Resource National Dex RU Viability Rankings

[Runo]

NatDex RU Viability Rankings!​

VR Team

Runo
db
seth
Velcroc
Danbear02
Rafadude


Ranks

Pokemon will be ranked in descending order; there is no divide in viability inbetween ranks. There is no differentiation in offensive and defensive Pokemon. Toxapex may be A+ for its defensive utility, while Hydreigon may be A+ for its capabilities as a wallbreaker.

NEW:
None

S-Rank:
Top of the top. Rulers of the metagame. These Pokemon fit on most playstyles and need minimal support to function, if any at all.

S
Latias

A-Rank:
Meta defining, but not to the extent of the Pokemon in S Rank. These Pokemon need minimal support to function.

A+
Aggron-Mega
Cyclizar
Glimmora
Slither Wing
Volcanion
Zeraora

A
Basculegion-F
Cobalion
Crobat
Gligar
Krookodile
Registeel
Steelix-Mega
Swampert
Tangrowth
Tinkaton
Togekiss
Zarude

A-
Diggersby
Fezandipiti
Gastrodon
Iron Jugulis
Manectric-Mega
Nidoking
Sceptile-Mega
Sinistcha
Slowbro-Galar
Tapu Bulu

B-Rank:
Solid Pokemon, but they don't shape the meta like S and A Rank. They have a defined role which is often applicable and usually quite valuable. These Pokemon always need some support to bring out the best in them.

B+
Arcanine-Hisui
Metagross
Pidgeot-Mega
Rhyperior
Skeledirge

Weezing-Galar

B
Absol-Mega
Infernape
Magnezone
Milotic
Oricorio-Pom-Pom
Polteageist
Talonflame

B-
Bronzong
Crawdaunt
Donphan
Houndoom-Mega
Mimikyu
Muk-Alola
Reuniclus
Rotom-Heat
Suicune

C-Rank:
Niche Pokemon that have little to no effect on the metagame, being rarely applicable, highly specific or simply not that valuable in the current meta. Using these Pokemon requires you to focus most of the team on supporting it. Oftentimes when a Pokemon only fits on one specific archetype, they'll reside in this tier.

C+
Dhelmise
Doublade
Enamorus-Therian
Entei
Flamigo
Gallade
Heracross
Lycanroc-Dusk
Mantine
Ogerpon
Sandy Shocks
Sylveon
Umbreon

C
Azelf
Chesnaught
Cresselia
Deoxys-Defense
Flygon
Lucario
Marowak-Alola
Munkidori
Nidoqueen
Porygon2
Regieleki
Ribombee
Seismitoad
Toxtricity

C- Rank

C-
Aerodactyl
Araquanid
Arctovish
Arctozolt
Articuno
Camerupt-Mega
Chandelure
Florges
Froslass
Golurk
Necrozma
Ninetales-Alola
Palossand
Quagsire
Regidrago
Revavroom
Roserade
Sandaconda
Stakataka
Venomoth

Any questions about the VR are more than welcome, and we'd be glad to answer all of them.
This also means that VR nominations are available. Please refer to the below rules that have been gracefully stolen from NDOU.

Guidelines

Guidelines

There are some guidelines to keep in mind before posting here. We want to foster intelligent discussion, not unfounded arguments. Please keep these things in mind:

• Posts like "I think X Pokemon should be in Y Rank" will be deleted; make sure to back your opinion with facts and an actual analysis of the metagame.
• Adding onto the above, I would simply like to point out that, while usage stats may be used to support your argument, they should not be the basis of your argument. Saying something along the lines of "X Pokemon is not used often, so it should drop" or "X Pokemon is used very often, but it isn't ranked very high, it should rise" are not valid arguments.
• You shouldn't merely state the obvious things either. We know that Galarian Darmanitan has access to a very strong STAB Icicle Crash combined with good coverage options. We are far more interested in knowing what meta trends may favor Galarian Darmanitan.
• Replays are mandatory to support a nomination if a Pokemon is Unranked.
• This is not the place for personal attacks. Not everyone agrees on the viability of Pokemon, and that is no reason to attack them. Any posts that do attack users will be swiftly deleted and met with an infraction.

 

[Runo]

National Dex RU Council just got out of a rigorous tournament season and with tier shifts drastically shifting the meta, we decided to update the Viability Rankings again. Just like the sample teams I've also given this it's own thread in an attempt to make our resources more accessable on the Smogon side of things.

Rises

A+ -> S
A+ -> S-
A -> S-
A -> A+
A -> A+
A- -> A+
A- -> A+
A- -> A
A- -> A
A- -> A
A- -> A
A- -> A
B+ -> A-
B+ -> A-
B+ -> A-
B+ -> A-
B -> B+
B -> B+
B- -> B+
B- -> B
B- -> B
C+ -> B-
C -> C+
C -> C+
C -> C+
C -> C+
C -> C+
UR -> C

NEW -> A-

NEW -> B

Drops

S- -> A+
A+ -> A
A -> A-
A -> A-
A -> A-
A -> A-
A -> A-
A- -> B+
A- -> B+
A- -> B+
A- -> B+
B -> B-
B -> B-
B- -> C+
C+ -> C
C+ -> C
C+ -> C
C+ -> C
A- -> UR
C+ -> UR
C -> UR
C -> UR
C -> UR
C -> UR

---

Rises
Post Tyranitar was insane for Latias's viability. Free to run more powerful Calm Mind Z variants like Firium Z and Electrium Z which makes it even more threatening in the builder. Choice Specs, Choice Scarf, Life Orb, Bolt Beam, etc can all pretty much roam free barring something like Krookodile or a very niche trapper showing up.
World's best Latias check offensively. Pair this with Slowking and Latias is suddenly the least of your concerns. I also said it before but Choice Band is geuninely just Buzzwole Jr. in terms of how insanely stupid it is trying to bend over backwards trying to switch into it. More utility-centric sets like Boots + Will-o-Wisp are also very strong in this tier since it can disrupt the standard flowchart of checking Slither Wing (keeping hazards up and just holding out with a Togekiss or Gligar).
Best Rocker and Steel type in the tier by far, Its absurd bulk lets it stomach so many random hits its unreal. Ever see a Mega Aggron eat a Choice Band Okidogi's Close Combat? Because I have and it ended up crippling the Okidogi with Thunder Wave right after.
A response to Slither Wing and Latias's rise to power. Primarina is a a good defensive check to both and Amoonguss dropping with Zeraora leaving gives it a lot more opportunities to setup its very dangerous Calm Mind sets. Choice Specs and standard defensive sets are also pretty decent too.
The people wanted Gastrodon to fit on bulky offense teams, so god gave them Swampert.
Again a response to the LatiSlither takeover. It's not really that good of a Defogger but the Twave sets can just shut most mons down really fast. More offensive Nasty Plot sets are also really killer as it has the coverage to dispatch any defensive check it wants to with either a well timed Z-move, Flinches -> coverage move finisher, or a combination of both.
Balance teams are really popular and Lucario pulverizes them.
Think this is still kinda mid but was overruled, actually not terrible as an Offensive Rocker or Latias Pursuit Trapper
It's an alternative to Sylveon on Balance and Stall teams since Synthesis makes it considerably less passive and it's been legitimized with Tyranitar leaving the tier. Gotta love the absurd special bulk too, your Latias matchup will be fine trust me.

---

Drops
Tinkaton was just overrated, fad is over and it's back to where it's supposed to be. Still a metagame staple so no worries Tinkabros.
Mandibuzz is so damn passive with Mono Foul Play. This wants like Foul Play, Knock Off, Toxic, U-Turn, and Defog on one set.
Awful Defog user and baited way too easy by stuff like Slither Wing and Gligar who just click U-turn to force it out immediately next turn.
Nasty Plot sets are cool but it was only in the A ranks for so long because it was a pretty solid defogger for a time, that time has since faded and it kinda lost a lot of its relevance during the Tyranitar metagame.
Zydog's role in the tier is a little bit too linear and mandates a little bit too much support for it to warrant being a core part of the tier, Dragon Dance sets helped out but it was kinda just a fad on very specific Hyper Offense teams.
Tyranitar rising was super nice for it but unfortunately it lost Bulu as a target and now as to both deal with Amoonguss on a large chunk of the teams while simultaneously competing with it for a team slot.
UU: "Hey dawg can I get some sand setters?", RU: "Only a spoonful", UU:
Gatr was insanely strong on Sticky Web teams but with Ribombee leaving the tier, it competes with Basculegion-F and Mega Sharpedo too much for a slot on more standard Hyper Offense builds to be of value cost-benefit wise.
Kinda the same thing as Gatr except its niche as a Hone Claws Sweeper was way too theoretical and just barely underspeeding Latias sucks so damn much.
Active detriment to be running this since it hinders the ways Arctozolt teams can cover threats in the builder by taking up a slot compared to Slowking, who is more than likely on these teams as a backup setter anyways. Ultimately there is a consistency drop to using Auto-setters compared to Slowking.
I personally like using Tentacruel but it's just really weird trying to justify and make a good team with.
Raikou had a theoretical supercomputer "it beats everything" niche as a Calm Mind Sweeper, but it was too much theory and not enough actual practice. People be leaning on Mega Manectric 9/10 times anyways.

 

[Velcroc]

Hi. Is there a list with the banned Pokemon of this tier (with the ones considered RUBL)? Thank you

Please post questions in the metagame discussions thread next time. This goes to everyone reading this.

As for your question:

or look at the OP here which contains all the Pokemon banned from RU (even the ones which rose to OU/UU or are in UUBL).

 

[LBN]

After playing a couple rounds in RUBD I can say a couple things definitively. 1: Absolutely nobody in the entire tour is on the same page for viability and I think some people just missed the memo on what's good and what's bad. 2: The VR definitely has some crusty placements and lacks a couple mons I think deserve spotlight. So I'll be going over those right now actually since this tier is actually pretty damn fun. (Fyi, just waive that replay requirement this tier doesn't exactly get a whole ton of play so procuring replays worth anything is more demanding that it is for a tier with an actual ladder)

-> C+
Doublade's main set is mostly linear entirely, but its defensive suite is honestly nothing short of astounding for offensive teams. Mega Aggron, Slither Wing, Okidogi (kinda, you can trade for it which more often than not is a worthwhile pick), checks Latias and Legion-F with Sneak, Reuniclus, Blissey and alot of other pokemon in the tier. Being an offensive tank for offense that abuses these is amazing, and I think its better than most of the memes in C tier. (Replay requirement is cringe but https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9nationaldexru-812992 here take me winning) As for registeel, I think its just undersold. Gligar aside, dual status is absolutely phenomenal at crippling stuff; its bulk is great in Legion-F, Latias and more and its lack of vulnerability to pursuit puts it in higher standing that Bronzong to say the very least.

-> C
Golurk working in yet another lower tier say it ain't so... Honestly it ain't bad, also an offensive ghost with a wide variety of moves. Item flexibility is quality with Custap, colbur, Z moves, spooky plate, lum, passho, life orb you name it it's got it. Its an offensive rocker immune to cyclizar spin, and isn't walled by defog Gligar. Rock polish is more interesting as a breaker. Ground/Ghost/Ice is practically unresisted in the tier which helps alot, and its fast enough to outrun Mega Mane and down with just adamant. Sure you miss out on Sceptile but oh well a pokemon can have flaws (just use jolly if you care enough). It's a good mon, I recommend trying it out. Replays aren't a great showcase but do you know how hard it is to get replays that don't compromise prep :sob:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9nationaldexru-813572
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9nationaldexru-813791

-> S
Yeah I'm serious. This is imo, the top 1 mon in the tier even above Latias. It's just so good at performing game to game, absurd variety, always potent. Prankster Twave, Defog, Z moves, NP, it's just a fantastic all around mon that truthfully borders on busted alot of the time. It picks what it beats and loses to and you are at it's mercy in pretty much every game. If thundurus is on a team it's keeping the momentum whenever it comes in unless bad plays were made. If you don't agree with top 1 thats fine, but at the very least it's an easy A+ contender at the lowest.

A+ -> A- or even lower
It's just not A+ quality I'm sorry. Doesn't really bring enough to a game and its spread pretty thin most of the time, doesn't beat latias unless the Latias chooses to lose to Tinkaton, hopeless vs Aggron, Manectric slaughters it and its lack of recovery. Sure, its a steel who doesn't take up a mega slot but honestly in alot of cases I'd rather use Registeel or Metagross for that type of gig; both of which I think are very underrated.

A- -> B
Z moves are not bailing this thing out from the realm of being bargain bin Cobalion on its best days. I genuinely can't think of the niche it has over Cobalion that can possibly justify it to have the same ranking. Espeed is not remotely enough to justify the worse speed tier; infinitely worse bulk, and still having a bit of 4MSS to boot.

-> UR
This isn't a charity event, first three are straight garbage and I'm surprised they even snuck on the VR to begin with. If I need a latias check that badly there are far better places to go than Florges. Sylveon is lucky I rate specs otherwise it'd be sitting right here as well. Kleavor is not good at all; typing is in competition for the most worthless defensive type in the game and its offensive merits; of which its budget duskroc anyways are not blowing my breath away. The funny stuff about Stone Axe looks cool on paper but just no it sucks.

-> C
Deo-D returns in a post tera enviroment with absolutely none of the qualities needed to be good. Support is genuinely hopeless; I've tried some type of spikes set that gets the job done but it just doesn't exist I'm sorry this shit is really not good it needs too many moves to work. Cosmic Power sets are a little better but honestly there's so much stuff that stuffs it; along side the need to pick between Night shade and toss.

Now for the Rapidfire New Stuff segment.

-> A
Quality returning mon. Has some losing matchups but it provides alot to teams with grassy terrain and it's quite good with Z moves. Not like Latias isn't vulnerable to the classic pursuit after all.

-> B+
Webs are good but they have some bad matchups like Taunt Bat, defog Thundy among others. Honestly I'm not hugely interesting in arguing the validity of webs I mean it's got good abusers like Mega Houndoom, Gatr, and more but at the time same alot of removal in the tier is immune to webs bike notwithstanding.

Now for the other stuff.

B+ -> A-
Quality pivot and a good okidogi check for teams. Mega aggron is more of a boon for it than it looks, especially when super fang mows it down quite quickly without wish support. It's a good pick for sure; and stall can manage to struggle into it quite badly as a result. NP Firium sets are interesting and nice into some matchups, though this is more fringe.

C+ -> B-
Mega pidgeot is pretty solid, flying stab hurricane off that speed tier is great and not much can handle hurricane + heat wave without being u turn bait as well. Rocks weak sucks but honestly when hurricane is spammable its genuinely insane. Roserade mainly dropped cuz bulu left and well bulu is back so knock yourselves out with this one.

I have some other takes I cant be assed to type out anymore, stuff like ogerpon and munkidori down but considering this is the first VR post in the thread I think I've done decently. Also remove talon from the VR it rose up lmao

 

[Runo]

We did another VR update so that people on the ladder and those playing NDRU Money tour have a more clearer picture of what is good. Unfortunately I don't have time to explain the update this time but if one has questions I can try to explain them individually on the thread or on Discord. I will say that the C-rank is pretty hefty again but that doesn't seem like a big deal since they aren't really that awful, more seems like a place where uncertainty is greatest regarding a Pokemon's status.

Rises

S- -> S
A- -> A+
A -> A+
A- -> A
NEW -> A
B+ -> A-
C+ -> A-
B+ -> A-
C -> B+
C+ -> B
C+ -> B-
C+ -> B-
C+ -> B-
NEW -> C+
C -> C+
C -> C+
NEW -> C+
UR -> C+
UR -> C+
UR -> C
UR -> C
UR -> C
NEW -> C
NEW -> C

Drops

S -> S-
A -> A-
A+ -> A-
A- -> B+
A- -> B+
A- -> B+
B+ -> B
B+ -> B
B+ -> B
B- -> C+
B- -> C+
C+ -> C
C+ -> C
C+ -> C
C+ -> C
C+ -> C
B- -> C
C -> UR
C -> UR

e: votes - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GRW8_-yZvoNKBThCbCbjb898_XtShs30daWa6JezQTU/edit?usp=sharing

 

[Kin+ak (✧∇✧)]

to S- (B)
Glastrier is a BEAST and is almost unwallable for it gets Extended Coverage letting it Smack Steels with Close Combat and Horsepower, smack Sking with Crunch or throat chop, and has that JUICY STAB icicl spear Loaded dice that 2HKOs P much anything that doesn't drop to tha other oves. and it got swords dance btw so if you SD on any switch the mon is dropping. Very Bulky asw so you can stay in 1 or é turns after TR to kill some more, very VERY solid in TR


https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexru-2302155154
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexru-2302164762

 

[Adriyun]

to B-
Glastrier is a BEAST and is almost unwallable for it gets Extended Coverage letting it Smack Steels with Close Combat and Horsepower, smack Sking with Crunch or throat chop, and has that JUICY STAB icicl spear Loaded dice that 2HKOs P much anything that doesn't drop to tha other oves. and it got swords dance btw so if you SD on any switch the mon is dropping. Very Bulky asw so you can stay in 1 or é turns after TR to kill some more, very VERY solid in TR


https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexru-2302155154
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexru-2302164762

Not to be rude but.. can you keep your glastrier and random shit mon you think is A/B worthy out of here.. we all know this isn’t gonna do anything

 

[Kin+ak (✧∇✧)]

Not to be rude but.. can you keep your glastrier and random shit mon you think is A/B worthy out of here.. we all know this isn’t gonna do anything

Fixed it

 

[Kin+ak (✧∇✧)]

to B-
Mega Ampharos got one of the best in terms of Breaking power tbh, one of the major flaws that come often is "it can't boost its special attack" but Homie have you tried using Charge Beam? bet you haven't huh? Charge Beam ampharos can pick up KOs and get a Deadly Special attack boost that will leave its opponent Praying for lowrolls -if any- and Crumbling to its hits. SP.Def Mega Aggron Fears its Mold breaker Focus Blast, in fact Mega Ampharos has little to no walls at all. Mega Ampharos also wins the duel against Most mons, and with Trick room support such as healing wish from Hattrem or Z Memento from Cofagrigus (Heals 100%HP) it can take on much more than 1 opponent after Trick room ends. I feel like outside of trick room, while not great, would at least have the merit of having them STrONG volt switches. Absolutely Hates that Bulu is back but it aint too common and gets Smacked by the rest of Trick room usually (Obviously you could try Curse Outrage Supercell Slam Fire Punch, we don't judge).
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexru-2304227808?p2

 

[Micaiah]

would like to make a quick nom as I'm not gonna be playing this tier for the foreseeable future.



When building stall/semistall/defensive structures, I often found my Blisseys strapped for slots: you want wish + protect to deal with futureport + fight type teams and to deal with the reduced softboiled pps, seismic toss obviously, toxic to pressure slowking/cyclizar as well as putting special boosters like houndoom/thundurus/roost lati on a timer, heal bell to wake up your rest aggron, deal with wisp moth and other random statusers. I found the easiest moveslot to outsource is heal bell. There are a handful of bellers in the tier, some are even on the vr, but in my opinion articuno is by far the best of them. As a backup special wall with haze and pressure, it deals with some special boosters/attackers that blissey can't handle (without very suboptimal sets, at least), like sub basculegion, sub cm sinistcha, cm glowking, mixed nidoking, cm reuniclus, primarina, sigilph, work up pidgeot and np togekiss, if running a fast spread. fast freeze-dry is also deceptively annoying to switch into if spikes are up, and pressure is a great boon to have in fat mirrors although do not expect this mon to carry the matchup alone. It is a very one-dimensional pokemon, it basically has 5 viable moves if you count defog but is very good at what it does in specific team structures. I think it belongs somewhere in C/C+

 

[Big Chungus irl]

Dogi ought to go to S- and Slither to A+ imo. Amoongus being removed adds to this shift of power, but it has been happening for a while now.

 

[Runo]

VR Update again for the post RUGL and MSPL regular season just in time for RU Open.
E: Special Thanks to Big Chungus irl and Flames Of Elixir for contributing this round.

Rises

NEW -> A+
NEW -> A-
NEW -> B
NEW -> C

A+ -> S-
A -> A+
A -> A+
A- -> A
B+ -> A-
B+ -> A-
B+ -> A-
B -> A-
B -> B+
B -> B+
B- -> B+
B- -> B
C -> B-
C+ -> B-
UR -> C+
UR -> C+
UR -> C
UR -> C
UR -> C

Drops

S- -> A+
S- -> A+
A+ -> A
A -> A-
A -> A-
A- -> B+
A- -> B+
A- -> B+
B+ -> B
B+ -> B
B+ -> B
B+ -> B
B -> B-
B -> B-
B -> B-
B- -> C+
B- -> C+
C+ -> C
B- -> C
B- -> C
C+ -> C
C+ -> C
C+ -> C
C+ -> C
C+ -> UR
C -> UR
C -> UR
C+ -> UR

Explanations for Major Shifts

New:
Incredibly threatening wallbreaker that doubles as a great offensive stealth rock user. Defensive profile for the tier is fairly good as well.
Theoretically strong, not a lot of experimentation with it but conceptually it fits really well in the tier.
Great quality of life addition but its always permanently B rank in this tier (Good mon that requires more support than usual to make it annoying).
Cheese but not awful cheese since it is a form of removal that pressures all of the spin blockers and can nuke a handful of the grounds with Normalium Z

Rise:
Best removal in the tier and lets you compress a lot of roles in the builder.
A ton of really threatening Special Wallbreakers calls for an insanely powerful defensive sponge in response.
Once you stop using Choice Scarf the value it can provide to a team expands greatly. Strong Choice Band user and offensive rocker for example.
Galarian Moltres if it wasn't broken. (Possibly Broken)
Standard sets are insanely valuable as an anti-offense tool, SD sets also have considerable merrit to pummel Tinkaton and compositions that want to use weaker steel and fighting types. Makes for a strong gatekeeper.
Figured out how to fit its impressive mix of both defensive and offensive prowess, which puts it on par with its competing water-grounds instead of being a sidegrade.
Really good showings as a powerful alternative steel with a fairly deep movepool, levitate makes it a good choice against to tackle threats like Diggersby, Nidoking, Tapu Bulu, and Mega Steelix easier.
Cosmic Power is still kind of fishy but Spikes are not that bad to use.
Grants HO a ton of useful defensive utility and helps to force long term progress with Will-o-Wisp or Destiny Bond
Powerful defensive profile lets it be a strong anti-meta option to use a lot of popular threats as setup bait.
Consistent alternative over Ribombee with a lot more stopping power and defensive utility.
Unlike other fightings its way harder for Basculegion-F and Polteageist to get in for free as Flamigo attempts to click buttons.
Sometimes Sandy Shocks HO feels lile garbage when you don't have a way to block Cyclizar.

Drop:
Prepping for it is a lot more refined and easier than ever.
Hard checks are mandatory in the builder which cut into its consistency.
Not Mega Aggron syndrome.
Please do something that doesn't require you to run a Choice Scarf.
It fits on those insanely toxic Spikes-based Hyper Offense teams really well, but you simply don't need it outside of that one playstyle.
Mega Swampert is calling.
Every set that isn't Will-o-Wisp + Pursuit + Protect is pretty bad!
Decent alternative steel for when you need the Mega slot elsewhere but Mega Aggron cut into its niche as an offensive Steel when it started running Curse more consistently.
Not really that valuable outside of dealing with Latias (Latias weak teams are pretty rare nowadays anyways).
Insanely difficult to get going and requires heavy support to avoid being revenge killed or sat on by the plethora of checks.
No serious usage case for any of these outside of matchup fishing your opponent. Not possible to make a consistent team with whatsoever.

 

[Heatranator]

UR -> B

When I was prepping for last round of NDRU open, I wanted to use fairy types, as I think that if you can get around the steels, then they are incredibly destructive. Ofc, that lead me to look for fairies that had natural coverage against steels. There are only three Pokemon that fit that criteria, togekiss, sylveon and the mon I'm nomming, enam-t. I was honestly shocked that this mon wasn't ranked, because I think this mon is incredible. The main issue with this mon is that it heavily competes with togekiss, a pokemon already highly ranked. However, I think enam sets itself apart quite a bit from togekiss with its different attributes.

Enamorus-Therian (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Superpower
- Healing Wish

This spread outspeeds base 55s, which I'll get back to the reason why I chose that speed benchmark later. Enamorus' main advantages over togekiss are higher special attack, earth power, superpower and healing wish.
Higher special attack means more damage, not too hard to explain tbh.
Earth power is a neat little tool, frankly because it has a larger hit on steel's alongside its higher special attack.

252+ SpA Enamorus-Therian Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Filter Aggron-Mega: 138-163 (40.1 - 47.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Togekiss Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Filter Aggron-Mega: 114-135 (33.1 - 39.2%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO
As a comparison, togekiss does a decent amount worse against aggron, while enamorus only needs one moonblast before aggron is put into 2HKO range. This means that enam deals a lot better with the top mon in the meta.

Superpower may not seem too obvious, but it allows enamorus to threaten the absolute hell out of a really annoying special wall in the tier, blissey.
0- Atk Enamorus-Therian Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 316-374 (44.2 - 52.3%) -- 19.1% chance to 2HKO
-1 0- Atk Enamorus-Therian Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 212-250 (29.6 - 35%) -- 14.8% chance to 3HKO
252+ SpA Enamorus-Therian Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 135-160 (18.9 - 22.4%) -- possible 5HKO
With a tiny amount of chip (min damage from moonblast into 2 superpowers is 91%), enam can make sure one of the most specially bulky pokemon in the tier in blissey cannot switch into it at all, which while togekiss can use NP+aura sphere and air slash flinches to accomplish the same thing, does require a lot more RNG to go in togekiss' favour.

Finally, healing wish can be massive to enable one of enam's teammates. With this, you can bring back a teammate from the dead and allow them to wallbreak more effectively, which is incredible team support.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexru-2394899436-mlnygi1pmlejucbpe4ads2gp6gxrm56pw
I only have one game of it in action where it doesn't even use its special moves, but this game shows even without them that enam is a monster to answer defensively.

Some other quick nominations.

UR -> C/C+
Premier rain setter in the tier which I think is quite busted rn. Spikes+prankster rain dance is really nice for supporting the playstyle.

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexru-2394901860-63dg9l8o7k511vq3ocp0qqpop6bxvjypw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexru-2388753900-e34xjwsdyjoldcdplwylj40ilx0s2r8pw

C+ -> UR
I'm sorry adriyun, this mon is shit. Shed skin+rest alongside glare sounds cool, until you realise its stats are pretty ass besides its respectable defense and attack, and every other ground does way more. Also forced into using mono-quake sets if you use it as your rocker, which leaves it perma walled by thundy (which you do not want to give that mon turns) and to a lesser extent gligar and other defensive pokes such as tangrowth that do not care about eq+glare.

C -> C+
Struggles with something like arch now, but still checks a lot of top tiers such as dogi, aggron, latias lacking mystical fire, slither wing, mega sceptile. Def should be higher, its typing is just so goated and stuff like sneak or cc give it suprise factor/flexibility.

A- -> A
Extremely dominant pokemon in the offense MU and contributes nicely to the defense MU with taunt or work up as its fourth move. Booster speed sets make HO tear their hair out by either going for the speed tie with their own jugulis, or praying for no flinch on something like thundy. It just feels really good rn, on par with the other A tiers.

B -> B-
I wanna love this mon, but its kinda shit. Its stats are just so underwhelming and its knock off weakness is killer. Checked NDRU Open replays to see if it was just me being ass in the builder, and nope, even in games it wins, it doesn't do much besides defog once or twice, then die a few turns later.

 

[Kin+ak (✧∇✧)]

Well Blissey is Gone uh Bascu F stonks up I guess? Also Mega bro is Gone for some reason, that's one less reason to run Megahorn on Glastrier, letting it run Crunch better now. Glastrier stays winning without doing anything

 

[Heatranator]

Enamorus-Therian (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Superpower
- Healing Wish

Welp, blissey left the tier, so you don't need superpower anymore. Just run cm sets which still prob pack a punch.

 

[MTB'er Ben]

Why is Flygon not in the Nat Dex RU viability rankings when its currently ranked in Nat Dex UU in at least C? Is it not at least a viable scarfer?

 

[Runo]

Why is Flygon not in the Nat Dex RU viability rankings when its currently ranked in Nat Dex UU in at least C? Is it not at least a viable scarfer?

In NDUU, Flygon exists as a very selective pick on Stall teams due to shutting down Morning Sun Iron Moth. It has no such defensive value here, being outperformed by Gligar or Cyclizar in most cases. As a scarfer it's not super strong and the speed tier doesn't help against anything notable compared to its competition in Latias and Krookodile. Its best justification for being used in checking and outspeeding Mega Manectric isn't super reliable either because it frequently runs Hidden Power Ice to begin with in order to deal with Gligar, so its actually harder to get it on the field as opposed to Krookodile who can also Pursuit trap it.

 

[LBN]

Apparently Yearly LBN VR Post Time. I'm bored and while i could continue my ao3 writing, (go and give my shit kudos btw I'm a shameless fuck https://archiveofourown.org/works/68109381/chapters/176180351 ), why do that when I can go make posts. VR has some p wacky placements, plentiful fraud donations and a host of underrated mons. Let's get flaming.

B+ -> UR
Starting with the biggest bum on the entire VR, mr do nothing himself Sandy Flops. This shit doesn't accomplish a singular fucking thing.
Latias. Cyclizar. Tapu Bulu. Tangrowth. Mega Sceptile. Sinistcha. Oomfiepon. Fucking gligar. And now Glimmora completely snatches it's hazard lead bag? Worthless. Genuinely worthless. Z moves can't even bail this shit either because its too slow to be hitting the numbers you'd want on like, Latias. "Oh but you can fish for Discharge Paras!" Why do that when I can load Mega Manectric, hm? OR OR, we could just load Zeraora and just knock that shit twice and get it killed. Nicheless filth get this wank off the VR.

C+ -> UR
I'm sorry adriyun, this mon is shit. Shed skin+rest alongside glare sounds cool, until you realise its stats are pretty ass besides its respectable defense and attack, and every other ground does way more. Also forced into using mono-quake sets if you use it as your rocker, which leaves it perma walled by thundy (which you do not want to give that mon turns) and to a lesser extent gligar and other defensive pokes such as tangrowth that do not care about eq+glare.

Mirror the above but far more mean and prolly make a joke about how I prolly would use this over shitass Sandy Flops LMAOOO

New -> S-

New -> A+
Both of these mons are godlike. Glimmora in particular shines bright, no diamond. Power herb Meteor Beam. Tectonic Rage. Red Card. It's just phenomenal, hits like a truck. Mortal Spin is interesting removal option if you're so inclined, lays them up, premier HO lead in the tier and fits brainlessly on it at that. Offensively, Z-EP is amazing and is very hard to wall and catches shit off guard freely. Annoyed by shit like Sp. Def Gligar but like.. meh? Load a Wisp Slither Wing partner and you'll be seeing those 8 roosts disappear off that shit very quickly.

Zeraora meanwhile is speed control gas. 2nd fastest guy in the tier after Mega Sceptile, hits hard and has coverage out the ass. Main reason I wouldn't call it S- material is the minor 4mss it has, you want Gknot for swampert/Gastrodon but also want hp ice for Gligar. Classic Electric type weaknesses? Sure. But its still a downside when both are phenomenal staples. It's a pick your own adventure mon but every path has a wrong answer and its longevity isn't that crazy since Gligar blocks volt so hard and Fimp Slither is a near constant concern.

S -> A (A+ when Blissey comes back down. again.)
This thing is good, yes. But it is NOT that guy to the extent its a top 1 mon even at its best. Hazard prone steel that has no natural recovery means its best for short games while also fighting for competition with Mega Steelix for that exact job. As far as checking Latias goes, well... Despite the Filter boon its actually significantly worse off at handling things like Latias and Enamorus-T than Registeel is at equal investments, but also lacks the leftovers recovery Registeel has and that shit matters ALOT. Have you ever fought ORAS Heatran and watched leftovers take it from 20 to like 67? Yeah Registeel does the same shit. Aggron takes one Inferno Overdrive to the dome and its basically out of the game unless you have an Hwish mon. Realistically Steelix has this problem too but I can at least praise its Zeraora matchup, which is why I'm keeping it at A rank. Speaking of Registeel..

C+ -> A
Registeel is basically the creme de la crop for special wall steels. With Glimmora, Latias, Mega Pidgeot etc being everywhere, you can basically have them handled for sure with a well played Registeel. It's best set is Stoss SR Toxic Protect by a mile, and I really can't stress enough how helpful that leftovers is. I've had Latias handled before when this shit was at 31. With rocks up. You can just stay in on volcanion and click toxic if you have a cleric like Togekiss (Who I'll get to next, spoilers). It's just splended. I know this is a ridiculous jump but I promise you give Registeel a whirl with some games and you WILL see the magic it makes happen, especially in scenarios Mega Aggron would let you down. The main downside Registeel has is the passivity is by far the worst between it, Aggron and Steelix, and it being prone to item disruption means you lose the benefit it has over its competition, being said leftovers. Still, not hard to just.. not take a knock off.

-> A+
All 5 of these are gas. Cobalion and Volcanion got buffed into the stars by Slowking rising because of one mono water fanboy on ladder, and Cobalion was already arguably too low as is. Togekiss is a great utility mon, NP wincon, Twave cleric, defogger, Latias check, etc. Checks SD Zarude, shit is just irreplaceable for some teams beyond Weezing-Galar. Don't get me wrong GWeez is good, but for the most part you probably take Togekiss over it besides some specific matchups. Gligar is too low for A- that's a heresy. Great defogger, cosmic pain in the ass wall that lays up, removes and does just about anything you want it to. Mega Shark being B+ is obscene, HO's favorite piece of shit cleans house and Glimmora Mega Shark Latias Cobalion is about as braindead an HO comp as you can possibly dream of. I promise you, the Shark is fuckin crazy on offense. Like if it's ME, Shark is top 3 in the tier period. That's how good I think it is.

<->

S- A+
Position swap these two. Slither is an incredibly versatile tier staple and you can honestly never be "too" careful vs it because this thing goes on some of the nastiest volturn comps you could dream of. The vortex is unruly as hell with this thing and the offensive utility it brings w First impression is unparalleled because UU players have a fascination with Lokix and fucking Golisopod for some reason. Durant could be cool ig but that is a Z-Move hog for sure and doesn't have U-turn so.. (I actually think Durant is quite good, but I don't have any replays for this so just take my word on that). Meanwhile for Cyclizar it's just not an S- mon there's not much for me to say. Good mon undoubtedly but S- is some unnecessary glaze.

B+ -> A
Pivot goat. Amazing tank on offensive builds, refresh sets run laps on Mega Aggron and annoys any Zeraora without Grass Knot. To me I think its slightly worse than Gligar just because of how good Gligar is at messing with Slither Wing defensively, but on teams that don't mind the fact that Swampert will get worn down decently quickly? It's amazing how much work this thing will put in on a game to game basis. If you think A is too steep, sure. A- is fine too. But it most certainly deserves better than B+.

C -> C+
Considering last shift made us lose like 7 water types including Slowking, I'd say Milotic has an actual job now. It's still kinda cope but it can still be surprisingly annoying to kill. Definitely better than the utter sewage in C rank oh my god its bad. Doublade too for the same reasons. Registeel hard counter, Aggron counter assuming Bpress > EQ, resists Slither stabs and Sneak and Anti-Latias utility. Thing is nice, and definitely better than the bums in C rank. AV Muk can take the claim of being able to DUMPSTER hersculegion and Latias while being p annoying to things like Fezand and Zarude. Better than C rank not much to say there.

C -> UR
Jesus toilet plunging christ man this C rank has some trash. Literally 95% of these frauds are just shit versions of better mons. Why use Nidoqueen when I can use Nidoking. Why use Aerodactyl for my rocks when I can load Glimmora or Duskroc. Why load Flamigo in general bro look at these stats. Damage is NOT juicy enough. Admittedly not the worst thing to grace C rank but like, cmon. Florges and Sylveon.. bro please just use Togekiss who tf are either of these. Ya'll do know Togekiss gets Wish too right? Why are we using these two, be honest. Don't come to me about some "Spec Sylveon hits like a truck what's the hate!?" as if Enamorus-Therian isn't a comically superior version of both at the Fairy nuke job. Cannot BELIEVE I said I rated specs sylveon 1 year ago bro ya'll should've crucified me for that. Regieleki LMFAOO. Scream Tail has never once accomplished a damn thing can we please get this shit out what is this the salvation army? Shedinja.. I'm sorry this tier has pursuit put the fries in the bag, immediately. Latias prefers Mystical fire over Aura sphere for CM sets too like wtf are we doin.

Not going to UR them specifically because I think they each have some value outside of dedicated teams (If anything I'd raise Cresselia to C+ considering Lunar Dance Offenses are quite underexplored and worth attention) but whoever decided that the trifecta of Trick Room Boys should be all C rank for that specific purpose needs to be taken behind an apple bees and forced to watch the New York Jets try to get touchdowns. Actually no fuck that one sec.

C -> UR

UR -> C
Just use Arctovish on your Trick Room memes atleast that thing can Stone Edge a Volcanion. Thing has a hail niche too! Use Arctovish Instead. I have on my hail teams and beat Micaiah w it. Don't remember the team tour replay but its somewhere just trust me it got like 4 kills.

A+ -> S
Ending this post off with the undisputed top 1. Shifts really took Blissey Lokix Slowking Empoleon and Primarina man like holy shit it was a match made in heaven. Electrium sets died death so now Firium-Z Mystical CM sets are fully untethered. Scarf HWish, All manner of Z sets, Grassy Seed, hell even Reflect Type sets are flames. Creative mode level coverage it does it all and if you aren't prepping for it with multiple slots you're kinda bugging in the teambuilder. Despite all that praise though, I don't actually think its a broken mon because its flaws are still exploitable and for the most part you aren't getting past specific dedicated answers for the most part.

 

[Kin+ak (✧∇✧)]

Not going to UR them specifically because I think they each have some value outside of dedicated teams (If anything I'd raise Cresselia to C+ considering Lunar Dance Offenses are quite underexplored and worth attention) but whoever decided that the trifecta of Trick Room Boys should be all C rank for that specific purpose needs to be taken behind an apple bees and forced to watch the New York Jets try to get touchdowns. Actually no fuck that one sec.

C -> UR

UR -> C
Just use Arctovish on your Trick Room memes atleast that thing can Stone Edge a Volcanion. Thing has a hail niche too! Use Arctovish Instead. I have on my hail teams and beat Micaiah w it. Don't remember the team tour replay but its somewhere just trust me it got like 4 kills

I know a Much better Ice type to use in Trick Room and that can Kill volcanion but Also has the advantage of not being forced out by Zeraora and can Setup and has Much higher Attack stat than 90 but If I speak

 

[LBN]

I know a Much better Ice type to use in Trick Room and that can Kill volcanion but Also has the advantage of not being forced out by Zeraora and can Setup and has Much higher Attack stat than 90 but If I speak

damn thats so real.. I've Seen The Error Of My Ways!!

UR -> UR!!!!!!!!

 

[Kin+ak (✧∇✧)]

damn thats so real.. I've Seen The Error Of My Ways!!

UR -> UR!!!!!!!!

Son why are You running 2 Megas in Trick Room

 

[Runo]

VR Update:

jawabarat filled in for Danbear02 in his absence. Thanks for the help!

Slate:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FyvVbblPKNMvNlQcTIx4j6_yaPpZiDntuByBbrAEGWs/edit?usp=sharing

New Additions

from NEW to A+
from NEW to A+
from NEW to A-
from NEW to B

Rises

from A+ to S
from A- to A+
from A- to A
from A- to A
from A- to A
from A- to A
from A- to A
from B+ to A
from C+ to A
from B to A-
from B to B+
from C+ to B+
from C+ to B+
from C+ to B
from C+ to B
from C to B
from C+ to B-
from C+ to B-
from C to B-
from UR to B-
from C to C+
from C to C+
from C to C+
from C to C+
from C to C+
from UR to C+
from UR to C+
from UR to C+
from UR to C+
from UR to C+
from UR to C
from UR to C
from UR to C
from UR to C-
from UR to C-
from UR to C-
from UR to C-
from UR to C-
from UR to C-

Drops

from S to A+
from S- to A+
from A+ to A
from A+ to A
from A to A-
from A to A-
from A to A-
from A- to B+
from A- to B+
from B+ to B-
from B+ to B-
from B+ to C+
from B to C+
from B- to C+
from B+ to C
from B+ to C
from B- to C
from C+ to C
from B to C-
from C+ to C-
from C+ to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to UR
from C to UR
from C to UR
from C to UR

For clarity, we added a C- Rank.

I do not have time to do explanations right now, they will most likely come out later in the week however.

 

[Heatranator]

Hi, I helped out the WildBolt Chargers RU slot during NDCL. Massive shoutout to jawabarat for bringing me along, was really fun building and testing all the wacky ideas that we sometimes brought to the actual games. Anyways, got some noms that I want to make.

A -> A-
Fucking HATES glimm being around, as it cant do shit to it aside from praying with super fang while it has to run away in terror due to m-beam. It also doesn't appreciate any other drops. Its speed isn't as impactful now too with zeraora being on every team to outspeed it and threatening it out while being able to switch into it once or twice.

A- -> A
I said this before as well, but jug is basically a fixture on HO teams and should be ranked as such. The shark glimm jug core absolutely dominated NDCL, and its no shocker why, they cover a lot offensively and even defensively. Now, shark is banned, but glimm jug is still an incredibly potent core. Jug with booster speed is an amazing revenge killer and offense wrecker while it can use taunt to help stallbreak against bulkier targets. Just an elite mon and should be ranked as such.

A -> A+
I have come to love tangrowth, primarily because it is such an effective mon at stuffing out large portions of the tier. Physically defensive sets can stonewall Zera, Krook, the steels, Zarude and Tapu Bulu, while AV can help against Latias, Hersculegion, Glimmora, M-Mane, M-sceptile etc. I personally prefer physically defensive sets, but both have their usecases. It also has a ton of variety in what it can do. Its grass stab can be physical or special, sludge bomb, eq, sleep powder, knock off, hp ice, leech seed, Rock Slide, Focus Blast. This isn't even counting options like SD or Stun Spore that are probably alright. Its just such a splashable defensive mon that is super good.

B -> A-
I'm kinda shocked this is as low as it is, cause this is one of the scariest Pokemon in the tier and partially the reason why I think a Dark or Normal is basically mandatory on every team to not get fucked by this. Smash, shadow ball, stored power, filler. The filler is the key part. This can be anything from sub to ignore status attempts and ease setup while avoiding prio, protect to stop fimp attempts, hyper beam with normalium z to blow away its usual checks, strength sap to live hits and potentially get another smash (which will prob autowin you the game), wisp to fuck over the dark if needed. Yes, if it faces a dark or normal, it might not be doing as much, but the sheer building pressure it exerts cannot be understated and thus it should be higher.

Would also like to nom these mons to C/C-

Durant is a monster offensively with hustle+priority in fimp. A good chunk of the top tiers are afraid of fimp (latias, krook, zera, jug, zarude) and thus it can be an effective revenge killer. It also has hustle iron head to try and beat down some mons. Pair that with rock slide+steel coverage (either superpower or stomping tantrum) and you have a pretty great wallbreaker. Main issues are the 109 speed and lacking defensive utility (fears knock which means either wide lens or LO are removed, heavily crippling it) but a good pokemon if you build around.
Feraligatr is m-shark cope post ban, decently good offensively with either DD or SD, but lacks speed even at +1 and only okay defenses. Still can be good on certain HO teams.
M-banette is a cool mon (in ND RU, stop spamming the fucker in ND OU its horseshit there), but it can be a nice offensive utility Pokemon that can spread status, do big damage with polter, then trade with something due to dbond. Takes up mega slot so that can be annoying, but m-banette HO's I think are legit in this tier.
Torn is an offensive flying type, which is good. Can do z move shenanigans to get around bleakmiss, but is generally a good offensive mon with its 111 speed getting the jump on latias.

Raise back to their previous ranks (B+ and S respectively)
I've seen a lot of slander of these mons recently, and I think part of that is cause people don't know what they do/why they were ranked as highly as they are. (can you tell I wrote this all out before the VR shift came out lol)

Starting with sandy shocks. I think lead shocks has indeed fallen off a decent amount though it still is an okay lead if you need to. But the primary set that I think gives its the B+ rank it deserves is an offensive spiker on spikestack teams. This set can generate great progress with spikes while gaining momentum for its teammates. It also crucially, can softcheck glimmora, as it can take any move from it aside from groundium z (which like, what does take that on+mbeam lol, really only flygon ig) and threaten it back out with earth power. The grasses and dragons that can typically check it are just volt switch fodder, especially with spikes chip in the picture. The only two horrible mus are m-sceptile and defog gligar. M-sceptile you can't volt on, but at the same time, it takes spikes chip and most likely shocks can threaten the remover since they prob don't wanna stack double dragon with bike/latias. And notice how I said defog gligar, normal gligar you just spike on the switch then hard switch to a teammate, which still means you made progress. Defog gligar does wall you infinetely and removes your hazards, but also its defog gligar, AKA an extremely passive set that is not particularly threatening and thus can be hella abused, which considering stuff like z herscu is a great partner, you prob will already have. Shocks+herscu+m-aggron+tang is such a good defensive and offensive core that you can basically fill the last two slots with whatever you want. Its a really good mon and I would suggest using it more. Heres a sample team to show what I'm talking about: https://pokepast.es/48da7d4e28cd86b7

As for m-aggron, well, its simple, it softchecks basically anything in the tier and also is the reason why so many other steels have viability. For the first part, you can take so many +1 non stab super effective z moves or +2 stab super effective moves it ain't even funny. For instance, you take +1 firium z from latias easily and can either toxic it or put it on a timer. You can also take a +2 LO CC from cobalion without any defense investment from full and just body press it into oblivion. This is amazing for just, softchecking anything you want. It also isn't passive btw, which is the primary issue that shit like tink or registeel get into, as body press does a ton while heavy slam is also strong. And the last moveslot can be whatever the fuck you want. Typically d-tail or toxic is last, but id, curse, eq, metal burst, fire punch, t-wave, rest are all viable options. Now for the second point, what do I mean about other steels having viability because of aggron? Well, they are all worse then it, but there differentiating factors are what make them used over aggron on specific teams. M-steelix has elec immunity and stab eq (though its a pretty shitty elec immune since zera CC 3HKO's it quite easily), registeel has lefties and doesn't take up the mega, tink has encore+knock etc. They have to heavily lean on their unique attributes to make sure they are worth using over m-aggron. One final thing, while m-aggron has not great longevity, I think thats pretty fine, as its able to take a hit or two while responding with its own offensive pressure and the teams m-aggron finds itself on typically don't care about that as much (and if you really want, you can use either tapu bulu or a wishpasser in togekiss, umbreon or even vapo). Overall, m-aggron is an integral pokemon that has amazing qualities that firmly put it S tier.