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Resource SV OU Indigo Disk Viability Ranking Thread - (update on post #1193))
- Thread starter Shaymin Sky
- Start date
Each rank has a number (S is 1, S- is 2, A+ is 3, and so on), and the number next to the mon is just the average of all the rankings(so if a mon gets 6 S rank votes and 6 S- rank votes, it'd be 1.5)
Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but it said in the changelogs this was C-, but it's in bottom of C tier.
Zarude
Nominating Ogerpon-Cornerstone to B+
Based off of the work that her sister, wellspring, puts in, a lot of people might think that the opportunity cost for using Cornerpon is probably not worth it.
However, cornerpon is actually a bit better in some regards and definitely a great mom if you need it to fill other specific niches.
A glaring weakness one may bring up is that basically any steel walls it's stab combo, however, all steels in the OU tier besides Crown, Ghold, and Kingambit are hit neutrally by one of its stabs. You can also fit in either knock or superpower to let it hit it's checks.
There's actually not a single OU mon besides ghold/Kingambit (depending on which you would rather hit)
That resists both the stab combinations + the coverage (you can consider Zama a check ofc but it's... Zama.)
This makes it a crazy wallbreaker, since alot of checks for wellspring actually lose to cornerstone, which means it can break fatter teams alot more consistently, along with threaten stall alot more (since most stall run woger checks. There's not that many consistent cornerpon checks)
Finally, if you manage to keep hazards off the field, sturdy can actually be really helpful for a free turn to setup or to just guarantee a kill on something faster.
Imo it's not as good as wellspring because her typing is honestly better defensively, and water cudgle is honestly more spammable. Utility sets on woger are better, and it can also afford to run encore or other utility moves on some sets while corner running it is kinda iffy.
However cornerpon definitely has her niche.
Based off of the work that her sister, wellspring, puts in, a lot of people might think that the opportunity cost for using Cornerpon is probably not worth it.
However, cornerpon is actually a bit better in some regards and definitely a great mom if you need it to fill other specific niches.
A glaring weakness one may bring up is that basically any steel walls it's stab combo, however, all steels in the OU tier besides Crown, Ghold, and Kingambit are hit neutrally by one of its stabs. You can also fit in either knock or superpower to let it hit it's checks.
There's actually not a single OU mon besides ghold/Kingambit (depending on which you would rather hit)
That resists both the stab combinations + the coverage (you can consider Zama a check ofc but it's... Zama.)
This makes it a crazy wallbreaker, since alot of checks for wellspring actually lose to cornerstone, which means it can break fatter teams alot more consistently, along with threaten stall alot more (since most stall run woger checks. There's not that many consistent cornerpon checks)
Finally, if you manage to keep hazards off the field, sturdy can actually be really helpful for a free turn to setup or to just guarantee a kill on something faster.
Imo it's not as good as wellspring because her typing is honestly better defensively, and water cudgle is honestly more spammable. Utility sets on woger are better, and it can also afford to run encore or other utility moves on some sets while corner running it is kinda iffy.
However cornerpon definitely has her niche.
whoops, it's C tier I accidentally put c- in the changelogs thanks for catching that
Why is corv so high ?
I think you need to put some reasonings for the ranks.
otherwise I think they are largely fine? aside from alot of the C- rank not being gimmicks rather just very specific pokemon and some actual gimmicks being in the higher ranks.
I do not believe Clefable should ever be this low on a vr; it is a very amazing utility mon, one of the best mons on any bootspam, cm's still doing its thing even if there are more things to disturb it now and UnaClef while niche nowadays is very useful.
Also Excadrill is insanely low for how good sand is now.
Pivot, secondary hazard removal and wall makes it really good on balance
Here is a breakdown of all the rises and drops along with their reasonings; complete with background noise.
Now to include some additional takes on the VR.
A+ is very tiny atm and I have the perfect candidate.
A > A+
Hatt has solidified itself as one of the most splashable mons in the metagame, not just for its hazard controlling presence, but its excellent progress making between Nuzzle + Psynoise, to Future Sight, to Calm Mind offering amazing MUs into slower Balances and Stalls while offering trading capabilities vs offense. For reference, it can be led vs Lando or Wellspring and trade chip damage or status in Wellspring’s case. Many incredible builds have been made through Hatt’s consistency with deterring rocks. Two of our current samples are made with the AV Torn + Hatt and Tusk. As well as other defensive cores formed with Hatt.
I find there is a particular appliance that has been overlooked in this update.
B > B+
It is odd this hasn’t seen B+ since who knows how long. Washtom saw consistent showings in SCL and OLT. Washtom’s defensive typing continues to prove useful with Torn and Tran being OU proper since October, as well as Treads being heightening in usage. It slots in nicely on the popular Treads/Pech/Kyu cores as both a pivot and a Ground immune. Washtom still have a well-rounded matchup spread into things like Dragonite, Tusk, Gambit, Cinder, Lando, etc.
Now to include some additional takes on the VR.
A+ is very tiny atm and I have the perfect candidate.
A > A+
Hatt has solidified itself as one of the most splashable mons in the metagame, not just for its hazard controlling presence, but its excellent progress making between Nuzzle + Psynoise, to Future Sight, to Calm Mind offering amazing MUs into slower Balances and Stalls while offering trading capabilities vs offense. For reference, it can be led vs Lando or Wellspring and trade chip damage or status in Wellspring’s case. Many incredible builds have been made through Hatt’s consistency with deterring rocks. Two of our current samples are made with the AV Torn + Hatt and Tusk. As well as other defensive cores formed with Hatt.
I find there is a particular appliance that has been overlooked in this update.
B > B+
It is odd this hasn’t seen B+ since who knows how long. Washtom saw consistent showings in SCL and OLT. Washtom’s defensive typing continues to prove useful with Torn and Tran being OU proper since October, as well as Treads being heightening in usage. It slots in nicely on the popular Treads/Pech/Kyu cores as both a pivot and a Ground immune. Washtom still have a well-rounded matchup spread into things like Dragonite, Tusk, Gambit, Cinder, Lando, etc.
INCINEROAR BROS WE WON!!!
I'm so proud of my boy, thank you everyone
Incineroar shall rise to S+
Rises
C -> BIt has an incredible wellspring matchup and is a genuinely good wall and utility with spikes.
C -> B imagine if zapdos resisted knock off & the ever spammable ghost type? that's Mandibuzz
B -> B+ with decent speed, rough skin to punish contact, and hazards it can have great utility while still being threatening offensively
B -> B+ should've never dropped. great spinblocker, walls wellspring, overall great bulk and strength sap make it wall any physical attacker.
B+ -> A- completely walls wellspring unless it has play rough, and even than you could tera. which brings me to point number 2
- The only thing keeping it from ubers is a horrendous typing (unless it, idk, made u quad resist the most terrifying wall-breaker, lol could never happen) but it can tera. tera ground earth power against non steel types, steel to resist the previous crucial quad ice weakness and fairy weakness, and fairy for general goodness.
- it can both be a defensive pivot with regenerator, healing and incredible wellspring matchup, or a great nasty plot sweeper with the crucial ability to stay alive thanks to regenerator and use the many turns it has to cheese with fickle beam 30% double bp chance.
& 
A -> A+ I feel like I don't need to explain myself.
A -> A+ With good bulk, healing with pain split, incredible hazard control that can be paired with a secondary rapid spinner against Hamurott to make you practically immune to hazards. psychic noise let's you disable stall with a single move on one pokemon, and it's versatility is great for itself as it makes it unpredictable.
A -> A+Drops
wasting tera on a purely defensive mon sucks and the only thing that sucks more is being a rock type defensive pokemon. there's a reason it only has like ~7% usage.
when's the last time this not fast enough sweeper was seen sweeping? exactly. perfect covarage of off 135 sp.atk seems broken until you aren't fast enough for your paper thin bulk, don't have an ability to help you as a special attacker. and don't have anything to do other than moonblast & earthpower?
A- -> B+A defensive pokemon that's weak to ivy cudgel? and can't cripple any incoming wellspring without giving up on 1 of your other important utility options? sorry buddy but this gen aint for ya kido.
A- -> B+ Why did it rise? it aint bulky enough for utility and is entirely outclassed in sweeping.
B+ -> B It was ou when sash 
and 
ware great, they aint meta now.Bad typing & not incredible bulk while having less than 100 speed just sucks. & it isn't even that strong
completely outclassed by iron treads outside of sand and in sand too many pokemon wall it (Corviknight, Moltres, Zapdos, wellspring, air balloon Gholdengo & Heatran (most times drill doesn't have coverage)
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This 100% deserved the drop. Not splashable and awkward to both fit and use, does not wall Wellspring when Knock Off is such a common coverage move for it, and hates the ubiquity of so many strong special attackers that pressure it hard and easily.
Apple is cool, but again like the above it’s hard to fit on teams and is even more abusable due to its awful speed and the presence of many strong special attackers who threaten it. It can be a Tera hog in some games due to its typing and is farmed by u-turn users. It’s a good balance breaker but its flaws limit how many teams it fits on.
Definitely should considering Pult just dropped (rightfully so). What’s changed since then that should bump it up again?
A defensive pokemon that's weak to ivy cudgel? and can't cripple any incoming wellspring without giving up on 1 of your other important utility options? sorry buddy but this gen aint for ya kido
These two comments really just jump out to me as… odd? Garg for one isn’t forced to Tera right away, and some games it doesn’t have to at all. But the luxury of being able to do so greatly extends its utility and it’s a great anti bullshit tool for balance/bo teams thanks to how broken Salt Cure is as a move, and generally soft checks a lot depending on Tera choice. And it is a wincon on those teams when opting for Curse which also lets it check even more stuff.
Heatran meanwhile has had increased usage and success and your comment just isn’t at all reflective of what it’s capable of. It being a SR setter that can’t be blocked by Hatterene is a big deal, as is its ability to spread burns to would be switch ins and thus deter them. It’s flawed but it’s showed it’s worth at high level.
Also for Excadrill while I don’t believe in the long term sustained viability of sand overall, it has had enough usage at high level to show it can be used and justify its current ranking. And calling mons with balloons “walls” when they’re at most extremely temporary stops is a bit silly.
I wanna add to this and say that most popular removal in the tier would NOT want to remove on heatran. If it rocks up on tusk/treads/drill, most tusk wouldn't want to spin, because if it stays in, Heatran can just delete it in a single hit. Corv/Geezing don't even have a chance at removing in front of tran.
Also as for whatCat111 said,
This genuinely makes no sense
Under what circumstances would we have to ban a different typing Hydrapple to Ubers?
Speed on tera is honestly really good, its very versatile, (Band, SD, or just pivot)
Also I just wanna add to the crowd of nominating
to A+. Its such an amazing utility mon, it checks so much, it can heal itself in draining kiss, it keeps most hazard users at bay besides like heatran, glimm, or the rare bronzong.
I think you have Rotom-W a bit low here. I would probably move it to B or B+. This meta is a bit more friendly to it. While it’s not a hard counter to anything, it the ability to soft check a lot of physical attacks in the tier. Specifically Tusk, Ace, Scizor, Corviknight, Zama, and to a degree, Gambit with wisp. It can also serve as an emergency Kyurem check with Tera-steel. Ogerpon also doesn’t love risking the switch into a potential status move or volt switch. Pain split is also great for chunking SpD switch ins like Gking or Blissey on stall.View attachment 794223
Rises
It has an incredible wellspring matchup and is a genuinely good wall and utility with spikes.
- completely walls wellspring unless it has play rough, and even than you could tera. which brings me to point number 2
- The only thing keeping it from ubers is a horrendous typing (unless it, idk, made u quad resist the most terrifying wall-breaker, lol could never happen) but it can tera. tera ground earth power against non steel types, steel to resist the previous crucial quad ice weakness and fairy weakness, and fairy for general goodness.
- it can both be a defensive pivot with regenerator, healing and incredible wellspring matchup, or a great nasty plot sweeper with the crucial ability to stay alive thanks to regenerator and use the many turns it has to cheese with fickle beam 30% double bp chance.
Drops
A defensive pokemon that's weak to ivy cudgel? and can't cripple any incoming wellspring without giving up on 1 of your other important utility options? sorry buddy but this gen aint for ya kido.
Bad typing & not incredible bulk while having less than 100 speed just sucks. & it isn't even that strong
Although they’re more niche, I’ve also had some success in the 1700s with bulky nasty plot and trick sets. Pain-split+nasty plot can wear down stall and trick is always a useful utility move.
It still suffers from a bit of 4MSS and sometimes feels like it simultaneously needs SpD and Defensive EVs. But I think there’s a definite place for it in the meta.
It has an incredible wellspring matchup and is a genuinely good wall and utility with spikes.
I have to disagree with this take. Chesnaught and Mandibuzz are very niche pokemon that have the fundamental flaw of being too passive.
Chesnaught has a lot of utility, yes, but its never the best in what it can does, and there are a lot of physical threats that can 1v1 without Iron defense, like DD Dragonite or IronPress Zamazenta, or even Tera Ghost Kingambit. It cant even beat SD Play Rough without tera, althought i think that is more a sign of Ogerpon being busted and banworthy. You cant run 5 moves so you have to make the choice between Spikes and Iron Defense which sucks, and overall you can run better spikes setters (Ting-Lu, Glimmora, Ogerpon, Gliscor, H-Samurott) and Ogerpon-W checks (Pecharunt, Dragonite, Zamazenta, Hydrapple, Sinistcha) that are better into the rest of the metagame.
Mandibuzz Is kind of a similar story. It Is really passive if the target that is facing has low attack, so a lot of pokemon can farm it and use it as setup fodder. It isn't even is a good defog user because it doesnt even 3hko bulky NP Ghold with Foul Play, which is pretty sad. Also there are a lot of physical pokemon that aren't threatened at all by Mandibuzz considering how important a dark resistance is in a world where Kingambit is S-. Iron Valiant absolutely ruins it, Zamazenta ruins it, Great Tusk can use it as rocks fodder and its not pretty impressive overall.
As far as niche options go, i think that these two are actually good, but not B rank levels of good
How? Ever heard of toxic? Or u turn to get someone else on the field? It's just as passive as Corviknight. Which is to say, It isn't.
If it was a steel ground type with all of the same abilities, stats, and a moveset that just changed typing, it could be ubers.
I never said it needed to make sense
This is categorically untrue lol.
A plain max defense Corv is a lot more threatening with brave bird to common moms like Oger, Valiant, Tusk, etc. it also doesn’t need to run boots, can absorb knock, and can win games with Idef+ body press (idef+foul play is not the same)
Mandibuzz has such low offensive stats that it’s never much of an issue for any dark week Mon to switch in on it. Even a ghost type like Ghold can switch in and use it as set up fodder.
You seem to misunderstand that what makes Zapdos so amazing is its offensive utility as well as its defensive. Yes Mandibuzz can switch into ghost types, but you need to run a SpD spread in order to consistently handle them, which takes away from its ability to come in on physical attackers that it actually walls a bit better.
Toxic can easily be taken advantage of with immunities, sub, and Tera.
Mandibuzz is by no means a horrible pokemon but absolutely fits the definition of C tier viability. You’re just embarrassing yourself arguing otherwise.
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Hiiiiii! ! ! ! Soooooooo, i'm free to ask any questions...? Why, barraskewda is C+ tier? I know that rain is not meta at all, but i think this mon is amazing in forcing progress and wallbreaking, even without tera, he can even guaranteed OHKO Wogerpon and has 25% chance to OHKO Rillabom with poison jab (Mons that otherwise would wall it). It's VERY weak to priority, but besides that and the whole rain thing, this thing is a beast, the King Von of OU, in my humble opinion, a B- would be more deserved (yeah, even if he is my precious son, Barraskewda heavily restrains teambuilding and has one big weakness, but i think he is strong enough to kind compensate it) ! ! #out #doyoualllikehashtagspersonallyidontlikeitverymuchbutithinkitsfunny #isawladysnowbloodyesterdayandthatmoviesheavyrocksView attachment 785974
Finished putting together my thoughts of the meta thus far.
Notable Rises
A- > A+
The pinnacle of the anti-hazard meta. Hatt benefits from and enables dozens of offense/bo builds, contributing to its Top 10 usage. The development of Pain Split RH back during the early half of OLT not only improves its survivability, but lets it 1v1 Ting-Lu and Garg. Now its performing the role of a defensive backbone that fits on Balances with Psynoise + Nuzzle to generate excellent progress into non Gking structures. Calm Mind is as good as ever with Terrain and Screens rising in usage. Ironpress Zama has started teching Heavy Slam because Hatt is just that good rn.
A > A+
Don’t know why this dropped in the first place. Its the single hardest Zama counter in the game and presents excellent matchups into most of the physical meta including demon lesbian Waterpon. Nasty Plot has resurfaced and that set is nasty…plot. It has farmed wins throughout SCL as many teams do not prep for this set or lack no consistent answers to it.
A- > A
Should be higher. Unless it runs into Waterpon or G-Weez, this mon spams Flip Turn and never dies lol. AV is broken and it’s arguably a better special pivot than Gking with better MUs into Ghosts, NP Rai, Heatran, etc. Not even Specs Bolt kills this shit at full. There’s a lot of fantastic Mola pivot cores that compensate the Wellspring matchup with pressure from fast U-turners or dedicated checks like Hydra, Grasspon, Pecha, etc.
B > A
Might be a monumental rise, but it shouldn’t be a shock. Terrain Offense/BO is very good rn, and Rillaboom has proven to be explosive with SD LO. Many OU mons appreciate the passive recovery of Terrain and Rilla’s ability to force Knocks on the birds. Also enables crazy dual Grass offenses.
B+ > A-
iron moth shot dead in o-block. Ceru continues to skyrocket as an offense staple with screens continuing to perform well in SCL, picking between LO or Sash and Close Combat or Poltergeist, making it unpredictable and thus a valuable asset on SV OU offense. Glimm is just a great anti-offense, offense mon that punishes those Hatt/Torn/Kyu comps and teams lacking Tspike absorbers.
B+ > A-
Hydrapple is peak. Defensive glue with Regenerator and wallbreaker in one, so basically fat NP Torn. More Balances are starting to implement this on teams since it synergizes with other Regen pivots and 1v1s mons like Ting-Lu, SD Gliscor, Waterpon, Garg, Mola, Lando, etc. Sand has become legitimate (for the time being) and Hydrraple is an excellent fit on those structures. Offensive/Defensive Synergy with Ttar and doesn’t mind the sand chip.
B > B+
A surprising amount of Latios usage during SCL lately. They’ve adapted to the Hatt spam with Scarf Trick which also ruins its other checks and puts pressure on offense, historically its worst mu in SV OU. CM still puts in work vs Balance, and Heatran’s resurgence has made Latios’ defensive profile more relevant again. Also pls give Covert CM a shot, it 1v1s Hatt which is funny asf.
B > B+
Tealpon is back to its peak performance since the early half of 2024. It has found itself on consistent team structures in OLT and SCL, including Boots Spam, Specs Rai Balance, and Grass Spam. The utility of Knock + Encore and snowball potential with Tera is deserving of respect in the VR. Other sets like SD and most notably CB have also seen success.
B > B+
I could explain this throughly because I recently put together a Sand team that got JackRG to 2000+ ELO, so check that out and also the replays of Sand doing shit.
JackRG version
Intro
It’s the 2010s, Darude Sandstorm memes are everywhere, Minecraft and FNAF are the hot new games, and Sand is dominating the OU ladder. Tyranitar has received 4.99% usage on the OU ladder, so Me and JackRG decided to give Sand a shot in the builder. The result is the most cruel Sand team thus far, joining the ranks of the...
If you’ve been keeping up with SV OU, Sand is trending, to the point Ttar reached OU usage this month. Sand chip has incredible applications for playing around the tier’s insane non-Rock/Ground/Steel offensive types and breaking Dnite’s Multiscale or Ceruledge’s Focus Sash. Sand also has favorable matchups into offense with Drill outpacing everything under Sand and being decently consistent at spinning, as well as strong defensive backbones. Its Wellspring matchup has kept Sand off the map, but developments using Pecha and Hydrapple have levitated this issue.
As for Ttar itself, it’s proficent at forcing progress with Knock + Sand chip, managing to compete with Ting-Lu due to packing better matchups into Moltres, Gliscor, Torn, and Kyu. The Kyurem matchup is important. Not only has Kyurem usage heightened, but chipping it down has gotten tougher with dual hazard control structures Kyu finds itself on. Ttar comes in a couple times vs Sub-tect and scares it off with Knock or forces a Tera. CB is an underrated breaker and dumpsters Stall, 2HKOing Mola, Corv, and other bulky threats.
Even though Drill isn’t a necessity like Wake is for Sun, it still deserves to be alongside Ttar just for spinning and anti-offense role compression on Sand. Also Tera Blast sets sometimes pop off.
B- > B
Everyone’s been glazing this mon lately. Screens is in a good spot rn and Goltres trades well vs Ting-Lu and other special walls with Taunt to enable threats like Raging Bolt or Dengo.
C+ > B-
I actually find Fez decent in this meta. Checks non-Heavy Slam Zama, Bolt, Prima, Rilla, Tealpon, Pult, and more. Toxic Chain forces interactions that lead to easy U-turn vortexes. Nasty Plot sets are underexplored, functioning as a sidegrade to Pecharunt, trading physical bulk for more speed and special bulk. Moonblast + Dark Pulse hits a large portion of the meta and Fez is bulky enough to secure more than one Nasty Plot.
Notable Drops
S > S-
Still inarguably top 3, top 5 in the meta, but idt its on par with Dnite and Zama atm. Teams have gotten better at chipping and threatening Ting-Lu out. Pain Split Hatt and Rillaboom are troublesome matchups that have seen higher usage. The former makes Ting-Lu less consistent at setting Rocks/Spikes while the latter threatens an OHKO with Wood Hammer. Ting-Lu still remains a pillar of offense and defense with amazing progress making from hazards + Ruination.
A+ > A
The lack of defensive utility it provides does not offer Deo many opportunities to click Nasty Plot. Utility sets with Spikes have witnessed a downfall since Hatt usage skyrocketed. With that said, its the best screen setter rn, better than Ayy Tales.
A > A-
I don’t think its on the same level as Moltres or Zapdos for that matter. Corviknight checks a lot of things, but its greatest strength is also its downfall. Corv relies on being at decently high health to check most things which in practice is difficult when you’re fighting battles with Wellspring, Helmet Lando, CC Tusk, AoA Zama, and more. Corv wants Iron Defense to check things like Gambit after it Teras or SD Gliscor or Roost Dnite, but dropping Defog or U-Turn is tough. Zapdos and Molt are better at punishing physical threats via their abilitirs. Corv does have the advantage of Defog and being the best Knock absorber in the tier, so it is not outclassed by any means.
A- > B+
Its niche on offense has been taken over by Ceruledge and Glimmora. Booster Speed is ass. Basically every team has something that hardwalls it. Any team that gets swept by Speed Moth in big 2025 is ass. Only good sets are Booster SpA and Specs under Sun. Gambling with Fiery Dance boosts only brings disappointment.
A- > B+/B+ > B
The two worst Pokemon that are classified as OU (not counting Donbozo). Heatranator might’ve said putting it below A- is ridiculous, but ykw, imma be ridiculous. The utility Clef brings is undeniable with Rocks, Knock, T-Wave, Encore and Calm Mind can steal games. It does its job well, but its not splashable or as consistent as the A tiers. Clef does 1v1 a couple mons in SV OU, but there’s not much it outright checks. Take the examples Heatrantor provided (Ting, Tusk, Zama, Pult, Garg) It does well into Ting-Lu and Garg, but the other MUs are shaky. Tusk Headlong does 44% min, meaning even a little bit of chip will put it in 2HKO range. Same deal with Pult via Hex after being statused and Specs Sball. Zama is very iffy for Clef. Zama can Terastilize and turn Clef into setup fodder, or click Heavy Slam which naturally 2-shots it. Clef also doesn’t do well vs aggressive teams unless its Unaware, but Unaware is um….awkward.
Crown disappoints me. The main reason you put it on a team is to beat Kyurem and spam Tachyon. On paper Specs Crown should be a beast, in practice it ends up being overly prediction reliant with the amount of Steels and Grounds that exist in OU. Heatran is a real mon again and presents competition for Crown. Treads is commonplace. Offense matchup is awful. Getting a kill with Tachyon means Wellspring, Ceruledge, and Gambit get to do whatever they want for free. AV is decent, but lacks breaking power and completely folds to Ting-Lu. Maybe CM sets on Screens can do something, idk.
B+ > B
Screens is good but Ayy Tales ain’t it. Easy to anti-lead and very exploitable even with Encore. Deo is a better setter.
B > B-
So many teams pack 1-2 checks to this thing without trying. Keldeo has a tough time breaking in this meta, especially with AV Torn being a real mon.
B > B-
I might be a hater, but I rarely saw Ursaluna do anything recently outside of TR usage from MRH1106 and a couple showings here and there. It guarantees a kill every game, but its so tough to fit anywhere.
B- > C+
One hit wonder ahh mon. Haven’t seen much of this thing since WCOP ended. Rillaboom returning doesn’t help either.
Other noms I didn’t go over but will mention anyways:
A > A-
B+ > B
B+ > B
B > B-
B- > C+
feel free to ask any questions and agree/disagree with my takes
Peace :)
Barraskewda lives and dies by Rain and currently, Rain just isn't viable. It has a lot of bad matchups in Raging Bolt, Rillaboom, Kyurem, Dragonite, and Kingambit. Skewda importantly tends to invite in all of these threats and Rain doesn't have the tools to defend them. Tier terror Ogerpon is maybe the biggest thorn in Skewda's side. Sinnglehandedly makes Choice Band unviable, makes every Water move a 50/50, and is unresisted under Rain. It's hard to rate Barraskewda high individually as a threat when the teams it fits on aren't great. Direct comparison: Walking Wake is the same thing but Ogerpon is weaker under Sun and Wake has more powerful coverage. Also Sun is very strong
If it “isnt viable”, itd be UR. Rain isnt unviable per se (hence why pelipper and skewda arent UR), but it’s certainly seen better days.
I'm trying a rain team now and it reached me to the 1500s. Rain is viable and kind of underrated in this meta. Almost any bad matchup for rain can be solved with creative teambuilding and good play. Rillaboom is less common every day and most rain teams have Iron Treads for opposing Raging Bolt. Dragonite and Ogerpon-W are important checks, but only checks, since Kingdra/Walking Wake (they are virtually the same except Kingdra is less powerful but really fast, outspeeding Booster Valiant with Modest in rain levels of fast) can use Hurricane and Draco to beat Ogerpon-W and DNite respectively, and Barraskewda can use Poison Jab to lure in Ogerpon. And in a 1v1 situation, Raging Bolt which is a great rain abuser by itself, can beat Kingambit thanks to Thunderclap.
Against sun rain has the upper hand thanks to the resilience of Pelipper with Roost and the momentum generating tool of U-Turn
There is my rain team if someone wants to try it lol https://pokepast.es/74fa23efda390551
it's C+, ranked next to shitters like Amoongus and Iron Boulder. Sure it's not unviable by definition but C Rank is literally "guys you can maybe use but they have a lot of issues". I don't think it ever gets used in tournament
wanna touch on this, Poison Jab is awful coverage to lock into if they don't go Ogerpon. it's hella obvious that Barraskewda isn't gonna click Water move into Oger and get fried, so you can low-key abuse Skewda being afraid of clicking Water moves. it's an awful 50/50 every time, and at some point, you think, why am I using a play style with bad matchups into all the best guys just to abuse a fish that can't freely spam its STAB moves into #5 usage mon. there's a reason it has similar high ladder usage to Goodra H