Resource Monotype Viability Rankings [July 2025]

[Jahkem]

I had a few more nominations.

A -> S (Normal) P2 is Normal’s best physical wall. Boltbeam + Trace does amazing against Flying. Being able to pair well with Blissey for the ideal balance core. This is the optimal Normal team with P2 + the other S rank mons. Kinda hard to justify Braviary over P2 when Terapagos does majority of the hazard removal.

A -> S (Poison) Amoonguss is invaluable to all Poison builds. Part of the Regenerator Core, Ground neutrality and physical wall to relieve some of the pressure on Weezing-Galar, anti-setup with Foul Play, and of course guaranteed Sleep with Spore. While HDB are an amazing on Amoonguss, Rocky Helmet provides so much passive damage for free for Amoonguss.

UR -> D I’m surprised Araquanid has been unranked this whole time. Webs Water is still one of Water’s many sub archetypes that has some merit. Pairs well with the rise in Choice Band Urshifu. Being a great offensive special wall and having Rain boosted, Water Bubble Liquidations can be devastating. On top of that, another Ground resist option isn’t bad either.

 

[TheWyvernKing]

Heya, I have been trying low ladder types lately just for fun and I have some noms:

Grass:

C -> B
Still the best hazard setter and bonus hazard remover grass have, you can do some shenanigans with it's ability again Tornadus-t or troll Zapdos, or get a free boost with Tailwind from Whimsicott. Its hold back cause it shares types with Sinistcha, but because it is a suicide lead it isnt that big of a problem anyway. At least it offers way more than all other C mons listed.

D -> C
Ok yes, metagame didnt treat Whimsicott very well, goodra-h walls it to oblivion and avest Iron hands stop it too. Instead it shines like disruptor with it's ammount of support moves: Encore/Stun spore are nice again scary threats (stun spore again like sneasler totally worth the sacrifice for example), Tailwind is a last ditch move to help the team overall. It also does great again dark too. Definitively deserve more love.

(I know

just got downgraded but I couldnt complain if he goes to D, like damn this mon is such a joke in today metagame)

I agree on Bramble rising, but disagree entirely on potential whimsi/rilla changes. Rilla is actually a mon I wouldn't entirely mind going up to B, GGlide is so damn good into some of the top types like Dark, Fairy, and Fighting, while still offering great Speed Control. On top of that, I'm under the impression that if you're using grass, esp. in a major tournament, you're using it to secure a certain matchup spread. Rilla in my eyes is able to compress A: Speed Control, and B: Securing Grass's good matchups so you can use the rest of the team to address the rest of the meta. I say that B point, because it's common af that people will make a grass team that they say is a solid countermeta, and then it can't even get past Pex. All the while Rilla also brings Knock Off and GTerrain which is a huge boon to the longevity of your setup sweepers. As a 1:1 comparison with other pokemon, I think Rilla almost entirely outclasses Serperior for example in terms of benefits, and I'd even say it's the second most useful mon in C tier right behind BrambleGhast. The other 2 C tier grass mons are Breloom and Torterra. Torterra I've only ever seen mentioned for the benefit of winning vs. Poison, and is seemingly so deadbeat outside of that matchup that it almost always ends up preferred to just have an loss to Poison than it is to run Torterra. Breloom in contrast struggles because though it's a fighting type, it's generally seen as outclassed by Lilli-H as as a fighting/grass, is not as good into steel as it once was due to Ghold, and frankly speaking I don't think is as useful a priority user as Rilla is. Many of the fast mons in the tier are fighting resistant/immune like Pult/Flutt/Valiant/Sneasler, or frail enough for Rilla to handle with some chip.

Maybe I'm wrong on Whimsi, but from my experience it is just too difficult to fit and doesn't add much to the matchup spread. It's too slow to actually hit most Dark threats like gren/meow/darkrai/weav, and not powerful enough to get past bulky mons like Ting Lu, and I believe there are other mons in C and even D tier that offer the same benefit to grass's matchup spread. I think there'd be more of an argument for it if it genuinely solved the dragon matchup, or if it solved some issues with grass's defensive core, but these don't really seem to be the case from what I can see.

 

[Ida]

Hi, I play Poison pretty exclusively on the ladder and in room tourneys.

Clodsire: C -> B

Clodsire feels really, really good. It lets Poison use hazards, particularly Spikes, into teams that can maneuver around Poison's typical wallbreakers (Sneasler, Iron Moth). It also isn't that much of a sitting duck with Earthquake almost always being a good click that forces switches and thus, more Spikes/Stealth Rock damage. Unaware is also nice to have, especially since Poison's passivity is often taken advantage of by setup sweepers.

Admittedly, Cloddimus Prime can increase Poison's passivity. Earthquake is a good click, but it's Clodsire, it's not OHKO'ing anything. Spikes is useless into the Flying matchup, and Clodsire doesn't help against the triumvirate of "I hate Poison" that is Gliscor, Lando-I, and Excadrill. Still, I think what it brings to the table is solid enough to get bumped up to B.

 

[2Scary]

Unranked ->B/A (Ghost)
Screens Sableye enables ghost to run weakness policy sd ceruledge which can just 6-0 when screens are up. Also allows ceruledge to switch in on a knock off/earthquake and get a shell smash on switch in. Ghost in general really appreciates screens. Sub spectrier, np gholdengo, specs flutter mane are also hard to stop when screens are up. You can also have your choice for last 2 move slots to check/hinder other threatening pokemon. From twave, encore, disable, taunt, etc, etc.

C -> A (Ghost)
While the usual purpose of mimikyu is gone (kingambit). Mimikyu makes the dragon, dark, ghost, ss water and sand ground mus significantly easier while providing utility in other mus. Mimikyu fills the vital role of blanket checking most or if not all of the offensive pokemon that threaten ghost. The LO Mimikyu set with drain punch can check H-Samurott, Dragapult, Greninja, ss Barraskewda/Kingdra, Roaring moon, Flutter mane, Spectrier, Hoopa-u, etc, etc, etc. With a layer of spikes it can also check Bisharp and Excadril. It can also 2hko Goodra-a, Ting lu and a-Muk with a layer of spikes which ghost has a lot of problems trying to break through. Replacing Swords Dance with curse/twave allows you to hinder mons that mimikyu struggles to directly hit like volcarona. Which often times is just better because you check most mons without needing stat boosts although you do make ghost mirror match a little worse. Curse in particular can help chip down walls in mus where mimikyu isn't as vital and makes checking ceruledge easier with curse + sneak so you dont make it outspeed you if you wanted to click sneak twice. Mimikyu as a bonus can waste an additional turn of weather/screens or can get a little bit of chip damage when its sacked which makes it very strong in end game scenarios espescially with curse.

S-> A (Ghost)
Dragapult is just not an autopick like flutter mane and gholdengo. Flutter mane is flutter mane and gholdengo's ability to keep hazards permanently up and deal with troublesome mons like a-muk and goodra-h is just too good to not use. Dragapult doesn't outspeed anything relevant that flutter mane can't, besides opposing Flutter Manes. But the only way it can hit them is by phantom force since you don't want to run the specs set on ghost which is just not good. The best set I have found is scarf because it allows you to run specs flutter mane and still be able to threaten the fast dark types with uturn or dragon types with dragon darts and allows you to run some tech moves like twave since you are clicking uturn and dragon darts 99% of the time anyways. Being able to resist fire and water moves is very nice to have. Still a strong pokemon for this reason just not type defining.

A-> B (Ghost)
Hard to pick Sinatcha. Want a physical wall run pecharunt. Want stab grass move run brambleghast. Want a calm mind setup sweeper run spectrier. It does mu fish vs water and ground very well but it feels underwhelming in other mus. Also only having a 90% chance to recover hp is very annoying. Could run strength sap but then it runs into 4 move slot syndrome. Could run weaker move like giga drain that can't burn. I don't know just doesn't feel that great since it takes a couple turns to be threatening which is time ghost can't really afford to waste.

B-> D (Ghost)
Similar story hard to justify running skeledirge since if you want a phyiscal wall then you run pecharunt and if you want to check setup sweepers you run mimikyu. Want to do well into steel run ceruledge. Kinda just sits there in a lot of mus and loses all momentum. Not even that good behind screens since gholdengo just does it better.

 

[Leafeonlol]

I tried to keep it short but here are some opinions on ground.

B -> A (Ground)
Makes a solid scarf choice for both sand and sandless builds.

C -> B (Ground)
Solid defensive piece with access to either hazard, ruination/whirlwind, enough attack to do damage with eq/payback, and enough bulk to run rest without sleep talk on bulky ground to reduce dependence on leftovers.
The dark typing allows it to take psychic and ghost attacks for clodsire and with payback it threatens ghost/psychic types in return.

C -> B (Ground)
The unaware glue of bulky sandless and the one who stops sd mons and bd azu from sweeping you.

 

[cat111ca]

Deoxys speed B -> S (psychic)

It's faster than most scarfers. thanks to hat's magic bounce it can use sash. with Sash nasty plot is free to use. With Indeedee's terrain expending force is so strong that it's stronger than a super effective thunderbolt Before nasty plot. focus close to kill darks.
It's just the best sweeper ever


Hoopa-Unbound S -> B/C (psychic)

I've tried to use it & it Just too slow even with scarf its weaker than Gallade & It has no defensive utility other than an immunity to a type u already resist, I think Its out classes to Gallade


Delphox Ur -> D (psychic)

thank's to hat's magic bounce It can ignore stealth rocks & can do Great damage & Pivot with eject pack overheat. Being great coverage against Steel (even Ghold!) Will o 'wisp is great! can use will Hex against ghost. has half decent bulk, & can be a purely offensive Offensive Monster, overall good


Necrozma C -> B+ (psychic)

with calm mind and Moonlight/morning sun It's Really bulky & can even stall, with rare ground coverage & 100 BP stab that ignores abilities, with it takes 0.75 from knock off & is just my MVP

 

[Namranan]

I'm rushing a bit with these noms since I wanted to gain more evidence but I have limited time to get these in so here goes anyway:

(Psychic) D -> C

As one of the few dubiously sane people trying to use psychic seriously, I've experimented with a ton of different builds for the type and find myself coming back to this mon more often than I think is normal for a D-rank mon. While it is a passive Pokemon most of the time with little utility to offer, it being a defensive steel with Stealth Rock and also being a consistent check to Excadrill allows it to role compress a ton, allowing psychic to run far more options for either screens or terrain teams. I know there is a ladder user that lies around the 1600s that uses a bronzong psychic team and after using it myself I do think there is a lot of potential this mon can offer.

(Dragon) A -> B

Raging Bolt has taken dragon by storm lately and I often don't see dragonite a ton on dragon as a result, if anything it seems like its a bit rare. I think in the current meta its not as good as it usually is due to stuff like Roaring Moon just being better at immediately answering threats like Flutter Mane and also not needing a turn of setup to do so. Band gets worn down too much by rocks and the boots set doesn't mesh well with most modern dragon teams, so I personally think that as of right now Dragonite should fall down a bit due to it not being of the same caliber as its A-rank peers. Raging Bolt, Roaring Moon, and Latios are all super strong and cover a wide range of threats while Dragonite comparatively comes up short and seems to fit more into the B-rank, it doesn't feel like a near auto-include anymore and feels far more niche than the others.

(Fire) C -> B

I think there being a massive gap between the a rank and c rank mons is genuinely insane after playing around with the type for quite a bit, as there are def a few mons from c rank that are a bit better than the others, so I'll be doing quite a few noms for fire in this post. This being said, Skeledirge might be the most controversial of these noms due to the mon being a general momentum sink and seemingly not fitting well on most of the successful fire teams. I argue that its unique combination of spinblocking and unaware utility in a meta with setup sweepers like Volcarona, Dragonite, and non-toxic Gliscor allows it to fulfill a great niche that allows it to work on teams that are more geared towards bulky offense. I think despite the fact it sinks momentum its utility and defensive profile is too good to pass up, especially if you want a spinblocker and don't want to use the frail Ceruledge for that. It should also be noted that while in the Sun, it can take water hits from Pokémon like Urshifu-R pretty well, and not have to be afraid of Swords Dance boosts.


(Fire) C -> B

I think with the prevalence of Flying makes using Arcanine a very strong option, especially since it greatly threatens defensive Gyarados which its other physical attacking peers tend to struggle with. It's rock weakness is definitely not something to ignore, because it limits the amount of times it can come in immensely, but I think with good usage of Court Change or other hazard removal it can shine really well.

(Fire) C -> B

Even with water not being as prevalent or as problematic due to Sun being as powerful as it is, along with Volc's water STAB being negated by Sun, I still believe Volcanion has a strong defensive profile with its ability to stuff Flip Turn opportunities and turn it into pressure. It also has a good matchup into Primarina, who can be really annoying for Fire teams to deal with. I also argue that it is a great asset in the rise of rain water on the ladder, as it forces barraskewda to pick between using its STAB or resorting to the weaker Close Combat, and that decision could allow fire some more breathing room in that MU.

 

[Bluxio]

I just recently got my reqs, and the entire time (except the one time I loaded the wrong team and lost) I was using this dragon team. I think we need to start having a conversation about Dragalge and its place in the meta.

It's D tier right now because most people view it as an inferior version of HGoodra, but honestly, I think everyone has been using the pokemon incorrectly. The way I've been finding success with Dragalge is with specs modest adaptability and just blowing up everything. In this current meta where almost every type is reliant on the same few walls, teams just aren't equipped to handle dragalge + another breaker. For example, Dragalge makes the poison matchup so unbelievably easy that it's funny.

252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Muk-Alola: 229-271 (55.3 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery (Not a real 2hko)
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Draco Meteor vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Toxapex: 234-276 (77.2 - 91%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
vs
252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Dragalge Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Muk-Alola: 274-324 (66.1 - 78.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Dragalge Draco Meteor vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Toxapex: 280-330 (92.4 - 108.9%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

They also can't defog your hazard stack because you can come in forever on weezingg and force them to make a play.

Other defensive cores/bulky mons share similar fates. Articuno can get 2hkod by sludge wave. Ting Lu only takes 2 dracos instead of 3 from Latios. Swampert gets outsped and 2hkod. Slowking-G gets outsped and 2hkod. Spdef gliscor doesn't kill with eq and gets one shot. I can't tell you how many times people have lead araquanid or that swords dance ground ursaluna against me just to get outsped and die to a single draco. This is without acknowledging the fact that once you stack hazards, it becomes significantly more dangerous. It's typing and bulk is also incredibly convenient for dragon in this meta. You lead dragalge vs flutter mane and you get to pick one. You lead dragalge vs valiant and you get to pick one. You go dragalge vs sneasler and you get to pick one. These are pokemon that give dragon serious problems otherwise. Combine that with the fact that it gets tspikes if it forces switches and the fact that it's coverage isn't bad (tbolt can 2hko spdef corv, focus blast does focus blast things, etc).

The problem with Dragalge, like most slow attacking mons, is that it gets whittled by hazards/chip and that it's often too slow to revenge threats, but luckily for dragalge it's on a type with one of the only hwishers in the meta as well as harmonizing perfectly with dragon's defensive core. There is basically never a game where Dragalge doesn't carry it's load because the trades it makes are unfair. Most mons can't ohko it, and it can ohko most mons. If it's against something that CAN kill it, you can fall back on arch/goodra/tias.

It's not perfect, but it MORE than has a niche, especially against types like fairy, poison, water, etc. Imo it should very obviously be C tier but I'm gonna be frisky and ask if it's really that much worse than the mons in B tier? I'd disagree with the statement that Wake does more for a dragon team than Dragalge does.

Here are some replays to show this isn't purely hypothetical (Don't bully my playing pls I clickclickclick on the ladder)

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2474996133-td5ijak7nfv4h0wvjcvugisjenxyk2fpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2474809870-m7bdyo6c4a7jne7k8hdow7by7msn45lpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2474811373-jte1cnupy450w1u7phk2vjv3558enuxpw (He thought I was defensive dragalge, which is great because that mon WILL become more viable if people start fearing specs)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2474790631-i17uwa0rb30602w98hheqqfnhepgi52pw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2474999779-ixq2r6qbi0tolpnu12iups738b66j5hpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2474796453-8alf56xmkx4ejexfp61x3ewcgwlrlxxpw?p2

Obviously not the best selection because It's ladder, but I hope you can clearly see what I mean. Dragalge being in the same tier as Noivern is criminal. If you don't have faith, give it a try.

 

[pikachu<3]

UR -> S+++++

Accidentally got reqs again when testing Trapinch, this pokemon is so good it can get reqs by accident even when not resetting for low ladder losses while changing sets as team gets perfected

Trapinch @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Quick Attack

Evs are in bulk to live random hits, prob the most important one is:

252+ Def Skarmory Body Press vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Trapinch: 189-223 (64.2 - 75.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after 3 layers of Spikes

in case they Whilwind you into 3 layers of Spikes while Smacked Down and try to Bpress to kill.

Example replays:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2476264648-h5qjj7r7i9yl9vbisre4nmnqs97ocqxpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2476250351-mhucps3wowyd2cd4dur7rbwmiiijh3tpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2475890200-q0doysg92uo2mfsksyy3cvgonmx33stpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2475856207-92hsuxn1ac73clup3pro9s2h9u451gupw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2475852797-wecbf4va4yedw8db7qlhu2e5i0d74b2pw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-2475887200-cp81tgdehf6tohrt55137rj1a5hrpi2pw

 

[pikachu<3]

Double posting because King Trapinch is important enough to get its own post.

I've been playing a bit of ground lately (used sandless ground for reqs, went 25-1), and to me the rankings are a bit of a mess. One thing that stands out is the fact that sandless ground appears to be severely underrated despite it actually being really good, so some of the nominations I'll be making will reflect this. In addition, I'd like the ranks to mean something that's easy to interpret for new players. For this, S ranks will be mandatory mons, and A ranks will be mons that one needs to think really, really, REALLY hard before dropping them from a team (aka always use this pokemon unless you really know what you are doing), and B ranks will be good mons, C ranks will be more niche stuff, and D rank will be things that have a niche in theory but no one actually uses (For example, when was the last time you saw a Gastrodon on ground?).

S -> A

While Lando-I is indeed very good, it just isn't anywhere near as important as Clodsire, who is mandatory on ground teams. Bumping this down to A rank seems better, as it's probably around the same level of viability of Mamoswine (who is also extremely important to ground teams!)

A->B A->B

Sandless is really good and criminally underrated. Sand isn't anywhere near mandatory, and I'm not even convinced that sand is even the best way to play ground at the moment. I think B rank is a better fit for the sand duo--I think Mamoswine, for example, is far more important for the type than this pair of mons.

A->B

Again, this isn't as important as Mamoswine is and should therefore drop. The standard for A-rank should be high!

C->B

One of the pillars of Sandless builds and the ranking for Quagsire should reflect this.

C->D

When am I running this again? It's a decent mon on paper but Ground typically isn't lacking in physical power and the ghost immunity isn't needed when Ground is super favored against Ghost regardless.

UR -> D, UR -> D, UR -> D, UR -> D, UR -> D

All these mons have nice niches on paper which make them at least worth considering on the right team.

Pilowswine - Thich Fat mon which can carry Eviolite is a good enough reason to consider this at least.
Toedscruel - It's a spinner with Spore, surely that's worth something. Also gets Trick room if you're running Ursaluna.
Palossand - It's a spinblocker. It's notably more defensive than Golurk so hopefully it can actually switch into some things.
Dugtrio - Trapping mon does trapping things. There are several things you can try with this mon, but one of my favorites is Air Balloon to punish choiced EQ incredibly hard by setting up +6 behind a sub against them.
Flygon - Kinda like a Trapinch that doesn't trap but is also capable of actually hitting hard with banded Outrage and pivot with U-turn when necessary. Works similarly, but you U-turn to punish predicted switches and pivot on slow mons. Not as matchup-dependent but also doesn't hit the same highs as Trapinch.

Overall these mons all have a niche on paper and look fine next to Ursaluna, Gastrodon, and Trapinch.

Wait what am I saying Trapinch obviously belongs in S rank alongside Clodsire

 

[Wincon]

Bug
C -> B
With an assault vest, this pokemon gives bug a much more solid backbone vs hard hitting special attackers, such as Raging Bolt, Specs Dragapult, LO Garchomp and Gholdengo. It’s definitely better than the other guys in C rank and is a nice option to secure your dragon matchup.

Dark
C -> B
Bisharp has been picking up a lot of usage recently and this is a long time coming. He gives dark a much better mu vs fairy and with an eviolite, becomes an all around glue Mon and late game sweeper with the hazards support dark provides.

D -> Unranked
No one is using this trash? Unless you’re Trichotomy or trying to qualify for a badge, you should never ever consider using this Mon. Hisuian Samurott outclasses it in just about every way.

Dragon
C -> B
Surprised Garchomp is C rank. Seen him a lot in tour as a staple 6th Mon option over raging bolt with a tank set with rocks and spikes or just running a mixed attacking set + spikes. Hazards rule this metagame and I think Garchomp deserves a bump because of that fact.

D -> C
This Mon is way better than most people think and provides valuable utility to dragon in t spikes as well as a slow bulky pivot. It also secures your fairy matchup and can even run dragon tail so it’s never setup fodder. The specs set is also decent, being able to trade 1 for 1 in most matchups with its raw damage output and great defensive typing. Definitely deserves a rise imo.

Unranked -> C
My goat! Haxorus was a welcome surprise. Somehow we were discussing Haxorus on Discord and we were trying to figure out what’s the best way to use this guy to give him some love. We settled on choice band probably being the best option in this metagame and boy did he not disappoint! This absolute beast hits so incredibly hard with outrage and its coverage moves (Earthquake and Close Combat) basically counts as stabs off that monstrous base 147 attack stat. First impression is a huge boon, being able to pick off high priority targets like Latios, Meowscarada, Roaring Moon, and Greninja from full First Impression. This Mon alone makes the Dark matchup extremely one sided and can be a really solid revenge killer/breaker with the combination of First Impression and its impressively high attack stat. It’s way better than people think and in testing felt about on par with Kommo-o in usefulness and matchup spreads.

Electric
B -> A
Been hosting community outreach programs for monotype’s worst type for weeks now as it’s not nearly as bad as people think. Regieleki is the fastest pokemon in the tier and outspeeds everything up to Scarf Iron Valiant and below. This pokemon alone enables electric’s most viable archetype (screens offense). If electric picks up more usage and sees more success in tournaments, I can see this mon rising to S rank.

Unranked -> D
Spikes allow electric to dabble in the hazard game and memento allows it to combat opposing setup. Electric surge also activates items such as electric seed, abilities such as quark drive, and boosting the power of electric type moves (especially Rising Voltage).

Unranked -> B
Amazing setup sweeper behind screens support. With either an Electric Seed or a Kee Berry, QD Oricorio can farm a slew of matchups. With other options, such as taunt and substitute, it can flip entire matchups on its head single-handedly and is low-key an auto include on screens offense alongside Iron Hands and Raging Bolt.

D -> C
Iron Thorns can either run Edge/Quake plus Ice Punch or Bolt/Beam coverage with Wild Charge/Ice Punch + Earthquake to hit everything for super effective or neutral damage. Functions as a great screens abuser with a weakness policy set or on a balloon.

S -> A
Gonna nom this drop preemptively before MWP. Zapdos does not fit as well in the screens offense formula and is thoroughly outclassed as a setup sweeper on it by Oricorio. Electric does not work as a bulky offense/balanced archetype in this meta and recently has been finding huge success embracing its more offensive talents. Zapdos has been holding this type together for multiple generations, but it’s time for it to take a step down. It just can’t keep up in this offensive metagame any more.

Fire
Unranked -> D
Unironically decent with a focus sash + nasty plot set, with duel stab and grass knot/focus blast coverage. Can be dangerous as an opener with a decent speed tier and trade 1 for 1 in most matchups with Blaze Boosted Fire Blast especially after a Nasty Plot (if it’s faster). Can also go on mini sweeps in the end game if sash is preserved. Been spamming this on high ladder and my daily Delphox goobings vs Pengairxan.

D -> C
Pretty decent as a sun sweeper. Speed is just good enough to be viable (speed ties with iron valiant). Hits really hard as well. Unfortunately dragon exists…but it does two hit ko all of them under sun with fire blast (if you can land).

C -> B
Fire’s only other sun setter. Helps ensure your dark matchup (checks meow and roaring moon) and is very solid at keeping off hazards alongside Cinderace.

Flying
C -> B
Has been picking up a lot of usage recently and seems to be a solid agility nasty plot sweeper alongside rest and mono dark stab coverage. Absolutely useless vs fairy, but with its incredible bulk and access to berserk, it can sweep teams without good dark answers.

Grass
C -> B / A
Pretty much required on all grass teams and is really solid as a revenge killer and breaker. Grass is in a weird place right now, but at least this guy ensures you win the Water and Ground matchups. It’s more of a “win more” kind of Mon, but that’s the best Grass can ask for right now. If it doesn’t rise to A, it at least deserves a rise to B rank.

C -> B
Spikes rule this metagame and can single-handedly sway matchups. This shit Mon is a staple on ghost teams for a reason and should be B rank here for the same reasons. It’s merely a vehicle to get spikes up.

Ice
C -> B
Very solid as a bulky pivot on ice teams. Good defensive stats and access to thick fat and ice body to be able to check pokemon like Heatran and Volcarona decently. Definitely more viable than the other C rank Mon (Frosmoth). Cloyster is the 6th Mon option for more offensive teams and Dewgong is the option for more defensive teams.

Steel
B -> A
Really solid with an assault vest or a dragon tail set. Goodra has been shown to be one of steel’s most valuable 6th Mon options as it makes the dragon matchup borderline oppressive and helps immensely vs the flying and water matchups.

B -> A
Similarly to Goodra, Scizor seems to be the more offensive 6th Mon option. For most players it’s a toss up between either Scizor or Goodra for the last slot.

Water
Unranked -> C / B
Fantastic bulky pivot on water teams and pairs well with breakers that can sometimes have a hard time finding entry, such as Specs Greninja, Ogerpon-Wellspring, and Banded Urshifu-R. Been seeing a ton of usage in tournament and high ladder play.

D -> Unranked
I’m a bonafide Crawdaunt hater I’m sorry. No one is considering Crawdaunt in any serious context. Mon is outclassed in every way by Samurott-Hisui and it’s not even close.

Unranked -> C
Water’s best and only webs setter. If you need webs he’s your guy. He has one job and he does it well. Well enough to define an entire archetype though said archetype being inferior to both rain and offensive water teams.

D -> C
I don’t like this Pokemon tbh, but it’s been gaining results in tournament and high ladder play on a specific water team. It’s decent as a scarfer and works well on webs with a specs set. It deters rapid spin removal, hits really hard with its stabs, and allows you to greed t spikes on balance/offensive teams when paired with Toxapex.

Unranked -> D
Good on webs as a rapid spin deterrent and hits incredibly hard with banded Wave Crash. Not much more else to say. Walled by archaludon though, so you gotta pair it with a strong fighting type to compensate for that.

Unranked -> D
But why not just run barraskewda instead? Why are we choosing??? Run them both. Floatzel hits incredibly hard with Choice Band Wave Crash in the rain and gets access to coverage options like Low Kick and Ice Spinner. Throw a band on this boy, alongside band barraskewda, and use Floatzel to wallbreak for a mid game/late game barraskewda sweep and you won’t be disappointed.

D -> C
The Rest Talk + Stab Waterfall and Dragon Tail set works really well on stall teams as a great phaser and does a good job checking Oger forms, Volcarona, Scarf Meow, Landorus (both forms) and Excadrill. This works especially well when paired with Toxic Spikes and is a really good intimidate buffer vs opposing setup sweepers.

 

[TheWyvernKing]

D -> Unranked
No one is using this trash? Unless you’re Trichotomy or trying to qualify for a badge, you should never ever consider using this Mon. Hisuian Samurott outclasses it in just about every way.

D -> Unranked
I’m a bonafide Crawdaunt hater I’m sorry. No one is considering Crawdaunt in any serious context. Mon is outclassed in every way by Samurott-Hisui and it’s not even close.

I am a Crawdaunt defender. This mon is goat, unironically. Learn 2 build

 

[londi g]

Leavanny (Grass): D -> C
Webs is very powerful to enable your slower, powerful attackers, such as Breloom, or Sinistcha, or even Ogerpon, which now outspeeds everything but fast scarfers.

Breloom (Grass): C -> B
It's just really good at breaking through defensive mons, and provides a more offensive spore than Amoonguss

Brambleghast (Grass): C -> A
Spikes, Rapid Spin, Spinblocking, Hurricane immunity (and almost fully walls Tornadus-T), Strength Sap for great recovery, and potential to do big damage with Poltergeist coming off of 115 attack. This thing is a good inclusion on every grass team, can run defensive or offensive sets to adapt to what the team needs, and its ghost typing doesn't even put it in competition with Sinistcha, as both can be run together perfectly fine. Why is it even in C?

 

[TheWyvernKing]

Flying
UR-->D/C
I feel like Talon's a pretty underrated option. Consolidates Fast Flying coverage which you generally want to hit stuff like Iron Valiant and Ogerpon, with the ability to spread burns with Will O, the defensive utility of a fire/fly, and it also hits Ghold S.E. with it's STAB coverage which is pretty important for the type.

Feel like might also have some potential as a D/C mon to be honest. One of the bigger issues for it frankly is it has pretty insane 4MSS, as it's movepool at a glance offers alot of neat stallbreaker options like Super Fang/Taunt/Psy Noise, while also having Draco for Latis, Hurricane for mons like Valiant, and Flamethrower for Ghold. There are also numerous benefits defensively for Fly from a Drag/Fly mon, as we've seen many meta Fly teams that end up struggling with Water or Fire coverage.

I'll also add both and are defoggers which can handle Ghold too, though frankly speaking I don't think that's the best use for them on Fly. One flaw of both I'll also add is the fact that Hurricane's accuracy in Sun makes their ability to answer HotPon pretty shaky. You can do physical Talon, though I'd been running Hurricane/Flamethrower to avoid recoil.

 

[Neko]

Meow, the cutoff for this VR update is up to this post. Dw, we'll get to it by Feb and some of them were actually nommed so here's the update:

Bug
C->B
Specs Ribombee is decent, it can also be a decent disruptor with Switcheroo and set Webs in a pinch (though you have better setters)

Dragon
B->A
Spikes, SD, Mixed sets round out a dragon team nicely.

A->B
Raging Bolt competes with it, Choice Band sets can be awkward to fit esp with no hazard removal, DD sets are not particularly wallbreaky and always lack a specific coverage

C->D
Ragong bolt took its job, getting murdered by Ice Beam at that speedtier is also stinky.

Electric

UR->D
Quiver Dance is strongie

Fighting

A->S
Flying neutrality, amazing bulk to make it worth running SD and (AV) sets. Will always provide immense value to any fighting team

Fire
C->B
Ninetales is really good, but role compression frees up Cinderace and Heatran to other sets. Also survives hits in a pinch

C->B
Primarina check, helps with the rise of Rain.

Ghost
UR->D
Screens

Grass
C->B
Rapid Spin, Wind Rider, and Hazards in one slot

D->C
Grass' best disruptor with cool utility

Ground
B->A
Scarf Great Tusk is great into sun, and has enough coverage to go against stinkies like Ogerpons, Volcarona, among others

C->B
C->B
Sandless Ground is on the rise with Gliscor and being stinky in general, so these rise in viability

Poison
Clodsire C->B
Entry hazards, Toxic synergizes well into its coverage, and both abilities are generally fine in Poison teams

Psychic
C->B
B->A
D-> C
UR->D
HO Psychic seems to be the Psychic build based on recent developments

D->C
Levitate guy that can set entry hazards and act as an emergency check if you do put a weakness berry on it is nice.

UR->D
Fire + coverage is helpful, but its not quite as fast so it was overlooked for some time

Rock
C->B
UR->D
Niche picks that have ok use. Check out this post for more info

Steel
B->A
Specially defensive wall, also lets you nearly autowin the dragon mu in tandem with Archa and Treads

Water
UR->D
Webs

This is all for this rank update, op will be updated tomorrow. We hope to hear feedback from these changes!

 

[cat111ca]

D-> C

Necrozma is already C rank... (and should be B)

 

[Jahkem]

Necrozma is already C rank... (and should be B)

Pretty sure the thread was edited right before the shifts or immediately after to reflect the ranks presented by Neko. Not that it was C rank before the shifts.

 

[cat111ca]

Pretty sure the thread was edited right before the shifts or immediately after to reflect the ranks presented by Neko. Not that it was C rank before the shifts.

It was and I remember that...