Resource SM OU Viability Rankings

[MANNAT]

Don't let Charmflash's delusion fool you, Bronzong is completely unviable.

 

[Ske]

Don't let Charmflash's delusion fool you, Bronzong is completely unviable.

Says Who

 

[YubelVT]

Don't let Charmflash's delusion fool you, Bronzong is completely unviable.

idk, it does beat lando pex and mag...

 

[ILoveGarchom]

Is the current VR up to date?

 

[Maktyum]

Is the current VR up to date?

yes, it was updated in October

 

[Icemann]

haven't played this tier since it was current gen, can someone explain what cress is used for and its sets?

 

[DIYUSI]

haven't played this tier since it was current gen, can someone explain what cress is used for and its sets?

https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/cresselia/ou/

It's slighty outdated since spl showcased some new sets such as Double Screens, but this is still close to what's the current role of Cress in the metagame.

 

[zinnias]

i wrote it like 7 months ago im crying at it being outdated lol, will receive an update post spl

 

[zinnias]

haven't played this tier since it was current gen, can someone explain what cress is used for and its sets?

short answer

runs twave lunar dance on hyper offense teams, rlly good at bringing stuff back and has the bulk to check plenty of shit like lele, medi, lopunny to boot. on bulkier teams it runs things like calm mind psyshock ice beam moonlight and its a natural offense killer, psyspam can hardly even touch it and other offense styles lacking something like zor or tran can just get cleaned up pretty fast once their way of threatening cress (such as kyu-b z-move) is exhausted

long answer

 

[DIYUSI]

My personal VR (with some explanations when I have something to say about a specific Pokemon). It's ordered moreover. Hope you will enjoy the read lol

SM OU Viability Ranking 2025

S RANK

S rank

1- The best Pokemon of the tier by a large margin. It fits virtually every playstyle (including Stall) and, often, it's very hard to not splash Magearna everywhere.

S- rank

2- The 3 main sets with Landorus-Therian are Defensive, Choice Scarf and Swords Dance. While Defensive and Scarf are nearly mandatory on any structure remotely pro-active, Swords Dance is one of the most consistent offensive set in the current metagame (that will always be relevant as long Landorus-Therian's usage is high).

A RANK

A+ rank

3- The funny thing with Heatran is how Defensive variant tends to lose to what it should check on paper (Tapu Lele, Magearna and Volcarona). However, Offensive variant (or even Defensive variant going Max HP + Timid with a lot of speed) are adaptations that show Heatran is still one of the biggest threat of the tier.
4-
5- Fuck that Pokemon lmao. DD on HO is a pain (with Bulky Roost variant possible to punish even futher stucture not running either a strong check like Slowbro or a way to immediately OHKO it like Mega Tyranitar) and SD Roost on Balance is evil.
6-
7-
8- I didn't understand during SPL why that Pokemon was not spammed more. Really good MU into Celesteela + Toxapex Sand and Rain. Moreover, you can put Hone Claws on it to trivialize most Balance/Semi-Stall/Stall MU.
9-
10- I'm mixing both Ash-Greninja and Protean Greninja in this slot. Only noteworthy thing about it is that Ash-Greninja is better nowadays since it has a natural good MU into HO/Offense.
11- The current metagame is so hostile to it. Its assets are still very relevant, obviously, but some of its "ancestral" structure (like Mega Latias + Gliscor + Toxapex) have a terrible MU into every modern HO/Offense. From what I saw, the way to keep Mega Latias above the curve is to put former niche tech such as Wish (with a very pro-active partner such as Landorus-Therian) or Roar to improve its MU into HO.

A rank

12-
13-
14-
15- I would put it in the A+ tier before but since Cresselia is hella common nowadays, it's a lot harder to load it.
16- Not only being the new face of Balance (and Sun technically lol), HO started to use it a lot more. Eject Button is nice to compensate its slow pace and Double Screens is unfunny to face.
17- One of the best check to Mega Charizard X. I still think every Mega Tyranitar's structures are flawed by default, however, its raw bulk and great power, let it match heavenly into modern HO stuff.
18- Similar to Mega Tyranitar, its assets are also quite strong into the current metagame. Not only its doubled speed is a nice safe net into HO, its favored MU into Cresselia Balance (Cresselia + Toxapex structure in general) turns Excadrill into a risk-less and, therefore, popular pick.
19-
20- Same as Kyurem-Black, I didn't understand why it was not spammed more during SPL. Mega Charizard Y is one of the best enabler of the most consistent defensive BO core of the tier, aka Heatran (or Ferrothorn with another Mega such as Diancie) + Tapu Fini + Landorus-Therian. Moreover, it also enables a ton of strong Pokemon such as Cresselia and Kartana.
21-
22-
23- The reason of why Balance seems weaker is mostly that Gliscor is bad into how people adapted to its former dominance: spamming the hell out of HO. Moreover, Landorus-Therian is a much better pick outside of Balance.
24- Pretty much mandatory on any BO.

A- rank

25-
26-
27-
28- It would be an A+ threat in my books if only Mega Alakazam didn't need to hit 3-4 Focus Blast in a row to win a match (especially when a miss is equal to its death).
29- Unkillable like Faker but completly useless unfortunately. Calm Mind sets are still quite threatening and a lot of bullshit variants are possible with it (such as Cosmic Power + Seismic Toss).
30-

B RANK

B+ rank

31- Rotom-Wash is in this weird spot where most offense are good enough with only Landorus-Therian + Magearna and Offensive Rotom-Wash is very hard to justify in bulkier structure.
32- Still broken but nothing really auto-lose to it anymore.
33-
34-
35- Similar to Ash-Greninja, Mega Lopunny feels a lot better to load nowadays (despite the high usage of Cresselia).
36-
37-
38- Garchomp's decline seems to finally settle with it being a vanilla option on HO builds.
39-
40- Mega Mawile is simply not it unfortunately. Too much mindgames to get progress, fire-types are everywhere and its usual good partners are all meh atm (Garchomp, Rotom-Wash, Tapu Bulu, ...). Finally, despite being the best way to run it, Wish Chansey + Mega Mawile is just not worth the efforts.

B rank

41-
42-
43- Mega Scizor is bad on Balance but still remain one of the best Mega on BO structure.
44- I like it a lot. Its okay-ish SpeDef Bulk and Speed combined with its offensive assets make it a solid breaker into anything.
45-
46-
47-
48- Celesteela is a bad Pokemon by default, but its specific defensive profile will always give to it a seat in the metagame.
49-
50- Extremely underrated but also very challenging to found a solid structure with it. Z-Hydro Pump Taunt variant is bad tho.
51-
52- I tried it recently and I became a fan of it since then. Imo, 4A is its best set and I think partners such as Wish Clefable and Heal Magearna are all fake with it. Unfortunately, similar to Mega Tyranitar, Mega Aggron's structures seems to be flawed by default.
53-

B- rank

54- Stall will never be solid in SM OU but it's not a reason to fish with Celesteela/Jirachi + Volcarona Stall.
55-
56- Despite Nasty Plot having a very favored MU into Fat and Sand, including it in any kind of team is probably a challenge impossible to overcome
57-
58- Similar to Celesteela, Jirachi is a bad Pokemon by default. However, it's one of the best pick if you want something that sit on Tapu Lele and Kyurem-Black structure.
59-
60-
61-
62-
63-

C RANK

C+ rank

64-
65- Webs is bad but Araquanid with Trick Room + Rain support is pretty scary.
66-
67-
68- Specs on HO structure is quite cool in practice but you never want to load this thing into Mega Tyranitar or Chansey.
69-
70-
71- Really dislike it, basically a Knock Off bot.

C rank

72-
73-
74- Necrozma only looks real on Mega Charizard Y Sun. Fine pick to compress a rocker that check Mega Medicham and able to pressure Toxapex.
75-
76-
77-
78- Only Choice Scarf seems real on it, and it's not exactly something you want to put in a team.
79-
80-

C- rank

81- Offensive variants are bad. Defensive variants are worth in the right structure.
82- Cool pick to answer broken fire-types and modern HO but weirdly hard to fit on an actual solid structure.
83-
84-
85-
86-
87- Good pick to destroy Balance/Semi-Stall but, otherwise, not exactly useful.
88-
89-

 

[zinnias]

We updated the VR for 2025 by surveying a group of 11 SM mods / top players and updated the post. Big thanks to Skypenguin and Maktyum for their great work in facilitating this and also thanks to those who responded.

Here are the changes!

S Rank
1. =0 Magearna
2. =0 Landorus-Therian (was S- Rank)

S- Rank
3. =0 Toxapex

A+ Rank
4. =0 Kartana
5. =0 Charizard-Mega-X
6. =0 Heatran
7. +12 Tapu Lele (was A Rank)
8. +5 Serperior
9. +6 Ferrothorn
10. +15 Alakazam-Mega (was A- Rank)
11. -2 Kyurem-Black
12. +4 Greninja-Ash
13. +1 Greninja
14. -2 Tornadus-Therian

A Rank
15. -4 Tapu Koko (was A+ Rank)
16. +4 Diancie-Mega
17. -9 Latias-Mega (was A+ Rank)
18. -11 Gliscor (was A+ Rank)
19. -9 Chansey (was A+ Rank)
20. +4 Excadrill
21. +12 Tapu Fini (was A- Rank)
22. +10 Tyranitar-Mega (was A- Rank)
23. -5 Cresselia
24. -3 Medicham-Mega
25. +13 Charizard-Mega-Y (was B+ Rank)

A- Rank
26. +4 Manaphy
27. -10 Volcarona (was A Rank)
28. +11 Garchomp (was B+ Rank)
29. +5 Victini
30. -8 Weavile (was A Rank)
31. +22 Celesteela (was B Rank)
32. -1 Swampert-Mega
33. -10 Kommo-o (was A Rank)
34. -7 Clefable
35. =0 Scizor-Mega (was B+ Rank)
36. +1 Lopunny-Mega (was B+ Rank)

B+ Rank
37. -9 Rotom-Wash (Was A- Rank)
38. +12 Zapdos (was B Rank)
39. +6 Dragonite (was B Rank)
40. +4 Pelipper (was B Rank)
41. -15 Mawile-Mega (Was A- Rank)
42. -6 Slowbro
43. -2 Skarmory
44. -15 Hawlucha (Was A- Rank)
45. +10 Gyarados-Mega (Was B- Rank)
46. -4 Latios-Mega

B Rank
47. +10 Reuniclus (Was B- Rank)
48. +18 Gyarados (Was C+ Rank)
49. +10 Pinsir-Mega (Was B- Rank)
50. -7 Tapu Bulu (Was B+ Rank)
51. -11 Seismitoad (Was B+ Rank)
52. -1 Gastrodon
53. -5 Slowbro-Mega
54. +6 Sableye-Mega (Was B- Rank)
55. +7 Jirachi (Was B- Rank)
56. -10 Ditto
57. +6 Magnezone (Was B- Rank)

B- Rank
58. -4 Hoopa-Unbound
59. -3 Heracross-Mega
60. -13 Hydreigon (Was B Rank)
61. -9 Garchomp-Mega
62. +14 Venusaur-Mega (Was C Rank)
63. -14 Kyurem (Was B Rank)
64. -6 Thundurus-Therian
65. +10 Mew (Was C Rank)
66. +1 Tyranitar (Was C+ Rank)

C+ Rank
67. -3 Keldeo (Was B- Rank)
68. -7 Hippowdon (Was B- Rank)
69. -1 Blacephalon
70. -1 Crawdaunt
71. =0 Aggron-Mega
72. =0 Marowak-Alola
73. +22 Gallade-Mega (Was C-)
74. NEW Araquanid
75. +14 Pyukumuku (Was C-)
76. +11 Altaria-Mega (Was C-)
77. +17 Suicune (Was C-)
78. =0 Amoonguss (Was C)
79. -6 Alomomola

C Rank
80. -1 Shedinja
81. +10 Salamence
82. =0 Aerodactyl-Mega
83. -9 Necrozma
84. -1 Krookodile
85. -20 Volcanion (Was B-)
86. -16 Moltres
87. +1 Buzzwole
88. +7 Azumarill
89. -9 Tangrowth
90. NEW Torkoal
91. -7 Bisharp
92. NEW Venusaur
93. +5 Porygon-Z
94. -17 Breloom
95. -5 Mantine

 

[GOATED im_m0rtal.]

hello, i'd like to thank the SM mods for the VR update. That said, I'd like to ask :
What has caused the much needed upgrade of lando from S- to S?
Why have the grass types in general gotten better?
Why has the psyspam core of tapu lele and alakazam gotten better?
Why has fat seen a degrade in a meta that is bursting with offense teams (like serp mag) gotten worse? this can be seen from the ratings of chansey, latias, gliscor, cress etc getting worse
and probably most importantly, why has everyone's favourite water electric type rotom-wash (also koko!) taken a hit in a meta with a lot of volt-spam?

i'm not sure if im supposed to post these here, in simple question simple answer or on discord. I'd appreciate sm1 helping me out :P

 

[zinnias]

hello, i'd like to thank the SM mods for the VR update. That said, I'd like to ask :
What has caused the much needed upgrade of lando from S- to S?
Why have the grass types in general gotten better?
Why has the psyspam core of tapu lele and alakazam gotten better?
Why has fat seen a degrade in a meta that is bursting with offense teams (like serp mag) gotten worse? this can be seen from the ratings of chansey, latias, gliscor, cress etc getting worse
and probably most importantly, why has everyone's favourite water electric type rotom-wash (also koko!) taken a hit in a meta with a lot of volt-spam?

i'm not sure if im supposed to post these here, in simple question simple answer or on discord. I'd appreciate sm1 helping me out :P

1. The boundaries for tiers have been a bit redefined, this can be seen in where Pokemon didn’t move and still went up or down in tiers. This is likely due to the removal of C- in order to encourage less fringe picks

2. I’m not sure if grasses are linked together really but what I’ll say for Ferro is that it is incredible anti-weather, with its typing for rain and its spikes for sand. It’s more popularised to use it as a rocker with no spikes and that makes it a lot more versatile on what it can fit on and what it can do. Serperior just feels a bit more fully fledged, it is the partially the face of modern offense and ho teams, and more people are realising just how good subleech is.

3. Psyspam is just a very consistent offense style (despite focus blast being a bit part of it). You have lots of good matchups and have outplay potential for pretty much everything. I don’t think it has necessarily gotten better recently, it has been a defining playstyle for a while.

4. I think fat just looks different now. Insane wall breakers like SD Zard, CB/SD Kart, Kyurem-B, Mega Tyranitar are around every corner but in addition to that, stallbreakers like Manaphy, Taunt Lele/Zam/Gyara/MGyara/Torn etc etc. I still love using fat but it’s clear that passive styles and Chansey/Clef/Bro type mons as a whole are on a bad streak. Cress was a little overrated in last years VR, I still think it’s a very solid part of the tier but it isn’t reinventing the wheel.

5. I still think koko is very good. Maybe it was overrated in the last VR, or sand’s uptick made it less desirable, but it’s fine. Rotom seems like it should be popping off with new changes but to me it just feels like a fish and all of the rotom builds are old and stagnated. I’m not sure that the meta is a lot of volt spam, there are some classic teams with koko / rotom but they aren’t like they were

 

[GOATED im_m0rtal.]

1. The boundaries for tiers have been a bit redefined, this can be seen in where Pokemon didn’t move and still went up or down in tiers. This is likely due to the removal of C- in order to encourage less fringe picks (this worked amazingly… lol.)

2. I’m not sure if grasses are linked together really but what I’ll say for Ferro is that it is incredible anti-weather, with its typing for rain and its spikes for sand. It’s more popularised to use it as a rocker with no spikes and that makes it a lot more versatile on what it can fit on and what it can do. Serperior just feels a bit more fully fledged, it is the partially the face of modern offense and ho teams, and more people are realising just how good subleech is.

3. Psyspam is just a very consistent offense style (despite focus blast being a bit part of it). You have lots of good matchups and have outplay potential for pretty much everything. I don’t think it has necessarily gotten better recently, it has been a defining playstyle for a while.

4. I think fat just looks different now. Insane wall breakers like SD Zard, CB/SD Kart, Kyurem-B, Mega Tyranitar are around every corner but in addition to that, stallbreakers like Manaphy, Taunt Lele/Zam/Gyara/MGyara/Torn etc etc. I still love using fat but it’s clear that passive styles and Chansey/Clef/Bro type mons as a whole are on a bad streak. Cress was a little overrated in last years VR, I still think it’s a very solid part of the tier but it isn’t reinventing the wheel.

5. I still think koko is very good. Maybe it was overrated in the last VR, or sand’s uptick made it less desirable, but it’s fine. Rotom seems like it should be popping off with new changes but to me it just feels like a fish and all of the rotom builds are old and stagnated. I’m not sure that the meta is a lot of volt spam, there are some classic teams with koko / rotom but they aren’t like they were

1. the removal of c tiers is a pretty smart play i have got to agree.

2. i think grass types as a whole have improved. everything such as mvenu, ferro and serp except bulu has improved its rankings which is pretty surprising in a tier where kartana ranks #4. i guess the benefits of serperior are also that the helm set sort of beats chansey/stall 1v1, or atleast wear it down to a state where your other spatker like volcarona just wins.

3. whats the reason for the improve in mega alakazam, if psyspam is as consistent as it ever was? has it been seeing usage on teams that are NOT psyspam? i remember seeing an empo fat team with mega alakazam, although i seem to remember you were sort of opposed to those sort of builds (and tbh they are tuff to make)

4. dyt the meta will cycle back to fat once people STOP running taunt as fat isn't that prevalent anymore?

5. i see. i suppose rotom and koko give a lot of role compression but people have successfully worked around those?

this has been informative, thank you very much

 

[zinnias]

1. the removal of c tiers is a pretty smart play i have got to agree.

2. i think grass types as a whole have improved. everything such as mvenu, ferro and serp except bulu has improved its rankings which is pretty surprising in a tier where kartana ranks #4. i guess the benefits of serperior are also that the helm set sort of beats chansey/stall 1v1, or atleast wear it down to a state where your other spatker like volcarona just wins.

3. whats the reason for the improve in mega alakazam, if psyspam is as consistent as it ever was? has it been seeing usage on teams that are NOT psyspam? i remember seeing an empo fat team with mega alakazam, although i seem to remember you were sort of opposed to those sort of builds (and tbh they are tuff to make)

4. dyt the meta will cycle back to fat once people STOP running taunt as fat isn't that prevalent anymore?

5. i see. i suppose rotom and koko give a lot of role compression but people have successfully worked around those?

this has been informative, thank you very much

As for zam, i think it mostly just comes down to a difference in perspective than last time. If it rose massively despite not changing much then that just shows a personal bias that Skype and I’s VR last year had, I suppose. I don’t back zam on non psyspam personally

Idt fat is going anywhere and fast taunts are great into all styles considering opposing hazards / set up, it’s just a very solid option for mons and not just fishing fat

Not sure it’s anything to do with role compression but maybe I’m misunderstanding

 

[GOATED im_m0rtal.]

As for zam, i think it mostly just comes down to a difference in perspective than last time. If it rose massively despite not changing much then that just shows a personal bias that Skype and I’s VR last year had, I suppose. I don’t back zam on non psyspam personally

Idt fat is going anywhere and fast taunts are great into all styles considering opposing hazards / set up, it’s just a very solid option for mons and not just fishing fat

Not sure it’s anything to do with role compression but maybe I’m misunderstanding

rotom is just a great role compressor, so is koko.
rotom- defog, volt switch, water, ground immune, defensive backbone
koko - wincon with cm, good speed, volt switch, fairy type and z user
i assume they're being run less often since people have found other ways to fulfill their teams requirements

the part about zam is interesting, ill have to find some zam games now. taunt is probably true too.

 

[Fdmw]

rotom wash is unmon atm , fake fire resist , looses to every fire in existence , the only thing rotom wash goobs is rain pert although sub toxic pert owns it.

 

[Proftreez]

Oh damn a new VR update that's crazy.

While my original intent was to completely schizo out and write out an overly detailed analysis on the intricacies behind every single placement within my rankings, after having my draft nuked several times cause im a procrasinating fuck; alongside a 9-page google doc that has been made obsolete just cause of how drastically my rankings have fluctuated in the past couple of months, I reckon its just better to just get SOMETHING out there LOL.

Anyway here's the funny image for your viewing pleasure:

Feel free to ask questions or anything about any specific placements, despite my deathly aversion to writing any long-form content (I'll get that RMT out one day), I'm pretty adept at yapping about nonsense.

Peace y'all, hopefully more coming soon.