor really stops it once it hits +1/+2 and most of our offensive mons can't take a spin into a draco. we should also consider going back to eject pack sets for it
-i'm on the lurantis train tom this mon's really good for a b- mon
-do i even need to talk about poli
-ignore cuno placement, i know nothing about the mon

 

[Breakfastbiscuit]

With a meta shift on the horizon just thought I’d add my current picks.

Noteworthy things:

I was wrong I admit it. Oofhixd I’d be lying if I said I recalled Sneasel being as good as it is now ever really. It’s no joke on HO and the two mon commital Espeon/Avalugg-h to make the focus sash work is clever and only slightly wack.

This one has just been putting in immense work for me lately, C would most likely be too low for it.

While reluctant at first to give it a shot once I did I found its utility to be pretty impressive, only falls flat on offensive presence and is Salazzle food. I’d rank it.

Another one that has been working overtime for my teams as of late I think it’s pretty potent as a setup sweeper.

Perhaps for the first time I could witness this thing fall below A currently I would classify this diva as a real “shaky” pick finding it really tough to make progress into Slowbro-g, Haze Milotic, Qwilfish & Sandslash-a.

For me this one finally reached the point of becoming an S tier. Not much to say that would be news to anyone but it’s always primed to punch holes in teams.

This has been the upmost of consistent mons of the meta as far as I’m concerned not knowing weather your up against a specially defensive or physically defensive beast on team preview just stops a bunch of would be sweepers in their tracks. Checking some of the biggest threats such as Rotom-heat,Salazzle,Florges,Frosmoth on the special side and Decidueye-h,Pawmot,Tauros-blaze on the other with many others having to tread carefully around it’s coverage and status,or worry about clicking Tera.

Another consistent one for me has been ol’ faithful Decidueye-h, Straying away from Tauros in favour for this damage machine. Triple arrows not making contact with 16pp is just über. And is what I’d regard as the best current swords dancer, last time I said that I forgot about Rhydon but it was kind of a given it was better, But now I think it has been surpassed. My go to for physical breakers paired with Ambipom or Pawmot. Also late to the party but the defensive Defog sets are excellent and guessing the set wrong on this thing is devastating.

Once again I’m witnessing this thing going buck wild. And might just be my top contender for action. Will it be PU banned for the third time ?? Stay tuned.

Finally I have gotten some use out of this thing. And that probably speaks to to how good it is currently as I’ve really struggled to make it work otherwise.

Raw damage wise this thing has got to be some of the best unboosted damage output. I’ve just been running specs and finding that safe switch in will have_you_sweating.

I do love Venusaur but I think it’s just declining, finding it having great coverage but lacking somewhat in the damage department. I personally can never justify it as a bring and see it out performed by Shaymin. Faster - better abilities to boot.