Resource SV ZU Viability Rankings

[LHF]

I was the person who nommed it, but I didn't have time to say more than 'its shown up in tours.' It's been using BIG TONY 2014's physical attacking set with weakness policy, leech life, poltergeist, and shadow sneak (+ pain split I think?) to good result lately. IIRC leech life outheals lax's damage while also hitting Brute Bonnet, and between that and tera, some of the tier's most common ghost answers lose to the set.

Here are some replays of Dusknoir in action:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9zu-881753
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9zu-902973?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9zu-894975

Thank you!

 

[budgetplayer]

A -> hell

This mon sucks by the way, it doesn't check Zard, it doesn't check the physical attackers unless you burn your tera, it doesn't keep rocks up against any spinner, it doesn't set spikes, and it only contributes something if your opponent loses all their special attackers and Body Press resists in an industrial accident.

 

[I'm Tapu Bulu]

Update Feb 12th

A- --> A / A+

I know RisinGlory ultimately lost his match but good god does Clawitzer hit like a bitch. Unstabbed Dragon Pulse pretty much killing Weezing and Toxicroak is pretty crazy and this is not even the Choice Specs set we're talking about, which does over 30% to max/max Snorlax with its STAB and can 2HKO it from full with Aura Sphere. This is pretty solid evidence you can't really stop Clawitzer with these two mons that otherwise do pretty well against other Water-types.
And Clawitzer is even one of those mons that has just enough bulk to take a hit if needed, and it can afford to do so... it's a wallbreaker. Here is a great example of Clawitzer surviving a Freeze-Dry to bring Cryo into Slash's KO range and clutch the win for Oran. Or hell you can take my own game where it's pretty clear that you don't wanna let this thing hit the ground for free. Out-offensing Clawitzer is probably the best way to deal with it... for god's sake it does 45% to Lanturn
U-turn and Dark Pulse are the cherry on top.

A- ---> A
Yeah, I used to be a bit of a Pass hater, but this is a strong, reliable, and physically bulky mon. Choice Scarf sets do what they always did, it's a reliable revenge killer and cleaner in one, one which also happens to punish Defog and Intimidate, forcing Drifblim to make difficult decisions.
With only 4 mons in the A tier (one of which needs to move up imho) I think we could move up a few A- mons since these two tiers are a bit disproportionate in terms of size.

B+ ---> higher
Vikavolt's 145 Special Attack is absurd for this tier. Definitely one of the scariest early game pokemon, because it really abuses more passive mons by forcing them to predict between webs and volt switch. Levitate and its decent bulk give it decent defensive value, making it significantly more difficult to OHKO than it looks at first glance. Vikavolt should move up because almost everytime I use it it does something valuable and the ZU open replays (most recently czim vs Diego) support this

A ---> A+
One of the most dependable mons in the tier. Had it not been for U-turn being common, it would have probably been S (or much higher than ZU, but I digress). Can wear more items than most, with Black Glasses probably its best because it really appreciates the extra power for its Sucker Punch. Otherwise, although it doesn't really like Venusaur it can try to 1v1 it (with tera poison) and absolutely clowns on Sableye. Synthesis lets it outlast most Pokemon on the opposing team.

edit: ClubPangu yeah i'm stupid replace ice spinner with icicle crash

 

[ClubPangu]

My last nomination for 2025 here. I feel like Boots are like a 3rd option for this mon if you really can't afford hazard removal. At 75%, so after one round of SR damage, Sneasel@Eviolite has more survivability than 100% Sneasel with other items.
Life Orb gives an important boost to Triple Axel's power output, since you're on a mon that needs to run Jolly but can't outpace Whimsicott and don't want to rely on chip damage and the hazard game since Sneasel can't really take a hit anyway.

With that said, Sneasel deserves to rise to A or A+ for how threatening it is at +2, a wallbreaker and sweeper in one. Tera Ghost is my favourite tera to use on Sneasel because this allows it play mind games with Passimian and Hitmontop, Knock Off is god mode, and you can drop to Ice Spinner for still good damage if you're scared of misses. Definitely better than Passimian itself or Oricorio-F, and imo on par with or above its Hisuian counterpart, disregarding Toxicroak's presence.

I agree that Sneasel feels really strong, but I don't think it can learn ice spinner.

 

[Kafkafoon]

S ---> S+
This is by far the best mon in the tier and is leagues above the other S rank of , It's simply the best at every role, you want a rocker? , you want a scarfer? a sweeper? , you get my point. This mon has a set that fits on every team, and is so good that it should be on every team, the only reason not to have a is because you want your to do something else. The sets themselfs are also really flexible, you want to counter NP with a ? Thunderbolt, ? Psyshock, Tera Fairy Draining Kiss, Trick Room slow . this mon can simply beat all of it's so called counters with the right moves. It's also an unstoppable rocker, and to top that it has all the good utility moves with Knock Off U-Turn Encore and even Thunder Wave. I remember using an AV and not liking it becuase I only got one and a half mons out of . To sum it all up is simply better than every other mon in the tier and deserves and S+ Rank or even higher.

Below: found footage of the roulette

 

[t44Torkoal]

S ---> S+
This is by far the best mon in the tier and is leagues above the other S rank of , It's simply the best at every role, you want a rocker? , you want a scarfer? a sweeper? , you get my point. This mon has a set that fits on every team, and is so good that it should be on every team, the only reason not to have a is because you want your to do something else. The sets themselfs are also really flexible, you want to counter NP with a ? Thunderbolt, ? Psyshock, Tera Fairy Draining Kiss, Trick Room slow . this mon can simply beat all of it's so called counters with the right moves. It's also an unstoppable rocker, and to top that it has all the good utility moves with Knock Off U-Turn Encore and even Thunder Wave. I remember using an AV and not liking it becuase I only got one and a half mons out of . To sum it all up is simply better than every other mon in the tier and deserves and S+ Rank or even higher.

Below: found footage of the roulette
View attachment 814177

Mesprit is basically the Calyrex-Shadow of ZU atm. I'm surprised on how it's not banned from ZU as an S+ tier mon but Venomoth is.