I haven't posted on forums in like 3 years or something so forgive any loony takes incoming

I've been non-committal laddering this gen's UU on-and-off since the Hoopa meta, but have toyed around a lot more since a lil before Stonerpon's suspect. I know some find it uncouth to post noms during a suspect test, so I'm hereby abusing my former vr host status to do so anyway cuz I'm bored! I quite enjoy experimenting with the quirks of this gen and think some stuff in these rankings could use updating at this stage of the metagame. I've been closely lurking SCL and suffered plentiful ladder tilts to have barely qualified opinions by now. This will probably be overlong because I'm a yapper. Vaguely ordering these by how much I care:

B+ -> A-
This guy is straight up filthy! BU + Booster Energy + Flame Charge feels pretty incredible and self-sufficient lately, plowing through opposing offenses while retaining a solid matchup into most fat stuff. The typing and offensive profile feel really accessible into Zarude and Ogerpon, most counterplay is incredibly shaky after a turn or two of setup, and it can win BU wars against Zarude and Conk. It frequently feels like you need something like tera Fairy Dirge/Toxapex/Mandy to keep Slither Wing from stealing games, but even those checks need to be kept healthy and face several plausible conditions in which they are no longer safe or even sufficient counterplay. It's frankly shocking how nasty and game-ending this guy can be. I toyed around with bulkier BU sets too to try tightening the Exca and Lokix matchups, but also
got high af and tilted into low 1400s after trying this LOL, so I'm unsure if there's merit there. I can see it staying where it is - it could stand to have a sturdier matchup into Excadrill and takes a lot from Lokix's priority even at +1 - but it currently feels very easy to use and optimize on offense while the standard pivot set is still very useful as well. Easily one of the most lethal late-game threats in the tier, is flat out nasty on HO, and can flip entire games on their heads like few other mons in the tier.

A -> A+
Seconding the nom to rise this from A. It's been dominating SCL and simply offers fantastic consistency and utility at this stage. The defensive profile is super valuable in an Exca/Weav/Ogerpon meta, it's a solid phazer into BU Zarude, and its movepool is incredibly malleable. It's really hard
not to get consistent value out of Skarmory in a match and its recent results speak for themselves; I reckon it's easily a top 5 mon in this meta. Thanks to my boo thang
vivalospride I have also become an HO lead Skarm truther, though that's more of a compounding factor than the main reason I think this should be A+. Truly fantastic pick right now.

A- -> A
I was frankly shook this thing wasn't at least A when I first checked this thread. It's great into Excadrill/Zarude/most Ogerpons, is fantastic at abusing tera, and is perhaps the single best mon in the tier at consistently forcing trades. Regen + genuinely great damage output is just amazing frankly. Tera can help completely turn the tables on this guy's Latios/Weavile/Gapdos matchups, while it also easily fucks over stuff people tend to fit for most other dragons and grasses, like Skarm/Fez/Tink. I'm tempted to call it a top 10 mon and think the only things truly holding it back from A+ caliber are the presences of Weavile and Latios. Hydrapple is thriving in a post-Tornadus world.

A- -> A
Basic nom to make in a post-Stonerpon UU, but this thing feels pretty fantastic right now. Ogerpon's pivot set is a top-tier progress maker, especially given its capacity to thwart Zarude setup with Encore. I particularly enjoy LO + SD right now. SD/Ivy Cudgel/Superpower/Spiky Shield does nasty work into most archetypes in spite of its obviously worse consistency than Cornerstone in this role. The simultaneous power and speed boost from tera is ridiculous, essentially relegating your consistent counterplay to Weavile's Ice Shard and offering a ton of utility as speed control against Gren/Latios/+1 Exca. Feels very easy to get value out of and offers a wonderful bundle of utility and threat level.

B+ -> A-/A
B+ feels like it's underrating this guy's current threat level and offensive utility. The speed tier in particular is fantastic against Latios, specs-boosted Water Shuriken is great for Weavile/+1 Exca/Agility Thundurus, and Battle Bond sets are incredibly lethal in their own right. Gren's been a big beneficiary of Tornadus rising and feels fairly malleable; options on BB sets like Extrasensory and tera Poison are niche but lots of fun. The coverage movepool and speed tier just give Greninja an immense immediate threat level that feels highly misrepresented below the A ranks. It often demands respect on preview and can require multiple slots to adequately handle


A+ -> S
I don't know what the culture of S rank noms is these days, but these two feel worthy of at least a discussion on that front. Zarude is an elite progress maker with STAB Knock and a relatively speedy U-turn, arguably the best tera abuser in the entire tier, requires multiple slots to check, and is this tier's mon most capable of entirely stealing games with the BU set. It's fairly malleable and is arguably shaping meta trends like Mandy's bustling SCL usage and the increased usage of various phazers. Latios is the single most offensively threatening mon in the tier and also very malleable. It has taken off rather absurdly after Tornadus' departure and just feels like it's a cut above most everything else in terms of centralization, immediate threat level, self-sufficiency, and the amount of incredibly useful tools at its disposal.

C -> B-
Maybe an unhinged take with Excadrill being so good, but I really like Mimikyu as of late. It's a super consistent team player on HO. With Red Card and SD, you have a spin blocker/sweeper/physical Fairy/phazer on your team all in one, which is frankly fantastic and a huge building relief. STAB priority can be clutch and I also frankly quite enjoy Destiny Bond in its fourth slot, catching stuff like Tink and Excadrill way off guard. I think this guy thrives quite a bit off of people not knowing what to expect from it.
This is getting long af, so here's some rapid fire stuff I either am iffier on or not as passionate about:

A -> A+: There's a lot of counterplay, but this dude is an immensely consistent spinner, A1 tera user, and can turn the tables against opposing offenses hard at +1. Feels insanely splashable and consistent and has been everywhere in SCL and ladder.

B -> B+: Feels incredibly easy to get value out of this thing as a scarfer. Healing Wish is amaze, firm offensive pressure as a speed control option is great, Psychic Noise is a broken move. Garde has also popped off in SCL a nonzero amount of times I'm pretty sure.

B+ -> B-: SO much less valuable without Stonerpon around. This looks whack in the same rank as Cobalion and Tinkaton nowadays. Jirachi also genuinely feels way better if you want a similar defensive profile for Latios etc.

B- -> B: This thing genuinely sucks ass but is pretty alright lately for phazing Zarude, checking Gren/Lokix/Weavile, can handle BU Slither Wing a lot of the time. Other stuff in B- feels too niche for this to fit alongside them.

C -> B-: BD is filthy and this thing is genuinely rather unexplored in general. Typing offers decent utility into Gren/Weavile/Conk, takes advantage of lots of Keldeo checks, and call me crazy but I think AV has a very small niche in the Latios/Keld/Jugulis matchups.

A- -> A: Uncertain about this, but both flame orb and BU are very solid. Mach Punch is excellent in a Gren/Exca/Weav meta while it can match up decently against Zarude in a pinch. Another winner of Tornadus leaving even if it could knock it.


C -> B-: Sun has seen sparing usage in SCL and has showcased pretty solid potential. VenuTales is a nasty core that many teams are unprepared for while additionally enabling stuff like Slither Wing and Latios pretty well. Unexplored but def potent af.

Keep this at A. It's fairly solid into Gren & Lokix, does alright vs Zarude, makes progress insanely well thanks to Toxic Chain. It's both a consistent pivot and solid enabler of its teammates thanks to spreading poison like an mf. I hate facing this thing 100% of the time.
That's it now I'm done! Apologies for the length of this. If Infernape had 10 extra points in every stat and victory dance it'd be S+. Thanks for reading!