Resource NU Viability Rankings

[cat111ca]

Why did toxicroak drop off so much it got quickdroped?

 

[LessThanThreeMan]

Why did toxicroak drop off so much it got quickdroped?

Honestly it was surprising to me that it quickdropped. Main issue is that vaporeon was trending down (its making a comeback now though) and that there is a lot of competition for fighting types in the tier rn. Some mons that croak used to pick on also aren't really a part of the meta anymore (muk-alola rose to ru, amoonguss and vileplume arent common.) It doesn't help that its one of the slower options for fighting types either (being slower than flamigo is tough.) Personally I think it is still good, and with vaporeon trending back in tournament play anyways, I could definitely see croak making a comeback! It has a really unique defensive profile which can be nice in certain circumstances.

 

[kyokatsu2009]

Hey I'm wondering. can we re-suspect test lucario, I feel like NU has evolved to where we've gotten more reliable answers to it and also it just blows ass in its own tier. Also if not can someone explain why lucario got banned in the first place

 

[Pokeslice]

Hey I'm wondering. can we re-suspect test lucario, I feel like NU has evolved to where we've gotten more reliable answers to it and also it just blows ass in its own tier. Also if not can someone explain why lucario got banned in the first place

generally a better question for the simple questions thread, but no worries, welcome to NU!

Lucario won't be getting suspected nor do I think we have reliable answers to it in the tier. It was just too fast and too strong, especially with Tera. Swords Dance Tera Normal E-Speed was pretty ridiculous as a cleaner and a breaker + there was always Nasty Plot sets to consider. It was banned pretty early on and it won't be coming back

 

[latios777]

I'm surprised to see Flamigo in S rank. Don't have the best stats in the world and his hability is good but nothing impressive. Only has good physical attack and just decent speed. In fact I see that is only in one sample team unlike other mons that are more splashable (Flygon, mundikori, copperajah, rhyperior, etc.). Playing in the ladder like 50 battles (I known is ladder and not tournament) and I see this mon just....2 times?
Don't see this thing enough good for a S rank mon. Sure, has potencial but if you want a wallbreaker/scarfer Staraptor seems more dangerous.

 

[5MGMatthew5]

I'm surprised to see Flamigo in S rank. Don't have the best stats in the world and his hability is good but nothing impressive. Only has good physical attack and just decent speed. In fact I see that is only in one sample team unlike other mons that are more splashable (Flygon, mundikori, copperajah, rhyperior, etc.). Playing in the ladder like 50 battles (I known is ladder and not tournament) and I see this mon just....2 times?
Don't see this thing enough good for a S rank mon. Sure, has potencial but if you want a wallbreaker/scarfer Staraptor seems more dangerous.

Flamigo can hit ghost types without having to predict between CC/Brave Bird, and is not weak to rocks, which Makes a Big difference. Due to that, it also is a more effective pivoting tool/revenge killer

 

[Birdbrain103]

UR -> C

Golurk can immediately threaten massive damage on many balance staples such as , , , , , and many more. While the slow speed can make it difficult for it to get opportunities to throw off attacks it has strong synergy with good pivots such as , , and

Additionally, Golurk has the bulk and resistances to get the job done against many threats. It completely blanks most sets while volt blocking and threatening devastating damage on , , and . The typing also gives it a good neutral typing against many attackers in the tier and high ranking u-turn users such as , , . These pivots can't OHKO golurk without a choice item making a healthy Golurk locked into Poltergeist not as much of a momentum sink as you think it would be. Unlike other polter users such as Decideueye, Golurk also has the freedom to use a defensive tera as it has no lack in power to secure kills.

Golurk may not be the easiest Pokemon to build around but it has a strong immediate payoff against many teams without too much guessing due to a very spammable Poltergeist.

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-2494895908-bue5ii32out6b4ev2aggrcq1cxuxh4dpw?p2
Golurk forces out the Shift Gear toxtricity and later on deals with the Iron Defense Klefki even at 3x Defense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-2494931842-h53j6qka18uuhgw7v8y2scx0m23l801pw
Golurk tanks a stored power after Tera Steel and saves the game with an earthquake against Espeon
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-2494975512-p83cgnpv48lco37bj9sw4y4xr8l85rwpw
Golurk goes in and gets 3 kills despite the immunities and resistances
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-2494950229-f5q14tcweb75x083nonuagkpg3j3kclpw
Golurk completely blanks Toxtricity and gets the forfeit
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-2494986090-98mpx3e2hdcrk2i3w6u87gh9254fffbpw?p2
Golurk endgames against Kilowattrel and Araquanid and gets the forfeit
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-2498241190-qyp01wmx47rgcohqrh6k2e0khi89y13pw?p2
Golurk breaks Bronzong even though Iron Defense and deals with Toxtricity even with psychic noise.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-2494840306-tawila1weaaewpr3ysywngtke62nq42pw?p2
After Bellibolt forces the tera Golurk endgames against a Tera Poison Vaporeon which couldn't be dealt with otherwise
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-2494851541-3xf6fx2yxeb5s2w8y7ylvan2pxsbp0rpw?p2
Tera Fairy does not save Uxie from the lurk
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-2494935785-amo1tnst0ejyp0kod06sbmye3ia6e19pw?p2
Golurk shuts down terrain Ribombee with trick

 

[5MGMatthew5]

I'm surprised to see Flamigo in S rank. Don't have the best stats in the world and his hability is good but nothing impressive. Only has good physical attack and just decent speed. In fact I see that is only in one sample team unlike other mons that are more splashable (Flygon, mundikori, copperajah, rhyperior, etc.). Playing in the ladder like 50 battles (I known is ladder and not tournament) and I see this mon just....2 times?
Don't see this thing enough good for a S rank mon. Sure, has potencial but if you want a wallbreaker/scarfer Staraptor seems more dangerous.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9nu-892815
this is a decent migo showing

 

[kyokatsu2009]

Hey I'm staring to get hang of NU. so far I'm 1300, and I'm used to see a lot of infernape. as I climb I see less and less of him for that I don't understand why because I see in the VR that breloom, Incineroar, Rhyperior and scraftey are A rank mons that infernape are great into. Is he unviable is he a good off meta pick can someone explain

 

[Pokeslice]

Hey I'm staring to get hang of NU. so far I'm 1300, and I'm used to see a lot of infernape. as I climb I see less and less of him for that I don't understand why because I see in the VR that breloom, Incineroar, Rhyperior and scraftey are A rank mons that infernape are great into. Is he unviable is he a good off meta pick can someone explain

Hey! Glad to see that you’re getting the hang of NU! In truth, Infernape sees a lot of use primarily because it’s a fan favorite Pokémon and less because it’s super viable. The main thing is that it’s largely outclassed by other Fighting-types in the tier. If you want a strong breaker? Migo is much better. A Fighting-type with a good Rhyp and Incin matchup? Tauros Aqua exists with similar typing matchups and wayyyy more defensive utility. Etc etc. The other thing is what set to run. It has some great traits, primarily its speed tier, but it’s slightly too weak and frail to do too much. And is it better as a physical, special, or mixed attacker? A lot of unknowns I think when it comes to what Infernape can do well.

That being said, we’ve been seeing a good bit more Infernape in NUCL right now which is cool to see. The main niche has been its speed tier, since you’re faster than Munkidori, which makes it a really interesting Choice Scarf user. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Infernape get more usage at a higher level, but not in the way that it’s been used on low ladder.

 

[Danny]

Hey! Glad to see that you’re getting the hang of NU! In truth, Infernape sees a lot of use primarily because it’s a fan favorite Pokémon and less because it’s super viable. The main thing is that it’s largely outclassed by other Fighting-types in the tier. If you want a strong breaker? Migo is much better. A Fighting-type with a good Rhyp and Incin matchup? Tauros Aqua exists with similar typing matchups and wayyyy more defensive utility. Etc etc. The other thing is what set to run. It has some great traits, primarily its speed tier, but it’s slightly too weak and frail to do too much. And is it better as a physical, special, or mixed attacker? A lot of unknowns I think when it comes to what Infernape can do well.

That being said, we’ve been seeing a good bit more Infernape in NUCL right now which is cool to see. The main niche has been its speed tier, since you’re faster than Munkidori, which makes it a really interesting Choice Scarf user. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Infernape get more usage at a higher level, but not in the way that it’s been used on low ladder.

Ape gang 4L

 

[latios777]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9nu-892815
this is a decent migo showing

Yeah, good show. But without that Houndstone kill with a "surprise" wochien dark pulse, the oponent have a solid answer to it. The mon is good but not S rank in my eyes.

 

[5MGMatthew5]

Yeah, good show. But without that Houndstone kill with a "surprise" wochien dark pulse, the oponent have a solid answer to it. The mon is good but not S rank in my eyes.

Well, yeah, on a Flamigo team you tend to have answers to Flamigo counters

 

[loocas13]

Flamigo could definitely be A+ at this point, but it's centralizing for a few reasons:
- Its spikes immune and neutral to stealth rock, making it a top scarfer for teams without hazard removal. The only other scarfer which has better hazard immunity is flygon, who is much better as a standalone attacker due to the excellent dragon/ground combination when not locked into one move.
- It's a great enabler for special breakers: While teams often have a great counter to it, it's great at supplying pressure such that the opponent is forced to bring this counter in against it. This gives the user many opportunities to bring special breakers like Chandelure, toxtricity, basculegion, etc.. in for free.
- Even with a sturdy fight resist on the opposing side, there is still no drawback to clicking moves due to its stabs having no immunities, especially considering how passive the resists can be
- Apart from scarf, band is super strong, and SD + eject pack is great at overwhelming checks while preserving momentum, and gives migo the ability to absorb knock and roost without drawback.

 

[Fc]

The vision will be shared.

Incineroar --> S

This is the best mon in the tier. Support carries most games and checks a lot of threats, even moreso with reuni and chansey around. Best ghost answer and it honestly plays even better when clicking SD half of the time.

Vaporeon --> A+

Vaporeon balance is probably the most consistent style, waters are strong and wish is good so vaporeon is good. It can fluctuate a bit with the meta I think but it covers a lot of offense with roar and allows balance to play long games effectively.

Wo-Chien --> B+

I have hate in my heart for this mon ever since the incident. But it's also just kinda bad it sits and does nothing and pretends to contribute to society. mid ahh.

Altaria / Cramorant --> C

Genuine unviable garbage, lucky to be in C rank. I have never willingly built with altaria, it's the biggest do nothing ever and just pretends to defog on stuff while losing to the best rocker in the tier. Actually relieved to see it on preview and think it makes basically no teams better. I used no flying move scyther multiple times to defog before this. Cramorant I have built with once this tour, and threw the team out because I found a better version of the team by removing the cramorant and putting good mons. It pretends to be a threat with surf since the ability is good but then it can almost never attack because it takes 75 from a light breeze and also has to defog every turn since that's the only thing you'd put it on your team for. I think you can maybe argue cram to B- since it's definitely better than altaria because it pretends to have something to do.

Drednaw --> B/B+

Definitely not an A- rank mon anymore, don't really know where it falls tho. It barely got used and is not super effective into the current meta where it either gets phazed forever or outpaced. Scary on HO but that's about it, definitely no better than smth like scream tail which is in B+.

Toxtricity --> A+

Broken probably, if not broken then just one of the best mons.

Meloetta --> A- / A

Assault vest is good, throat spray is good, sub cm is good. I used all of them this tour on offense and balance and it's just really consistent. The sp.def is super nice, I used AV to check tox multiple times on HO and it just randomly tanks hits from everything really. Good mon.

Heracross --> B+

Without breloom this is the new bulk up guy, great user of tera and insanely strong vs most builds.

Snorlax / Avalugg-Hisui / Coalossal --> Ranked

These mons are on the Fc stall (reference). There are some shitters in the C ranks so I think these guys can make the cut. Maybe chansey makes snorlax bad now but also chansey can't do any damage to stuff like chandelure so idk.

----------------------
Things I don't really care about so I won't explain

drop grafaiai, thwackey, infernape, ninetales alola, arcanine, hitmonlee, and like almost all of C rank. Shaymin can be ranked but I have no current meta replays to show it, tried building w it during the tour tho and it's good I just didn't like the team I had with it for the week I tried building it. Same thing with dragalge. I faced a zoroark in nucl and it's probably usable so it can maybe be ranked. I also feel like at least one of the S ranks can drop I'm just not sure why, lowkey all of them are worse than incin so they can all drop but maybe just drop migo or munki idk.

 

[kyokatsu2009]

The vision will be shared.

Incineroar --> S

This is the best mon in the tier. Support carries most games and checks a lot of threats, even moreso with reuni and chansey around. Best ghost answer and it honestly plays even better when clicking SD half of the time.

Vaporeon --> A+

Vaporeon balance is probably the most consistent style, waters are strong and wish is good so vaporeon is good. It can fluctuate a bit with the meta I think but it covers a lot of offense with roar and allows balance to play long games effectively.

Wo-Chien --> B+

I have hate in my heart for this mon ever since the incident. But it's also just kinda bad it sits and does nothing and pretends to contribute to society. mid ahh.

Altaria / Cramorant --> C

Genuine unviable garbage, lucky to be in C rank. I have never willingly built with altaria, it's the biggest do nothing ever and just pretends to defog on stuff while losing to the best rocker in the tier. Actually relieved to see it on preview and think it makes basically no teams better. I used no flying move scyther multiple times to defog before this. Cramorant I have built with once this tour, and threw the team out because I found a better version of the team by removing the cramorant and putting good mons. It pretends to be a threat with surf since the ability is good but then it can almost never attack because it takes 75 from a light breeze and also has to defog every turn since that's the only thing you'd put it on your team for. I think you can maybe argue cram to B- since it's definitely better than altaria because it pretends to have something to do.

Drednaw --> B/B+

Definitely not an A- rank mon anymore, don't really know where it falls tho. It barely got used and is not super effective into the current meta where it either gets phazed forever or outpaced. Scary on HO but that's about it, definitely no better than smth like scream tail which is in B+.

Toxtricity --> A+

Broken probably, if not broken then just one of the best mons.

Meloetta --> A- / A

Assault vest is good, throat spray is good, sub cm is good. I used all of them this tour on offense and balance and it's just really consistent. The sp.def is super nice, I used AV to check tox multiple times on HO and it just randomly tanks hits from everything really. Good mon.

Heracross --> B+

Without breloom this is the new bulk up guy, great user of tera and insanely strong vs most builds.

Snorlax / Avalugg-Hisui / Coalossal --> Ranked

These mons are on the Fc stall (reference). There are some shitters in the C ranks so I think these guys can make the cut. Maybe chansey makes snorlax bad now but also chansey can't do any damage to stuff like chandelure so idk.

----------------------
Things I don't really care about so I won't explain

drop grafaiai, thwackey, infernape, ninetales alola, arcanine, hitmonlee, and like almost all of C rank. Shaymin can be ranked but I have no current meta replays to show it, tried building w it during the tour tho and it's good I just didn't like the team I had with it for the week I tried building it. Same thing with dragalge. I faced a zoroark in nucl and it's probably usable so it can maybe be ranked. I also feel like at least one of the S ranks can drop I'm just not sure why, lowkey all of them are worse than incin so they can all drop but maybe just drop migo or munki idk.

wait why drop infernape i thought he was pretty good

 

[Bernardo]

wait why drop infernape i thought he was pretty good

Ape has 0 defensive utility and although the speed and the move pool is there It always looking for a bit more juice usually it hit 1 target for a lot of dmg and is KOed in revenge on the same turn. Probably his best set is lead Sash or Scarf but neither are genuinely good.

It can have its place in teams for people who are starting on the tier but once you start to gasp it better you find better options to accomplish what your ape was doing. In the end he is a jack of all trades offensively but a master of none.

I don't think it will ever be used regularly on top tour play or high ladder builds. But who knows someone might with something crazy because it has the versatility for that. I agree on the drop to C.

 

[emikatana]

Altaria / Cramorant --> C

Genuine unviable garbage, lucky to be in C rank. I have never willingly built with altaria, it's the biggest do nothing ever and just pretends to defog on stuff while losing to the best rocker in the tier. Actually relieved to see it on preview and think it makes basically no teams better. I used no flying move scyther multiple times to defog before this. Cramorant I have built with once this tour, and threw the team out because I found a better version of the team by removing the cramorant and putting good mons. It pretends to be a threat with surf since the ability is good but then it can almost never attack because it takes 75 from a light breeze and also has to defog every turn since that's the only thing you'd put it on your team for. I think you can maybe argue cram to B- since it's definitely better than altaria because it pretends to have something to do.

Altaria is one of the best hazard removal options in the tier, and while maybe that's because we don't have good hazard removal in general, Altaria has much more defensive utility than just Defog. Dragon/Flying walls a ton of stuff, you can invest in either defensive stat depending on what your team needs, and Natural Cure lets it absorb status and safely switch into things like Gligar and Munki. Not amazing offensively of course but definitely nowhere near as bad as C rank.

 

[Kin+ak (✧∇✧)]

toxtricity-amped is a menace and should Be A-. You need Rhyperior to beat Most of its sets, and it can run an Anti-Rhyperior set decently enough because Tera Grass is Also good defensively for it. It can beat Golurk and Brambleghast with Snarl, and Chansey (If anyone runs that) with Drain Punch Shift Gear. Toxtricity-Low-key should stay B+ tho. In fact it's Just worse cause It can't Even threaten Shift Gear So It can't beat Scarf Flygon nor Chansey and Maybe should Be B but why are Both toxtricity Even ranked together When they clearly are different mons and Amped is a pure upgrade From Low-Key since It can Do everything and more.
-> A-
-> B

 

[Rabia]

toxtricity-amped is a menace and should Be A-. You need Rhyperior to beat Most of its sets, and it can run an Anti-Rhyperior set decently enough because Tera Grass is Also good defensively for it. It can beat Golurk and Brambleghast with Snarl, and Chansey (If anyone runs that) with Drain Punch Shift Gear. Toxtricity-Low-key should stay B+ tho. In fact it's Just worse cause It can't Even threaten Shift Gear So It can't beat Scarf Flygon nor Chansey and Maybe should Be B but why are Both toxtricity Even ranked together When they clearly are different mons and Amped is a pure upgrade From Low-Key since It can Do everything and more.
-> A-
-> B

We rank them together because they are tiered as one Pokemon, but I agree that Toxtricity should rise. I’d take it a few steps further, though, with A+ being what I voted it to (yes, we have an ongoing VR slate). It’s by far the best wallbreaker in NU right now and arguably our best sweeper too, with Tuthur’s NP post outlining why pretty perfectly—just very hard to play around and attempts to are pretty impossible because Tera Normal Boomburst does so much.