Wanna throw in my VR thoughts for once, since there's quite a few things that I wanna talk about after The Theft Of Hippowdown
B+ -> B
B -> B+
B -> B-
A- -> A
S -> S
A- -> B+
-> C
-> hell
B+ -> BGatr really just kinda ain't that good enough to belong in B+. Still just kinda too slow, and without enough breaking power to justify in a vast majority of cases. It's only really good at breaking through teams without quagsire that are also all slower than feraligatr. Aqua Jet is nice, especially in a PZ tier, but like if you want a mon that can use aqua jet, crawdaunt is right there to do about double the damage of feraligatr with the same move. Good coverage, and theoretically threatening, but just gets worn down too easily without doing enough damage to justify being brought in a majority of cases. (also can't even beat quagsire without prior chip too lmao)
B -> B+Speaking of the big sire, I agree with Heatranator on this one. Grounds are more scarce and valuable now, able to be splashed on multiple teams, very flexible movesets with Counter, Spikes, Whirlpool, hell even Encore. Not the bulkiest guy sadly, but Unaware more than makes up for it for stopping all sorts of setup sweepers, and generally just being a very stable mon in an unstable tier. Not A- tier, but definitely deserves B+ for being such a staple of stall and a good mon in general for BO / Balance.
B -> B-On the topic of the waters... This guy has use i guess, but i just feel like he's never brought to games, and kinda just doesn't have anything majorly useful to do in most games. It sets stealth rocks and flip turns, that's it. Theoretical mon, not a practical one. Maybe it still has a niche on offense teams, but it's just not appearing in the meta enough to justify being B rank.
A- -> AEntei has been carrying me HARD recently, it's just so good. Just a solid mon, with a good speed tier nowadays that's notably very anti-talonflame; a boon in a tier where talon's the top one mon. Sacred Fire is an amazing stab move as always, and massively supports teammates while nuking any mons that don't resist it, and Extreme Speed is always a great tool to have to stabilize games and revenge kill guys. I think the two major sets atm that I would say should be ran would be HDB Tera Normal and HDB Tera Grass. Choice Band i feel has kinda fallen off lately, especially with our generally weak removal options and the prevalence of webs teams and HO teams in general on ladder, means that although you get big damage, it's taking too much damage over time to really be a major player in most games. Meanwhile HDB sets can always switch in and get something done, especially vs. webs teams like the LBN sample infesting ladder atm (where Entei's good speed tier puts it above most of the slower guys on that team). Tera Normal sets lean into the Extreme Speed idea and are generally pretty reliable and good at revenge killing, potentially either running Double-Edge for a nuke or Crunch to hit Slowbro, and Tera Blast Grass Sets instead lure and OHKO / 2HKO all of the bulky waters in the tier that would otherwise want to switch into Entei and force it out, allowing Entei to go ham in matchups where it would otherwise be stifled. Overall a great mon that should be ran more, definitely deserving of a rise.
S -> SThis is kinda just in response to the discussion that's been happening about maybe dropping Slowbro down a tier, and tbh I think it has every right to stay in S tier. Super splashable, plenty of sets it can run, amazing regen bot just in general, can get away with not popping tera, and has plenty of tech to do better into its less favorable matchups. It can't do EVERYTHING, but it does so much so well that I think it should stay in S tier.
A- -> B+This guy i have less opinions on, but I think rhyp just isn't really deserving of an A- spot. It's just not as seen and as good as the other mons in that tier, and although Rhpy is certainly a GOOD mon, with solid attributes and breaking power, it's just not a good ENOUGH mon to be in A-.
-> CI won't extol the virtues and wonders of Meloetta, I'll just say that Meloetta's made at least enough of an appearance, tournament and ladder wise, to at least be on the VR. LBN's been using AV Melo quite a bit lately, and I myself have made numerous attempts to say that Meloetta is at least usable and has niches that cannot be filled by other mons. Thank you for my restrained TED talk.
-> hellwho the fuck is using toxicroak in the big 2026, this guy fell out of usage a year ago get him outta here, ZERO rain teams are using this guy
