I feel like people have been significantly been disrespectful of this guy. B tier?? Sceptile is complete shit. Toxicroak is easily much better than everything in B+ (why the fuck is Eldeg-ass there??), as well as being better than Primeape and Torterra, while definitely being on par with Lucario and the Gatr. I voted for him to be A+ on the vr, and let me explain why this is ranking is mad disrespectful of him.
Toxicroak @ Air Balloon
Ability: Dry Skin
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Gunk Shot
- Close Combat
- Earthquake / Stone Edge
This is the main set I have been using on it. Air Balloon + Earthquake allows it to 1v1 Unaware clodsire, and many sets of Clodsire are unable to hit it (still can't SD on it tho, Curse Clod exists). Many people think that Lucario is superior to Toxicroak, due to better attack and priority, but if I am being honest Toxicroak has some amazing traits too! STAB Gunk Shot can hit Chesnaught for super-effective damage, while Lucario fails to OHKO it at +2. Furthermore, Chesnaught is actually set-up fodder for Toxicroak, while Lucario just dies to Body Press. Another good point is the Scolipede matchup. Air Balloon Toxicroak can easily tank one hit from Scolipede due to the Earthquake immunity, and does around 55% to Scolipede at +2. If you are running Stone Edge, you just kill it at +2, or kill it after Stealth Rock. (252 Atk Toxicroak Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Scolipede: 210-248 (80.4 - 95%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock). Lucario can not do this, as it has to fear Superpower just dropping it. While it is true that with Stone Edge you do not have Earthquake for Clod, you can definitely use a different teammate versus Clodsire, like Ferrothorn.
vs 
Marowak-Alola is easily a top 3 Pokemon in this metagame, and has very few defensive checks, and even those are quite shaky at it. This is why most people turn to Crawdaunt for a Maro answer (252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Marowak-Alola: 218-260 (83.5 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock). This is where Toxigoat comes in, thanks to Dry Skin it can absorb Aqua Jet from Crawdaunt and threaten it back with a Close Combat to the face. While it is true that other Pokemon can also take little from Aqua Jet, none of them are even close to being as offensively potent as Toxicroak (well, maybe Cacturne but that guy is kinda :/). Toxicroak also bullies non-Dragon Tail Milotic and unboosted Feraligatr.
Yap over, but yeah this is why Toxicroak is DEFINITELY much better than B tier
though, and I'll probably make my whole own post about that after I get the playoffs matchups done because this mon genuinely provides so much value in every game I bring it to yet I haven't seen anyone else come close to using it lately.
is extremely viable in this tier so I may be a bit biased, but I also think that’s part of the magic of Perfect 35 - if you see your favorite Pokemon on the roster there’s a very good chance it’s going to be viable in the metagame. And if it’s considered Perfect like Archeops is, you don’t even need to wonder - you can take that right to the bank. Snow, via 
, seems to be a viable archetype in this current meta but, with 
being the sole other ice-type Pokemon and one of the only beneficiaries of the weather condition, it‘s neither overbearing in the game nor the builder. 
which, despite not having access to Pain Split like I thought it did, has proven to have longevity in spades regardless. Trick Room, Will-O-Wisp, double STAB was my favorite set to run back when it was legal in main natdex 35 and has been just as fun to use in this format when testing on ladder. Sky-high natural physical bulk, Wandering Spirit to punish contact moves, Wisp to denature physical attacks contact or not, and Trick Room to take advantage of its normally abysmal base 30 speed stat and eek out a couple extra turns of value make 
has made National Dex 35 Pokes history and terastalized into the Ghost Type!
and 
while threatening them in return with super effective STAB. Ice is a type resisted by little in the upper echelons of the meta, and the recent return of physically defensive 
heralds an even better landscape for Articuno to come as the specially defensive variant of the aforementioned steel bird was consistently one of the biggest obstacles to Articuno's chip damage capabilities. Articuno only reaches its full potential though, when it stares into the depths of its movepool to utilize an attack many allegedly sane individuals have repeatedly neglected to view as a viable option: Blizzard. 52 EVs in Special Attack, 252 EVs in HP, and 200 EVs in Special Defense with a Calm nature allows 
to always ohko Jolly Nidoking while still remaining above 50% HP after a flamethrower or thunderbolt. Conveniently, this EV spread also allows Blizzard to almost always 4hko Specially Defensive Corviknight and absolutely always 3hko its evil Physically Defensive twin. :Hippodwon: is not the most commonly seen pokemon right now, but proves to be a thorn in the side of a lot of teams lacking 
to clean up. The main inspiration for this team is the classic TSS (Toxic, Sandstorm, Spikes) teams in ADV OU and this plays similar to those. Against offensive teams this team really shines, it is able to take hits from most common breakers and can beat sweepers with phasing, tricking 
switch in and can also apply pressure with adaptability surf or shadow ball. This mon is probably the weakest "wall" on the team since it lacks recovery outside of leftovers protect but it also has a fairly good offensive presence despite being EVed defensively thanks to adaptability. Surf can be dropped for pain split for a bit more healing but you lose your ability to hit normal types, out side of flip turn, and pain split isn't always reliable.
from the August 2025 format. Scizor 
has been rolled as the replacement.
, and 
were all considered at the same time and while Dugtrio only received one vote in favor of quickbanning it, Weavile also received 6 votes in support. If this were a previous month, we may have banned 
loses to almost every special threat on the list and has a hard time making significant progress outside of rocks. 
hits like a 90 attack bug without a good flying stab into a meta where every physical wall hard-counters it. 
is just trash man.. it's also walled by everything in the meta and sure it has knock and u-turn but it deals ZERO damage. it also gets no setup/hazards to boot.
is not bad but it's fr just way too slow. Also falters heavily to many of the meta's abundant ground and premier fire type coverage. 
is underrated imo, since poltergeist is a very spammable move. will-o-wisp is very nice on a fast mon but the fact is this thing can't do damage. wave hex is pretty consistent though it does not damage your opp's mons. 
would be soooo good if this meta didn't have 
and 
is really just not very good, but it can hit pretty hard under sand. other than it being sd LORB in sand, it's way too slow and specially frail and matches up poorly into 
is simply outclassed in its role as a premier physical wall since it is more specially frail, deals zero damage other than body press, and does not get recovery/removal. it can do its niche tho and ive seen it work somewhat well in a select few games. 
is ok.. but definitely underperforms as both a breaker and a hazard setter. it can be fine but isn't that bulky attacker you'd want it to be and is usually strictly worse than 
is ok at best. just like 
usually running levitate. 
is a weird choice since it's usually a hit or miss mon. I've only run into simple swords dance variants on ladder and it has no defensive merit as an unaware mon compared to 
refer to typhon's analysis higher up in the thread. 
is a mon that can offer amazing defensive presence into special 
specifically which I prefer over dry pass cud chew. a wish mon is good for a meta that thrives around semi-stall and balance. who knew? 
is a good physical breaker. jolly variants with swords dance can excel into teams that don't invest in speed and banded versions will do huge damage into any team if it gets the opportunity to come in. very frail though. 
is quite good as a speedy flip turner and usually see it banded/lorb. not much else to say although it is the worst offensive water type. 
set has to be cosmic power weakness policy with magic guard. runs like a steamboat engine in manual veil/screens teams, but can also be a nice life orb cleaner on its own due to its nice coverage. if only it got hurricane! 
is a weird option, since it doesn't excel as a physical breaker like its paldean cousin but mixed work up variants can get the job done into chipped down physical walls with surprise coverage like boltbeam. and then there's 
. super unpredictable mon which can be sash nasty, some gimmicky sub gluttony variant, life orb with coverage or specs. it is not the best at any of these though, which is why it's B tier.
is a great physical wall and sand setter. extremely reliable roar/whirlwind but falters to special attackers unless you run special defensive variants (see Zetious' semi-stall sample). it's also good without sand stream if you don't want to hurt your teammates. reliable as a rocker too. 
is the world's best 
is an amazing choice specs blaster but I have seen a couple of setup variants. choice specs armor cannon is the best move in the tier probably so if you can position it well it just shreds through almost everything. secondary typing doesn't help it out too much though, and its speed is quite middling without the help of weak armor. 
shreeeedddsss as a banded mon. specs is good too and ive seen nasty plot with coverage as well. overall very versatile and pretty damn fast for the meta. 
is basically specs armarouge but a little worse since it's quite frail and lacks a dual stab combo. flame charge sets can also be good and it gets some nice coverage.
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